SOUTH AMERICA--THE LOWLAND STATES
The eastern countries of South America are mainly lowland plains. The
llanos of the Orinoco and the pampas of Plate (La Plata) River are
grazing lands. The silvas of the Amazon are forest-covered. In tropical
regions the coast-plain is usually very unhealthful; the seaports
excepted, most of the cities and towns are therefore built on higher
land beyond the coast-plain.
=Venezuela.=--The greater part of Venezuela is a region of llanos, or
grassy plains, shut off from the harbors of the Caribbean Sea, by
mountain-ranges. On account of their pleasant climate the
mountain-valleys constitute the chief region of habitation. The plains
are flooded in the rainy season and sun-scorched during the period of
drought; they are therefore unfit for human habitation.
Coffee is cultivated in the montane region; and cacao in the lower coast
lands. Almost every part of the coast lowlands is fit for sugar
cultivation, and in order to encourage this industry, the importation of
sugar is forbidden. As is usual in similar cases, the domestic sugar is
poor in quality and high in price. Among the forest products rubber,
fustic, divi-divi,[64] and tonka beans, the last used as a perfume, are
the only ones of value. The cattle of the llanos, the native long-horns,
furnish a poor quality of hide, and poorer beef. A few thousand head are
shipped yearly down the Orinoco to be sent to Cuba and Porto Rico.
The placer gold-mines of the Yuruari country, a region also claimed by
Great Britain, have been very productive. Coal, iron ore, and asphaltum
are abundant. Concessions for mining the two last-named have been
granted to American companies. The pearl-fisheries around Margarita
Island, also leased to a foreign company, have become productive under
the new management.
The means of intercommunication are as primitive as those of Colombia.
Short railways extend from several seaports to the regions of
production, and from these coffee and cacao are the only exports of
importance. The Orinoco River is the natural outlet for the
cattle-region, but the commerce of this region is small. The lagoon of
Maracaibo is becoming the centre of a rapidly growing commercial region.
_Caracas_, the capital and largest city, receives the imports of
textiles, domestic wares, flour, and petroleum from the United States
and Great Britain. The railway to its port, _La Guaira_, is a remarkable
work of engineering. _Puerto Cabello_, the most important port, receives
the trade of _Valencia_. From _Maracaibo_, the port on the lagoon of the
same name, is shipped the Venezuelan coffee. _Ciudad Bolivar_ is the
river-port of the Orinoco and an important rubber-market.
=The Guianas.=--The surface conditions and climate of the Guianas resemble
those of Venezuela. The native products are also much the same, but good
business organization has made the countries bearing the general name
highly productive. For the greater part, the coast-plain is the region
of cultivation. Sugar is still the most important crop; but on account
of the fierce competition of beet-sugar, on many of the plantations
cane-sugar cultivation is unprofitable and has been abandoned for that
of rice, cacao, and tobacco. Great Britain, Holland, and France possess
the country. The divisions are known respectively as British Guiana,
Surinam, and Cayenne, and the trade of each accrues to the
mother-country. British Guiana is noted quite as much for its
gold-fields on the Venezuelan border (Cuyuni River) as for its vegetable
products. _Georgetown_, better known by the name of the surrounding
district, _Demerara_, is the focal point of business. _New Amsterdam_ is
also a port of considerable trade. The gold-mining interests centre at
_Bartica_.
[Illustration: A CACAO PLANTATION]
[Illustration: PREPARING THE BEANS FOR SHIPMENT]
[Illustration: CACAO-TREE]
[Illustration: MAKING CHOCOLATE]
Surinam, in addition to its export of vegetable products, contains rich
gold-mines, and these contribute a considerable revenue. _Paramaribo_ is
the port and centre of trade. Phosphates and gold are among the
important exports of Cayenne, whose port bears the same name.
=Brazil.=--This state, nearly the size of the United States, comprises
about half the area of South America. Much of it, including the greater
part of the Amazon River basin, is unfit for the growth of food-stuffs.
There are three regions of production. The Amazon forests yield the
greater part of the world's rubber supply. The middle coast region has
various agricultural products, of which cotton and cane-sugar are the
most important. From the southern region comes two-thirds of the world's
coffee-crop. There are productive gold-mines in the state of Minas
Geraes, but this region is best known for the "old mine" diamonds, the
finest produced.
