When all these works are concluded then will take place the solemn inauguration of Piriapolis.
The soil in Piriapolis is very good. The bed of humus or arable ground is 30 centim., and sometimes 1 met., 20 centim. deep. In some parts there are beneath that bed of humus other large beds of carbonate of lime, from one to two metres thick.
There are various springs of mineral waters, the properties of which have been officially recognized.
Among the natural extractive riches of the colony, there are some 300 hectares of forests, the trees of which are between five and six metres high. The cutting of trees has already begun, and a result may be hoped of 6,000 carts of wood, that will give a liquid product of $1.20 each cart.
There are also beautiful granite quarries, with pieces of stone some metres high. The granite of Piriapolis can be extracted and cut very easily. Its price is hardly 20 per cent. of what it generally costs in the other quarries. A contract has been recently made for the purchase of 20,000 posts, 1m 80 high, by 0m 25 thick, at the rate of 15c. each. The Directive Commission intends to work the quarries on a great scale, and to establish the working of the stone.
Actually, in Piriapolis port, they have begun to build a quay, a 100 m. long. The depths of the bay varies between 4 and 7 fathoms, at a distance of some 250 m. from the coast.
A road is already opened to public service. It is 30 m. broad and on each side of it a double row of trees has been planted. This road puts Piriapolis in communication with the rest of the Department of Maldonado, and will be useful for the trade and commerce of the Department of Minas.
Piriapolis is actually a reunion of farms and a territorial speculation, which is called to foment the density of the population and also the improvement of all kind of production; it divides the land and gives it every day more value, making it every day more productive by its agricultural industries, and also by the foundation of that bathing town, which secures a great consumption of the products, whilst at the same time the River Plate and the ocean permit the easy exporting of the same.
The Grape-Vine in the Republic.
The culture of the vine is improving a great deal in the Republic owing to the good results obtained by those, who some years ago, tried the establishing of vine plots, which is now one of the most important industries of the country and will soon be an inexhaustible source of riches for the Republic.