November i, 1887.! THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
301 
mer saro, however, more interested in the proposed Con- 
greSS Eor the discussion of the sugar bouuties. Frencli 
farmer a 1 lege that Germany and Austria — why not 
too 1Uh.su— possessing peculiar natural advantages for 
the culture of sugar beet would kill the sugar industry 
L 'i I r. nice if the bounties were withdrawn. 
A new variety of tares or vetches is being successfully 
tried. It comes from Hungary, and is called Vicia 
multip/icata. It is sown in August at the rate of 1-11 
lb. per acre, mixed with 56 lb. of rye. In the early days 
of May it yields rich and abundant cuttings; the vigor- 
ous aftermath of the vetches is allowod to produce 
seed. 
After a sow has littered, several farmers have the 
teeth of the young pigs examined, and whenever any 
of them are unusually long and pointed, cut or file tberu 
down on a level with the jaw-bone. This prevents 
the young when sucking from biting the mother, 
that, which ofteu drives the latter to devour them. 
It is a wise 'precaution to leave the bedding in soft 
straw, cut iuto lengths of five inches so as not to 
penetrate the eyes of the young, nor adhere to the 
teats of the mother. If the straw be too long or 
loo plentiful, the litter may bo smothered. Some hog- 
rearers run a rest in wood 12 inches high and !) from 
the wall of tho cot round the latter, so that the sow 
on lying down eanuot crush tho young. 
A SKETCH OF BRAZIL. 
BY JAMES W. WELIjS, 
M. In.it. C. E., F.R.G.S., Corresp. M. Soc. dt Geoyraphia 
de. Rio da Janeiro. 
Being some remarks upon the Commerce and Indus- 
tries, tho Railways, the Sugar Factories, the Finances, 
Slavery, and Immigration and the immediate future 
of the country. 
The seaboard of Brazil is 4,922 miles in length, and 
as this runs from north to south it will easily be per- 
ceived what a variety of productions tho soils and 
climates of so many degrees of latitude must neces- 
sarily produce, and this being so, it has caused the ex- 
port trade of the country to be divided iuto several 
distinct groups, for although there is a certain amount 
of intercostal traffic, practically, these groups are 
really independent of each othor. Iu order to more 
fully carry out ray meaning, I will specify these 
various groups of oxporters. 
No. 1. — Para, 'the northern terminus of the Brazilian 
coast trade, for there is no steam coast communication 
whatever north of this port, not even to the neighbour- 
ing Guianas — is tho head quarters of the great india- 
rubber trade, and all the productions of the great 
Amazons Valley. Forming a more or less connected 
link of mercantile interests with Pari, are the markets of 
Maranhao and Ooara. 
No. 2 group, comprising Pornambuco and Bahia, with 
their adjoining minor coast cities of Natal, Parahyba, 
Marein, and Aracaju, is as essentially distinct from 
the Para trade as though these respective centres were 
in different countries. 
No. 3 group comprises Rio de Janeiro and Santos 
and their adjoining coast cities. 
No. 4 group represents ltio (irande do Sul and the 
other southern seaport*. 
The export trade of these four groups naturally 
consists of the chief local productions, the nature of 
which serves to indicato tho character of the country. 
They are as follows: — 
I will mention them iu their order of importance, 
in the trade of each group. 
No. I, — India-rubber, l'razil nuts, medicinal balsams^ 
herbs and roots', cottnn, cabinet woods, 0000a, and sugar 
and bides from tho southern cities. 
No. 2. — Sugar, cotton, tobacco, hides, and a little of 
cabinet woods and piassaba fibre. 
No. 3. — M inly coffee, with a little sugar. 
No. 4. — Tallow, hides, horns, bones, grease, and jerked 
beef. 