The Amazon rubber-crop includes not only the crude gum obtained in
Brazil, but a considerable part, if not the most, of the crop from the
surrounding states. The bifurcating Cassiquiare, which flows both into
Amazonian and Orinocan waters, drains a very large area of forest which
yields the best rubber known. The yield of 1901 aggregated about one
hundred and thirty million pounds, of which about one-half was sold in
the United States, one-third in Liverpool, and the rest mainly in
Antwerp and Le Havre. The price of rubber is fixed in New York and
London.
The cotton and cane-sugar are grown in the middle coast region. The
cotton industry bids fair to add materially to the prosperity of the
state. A considerable part of the raw cotton is exported, but the
reserve is sufficient to keep ten thousand looms busy. About three
hundred and fifty million pounds of the raw sugar is purchased by the
refineries of the United States, and much of the remainder by British
dealers.
The seeds of a species of myrtle (_Bertholletia excelsa_) furnish the
Brazil nuts of commerce, large quantities of which are shipped to Europe
and the United States.[65] Manganese ore is also an important export,
and Great Britain purchases nearly all of it.
The coffee-crop of the southern states is the largest in the world; and
about eight hundred million pounds are landed yearly at the ports of the
United States. The coffee-crop, more than any other factor, has made the
great prosperity of the state; for while the rubber yield employs
comparatively few men and yields but little public revenue, the
coffee-crop has brought into Brazil an average of about fifty million
dollars a year for three-quarters of a century.
Cattle products also afford a considerable profit in the vicinity of the
coffee-region. The hides and tallow are shipped to the United States.
For want of refrigerating facilities, most of the beef is "jerked" (or
sun-dried), and shipped in this form to Cuba.
The facilities for transportation, the rivers excepted, are poor. The
Amazon is navigable for ocean steamships nearly to the junction of the
Ucayale. The Paraguay affords a navigable water-way to the mouth of
Plate River. Rapids and falls obstruct most of the rivers at the
junction of the Brazilian plateau and the low plains, but these streams
afford several thousand miles of navigable waters both above and below
the falls.
Nearly all the railways are plantation roads, extending from the various
ports to regions of production a few miles inland. The most important
railway development is that in the vicinity of Rio, where short local
roads to the suburban settlements and the coffee-plantations converge at
the harbor. About fourteen thousand miles of railway are completed and
under actual construction. A considerable part of the mileage is owned
and operated by the state, and it has become the policy of the latter to
control its roads and to encourage immigration. One result of this
policy is the increasing number of German and Italian colonies, that
establish settlements in every district penetrated by a new road.
In 1900 the total foreign trade aggregated upward of two hundred and
seventy-five million dollars. The imports consist of cotton and woollen
manufactures, structural steel and machinery, preserved fish and meats,
and coal-oil. Great Britain, Germany, the United States, and France have
nearly all the trade. The United States sells to Brazil textiles and
coal-oil to the amount of over eleven million dollars yearly, and buys
of the country coffee and rubber to the amount of six times as much.
_Rio de Janeiro_, commonly called "Rio," is the capital and commercial
centre. Its harbor is one of the best in South America. Formerly all the
coffee was shipped from this port, but the greater part now goes from
_Santos_. _Porto Alegre_, the port of the German colonies, has also a
growing export trade.
_Bahia_, _Pernambuco_ (or _Recife_), _Maceio_, _Ceará_ are the markets
for cotton, sugar, and tobacco, much of which is shipped to other
Brazilian ports for home consumption. _Pará_ and _Ceará_ monopolize
nearly all the rubber trade. The position of _Manaos_, at the confluence
of several rivers, makes it one of the most important markets of the
Amazon basin, and most of the crude rubber is first collected there for
shipment. _Cuyaba_ is the commercial centre of the mining region; its
outlet is the Paraguay River, and Buenos Aires profits by its trade.
=Argentina and the Plate River Countries.=--These states are situated in a
latitude corresponding to that of the United States. The entire area
from the coast to the slopes of the Andes is a vast prairie-region. As a
result of position, climate, and surface the agricultural industries are
the same as in the United States--grazing and wheat-growing.
Cattle-growing is the chief employment, and the cost per head of rearing
stock is practically nothing. For want of better means of transportation
the shipments of live beef are not very heavy; the quality of the beef
is poor, and until recently there have been no adequate facilities for
getting it to market.[66] A small amount of refrigerator beef and a
large amount of jerked beef are exported, however. Near the markets,
there are large plants in which the hides, horns, tallow, and meat are
utilized--the last being converted to the famous "beef extract," which
finds a market all over the world.
