ECUADOR: RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES
AGRICULTURE
The chief productions, industries, and exports of Ecuador are, as might
be expected, agricultural or forestal in character.
=Cacao.= The cultivation of cacao is by far the most important industry
of Ecuador, the amount exported in 1910 having nearly ten times the
value of any other commodity. The shrub grows wild in many tracts where
it is necessary merely to cut out other growth, leaving such tall trees
as may be desirable to shade the cacao shrubs. It remains only to weed
the land once a year, to give occasional prunings, and to harvest the
fruit. Besides these natural and irregular plantations many have been
prepared by clearing a suitable tract except for the required shade
trees. In holes two or three yards apart the fresh cacao seeds are
sowed; they sprout and grow rapidly. The plants must be sheltered from
the sun, maize or yucca serving this purpose for two years, or if the
banana plant is used it will suffice for 6 or 7 years till the cacao
comes into bearing. By this time other shade trees which may have been
planted will be large enough to serve, and the banana plants are cut
down. The plantation will then last indefinitely, for when the old
trees die at the age of 60 or 80 years a new growth will have appeared
to continue the work. The principal harvest is in March and April, but
the fruit may be gathered during the entire year. The pod containing
the seeds is left on the ground a day or two after cutting, then the
seeds are taken out and put in the sweating house for fermentation,
which gives a superior color, flavor, and aroma. Drying follows. The
cacao is rich in fats, albuminoids, caffeine, and theobromine. In
preparation for cocoa the fat is removed and used for cocoa butter;
it is retained for chocolate, which is therefore richer than cocoa
and for many persons is less digestible. A large area is now under
cultivation but more land is available. The best plantations are at an
altitude of 650-2600 feet. Twelve per cent is an ordinary return on an
investment, and at 1918 prices from 15 to 25 per cent. It is the safest
and easiest crop of the country, and foreign investors have engaged in
the industry. The districts south of Guayaquil yield especially fine
crops, though cacao flourishes on any of the hot humid lowlands. With
more scientific culture the quality might probably be improved, as it
is said to be hardly equal to the best raised elsewhere.
=Other products= are cotton, sugar, maize, tobacco, coffee, tagua,
rice, yucca (known also as cassava and mandioca), bananas, indigo,
rubber, quinine, bread fruit, etc., all growing up to 3000 feet and
some much higher, but of these tagua, rubber, 1,000,000 pounds, and
coffee, crop 7,000,000 pounds, in the order named, are the only
important exports.
=Sugar cane= grows rapidly and many sections are suited to it, as
also to rice, but not enough of either is produced to supply the home
market, though the sugar output amounts to 16,000,000 pounds and much
cane is turned into _aguardiente_ or rum. Suitable land is open in
Esmeraldas and Manabí. In the Guayas Valley large possibilities exist
for extending the rice industry.
=Tobacco= is cultivated in low lying river lands and plains; that of
the Daule River with culture might rival the Havana; that of Esmeraldas
is noted for its agreeable aroma.
For the poor people along the shore the =plantain= is the staff of
life, being eaten green, half ripe or ripe, cooked or raw. For the
Indians above, maize is the staple article of food, chiefly eaten dry
and toasted, and much used by others as a green vegetable.
=Coffee=, which grows up to 5000 feet, is raised for export on the
large plantations in the lower zone. It is said to be of quality
superior to the Brazilian and brings a high price. Tropical fruits
abound such as pomegranates, _paltas_, _chirimoias_, _granadillas_,
oranges, grape-fruit, etc., some of which are exported to Peru and
elsewhere.
On the higher lands wheat and barley are cultivated, also maize in
sheltered places as well as in the lowlands. Potatoes thrive in the
sierra, and other temperate zone fruits and vegetables. Alfalfa is
extensively raised wherever possible as fodder for traffic animals.
FORESTRY
=Tagua= and =rubber= are more forest than cultivated products, though
a few plantations of each have been set out. In Western Ecuador rubber
is produced by the _caucho_ tree, and in consequence of the destruction
of these by cutting down, they are now to be found in remote districts
only. The rubber of the finer class, the _hevea_, is obtained from the
Amazon Basin only. The forests contain many valuable plants and trees
of which little use is made save by the Indians for their huts and for
other necessities.
STOCK RAISING AND FISHERIES
The =cattle= industry is in a backward state, and the wool of the
highland sheep is poor. It is used locally, a little exported; also
hides. The quality of these is called very good. Goat and alligator
skins are also exported. The llama, so much employed as a beast
of burden farther south, is little used in Ecuador, in one or two
Provinces only. A few horses and mules are exported.
A great variety of =fish= is found along the coast including oysters
and lobsters. The industry is important, fish forming a material part
of the food supply for this region. Some pearls are found near the
island La Plata, off the coast of Manabí; the industry near Manta was
suspended on account of the ferocious sharks which infest these waters.
MINING
Ecuador, so far as is known, is the poorest in minerals of any of the
Pacific Coast countries. Copper, iron, lead, quicksilver and platinum
exist, but apparently not in commercial quantities. In the province of
Loja are copper deposits, but limited operation has been unsuccessful.
