Wheat Production in Chile. 



93 



The decline has been attributed to the excessive rainfall of 

 the last three winters, but the fact remains that the decline 

 is equally visible in two years in which the winters were not 

 less favourable than in those other years in which large 

 exports of wheat took place. Another reason put forward 

 for the decadence is the complaint that agriculturists lack 

 the capital necessary to cultivate their lands. This is the 

 excuse of many agriculturists who are unsuccessful and 

 unbusinesslike, but it is not warranted by the facts, for 

 almost all the farms and agricultural estates are burdened 

 with heavy mortgages bearing interest at from 6 to 8 per 

 cent., usually the latter. If the generality of agricultural 

 estates in Chile have been able to be heavily mortg-aged, it 

 can hardly be altogether correct to say that agriculturists 

 have been unable to find capital wherewith to cultivate and 

 stock their lands. It is true that the interest payable on the 

 mortgages is onerous, but in the Argentine Republic the 

 interest which agriculturists pay upon capital obtained on 

 loan or mortgage is not less, nor are the charges for carriage 

 •of the wheat in that vast territory less ; yet agriculture 

 flourishes in a notable manner in Argentina. The money 

 raised by way of mortgage has not, however, in many cases 

 been applied to the improvement and stocking of the estates, 

 hut has frequently been devoted to building luxurious houses 

 in the cities and to the maintenance of expensive establish- 

 ments. Agriculturists in Chile have, moreover, confined 

 themselves almost entirely to the growing of wheat, even 

 when they have had surplus lands lying idle which could 

 riave been profitably employed in the cultivation of maize 

 and flax, of which articles Argentina exports large quantities. 

 In Chile the harvests are left lying out in the open as they 

 are cut, and no provision exists for storing the grain. The 

 first rains usually destroy half the harvest, but no amount 

 of experience has yet effected any improvement in the 

 antiquated conditions. 



