372 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
[Dec.  2,  1895. 
to  the  most  densely  populated  .and  richest  com- 
munity in  the  Kepnhlic,  the  comumniiv  inhahitiiiff 
the  elevated  savannah  of  Bogota,  must  he  attributed 
its  dominant  position  in  regard  to  cattle  rearing. 
Thus  a lucrative  market  is  assured  for  many  thou- 
sands of  cattle  annually.  These  lowland  cattle, 
though  very  inferior  both  in  point  of  size  and 
quality  to  those  on  the  cold  savannah,  are  reached 
under  conditions  calculated  to  assure  their  production 
at  a minimum  cost,  that  is  to  say,  at  a much  cheaper 
rate  than  is  practicable  in  the  cold  regions. 
The  thousands  of  square  miles  of  natural  pasturage 
on  the  plains  and  lower  hills  of  Tolima  assume 
during  the  rainy  seasons  the  most  beautiful  verdure. 
But  in  the  alternate  season  of  drought  the  general 
aspect  is  that  of  a desert.  These  lauds  were  ori- 
ginally acquired  at  a nominal  cost.  No  conserv.ation 
of  the  natural  fei’tility  of  the  land  has  ever  been 
taken  into  consideration.  On  the  contrary,  the 
natural  grasses,  intermixed  with  scrub  or  brushwood, 
have  been  systematically  burned  from  year  to  year, 
and  the  burnings  effected  during  the  most  scorching 
periods  of  drought.  The  principal  object  attained 
by  this  process  of  despoliation  is  the  reproduction 
of  new  and  tender  herbage  or  pasturage,  which, 
with  the  advent  of  the  rainy  season,  forthwith 
covers  the  parched  surface.  Vast  pastoral  regions — 
scores  of  thousands  of  square  miles — in  tropical 
America  are  thus  maintained.  Half  a century,  or 
it  may  be  a century,  of  this  treatment  suhices  to 
extinguish  almost  every  trace  of  fertility  in  the  soil. 
In  Tolima  alone  hardly  less  than  2,(XW  square  miles 
of  savannahs  and  hills,  ascending  to  some  3,<MX)  feet, 
have  in  this  way  l>ecn  transformed  into  comparatively 
barren  wastes.  And  in  other  parts  of  the  Republic 
many  thousands  of  square  miles  have  similarly 
lapsed  by  this  devastating  process. 
This  persistent  burning  of  the  savannahs  and  hills 
for  crops  of  renewed  pasturage  plays  desperate  havoc 
with  all  other  vegetation,  trees  and  brushwood.  Isolated 
palm  trees,  with  their  intensely  hard  tranks  and 
endogenous  structure,  together  with  groups  of  brush- 
wood in  sheltered  or  humid  spots,  sometimes  withstand 
the  fury  of  the  dames.  There  is,  howcvei’,  one 
phenomenal  exception  to  this  subversive  , power  of 
the  fires.  A humble  tree  with  contorted  and  rugged 
trunks  and  branches  and  scabrous  leaves,  a tree 
presenting  the  most  subdued  and  weird  aspect 
conceivable ; this  pigmy  tree  not  only  resists  the 
fury  of  the  flames,  but  tire  is  actually  congenial  and 
subservient  to  its  existence,  for  the  tree,  instigated 
by  the  conflagrations,  forms  itself  into  great  j)lant- 
ations.  The  name  of  this  tree  is  chaparro  { /i/iojiula 
obovata),  indigenous  to  Colombia  and  other  South 
American  countries.  It  attains  a height  of  l.'i  to  ‘20 
feet,  and  its  distorted  trunks  measure  from  1)  to  1‘2 
inches  in  diameter.  It  is  widely  distributed  in 
Colombia,  for  I have  found  it  at  the  Sierra  Nevada 
of  Santa  Marta,  and  dispersed  inland  1,0(X)  miles 
from  the  sea.  In  contact  with  the  great  forest  it 
maintains  a precarious  existence.  But  as  already 
explained,  it  usurps  dominion  in  places  where  no 
other  tree  can  grow.  In  Tolima  it  abounds  on  the 
slopes  and  ridges  of  the  hills  at  elevations  from  1,000 
to  3, .WO  feet.  In  this  department  alone  hundreds  of 
square  miles  of  the  lower  hills  which  have  been 
reduced  to  sterility  by  incessant  burnings  are  occupied 
by  this  diminutive  tree,  and  it  assumes  the  aspect 
of  vast  systematically  formed  and  well-kept  plan- 
tations. This  is  more  than  a triumph  of  the 
“ survival  of  the  fittest.” 
It  is  very  remarkable  that  these  fire-begotten 
plantations  are  nowhere  crowded  to  excess  ; on  the 
contrary,  the  trees  are  so  regularly  placed  that 
their  aspect  vies  with  that  of  the  most  carefully 
formed  plantations.  There  is  a popular  belief  in 
Tolima,  where  alluvial  gold  abounds,  that  this  tree 
flourishes  only  on  those  seductive  lands,  serviim  as 
a guide  to  searchers  after  the  precious  metal.  The 
bark  of  the  tree  is  peculiarly  constituted.  It  consists 
of  a congeries  of  integuments  or  semi-detached  layers. 