=Petroleum= has better prospects. Bituminous seams with fair quantities
of oil have been located in the north, but more favorable developments
would naturally be expected in the same line with the rich oil fields
of Peru. In El Oro near the town of Santa Rosa there is said to be
an oil field with good prospects, but the principal deposits so far
discovered are more nearly in line with the Zorritos and Lobitos
districts. The field, extending about 6 miles north and south and 20
miles inland, is close to the coast, 90 miles west of Guayaquil, in
desert country near the port of Santa Elena and 750 miles from Panamá.
A small oil fountain with considerable gas indicates that deep drilling
would bring results. The 25,000 barrels now secured annually are
obtained by digging small holes down 50 feet to a layer of impermeable
sandstone which is impregnated with oil. The life of these wells is
from 3 months to 3 years. A deep well bored by an Anglo-French Company
contains oil of a high quality. There is connection with Guayaquil by a
fairly good automobile road and by telephone and telegraph. A railway
to Santa Elena and Ballenita is in construction. Petroleum claims have
recently been denounced in the Canton of Quito, Province of Pichincha.
Indications of petroleum in the Oriente have been sufficient to
warrant the Leonard Exploration Company in securing a concession of
nearly 10,000 square miles east of the Andes from Tulcán to Riobamba in
which to explore and drill for oil.
=Gold.= Of metals, gold mines only have up to the present been
profitably worked; those of Zaruma in Southern Ecuador have long been
known and operated. In 1549 the towns Zaruma and Zamora were founded
and mining was established. Other discoveries followed attended by a
gold mining rush from Peru; but owing to the greed of the Governor of
Macas, residing at Sevilla, the Jívaros Indians rebelled, destroyed
several towns, and murdered many inhabitants, so that in later times
the mining has been limited to the placers of Esmeraldas and the lodes
of Zaruma. In recent years there have been examinations and working at
Zaruma with some mismanagement, but the values are considered proved
and shipments have been regularly made, to the extent of $250,000 in
1910. Placers have been found on the west slope of the East Cordillera
in Loja and Azuay with gravel from 3 to 6 feet deep. The Collay,
anciently worked by Indians, has alluvium 20-35 feet thick, with gold
in grains and dust but in small quantities. The placers of the small
streams are believed to be paying only as worked individually by the
patient Indian. In Esmeraldas there is platinum with the gold but in
too small quantities to be worth while. The mountain sections have good
lodes which might develop into paying propositions, but appearances are
judged less favorable than in some other quarters.
=Coal.= Beds of coal are found in several places among the mountains,
but none have yet been successfully worked. The Southern Railway has
recently consumed eucalyptus wood, well dried, in their locomotives.
=Manganese.= Deposits are said to exist near Pomasqui, from which it is
expected to ship 200 tons of ore monthly to the United States. Near San
Antonio in Pichincha a deposit from 3 to 9 feet thick covers 21,000
square feet. The ore runs from 46 to 53 per cent manganese.
INDUSTRIES
=Panamá Hats.= As might be supposed the manufactures of Ecuador are
slightly developed, with no articles save Panamá hats made for export.
In this they rank third, following cacao and tagua. The demand for the
hats has increased in recent years. They are due to the patient labor
of the natives. Made from two different kinds of plants, the _paja
toquilla_, and the _macora_, the finest hats are from the first, those
of average quality from the second, from which material fine hammocks
are also made. Both plants grow wild 6-10 feet high; but the _toquilla_
is transplanted, placed four feet apart, and kept free of weeds. The
fan shaped leaves of the _toquilla_ rise directly from the ground.
Conditions are especially favorable to the plant in Manglar Alto in
Manabí, but it grows elsewhere along the coast. The portions used for
hats are separated before the leaves open, and picked only in certain
weather conditions. The _macora_ grass grows wild on the hills and is
had for the gathering.
In Peru similar hats are made from Ecuador straw. In order to prevent
this a tax of one sucre a kilogram was placed on the export of the
straw, but without killing the Peruvian industry. The finest Ecuadorian
hats, which come from Montecristi and Jipijapa in Manabí, are sold in
Guayaquil at high prices, but far less than in New York.
A shoe factory, cotton and woolen mills, breweries, ice plants,
tanneries, flour mills, saw mills, etc., not forgetting chocolate,
are locally important. Along the coast are many maguey plants, from
the fibre of which to make bags and twine a profitable industry might
be created. For the establishment of a paper factory, the Government
proposes, it is reported, to grant valuable concessions to British
capitalists.
INVESTMENTS
From the list of Ecuador’s productions and exports, agriculture,
especially cacao, might seem to offer favorable opportunities; to some
gold mining might appeal or the possibilities of petroleum. For many
years engineering and construction work of various kinds, including
sanitation, must present openings for capitalists, and for experts in
such matters. With forests so near the coast saw mills and lumbering
would undoubtedly be profitable. Stock raising for local requirements
is a fair possibility.