&86 
THE TROPICAL AQRIOULTURfST 
[June i, 1892. 
On the coast, where there may be said to be 
literally no rainfall, the temperature is lower than 
that of any country, in the same latitndo, we have 
■ ever visited ; and yot there is an absence of the 
chilling evening breezes so disagroable in Australia 
— so deadly in India. 
The temperature during our stay of several weeks on 
the coast — in July and October — rarely varied more 
than 4 deg. in the 24 hours, viz., Oh deg. to 72 deg. 
At a medium altitude of say 10,000 feet above 
sea level the difference between day and night 
temperature is of course greater, the Ihermomoter 
tanging from 70 deg. to 75 deg. during tlie day and sink- 
ing to 50 deg. at night. Btill, there is a crispness 
in the air which tenders the climate peculiarly in- 
vigorating, and the robust health of the native Chola 
amply testifies to its salubrity. 
On the nppor tributaries of the Amazon wo ap- 
proach a more humid and truly tropical climate, 
still, however, with a general immunity from malaria. 
Moreover, that insect pest, the moarya ito— whicli Pro- 
' vidence seems to sond as a warning to indicate danger 
-“-is very rarely met with, while the land leech so 
troublesome in India, is never seen here. 
The rainfall in the great Montana districts set-ms 
ample for all purposes. The nature of the 
vegetation sufficiently indicates this, though neither 
here nor elsewhere in Peru has over any record been 
kept of the actual amount of rainfall, nor as fitr as 
we can ascertain, has such a thing as a rain-gauge 
ever been introduced into the country. The tem- 
perature of the Perond Valley is very much the 
same as that of Kandy, the central capital of Ceylon, 
viz., 70° to 85°. The climate, however, is evidently 
much healthier, and much loss windy. No bare brown 
ridgoa hero indicate the drift of monsoons. Every 
mountain side is uniformly clothed in majestic trees, 
above and below all being strikingly calm and silent, 
sou,. 
It need scarcely bo said that there is a very great 
variety of soil in Peru, whore the geological character- 
istics are so exceptionally varied ; and, ns soils 
aitako of the nature of the rocks from the 
ecomposition of whicli they originate, it may 
readily bo inferred that, in a country so rich in 
those minerals which form a peonliarly valuable 
food for plants, tho soil is largely impregnated with 
substances which have a most marked and beneficial 
effect upon tlie vegetation. 
The prevailing Charactor of tho soil on tho Montana 
is a deep rich loam, naturally so rich in humus ttiat all 
that is required is tho simplost tillage. Even on tlie 
coast where all appears to be driven sand, cultivation 
seems at once to change its appearance and character, 
and no manuring is over dreamed of. 
On the steep mountain slopes, where, up to 12,000 
feet, tho ancient " Inca terraces are still to bo seen, 
and where tho industrious and healthy '‘Chola " still 
grows his splendid wheat, barley and potatoes, the soil 
IS marvellously rich and deep. Six to eight feet of dark 
mould may frequently be soon on a bed of conglome- 
rate, and again a stratum of dark vegetable soil below. 
On tho great " Pajonals corresponding to our 
“ Patiias ” in Ceylon — where the forest abruptly ceases 
and a treeless sward of rather poor grass Buperveiies, the 
.soil is a stiff infertile clay. These Pajonals occasionally 
crop dilt in the great sea of ferrost, the extent varying 
from a few hundred to a tliousand aorcsi and if they do 
not enhance the intrinsic value of the land, they do add 
ranch to the natural beauty of the scenery. The soil of 
those forest lands is generally speaking, all that could 
bo desired for the tropical products at present most 
in demand, sucli as: — Coffee, cocoa, coca, coconut, 
nutmegs, popper, oinchona, cinnamon, cardanuius, 
' rice, rubber, sugar cane, sago, tea, tobacco, vanilla, Ac. 
And speaking more particularly of what we have 
specmlly examined in the valleys of Paucartambo and 
Areni, for a distance of from 50 to CO miles, tlio 
nature of tho soil is not only unquestionably suitable, 
but is specially well adapted, for the permanent pro- 
duction of any or all of the products above enumerated. 
VKOitTATlON. 
In writing of the vegetation of a country, where tlie 
luxuriance is sucli tliat Nature in sheer wantonnesa 
seems to run riot, it is difficult to keep within the usual 
bounds of an official Ucx>urt. 
