Industrial and commercial South AmericaPeck, Annie S. (Annie Smith)
History
Industrial and commercial South America
Peck, Annie S. (Annie Smith)
South America; South America -- Economic conditions -- 1918-
=Cacao.= The production of cacao, which grows wild in the _montaña_,
should be greatly increased. The Department of Cuzco produces a
particularly fine article with exquisite taste and aroma, which brings
a higher price than that of Brazil or Ecuador, though little known
outside of the country. In the Perené Valley a plantation of 200,000
trees has been set out. Vast tracts in the Departments of Amazonas and
San Martín and in the Province of Jaen are also suited to its growth.
=Coca.= The culture of coca is important, but more limited as to future
development since its medicinal use should not be greatly increased
and its general use not at all. The plant is a shrub, usually six feet
high, cultivated in the districts of Otuzco (the most important) and
Huamachuco (Libertad), Huanta (Ayacucho), Cuzco, and Huánuco. It grows
best in valleys of 3000 to 7000 feet altitude, where the temperature
varies from 60° to 85°, in clayey but not marshy ground, with iron but
no salt. It needs frequent rains and humidity. Three or four crops
may be picked annually, the first in 18 months; the yield continues
40 years. Care is needed in picking the leaves and in drying. A great
quantity is consumed by the Indians, and some is exported to Europe and
the United States, both as dried leaves for making wines, tonics, etc.,
and for the extraction of alkaloid; also as cocaine for the making of
which over 20 small factories exist in Peru. Chewing coca leaves is of
great service on the plateau for necessary and unusual exertion, but
injurious and stupefying when its use is continuous.
=Rice= is grown in the north in Lambayeque and in the Pacasmayo Valley
of Libertad. With one flooding and little ploughing the crops are
produced annually, 46,000 tons in 1917. A little is exported but more
is imported. The two varieties grown are Carolina and Jamaica. The
straw is not utilized.
=Fruits= of various kinds may be grown in all the coast valleys, but
south of Lima the culture, especially of grapes, is more advanced.
Even in poor years it is said that the grape crop is superior to the
European average; but too little attention has been paid to improving
and extending the industry. The vineyards are small and combined with
the other interests of a _hacienda_. The grapes are grown on stocks
about eight feet apart, supported first by canes, later by trellises
on adobe columns. Nine hundred gallons of wine an acre is an average
yield. Italia and Abilla are cultivated for white wines, Quebranta,
Moscatel, and others for red; the former of these two being most
prolific and generally grown. A pink Italia is a fine table fruit.
Wines cheap and good are manufactured to the amount of 2,200,000
gallons yearly, and 770,000 gallons of _pisco_, made from white grapes,
also quantities of alcohol. The sugar of the _montaña_ is used to
make _aguardiente_ or rum; in several coast districts a finer quality
is made from grapes and is probably what in some sections is called
_pisco_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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