V 
<x]  MONTHLY.  lx> 
Vol,  XV.]  COLOMBO,  DEC,  2nd,  1895.  [No.  6. 
PLANTING  AND  AGRICULTURE  IN 
COLOMBIA,  SOUTH  AMERICA. 
( Sprr.ial  liepori  to  the  Forrlr/n  OJfiec  from 
W,  Roht.  Th  om.wn, ) 
Tor, IMA : It.s  Agpjcui,turat,  Productions. 
His  department  is  situated  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  great 
Valley  of  the  Magdalena,  ex- 
tending from  2°  to  north 
latitude.  And  the  department 
is  embraced  within  the  two 
great  chains  of  the  Colombian 
Andes,  the  Eastern  and  Central 
Cordilleras,  which  continue  nearly  parallel  from 
latitude  2°  o'  to  5°.  Within  these  bifurcations  of 
the  Andes  is  also  comprehended  a large  portion  of 
the  department  of  Cuudinamarca,  thus  including  the 
lofty  and  extensive  savannah  on  which  the  city  of 
Bogota  (8,000  feet  above  sea-level)  is  situated.  The 
average  height  of  the  Eastern  Cordillera  is  from 
12.000  to  18,000  feet  above  sea-level,  whilst  the 
highest  ridges  of  the  Central  Cordillera  are  covered 
with  perpetual  snow,  the  culminating  peak,  Tolima, 
from  which  the  department  derives  its  name,  being 
upwards  of  18,000  feet,  and  the  highest  peak  of  the 
Andes  north  of  the  Equator.  The  River  Magdalena, 
from  its  source,  flows  through  the  department  some 
400  miles  to  the  river-port  town  Honda,  which  is  the 
terminus  of  steamboat  navigation  with  the  coast, 
distant  600  miles.  At  Honda  rapids  in  the  river 
preclude  continuous  navigation  higher  up,  bat  im- 
mediately above  these  rapids  the  river  is  again  navi- 
gable for  steamers  for  100  miles,  and  for  native  craft 
300  miles.  The  area  of  Tolima  is  18,434  square  miles, 
and  the  population  230,000.  The  department  com- 
prises a small  area  as  compared  with  the  total  area 
of  the  Kepublic,  namely.  .')18,845  square  miles. 
The  plans  and  lower  hills  extending  from  the  River 
Magdalena  occupy  an  area  of  several  thousand  square 
miles,  and  the  climatic  conditions  np  to  an  altitude 
of  from  3,000  to  4,000  feet  are  purely  tropical,  tierra 
ailiente.  Within  this  zone  nearly  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  department  are  settled.  The  chief  industrial 
imrsuit,  in  common  with  the  rest  of  the  Republic 
is  cattle  farming.  ’ 
A distinctly  more  temperate  zone  prevails  between 
4.000  and  6,000  feet  above  sea-level,  tierra  templada. 
This  region  consists  of  numerous  ramifications  of 
mountains,  which,  are  to  a large  extent  covered  with 
forest.  Here  the  cultivation  of  coffee  is  becoming 
an  important  industry,  a subject  dealt  with  later  on. 
A still  higher  zone,  designated  tierra  fria,  extends 
from  6,000  feet  np  to  the  coldest  climate  in  which 
European  grains  and  vegetables  can  be  grown. 
Potatoes  and  wheat  are  grown  in  patches  at  eleva- 
tions ranging  from  6,000  to  9,000  feet,  and  barley 
and  oats  thrive  up  to  12,000  feet. 
The  agricultural  and  planting  prospects  of  Tolima, 
like  those  of  the  Republic  in  general,  are  only 
beginning  to  emerge  into  the  domain  of  commerce. 
l.‘p  to  a dozen  years  ago,  for  example,  the  value  of 
the  exportation  of  quinine-yielding  barks,  cinchona, 
and  cuprea,  obtained  from  the  forest,  was  for  many 
years  far  in  excess  of  the  value  of  the  exportation 
of  all  other  vegetable  products  combined.  This  bark 
business  attained  its  maximum  development  in  1881- 
82.  when  the  value  of  the  article  exported  amounted 
to  some  30,000.000  dol.  Since  then  this  trade  in 
Colombia,  notwithstanding  that  the  trees  abound  in 
the  forests,  has  completely  collapsed,  owing  to  the 
extensive  cultivations  of  cinchona  in  the  east. 
As  I have  already  said,  the  greatest  industry  of 
Tolima  is  cattle  farming.  The  area  of  land  appro- 
priated to  pastoral  purposes  practically  occupies  the 
whole  of  the  zone  which  I have  in  the  foregoing 
designated  tierra  caZfen^e— several  thousand  square 
miles.  Official  statistics  give  the  total  number  of 
horned  cattle,  horses,  mules,  and  asses  in  Tolima 
at  390,000,  the  total  number  throughout  the  Republic 
being  3,46.6,000.  There  are  also  in  the  Republic 
goats,  sheep,  and  swine,  3,487,000.  Great  cattle 
farms  (“  haciendas  ”),  each  containing  from  1,000  to 
4,000  cattle,  abound  throughout  the  department.  To 
the  favourable  positions  of  Tolima,  t.e.,  in  proximity 
