The old and the new Peru

by Marie Robinson Wright

STREET AND OLD CHURCH OF LAMBAYEQUE.

None of the agricultural products above named are confined to the coast region. In the lower inter-Andean valleys and on the higher levels of the Montaña sugar, cotton, and rice are successfully grown, though not as the chief industry, except in the case of sugar, which is a staple product of all the interior valleys. Tobacco thrives better in the interior than on the coast, though the province of Tumbes produces some of the best tobacco of South America. Maize is cultivated in every department, and in every region except on the high puna. It may be seen growing on the plantations of the coast, in the inter-Andean valleys, and in the Montaña, and furnishes the Indian’s chief article of food and drink; the native chicha, once the favorite beverage of the Incas, is made from this product. Maize is to the Peruvian Indian what rice is to the Oriental, the foundation of his cuisine. The history of its discovery is interesting. It is said that, when Christopher Columbus landed on the Island of San Salvador in the Bahamas, in 1492, he and his followers were surprised to find that the natives prepared a most palatable food from a plant that was quite unknown to the conquerors and had never been seen in Europe. The natives called it mahiz, which the Spaniards corrupted into maiz (pronounced like the English word “mice”), and it has ever since retained this name, having become one of the principal agricultural products of the world. The valley of Chancay is famous for its maize, the production of this district alone amounting to about ten thousand tons annually; though Cuzco enjoys the reputation of growing the largest maize in the world, with grains the size of a large bean. Peruvian maize won a gold medal at the St. Louis Exposition in 1906, and was the subject of great interest among agriculturists.

PATAPO, DEPARTMENT OF LAMBAYEQUE.

Agriculture is awakening greater interest than ever before in Peru. The government, through the Department of Fomento, is doing everything possible to encourage its development; the National School of Agriculture and veterinary science has been most successful as a means of providing practical instruction in this important branch of education. The school was founded in 1902, the first pupils being graduated in 1906. Many young Peruvians have studied agriculture in the United States and Europe, and, on returning home, have put in practice on their haciendas the knowledge thus gained. A few have become teachers in the National School of Agriculture, which is accomplishing a great work for the future of Peruvian industries. The Department of Fomento distributes, free of cost, to the agricultural community a great quantity and variety of illustrative literature respecting modern methods of cultivation, irrigation, and fertilization of lands, with suggestions as to the best kinds of products to be fostered in certain regions; a bulletin appears monthly, filled with useful information, and the school of agriculture publishes a newspaper along the same lines. The government also imports seeds and special plants from other countries and lends its aid to the planter in exterminating any diseases that may appear on his lands.

HUARAZ, CAPITAL OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ANCASH.

The laws of Peru authorize the government to grant concessions of waters and lands on liberal conditions, which are attracting agriculturists from less favored zones. Companies have been formed with the object of securing irrigation on lands hitherto not within the cultivable area, and the system of irrigation has been increased in various sections. In the Department of Piura, the irrigating canals on the Chira and Piura Rivers have greatly enhanced the value of lands in that section; and similar results have followed the work done in Lambayeque and in the Chicama valley. The effort on the part of the government to place the coast lands under irrigation is not of recent date, the records showing that measures were adopted to promote enterprises with this object in view as early as 1861, when authority was given, by a supreme decree, “to sink artesian wells for irrigation and domestic uses in Paita and Piura.” During the presidency of Don Manuel Pardo, especial attention was given to the problem of irrigation, and agriculture was developing under the most auspicious circumstances when interrupted by the war of 1879. As soon as peace was restored and the country resumed its normal tranquillity, the importance of irrigation again occupied the public mind, and from that time to the present,—though notably during the administration of Don José Pardo,—improvements have continued to be made and new experiments studied for the benefit of the agriculture of the coast by a more thorough and general irrigation of its territory. Another question besides irrigation is now occupying the attention of agriculturists. Heretofore, the wonderful fertility of the soil has been perpetuated by allowing fields to lie fallow for a season, whenever their productiveness threatened to decline. This system is giving place to the more scientific method of fertilizing the land by the use of guano and other substances suitable for the purpose, and no country is better provided than Peru with the best fertilizing products of the world. The islands from which this valuable food for the soil is obtained are all within easy sailing distance of the coast, and their supply is sufficient for the needs of the country for an indefinite period.

PORT OF PACASMAYO.