The country has such variation in altitude as well as such fertility of soil that not only does almost every sort of vegetation thrive within its borders, but it exists in most of the Departments. An enumeration of all the localities where the different articles are found would be needless repetition. Reference will be made, however, to Departments where certain products are chiefly grown. With proper cultivation and ample labor food stuffs might be produced to satisfy every requirement, but many are imported from other countries more easily than they could be carried from one section of Colombia to another. =Coffee=, from the commercial and export point of view, is the most important agricultural product, in quantity coming next to Brazil, while in quality the coffee by some is considered second only to Arabian. Preëminent for its culture are the Departments traversed by the Central and East Cordilleras, especially Cundinamarca, Antioquia, Caldas, Santander del Norte; also Cauca, El Valle, Tolima, and the north slope of the Nevada de Santa Marta. In Colombia coffee grows best at altitudes of 2000-6000 feet, the higher the milder the coffee. At 5000 feet no shade is required, though necessary when first planted in most places where it is raised. Everywhere coffee seems to prefer sloping ground. In Cauca, where 720 trees are planted to the acre, they produce for 50 or 60 years. Coffee from Santander, mostly going out by way of Maracaibo, is sold under that name. We hardly think of coffee as a product of the temperate zone, but in Colombia it is so classed, growing in the same altitudes as temperate fruits, vegetables, and cereals. =Bananas= are the most important crop of the lowlands, especially since the exploitation of the Santa Marta district by the United Fruit Company. Ninety per cent of the bananas raised in this section are exported by the company under contract with private growers. Banana land of the company is well laid out with irrigating canals, managers’ and laborers’ houses, etc. Export has increased enormously. As the section is watered by five rivers and many brooks, it is especially favorable for the irrigation needed. The trunks and leaves of the plant, which might be utilized for cordage, paper, card-board and textiles, at present go to waste. The cost of clearing and preparing land for the industry, with 350 trees to the acre, is about $45. Within two years the annual receipts are $40, largely profits. The Company owns 28,000 acres of improved land (10,000 devoted to cattle) and twice as much land unimproved. The bananas are free of export duty and taxation. The fruit may be grown in all the lowland sections where irrigation is practicable, which is almost everywhere. Before the War the Germans near the Gulf of Urabá started a plantation of 12,000 acres, one third of which is under cultivation.