The  outer  portion,  about  half-aii-inch  thick,  performs 
no  organic  function,  and  this  portion  of  the  bark, 
in  conjunction  with  its  peculiar  compositions,  pro- 
tects the  inner  vital  integuments  from  injury  by  fire. 
Tlic  form  and  struct  nve  of  the  tree  may  have  ori- 
ginated fi'om  the  severe  ordeal  through  which  it  has 
suivived.  b'or  instance,  according  to  the  theory  of 
natural  selection,  some  animals  when  they  migrate 
into  a colder  climate  become  covered  with  thicker 
fur.  As  we  have  seen  with  regard  to  this  plant,  the 
]>owers  of  nature  have  been  encroached  upon,  i.c. 
the  plant  having  emerged  from  a state  of  nature  it 
has  made  for  itself  a law  of  its  own,  for  it  has 
triumphed  over  the  most  disastrous  element  to  all 
organic  life.  The  hundreds  of  square  miles  of  worn- 
out  land  covered  by  this  beueficient  tree  in  Tolima 
alone  are  undergoing  a slow  jn’oeess  of  amelioration 
which,  moreover,  could  be  easily  accelerated  by  the 
interposition  of  a few  simple  devices. 
It  is  noteworthy  that  the  chaparro  prefers  the 
slopes  and  ridges  of  the  hills  to  the  flat  savannahs, 
on  which  it  is  seldom  found  in  any  considerable 
quantity,  though  widely  dispersed.  Fire  ranges  with 
far  greater  fury  on  the  slopes  and  ridges  of  the  hills 
than  on  the  plains.  I,  however,  attribute  this  pre- 
ference of  the  plant  for  the  hill-sides  to  the  pernicious 
influence  of  the  accumulations  of  water  on  the  plains 
during  the  rainy  season. 
The  illustrious  Humboldt,  during  has  travels  in 
South  America,  noted  the  dispensal  of  this  plant  on 
the  vast  llanos  stretching  from  tne  Orinoco,  Ac.  These 
llanos  are,  for  the  most  jiart  destitute  of  vegetation 
other  than  O’l-aiiiivcic.  The  only  trees  that  were 
found  on  many  parts  of  these  dreary  wastes  were 
specimens  of  chaparro  and  in  more  humid  spots  a 
palm.  Thus,  reterring  to  the  llanos  which  he  tra- 
versed, he  says,  “For  many  square  miles  not  a tree 
to  be  seen,  but  where  a few  .solitary  trees  are 
found  they  are,  in  humid  districts,  the  Mauritia 
palm,  and  in  arid  spots  the  /I’hojHihi  rmnpliititd.” 
Vast  deserts  and  semi-deserts  abound  throughout 
the  tropical  world  many  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
square  miles.  It  mo.y  be  that  the  chaparro  is 
destined  to  play  an  important  part  in  the  recla- 
i.nation  of  these  illimitable  wastes  for  the  decomposed 
leaves  gradually  from  a crust  of  vegetable  mould.* 
Goiuke. 
In  recent  years  a great  impetus  has  been  given 
to  this  (!offee  cultivation  in  Colombia.  The  most 
reliable  statistics  show  the  following  export  returns: — 
^ ear.  Value. 
Dolkars. 
1877-78  ..  ..  810,0(K) 
1890  ..  ..  7.500.000 
1891  ..  ..  lO,0(X),00() 
It  may  be  safely  estimated,  in  view  of  the  continual 
large  extension  of  this  cultivation,  that  in  the  course 
of  2 or  3 years  the  total  output  will  have  augmented 
to  15,000,000  dob;  no  less  than  37,000  tons 
I am  unable  to  state  the  proportion  of  coffee  which 
Tolima  contributes,  but  it  may  be  estimated  at  about 
300,000  dob,  a return  greatly  in  excess  of  the  pro 
duction  half-a-dozen  years  ago.  The  districts  of 
Tolima  in  which  this  cultivation  is  chiefly  carried 
on  are  distant  inland  from  Honda  from  100  to  200 
miles.  Thus,  bearing  in  mind  that  coffee  is  culti- 
vated at  from  700  to  900  miles  from  the  seaport 
Savanilla,  credit  is  due  to  the  enterprising  planters. 
The  Biver  Magdalena,  with  several  of  its  contri- 
butaries,  afford  to  a large  extent  the  means  of  trans- 
port to  Honda.  The  produce  is  carried  by  mules 
from  the  mountain  slopes  to  the  river,  thence  in 
rafts  down  the  current  to  Honda,  from  3 to  5 days' 
journey.  From  Honda,  whence  also  is  shipped  the 
produce  from  the  great  coffee-growing  province  of 
Cundinamarca,  the  coffee  is  conveyed  by  steamers, 
and  two  short  railway  routes,  to  the  sea— 800  miles. 
Independently  of  the  Upper  Magdalena  and  its 
contributaries,  many  thousands  of  mule-loads  of  coffee 
are  annually  brought  to  Honda,  partly  from  Tolima, 
but  chiefly  from  Cunnamarca.  tlms  from  3 to  5 days’, 
journey  to  Honda  only.  The  cost  of  transport  from 
the  plantations  to  the  coast  amounts  in  Fnglish 
money  from  1<?.  to  14ff.,  thus  respectively  9/.  tl.t.  8d. 
* An  extract  from  a letter  of  mine  to  the  Director 
of  Kew  Gardens  relative  to  chaparro  was  published 
some  years  ago. 
