The principal varieties of grapes cultivated in the vineyards of Ica are the Quebranta, Moscatel, Negra, and Moyar, for red wines; and the Albilla and Italia, white varieties; though there is also a pink Italia grape, of rich flavor, a delicious table fruit. The Italia produces a liqueur of fine quality; and Peruvian “Pisco” is well known throughout the west coast of South America, its name being derived from the port at which the earliest shipments were made. The Moscatel is used in the manufacture of a very palatable Sauterne, and the Negra produces a good claret. The most prolific vines are those of the Quebranta variety, the grapes of which are rich in sugar; this vine is grown in nearly all the vineyards of Peru. Ica is connected with the seaport of Pisco by railway, the line extending for forty miles, in a northwesterly direction, across the Pampa of Chuncanga. As the train enters this sandy plain an hour after leaving the capital, there is little to charm the traveller in the monotonous view; but the country to the north of Pisco, between that port and Chincha Alta, fifteen miles distant, presents a different aspect, showing fields of sugar-cane and flourishing vineyards.
AVENUE OF WILLOW TREES ON A SOUTHERN COAST HACIENDA.
HARVESTING ALFALFA ON THE FRISCO HACIENDA, NEAR MOLLENDO.
The principal estates of the Chincha valley are situated within a few miles of the port of Tambo de Mora, which is connected with Chincha Alta by a railway seven miles in length. This region, enclosing one of the most prosperous industrial centres of Peru, is drained by the Chincha River, a short, broad stream that has its source in the sierra of Huancavelica, receiving only a few tributaries as it crosses the province to the sea, where it divides and forms a delta; in this low-lying district are the towns of Chincha Alta, Chincha Baja, Suñampe, and Tambo de Mora, as well as the extensive haciendas of Larán (nine thousand acres), San José, San Regis, El Carmen, Hoja Redonda, and Lurin Chincha. Irrigating ditches, or acequias, have been constructed to convey water from the river through all these estates, the distribution being made under the direction of a water inspector employed by the government. In addition to the acequias, every plantation has its wells, which furnish plenty of water, even in the dryest seasons. Chincha Alta has the most extensive and best equipped wine-growing establishments in Peru. Modern methods are employed in cultivating the grapes as well as in the pressing, fermentation, and other details connected with the wine-making process. The cuttings are planted in September, in holes about three feet deep and eight feet apart, one shoot being placed in each; during the first two or three years, the young vine is supported on stakes of wild cane, then square columns of adobe, about four feet high, are put up at intervals, to serve as supports for trellises built of Guayaquil bamboo and willow, over which the vines spread in rich profusion. Within ten or twelve years the whole space is covered, forming a dense bower. The average harvest of grapes in this country gives nine hundred gallons of wine to the acre, but in prosperous years the yield is much heavier.
SCENE ON A POULTRY FARM IN SOUTHERN AREQUIPA.
It was not until about thirty years ago that the manufacture of wine was undertaken in Peru according to European methods. Up to that time every wine-grower had his own little establishment, with a primitive wine press, etc., and kept his jugs of wine in small cellars built for the purpose. A few of these bodegas remain at the present time, but their number grows less and less as the larger establishments buy up the product of the small vineyards at a better price than the owner can get by making the wine himself. The largest wine bodega in Peru is located in Chincha; it produces about four hundred thousand gallons annually. The total output of the province far exceeds that of any other wine district in the republic, Pisco coming second and Moquegua third. The entire yield of Peruvian vineyards is estimated at seven million gallons of wine and three hundred thousand gallons of spirits.
Pisco, the chief seaport of the Department of Ica and one of the most important of the southern coast, exports not only the wine and other products of its own department, but is the outlet for the neighboring states of Huancavelica and Ayacucho. It is one of the oldest ports of Peru, having been founded in the seventeenth century. The annual exports from Pisco amount in value to a million dollars gold, and its imports to half that amount, though the wines of Ica do not represent the largest share of the revenue of the port, appearing as the minor articles of commerce.