Agriculture in Nicaragua. 



359 



of 5 cents for each tree to planters having 5, coo or more plants 

 in bearing in certain departments. A premium of 21 cents is 

 also paid for each cacao tree, and of 10 cents for each rubber 

 tree grown in the country. The production of indigo is said 

 to be no longer profitable in Nicaragua, and in only a few 

 places is this plant still cultivated. 



With regard to cereals, beans, manioca, potatoes, rice, 

 sugar, vegetables, and fruit, no reliable data were to be 

 obtained, either as to the area devoted to them or as to the 

 crops produced. 



Cattle farming is largely pursued, and it is believed that 

 there are 313,000 head of cattle and about 32,000 horses and 

 mules in the country. There are a small number of goats and 

 a few sheep. Swine, it appears, are seen everywhere, even 

 in the streets of the cities. Immense quantities of poultry 

 are raised both in the towns and in the rural districts. 



In order to promote the improvement of live stock and the 

 increase of vegetable products, the Government offers 

 premiums for the introduction of high grade animals for 

 breeding ; and for the cultivation of wheat, sugar cane, 

 tobacco, rice, beans, maize, potatoes, and pasture land. 



Immigrants into the State are afforded special facilities 

 for the acquisition of land. There is no tax on land, but 

 in some of the departments a municipal income tax is 

 imposed. 



Agriculture in Nicaragua is stated to have been impeded 

 hitherto by a lack of good roads and by the want of proper 

 skill and knowledge on the part of the cultivators. Another 

 difficulty is the condition of labour under the peonage 

 system. In Mexico, Guatemala, and some other Central 

 American States, after the suppression of the so-called 

 " encomiendos," and of forced labour, and after the 

 abolition of the costly African slavery, a kind of peonage was 

 invented. In this system poor families were allowed to dwell 

 on the estates of landowners for a rental payable only in 

 labour. This mode of payment was extended afterwards to 

 all debts for commodities advanced by the landowner or 

 contracted in any other way. In iJicaragua the people have 

 had complete liberty, but there is now an agricultural law 



