Other roads are in construction or planned for the immediate future. From Coro a road is to go south and southwest to Trujillo and beyond, and one near the coast to Altagracia on the Maracaibo Channel, northeast of that city. Several roads will branch from Barquisimeto and from Valencia, the most important, one from Valencia southwest to San Carlos, Guanare, Barinas, and San Cristóbal. Shorter local roads will serve Cumaná and Carúpano. Considerable activity has recently been manifested in road building; and bridges, long sadly lacking over mountain torrents, have been constructed. Some deeper streams have ferries. =River= communication and lake service are important in many sections. Of Venezuela’s nearly 500 rivers, 74 are said to be navigable a distance of 6000 miles, 4000 in the Orinoco Basin. Especially in Bolívar and Amazonas communication is by river, but in other States also it is important. The Orinoco is a natural highway 600 miles to Pericos and the Atures Rapids. There is regular weekly service to San Fernando de Apure. There is traffic along the Apure, Arauca, and Meta Rivers, the last two in Colombia; but the affluents on the north side of the Orinoco are too variable in depth to permit regular service, and those on the south are too broken by cataracts. On =Maracaibo Lake= are plenty of craft, both steam and sailing vessels, two main lines of the former running from Maracaibo, one along the west side of the Lake and up the Catatumbo to Encontrados and the Táchira Railway, the other to La Ceiba and the Motatán Railway going towards Trujillo on the east side; a smaller boat runs around the south side of the Lake and up the Escalante to Santa Bárbara. From Encontrados a line of small steamers runs up the Zulia to Villamizar. CHAPTER XI VENEZUELA: RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES AGRICULTURE The Agricultural Zone, according to late statistics, covers the greater part of that section of the Republic which lies between the sea and the Orinoco Plains: about 100,000 square miles, only one third of which is tilled. The section has great fertility of soil, and with its varying elevation and climate it is adapted to the production of everything needful for man or beast. Twenty per cent of the population is employed in agricultural pursuits. With the introduction of new methods and modern machinery a vast development and great wealth should ensue. At present the chief products are coffee, cacao, and sugar, with tobacco, cotton, corn, wheat, vanilla, etc., and a great variety of fruits and vegetables.