The grazing industry dates from the early days of colonization.
The three chief grazing districts of colonial times were the north ern Brazil district which supplied Bahia and Pernambuco, the south central Brazil district which supplied Minas Geraes and Rio de Janeiro, and the Argentine pampa, which supplied the min ing centres of Bolivia and Peru. Exports from the cattle-growing regions consisted until fairly recently almost entirely of hides, as is still the case with Chile, Colombia, Venezuela, the Andean coun tries, and the interior of Brazil. Only Argentina and Uruguay are even to-day large exporters of beef, although southern Brazil ships a considerable amount. The first meat exported from Argentina was jerked beef and even in 1876, it consisted chiefly of mutton. The shipping of frozen beef began some time later but it was not until 1901 that chilled beef was shipped in quantities. Now Ar gentina exports more beef than any other country in the world. Sheep are still numerous in Uruguay and on the pampa, but they have been greatly decreased by the spread of cattle-raising and the cultivation of the land for cereals and alfalfa. In Patagonia and in Tierra del Fuego the sheep industry has had a remarkable development. In the exportation of wool Argentina, with three to four hundred million pounds of wool shipped annually, is second only to Australia.
The exploitation of the forests in South America, as elsewhere, has had little to do with the establishment of permanent colonies, although it has at times seriously depleted those already estab lished. In the 18th century the sugar-mills of Maranhao were de serted for the exploitation of cacao found in the neighbouring for ests. In the 19th century men left the cacao plantations to search for rubber. In general only the most precious forest products have been exploited for exportation, such as logwood, rosewood, woods rich in tannin, quebracho, rubber and the vegetable ivory nut. In the east slope forests of the Andes of Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador, the collecting of cinchona bark, from which quinine is extracted, was an important industry from the middle of the 18th to the latter part of the 19th century and was at one time one of the chief resources of Bolivia. The introduction of the tree into Java, Ceylon and India has now, however, completely destroyed the industry in South America. The collecting of mate (Para guayan tea) is still an important industry in Paraguay. Some Parana pine is cut in Brazil for exportation to Uruguay and Ar gentina and saw-mills on the Strait of Magellan are engaged in manufacturing lumber from the forests of the west coast of Pata gonia for the Argentine trade; but, in general, the exploitation of forests for lumber is profitable only in the vicinity of important towns. In the early days of the railroads much wood was con
sumed by locomotives but it is largely, though not entirely, sup planted now by coal and petroleum. Along the routes of the river steamers there is still a large demand for wood for fuel. The main routes for the transportation of lumber and other forest products are the rivers of the Atlantic side of the Andes and river ports are the chief centres of the industry—Itaquy on the Uruguay (centre of the mate industry), Posadas, Iquitos and Mangos.
One result of the wide dispersion of the early colonies in South America was the development of long transportation routes. The most famous of these was that from the Rio de La Plata settle ments to Lima by way of the mining centres of Bolivia and south ern Peru. Its function was not only that of the route by which cattle from the pampa were driven to the mining centres but also to serve as a link in the line of communication and supply between Spain and the Rio de La Plata settlements since, by decree of the Court of the Indies, direct communication between Europe and the Spanish settlements of the east coast was forbidden. There was also in colonial times much traffic on the large rivers of the Amazon and Parana systems but these rivers were of little impor tance in transcontinental traffic because of the difficult ascent of the Andes from the heads of navigation. Everywhere, more or less local, but still, in many cases, long and arduous pack routes were developed between the productive areas, whether mineral or agri cultural, and the local markets or the coast ports. In the Andes the mules became the chief beast of burden. On the lowlands east of the Andes where wheeled traffic was possible the ox hitched to great carts was used. Even to-day only the Argentine pampa, with about 25,000 miles of track, and the coffee region of Brazil, with about 20,000 miles centring at Rio de Janeiro and Santos, have a real network of railways. Elsewhere the pack train is still an essential feature in transportation. In the west coast and An dean countries, except in Chile where a longitudinal railway has been built for strategic reasons, the railways are chiefly short lines from the mining centres to the nearest ports. The exchange of commodities between the South American countries is limited and is served chiefly by water routes. Only two railway routes cross the continent—the transandine route from Buenos Aires to Val paraiso opened in 1909, and the route from Buenos Aires to Mol lendo by way of La Paz (all rail except for the Lake Titicaca sec tion), the last link of which was completed in 1926. Motor road mileage is still limited although good progress is being made.