Thus it wiV be obs Tved how different to each other 
arc tho chief items of exportation of these four essent- 
ially distinct mercantile odious of Brazilian trade, 
and, as a mattir of fact, tho heads of houses in each 
"f these, divisions havo usually formed their opinion 
of Brazil according to their individual local experiences, 
and thus it is that many an old merchant of Brazil will 
form a pessimist or an optimist viow of the future, 
or even present career of the country, accordingly as 
he may be biassed by the fortune or misfortuue of his 
particular trade. And it would be really puzzling to 
an outsider to listen to the enunciated views of a 
triumvirate of old Brazilian merchants composed of an 
india-rubber merchant from Para, a sugar merchant 
from Pernambuco and a 'coffee merchant from Rio de 
Janeiro, and consequently I can only conclude, that 
it is through the ups and downs of these various sections 
of the mercantile community, that there exists such a 
clash of opinions with regard to the welfare, progress 
and probable future of the country. 
I will now give the statistics of the imports and 
exports of Brazil for the past three years. In order 
to make their values more readily appreciable, I have 
reduced the currency iu. round numbers to sterling at 
an average rate of exchange, 21 penco the milreis. 
Year. Imports. Exports. Surplus. 
1883 £16,053,000 £17,364,000 £1,311,000 
1884 £16,801,900 £18,753,000 £1,951,100 
1885 £14,261,300 £19,596,800 £5,331,500 
Table showing the annual value in milreis of the 
chief articles of export, at the end of each decade 
from 1841 to 1881. 
1841. 
Coffee 17,804:438$ 
Sugar 11,892:224 
Indiarubrer 198:203 
Cotton 3,919:997 
Tobacco ... 652:984 
1851. 
32,003:951$ 
15,779:045 
1,046:010 
5,995:905 
1,702:927 
Totals 34,467:S4G 
1871. 
Coffee 84,503:900$ 
Sugar 23,308:818 
Indiarubrer 7,51)1: 191 
Cotton 24,423:928 
Tobacco ... 6,319:294 
r »6,828:438 
1881. 
126,134:000 
25,935:000 
ll,S55:70O 
5,114:600 
7,553:600 
1861. 
72,919:389$ 
10,299:739 
3,402:335 
4,581:948 
2,376:435 
93,579:847 
Totals 140,087:440 170,593:000 
The considerable increase of the exports of cotton in 
1871 was owing to the high prices of this product dur- 
ing the American Civil War. Now although there are 
yet vast quantities of cotton plants in the distant 
Ulterior, the present prices are not sufficiently remu- 
nerative to compensate the great cost of transport- 
ing the cotton long journeys by mules, over rough 
ami rugged trails. Tho plants, like many another 
production of the interior, await the advent of railways. 
The total length of the railways iu traffic aud in 
construction represented 59 distinct railways — 27 of 
which were worked at a profit, 14 at a loss, tho returns 
of 0 were unpublished and 9 were yet in construction. 
Of the railways that are able to pay a dividend about 
5 per cent, from profits derived from traffic anil in- 
dependently of guarantees, they are still only 9. Of 
this uumber, 1 belongs to the State, 1 to an English 
company and 7 to native companies. 
In such an essentially agricultural country as Brazil 
is, it cau easily be understood how the returns of the 
various railways must necessarily vary from year to year 
in accordance with the good or the bad crop seasons. 
Tho latter part of the last year and the present now 
year havo been times exceptionally favourable to railway 
interests in Brazil on accouut of tho great coffee crop 
iu the south and the equally great sugar crop in the 
north. Iu Sao Paulo tho railways have been so con- 
gested with colfee that the means have beeu insuffi- 
cient to carry it, and in many parts, the planters have 
had to revert to the old time mule troops to get their 
crops to market. 
The generality of railways in Brazil havo beeu con- 
structed to aupplyjihe wants of quite local requiremeuU, 
but there are a few that have much more ambitious 
ubj.ets in view, and in order to form an idea of tho 
probable euif se ol the future truns-coutiueiital railways, 
I will specify them. 
