=Plantains= are widely raised for native use, as they form the chief article of food for the masses in the lower districts. Higher up maize is the staple. The plantain requires little cultivation, the crops are heavy, and the plantations last for years. The fruit is eaten either green or ripe. =Sugar cane=, grown extensively on the fertile lands of the valleys, without fertilizer and with occasional hoeing, gives crops of 80 tons per acre, averaging 40 tons. It flourishes up to 7000 feet. Small primitive mills are the rule, but a few with modern machinery have been established, one near Cartagena. A brown sugar is chiefly made in the small mills, _pantana_, which is palatable and nourishing; but some is refined for table use and for the chocolate factories. A large amount of sugar is used for _chicha_ (sugar syrup fermented with corn), for denatured alcohol, and for _aguardiente_, a kind of rum; the last is a government monopoly. The sugar production is hardly sufficient for local needs. =Tobacco=, which some think equal to the best Havana, is raised, mostly for local consumption; formerly much was exported to Bremen. =Cacao= grows wild on thousands of acres, some trees reaching a height of 45 feet; but to give the best results it must be cultivated. It is planted for early protection under bananas, together with other trees which will give shade later. Local demand consumes most of the supply. Little attention is paid to its cultivation, though the Magdalena and Cauca Valleys are well adapted to it. Trees 60 years old are found in bearing. =Coconut= palms might be more largely cultivated, plantations existing chiefly on the coast and islands. The fibres and oil are useful and many nuts are exported. =Rice= grows freely in rich, hot, irrigated land, but it is not largely cultivated. =Cotton= of excellent quality is raised from Egyptian seed on the Caribbean coast and in Antioquia; it is found growing wild at low and moderate altitudes all over the country. But little use is made of it except where factories are near, these promoting its culture. The plants, perennials, grow 12 feet high. The cotton, unrivalled for length of fibre, is all used locally.