There are perhaps few countries where first impres- 
sions prove more at fault tliat in Peru. 
ht-w who sail along the coast Could imagitie the 
luxuriance of the Valleys of Chiclayo. Chieama, 
Cattavio, Chimhotc, or the Kiniac. Pew who 
travel by the Central Railway , and look upon the 
apparently bare brown hills, could conceive the 
cereal and lloral wealth which clothes and adorns 
them. We were piirticulnriy struck with this in climb- 
ing a few thousand feet above tlie Matueana Station, 
where tlie hills look so bleak in the distance, yet, 
where nearly all the most prized flowers of our Rritish 
gardens cover the rugged ground in tlieir native pro- 
fusion. 
And the.se modest little planta have their uses 
beyond tlie hiero gratification of the florist and bota- 
nist. In an economic sense their presence snfficientlj' 
indicate whore other products, more valuable com* 
uicrcially, might also best bo grown. At the same 
time they indicate the altitude more correctly than 
some of our Aneroids. The Ageratnm, for instance, 
so forniidalile an enemy to us when coffee was at its 
best in Ceylon, seiwes hero to show a soil suitable 
for " the fragrant berry,” though the locality may not 
in other respects be convenient. Acres of Inxn'riant 
Heliotrope scent tho air, testifying that — though at a 
height of over 8,000 feet— wo are still safe from frost. 
The more hardy Calccolnrias come next, and with 
tho curious Ctiphca, tho red and tlie blue Salvia 
flourish up to 10,000 feet. After these the chief re- 
presentative is the blue Lupine, beds of which may 
ho seen covering tlionsands of acres up to 12,fl<l0 or 
13,000 feet, leaving a few Sednms, Anemones and 
Dandelions, to dispute the limit of l(i,0(X) feet with 
the snow. 
From 8,000 to 10.000 feet above sea level, wheat, 
barley and potatoes grow to great perfection, wliile 
the oat is a wild weed, giving, when ripe, a 
yellow tingo to whole mountain ranges where Die 
feet of man never tread. 
The cultivation, such as it is liore. is laborious 
enough, and is hardly suited to our European ideas 
of husbandry. To scramble over the miles of pre- 
cipitous jjaths lending to these terraced fields of a 
few yards in breadth seems a day’s work in itself ; 
but the merest scratcli in the simpe of ploughing is 
sufficient, and such is tho richness of the soil that 
no manuring is ever necessary to grow lieavy crops 
of grain and excellent prti'.toes, oca (oxalis), Ac. 
Europe has already been :i cbted to Peru for many 
valuable acquisitions to the field and garden, and 
there is still to bo introdiiccda potato, miquestlonahly 
suiterior as a food to anything of the kind now grown 
in Rritain. 
Prom 12,000 to 14,00<> feet altitude bnriey continues 
to grow luxuriantly, but ceases to maturo its grain. 
3“io Al/n/fa as it is hero c.alled, grown so ex- 
tensively froiji the coast up to and over 10,000 feet, 
is really a native of England. The Lucerne (jWctfirngo 
■.Vciii-a), so well known to onr forefathers, has here 
in Peru become tho most productive and nutritious 
of all fodders for cattle. On the monntain 
plateau, which extends for hundreds of miles, the 
rains seem somewhat fitful and uncertain, hut not 
more so than in most parts of Australia ; and it is 
curicuB to note how kindly Australian trees, chiefly 
the Eucalypti, take to this climate, growing with great 
luxuriance wherever planted. Amongst the rest of the 
somewhat scanty vegetation here, we observed the 
E/drr, and by the watercourses the Alder, both natives 
of Britain. Again, amongst tho native trees a very 
lioantifni and useful evergreen willow (Halie HuinhoMIt- 
maj abounds, a tree that vvottld be a groat aequlsi" 
tioii to Ooylon, North Buriiia, India, Ac. We will 
nowxiassoverthese rather grassy lands, on the eastern 
side of tho Lordilleras (upon which llamas, alpaca^ 
vicuiiasand sheep seem to find ample pastnroge), and 
after a journey of about 60 miles N.E. from Tnru.a, 
plunge at once into tho primeval forest, at an altitude 
of -l,(K)0feot. 
Tho first thing that struck us was the marvellous 
variety of the gigantic trees. In most other countries 
largo groups of the same family are found growing nP 
together; such as Pines in North America, Gnnis i 
Australia, Ac. Hero diversity is the rule, and seldom 
