AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF SOUTH AMERICA 87 
COFFEE 
The area planted to coffee in Paraguay has averaged about 500 
acres and the production about 222,000 pounds during the last 10 
years. Imports averaged about 307,000 pounds annually from 1918 
to 1923, so that Paraguay produces about 42 per cent of her coffee 
requirements. 
YERBA MATE 
Yerba mate {Ilex paraguayensis) is not yet cultivated to any great 
extent in Paraguay, as the crop is mainly gathered from wild trees. 
The annual production averaged 19,367,000 pounds for the 10 
years, 1914 to 1923, and the average exports during this period were 
9 ,'3 19,000 pounds, or 48 per cent of the total quantity produced. 
LIVESTOCK 2i 
Any consideration of livestock in Paraguay must be confined 
chiefly to the cattle industry. Other livestock — hogs, sheep, and 
horses — are of minor importance. They are few in number and of 
poor quality and few if any attempts have been made to improve 
the native stock. But cattle raising is the most important single 
industry in the Republic and one which is capable of still greater 
expansion with the opening up of new lands and the improvement of 
transportation conditions. 
According to the best available estimates, there were approximately 
4,300,000 head of cattle in Paraguay at the end of 1924, as compared 
with 4,000,000 in 1923 and about 5,000,000 in 1915. Cattle are 
found in all sections of the country wherever land is available for 
grazing, but three areas are particularly adapted to cattle production. 
The first of these regions is the Misiones, in the southern part of the 
country, a triangular area bounded by the Paraguay and Parana 
Rivers and by a chain of low hills running southeast from a point a 
little south of Asuncion. The second region is in the extreme north 
of the country extending north from the Ipane River and the town 
of Concepcion to the Brazilian border. The third area is the Chaco, 
the vast region west of the River Paraguay extending to the foothills 
of the Andes. 
The first and second regions are well watered and have been 
devoted to cattle raising from a very early period in the history of the 
country. The Chaco, however, is a newly developed range area 
and even yet has been only sparsely settled and stocked. The 
western part of the Chaco is still unexplored and the boundary 
between Paraguay and Bolivia has never been definitely settled. 
The Chaco is largely prairie land with some forest. Near the Para- 
guay River there is plenty of water in lagoons and streams, but 
farther back in the country wells must be dug. 
The native cattle of Paraguay are descendants of the old Creole 
stock brought to the country in colonial times, some as early as 1546. 
They have been allowed to breed rather indiscriminately and with 
little attempt at improvement. Some 30 years ago Paraguayan 
cattlemen tried the experiment of introducing zebu stock from Brazil. 
The results were not satisfactory and efforts are now being made to 
21 This section of the report was prepared by Q. B. L. Arner, Agricultural Statistician, in the Division of 
Statistical and Historical Research. 
