Peru

The most important means of communication in the montana is river transportation. There are 3,00o to 4,000 m. of navigable tributaries to the Amazon. The chief port is Iquitos on the Mara non, 2,653 m. from the Atlantic. Two British lines of steamers, the Booth and Red Cross lines, ply between Iquitos, England and New York. On the Huallaga is Yurimaguas, about Soo m. up stream from Iquitos, connected with it by a regular line of steamers. A railway from Yurimaguas to the Pacific coast is un der contract. On Lake Titicaca steamers ply regularly between Puno and the Bolivian port of Huaqui, a distance of about 5o miles. This line is one of the highest in the world.

The Marconi Wireless Telegraph company administers (1928) the postal and telegraph services. The telegraph dates from 1864 and there are 10,557 m. of lines; but the cost of construction in the sierra is so great that the Government is substituting wireless telegraphy. First established in 1908, there are now about 15 stations. A national telephone company operates the system of Lima and surrounding districts, with about 8,000 telephones and about ii,000 m. of lines. There is an army air service and naval aviation service. Two submarine cables connect with London and New York. The Compania Peruana de Vapores is the only na tional steamship line operating on the coast. The Peruvian mer chant marine consisted in 1925 of 23,000 tons. There are ten first class ports : Talara, Lobitos, Paita, Pacasmayo, Pimentel, Sala verry, Callao, Pisco, Mollendo and Iquitos. Most importing is done through Callao (q.v.) ; but the petroleum port of Talara nearly equals it in exports. Several foreign steamship lines carry coastwise traffic. There are (1927) 21 lighthouses on the coast, five of which have a visibility of more than 20 m.

Commerce.

During the colonial period foreign trade was con fined to Spain; export was mainly silver, After independence (1821), export of guano and nitrate became the chief source of revenue; from 1851-72, guano worth more than £75,000,000 was exported. The War of the Pacific took the nitrate provinces from Peru in 1879 and trade was paralysed. Until 1914 it re covered slowly. European demand for Peruvian products as a result of the World War brought a period of fresh prosperity. Large North American investments and Peru's need for manufac tured products have increased trade with the United States. Coun tries whose trade with Peru amounted in 1926 to over .0i,o00, 000 are as follows :— While the total foreign trade in 1913 was (im ports) and 09,137,181 (exports) ; in 1927 it was (imports) and 028,931,507 (exports). The chief exports of Peru are petroleum, cotton, sugar, copper, mineral concentrates, wool, silver, gold, hides and skins. Wild rubber, until recent years a large item of export, is now unimportant. The chief articles of export in 1926 were as follows: Petroleum and derivatives, 1,198,756 tons (07421,128) cotton, 50,234 tons 939) copper, 44,805 tons (04,247,986) sugar, 329,779 tons (03,604,995)• Imports are mostly machinery and manufac tured goods from the United States and the United Kingdom, in 1926 those from the United States being nearly three times those from the United Kingdom, its nearest competitor. In 1926 the chief imports were cotton textiles, manufactured metal articles, wheat, lum ber, agricultural and mining machinery and woollen textiles.

Agriculture.

Under the Inca empire agriculture achieved a perfection never equalled since. During this period the po tato was developed from the wild, bitter tuber, and other plants as well. Total lands cultivated at present are estimated at about 4,000,000 acres. The chief vegetable products are cotton and sugar. Cotton is indigenous and has been cultivated since pre-Columbian times. Most of the crop is grown in northern irrigated coast valleys: Peruvian cotton (Gossypium Peruvianum), full rough and semi-rough, grown in Peru only, chiefly in Piura ; Egyptian (Gos sypium herbaceum), the "upland cotton" of the United States ; mitafifi, a variety of Gossypium barbadense ; tangiiis, a native blend of rough and smooth, which although of recent origin, now constitutes four-fifths of the entire crop. Production is steadily

increasing, export having reached 8,000 tons in 1900 and 50,234 in 1926. Sugar-cane has been cultivated in Peru since 1545, total production, 375,963 tons in 1926. The principal centres of produc tion are the valleys of Libertad and Lambayeque. About 5o,000 tons of sugar and 6,000,000 litres of pure alcohol are consumed annually in Peru. Wheat has been grown in the sierra since the conquest; annual production averages 8o,000 tons, about one-half national requirements. Rice was introduced in the colonial period and about 35,000 tons are produced annually. Maize is the staple food everywhere. There are many fruits, but beyond local market demands, their commercial production is limited to grapes and olives from southern coast valleys. Wheat, barley, oats, quinoa, alfalfa, maize, oca and potatoes are the principal sierra products. Potatoes and quinoa are the only crops above 13,000 feet. Cattle have been raised ever since Spanish occupation. They are com monly small and hardy. Sheep are bred chiefly for their wool, and goats are raised for their skins and fat. Swine-breeding for lard is important in some coast valleys. Horses are bred on a small scale, also mules for mountain travel. The llama is used as a pack animal, and the alpaca for wool, hides and meat. Wild vicuna wool is highly prized and its export prohibited. The llama was the only beast of burden before the conquest and it is still indispensable on difficult trails. Most of the world supply of alpaca wool comes from Peru. The export of wool in 1926 was tons, valued at 0518,192. Montana and ceja de la mon tail a crops include sugar, tobacco, sweet potatoes, cacao, vanilla, coffee, bananas and yucca. The export of Peruvian bark (Cin chona officinalis) is no longer important. The Peruvian supply is practically exhausted by destructive methods employed in collect ing the bark. Quinine, extracted from it, is now imported in manu factured form. Coca (Erythroxylon coca) is a product peculiar to the eastern slopes of Bolivia and Peru; it is a medium of exchange in the sierra, the Indian's cure-all. By masticating the leaves he is able to perform incredible tasks with little food. Guano exerted a profound influence on the economic and political life of Peru during the past century. Though used by pre-historic peoples, it was not exploited until 1841-79, when it became the chief source of revenue. The birds which deposit it are so numberless that they cover the islands with a living carpet and fill the air with clouds that obscure the sun. Among them are cormorants, pelicans, gan nets, penguins, gulls and terns. The actual deposits are now pro tected by law, since "mineral" deposits, over 3,00o ft. thick, were largely exhausted during the boom. About nine-tenths of the total output is now used for domestic agriculture. In 1926-27, 98,196 tons were extracted. The prime requisite of agriculture on the Peruvian coast and in parts of the sierra is irrigation. Pre-Hispanic Indians built aqueducts, some of which are still in use. The Gov ernment has returned to vigorous support of irrigation projects. About 640,000 ac., an area which yields almost half the agricul tural produce of the country, are at present irrigated. The most important project under construction is that of diverting the Huancabamba river to the Pampa of Olmos. It includes drilling 18 m. of tunnels through the continental divide and constructing two hydro-electric dams 15o ft. high.