80 BULLETIN 1409, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
LAND SUITABLE FOR AGRICULTURE 
Of the total land area, amounting to approximately 113,000,000 
acres, it is estimated that about 50 per cent is open country, 42 
per cent is woodland, 2 per cent is mountainous, and 6 per cent is 
river, lake, and swamp. A careful study of maps and descriptions 
of the country, together with some personal observation, leads to 
the estimate that about 44 per cent of the total area, or, say, 50, 
000,000 acres, is suitable for cultivation and livestock raising. 
THE AGRICULTURAL BANK 
The Banco Agricola de la Nacion is the most active institution in 
the country for encouraging agricultural development. It is author- 
ized to make loans to producers and to finance harvesting and selling 
of crops. It has agents in most of the cities and towns and a small 
force of inspectors who also act as agricultural agents. It has a 
division called u Division de Defensa Agricola/' which is the only 
organized agency for distributing seeds, for publishing cultural 
instructions, for encouraging the cultivation of new crops or better 
varieties of old crops, for combating insect pests and plant diseases, 
and for collecting agricultural statistics. It is in charge of Guil- 
lermo Tell Bertoni, the son of Moises S. Bertoni, a Swiss who has 
lived in the country for many years and who has written extensively 
concerning the geography, topography, climate, flora, and fauna of 
Paraguay. 
THE BOTANICAL GARDEN 
The Jardin Botanico was formerly an agricultural school, but 
because of lack of interest and support it was recently turned into a 
botanical garden. The garden has 450 hectares (a little more than 
1,100 acres), good buildings and equipment, many acres of orna- 
mental grounds, including a good collection of roses. It has con- 
siderable areas planted to coffee, yerba mate, and other plants and 
crops of economic importance suitable for the climate, and several 
hundred acres of native trees, shrubs, and plants make it very 
valuable. It is about 5 miles from Asuncion and can be reached 
by a good road. 
PRODUCTION OF PRINCIPAL CROPS 20 
COTTON 
The high price prevailing for cotton during recent years has 
resulted in great interest in the production of cotton in Paraguay. 
Both the Government, through the Banco Agricola del Paraguay, 
and private concerns are giving every encouragement to its develop- 
ment. Cotton growing in Paraguay has scarcely progressed beyond 
the initial stage, but it has been estimated that more than 22,000,000 
acres can be so utilized eventually. A preliminary estimate places the 
area cultivated in cotton during the 1924-25 season at 35,000 acres. 
This figure shows a slight decrease in comparison with the 42,000 
acres in cultivation during 1923-24, but the area is still about four 
20 Detailed estimates published in Banco agricola del Paraguay, Asuncion. Memoria . . . correspond- 
iente al ano 1923 . . . Asuncion, La Colmena S. A., 1924. 
