February i, 1892] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
THE PP^RUVIAN CORPORATION AND THE 
PROSPECTS OF PERU BECOMING A 
GREAT COFFEE, CACAO, RUBBER AND 
VANILLA GROWING COUNTRY. 
Calling on Sir Alfred Dent at his Old Broad 
Street office, I was very kindly received and told 
a good deal about the mission of Messrs. Eobb and 
Sinclair and the object of the Peruvian Corpora- 
tion. The full results of the mission cannot be 
known till the formal reports are sent in ; but 
already enough is known to show there is no 
reason why Peru should not become a groat ex- 
porter of coffee, cacao, rubber and vanilla — all 
four plants, as I understood, being reported to be 
growing well; while the soil is described as very 
rich, and the climate most delightful. There re- 
main the two necessary elements of success — 
labour supply and means of transport. As regards 
the latter, there are admirable, even wonderful rail- 
way lines penetrating through much of the country 
to be occupied, and it is upon those lines that the 
Peruvian Corporation would wish to see the pro- 
duce thrown, because of their own property in the 
railways. I mentioned how, from the eastern 
slopes and valleys of the Andes, probably 
the Amazon and its branches would offer a 
ready and cheap means of transport by steamers, 
and bow successful the Amazon Steam Navigation 
Oo. (under my friend Capt. Hudson) had been 
in developing trade in these regions. "We have 
no desire," eaid Sir Alfred Dent, "to throw Peru- 
vian trade on to the Amazon ; we should rather 
bring grist to our own mill as owners of the 
railway system; but the Corporation are, of course, 
ready and anxious to encourage planting settlers 
and to sell land to them, and if any of these, 
eastward of the Andes, preferred to use the 
Amazon steamers rather than railways, there could 
be no objection." It is quite likely that Peru may 
attract some of our Ceylon planters, and of the 
oapitalists] interested in coffee in the East ; for in 
respect of our old staple, as well as cacao and 
rubber, there can be no question of the splendid 
market now offering, nor of the prospect of a 
steady demand; while no one would dream of 
going with money or planting experience to Brazil 
in these unsettled times, li is quite possible that 
we may see a falling-off, if not partial collapse of 
Brazilian exports, if the civil war, now threaten- 
ing in several provinces, breaks out. In that case 
there would certainly be the greatest encourage- 
ment to go to Peru for coffee. If it be true 
that the shrub has run wild there and is freely 
enoountered, a first step of the corporation, one 
would think, would be to establish an agency to 
buy all the coffee that can be made available by 
the Peruvians from existing gardens or from jungle 
patches. As respects labour supply, Sir Alfred 
Dent seemed to consider that as 2,000 to 3,000 
f navvies " for railway work could readily be 
oolleoted at any time in Peru, there could not 
be much difficulty in getting some to plant and 
plook coffee. But I did not fail to point 
out the difference, more especially in what could 
be paid for railway man as compared with the 
wages for plantation labour. However, from 
another quarter 1 learn that Mr. Ross has no fear 
about suitable labour being available on the spot, 
BO that there must be satisfactory work to be got 
of native-born Peruviana in some shape, I am 
promised an interview with Mr, OUard, the manager 
of the Corporation, when all available papers up 
to date will bo placed at my disposal : meantime 
on the chance that a copy of the full report of 
the Corporation dirootora preaontad to the share- 
toldere at their meeting on the 9rd instant has 
not reached you, I send the copy handed to me 
by Sir Alfred Dent. It will be seen from this 
that " The Peruvian Corporation, Limited," hold 
about £4,197,713 of capital in the four principal 
railways in Peru (£1,102,187 of capital being held 
by other persons), that it is interested in other 
lines at present leased, and also in steamers which 
navigate Lake Titioaca and the river Desaguadero. 
Other schemes are on foot for railway extension 
into Bolivia. Then in " guano " so large is the 
interest of the Corporation that " a contract for 
the sale of 300,000 tons has recently been entered 
into on favourable terms with Messrs. Antony 
Gibbs & Sons," while there are claims on Chili 
and valuable mines' concessions among the assets. 
Altogether the capital raised and invested by the 
Corporation exceeds 17^ millions sterling ! But I 
have yet to notice the part of the report, and 
operations of the Company, of most interest to 
Ceylon readers — that under the head of "Land." 
In the accounts the only item bearing on it is 
entered as " Land Exploration £2,492 18s Od " which 
may be supposed to be the cost of the mission just com- 
pleted, or it may refer to the earlier Spanish mission. 
In any case, you will want (if you have not done so 
already) to reprint the whole of the portion of the 
report referring to " Land." It is as follows : — 
Land. 
The data collected and received by the Corpo- 
ration in reference to the land in the interior of Peru, 
on the eastern side of the Andes, point to the Central 
district as being the most suitable for more immediate 
colonization. 
By the Central district is meant the land laying 
between Oroya, on the Central Railway, and the 
river Ucayali, and by opening up this district it is 
thought that a large area could be brought into 
communication with the coast, and the produce of 
the interior collected and brought down by the 
Central Railway. 
With the object of effecting a settlement in this 
district, a commission, including three Spaniards 
practically acquainted with agricultilre, was sent to 
Peru, and they made an expedition into the Central 
district, visiting, besides other localities, the valley 
of Chanchamayo and the lands adjacent to the Rivera 
Eiie and Perene. 
The followmg are extracts from their Reports a 
translated : 
A careful examination of the cultivated lands fror» 
Chanchamayo to San Luis de Shuaro, shows the iHt- 
mense wealth of produce notwithstanding the w* at 
of labour, which is also a reason why other produce 
which might constitute immense wealth is not culti- 
vated ; because plants growing wild, as is the case 
in many parts of these regions, would produce much 
more if cultivated for instance, the indigo plant, 
the vanilla, cacao, cotton, caoutchouc tree, and many 
others, which can only be grown in these zones. 
All these lands are broken, but very good plaina 
are met with, and generally the lands are very healthy. 
The temperature is from 25 to 30 degrees centigrade 
(77 to 8G Fahrenheit), and elevation above the level 
of the sea is from 2,000 to 3,000 feet. There are no 
natural pastures, for which reason cattle cannot be 
raised on a large scale. 
The products which constitute the actual wealth 
are as follows : — 
Sugar Cane. — The growth of this plaot is extraor- 
dinary, and it is cut as often as twenty times. At 
present it is used for the msnufaoture of mm and 
alcohol, on account of their large consumption and 
good prices ; eich " arroba " (25 lb.) on the estate 
being worth 7 soles. 
COFi HE. — The coffee plant grows with great rapidity 
nnd bcfiiDS to give fruit in two years, and produces 
to its lull in the third or fourth year. Each plant 
givfs on an average from 8 to 10 pounds gross ; the 
coiieuroption ia very large, aud the produce is worth 
18 or 20 solos thu quintal. The plant bears for twenty 
or thirty yeara, 