The sheep industry is on a much better business basis. Both the wool and
the mutton have been improved by cross-breeding with good stock. As a
result the trade in mutton and wool has increased by leaps and bounds;
and nearly three million sheep carcasses are landed at the other ports
of Brazil, at Cuba, and at various European states. The wool is bought
mainly by Germany and France, but the United States is a heavy
purchaser. The quality of the fibre, formerly very poor, year by year is
improving.
Wheat, the staple product, is grown mainly within a radius of four
hundred miles around the mouth of Plate River. The area of cultivation
is increasing as the facilities for transportation are extended and,
little by little, is encroaching on the grazing lands. The wheat
industry is carried on very largely by German and Italian colonists.
Flax, grown for the seed, is a very large export crop. Maize, partly for
export and partly for home consumption, is also grown.
The timber resources, chiefly in Paraguay and the Gran Chaco, are very
great, but for want of means of transportation the timber-trade cannot
successfully compete with that of Central America and Mexico. Workable
gold and silver ores are abundant along the Andean cordillera; gold,
silver, and copper are exported to Europe. A poor quality of lignite
occurs in several provinces, but there are no available mines yielding
coal suitable for making steam. There are petroleum wells near Mendoza.
Most of the manufactures pertain to the preparation of cattle products,
although a considerable amount of coarse textiles are made in the larger
cities from the native cotton and wool. Hats, paper (made from grass),
and leather goods are also made. In general, all manufactures are
hampered by the difficulties of getting good fuel at a low price.
Transportation is carried on along Plate River and the lower parts of
its tributaries. The railway has become the chief factor in the carriage
of commodities, however, and the railways of Argentina have been
developed on the plans of North American roads. About twelve thousand
miles are in actual operation, one of which is a transcontinental line,
about completed between Buenos Aires and Valparaiso. Electric railways
have become very popular, and the mileage is rapidly increasing.
The import trade, consisting of textile goods, machinery, steel, and
petroleum, is carried on with Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium
(mainly transit trade), the United States, and Italy. The competition
between the European states for this trade is very strong, and not a
little has been acquired at the expense of the United States, whose
trade has not materially increased.
[Illustration: AREA OF THE PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION OF MATÉ]
_Buenos Aires_ is the financial centre of this part of South America.
Among its industries is the largest meat-refrigerating plant in the
world. The harbor at _La Plata_ is excellent and has drawn a
considerable part of the foreign trade from Buenos Aires. _Rosario_,
_Cordoba_, _Santa Fé_, and _Parana_ are the markets of extensive farming
regions. _Mendoza_ is the focal point of the mining interests.
=Paraguay= has a large forest area, but for want of means of
transportation it is without value. Even the railway companies find it
cheaper to buy their ties in the United States and Australia, rather
than to procure them in Paraguay. In spite of the extent of good land,
the wheat and much of the bread-stuffs are purchased from Argentina.
Tobacco and maté are the only export crops, and they have but little
value. The Parana and Paraguay Rivers are the only commercial outlet of
the state.
=Uruguay.=--Owing to its foreign population Uruguay is becoming a rich
country. The native cattle have been improved by cross-breeding with
European stock, and the state has become one of the foremost cattle and
sheep ranges of the world. The value of animal products is not far from
forty million dollars yearly. These go mainly to Europe, and so also
does the wheat-crop.
France and Argentina purchase most of the exports and Great Britain
supplies most of the textiles and machinery imported. The trade of the
United States is about one-fourth that of Great Britain. _Montevideo_ is
the chief market and port. At _Fray Bentos_ is one of the largest plants
in the world for the manufacture of cattle products.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
What kind of commerce has led to the establishment of the various ports
along the Spanish Main?
What advantages has the American fruit-shipper, trading at South
American ports, over his European competitor?
What is meant by "horse latitudes," and what was the origin of the name?
In what way may the opening of an interoceanic canal affect the
coffee-trade of Brazil?--the nitrate trade of Chile?
FOR COLLATERAL READING AND REFERENCE
From the Abstract of Statistics find the exports of the United States to
each of these countries.
From the Statesman's Year-Book compare the trade of the United States in
each of these countries with that of Great Britain, France, Germany, and
Italy.
If possible, obtain specimens of the following: Crude rubber, pampas
grass, Brazil nuts (in pod), and raw coffee of several grades for
comparison with Java and Mocha coffees.