The conditions that govern agriculture on the Peruvian coast are similar to those of the Nile valley, as regards the nature of the soil, climate, and fertilization. Wherever a stream crosses the sandy strip between the Cordilleras and the sea, the valley along its course is made richly productive, and yields abundant harvests. Every effort is being put forth by the government to increase the irrigable territory by distributing the water of the rivers to the best advantage and by sinking artesian wells wherever practicable. The special code which governs irrigation on the coast has recently been reformed so as to admit of a more general utilization of the water supply from the rivers; and experienced hydraulic engineers from the Geological Survey Department of Washington, District of Columbia, have been engaged to study the geology of the coast, the courses of its streams, its subterranean waters, etc., in order that, from correct knowledge, the best means may be employed to utilize its moisture so as to benefit the greatest possible area. [Illustration: IRRIGATING CANAL ON A PIURA PLANTATION.] At present, not more than two million acres of coast lands are planted, out of a cultivable territory of fifty million acres, showing that the farming industry is still in the infancy of its development. But the harvests actually secured, with comparatively little effort and expense, are in some cases phenomenal, and always abundant. When once the entire area is brought under the plough, Peru will have in its coast farms greater wealth than its mines have ever yielded. Not only through want of irrigation is the productive area much less than it would otherwise be, but the lack of laborers to cultivate the land is a serious drawback. Some of the large haciendas contain extensive fields of fertile soil that remain untilled because the owners have not sufficient capital, or a large enough staff of workmen to undertake their development. [Illustration: LOADING SUGAR-CANE, SANTA BARBARA PLANTATION, CAÑETE.]