Of her 45,000,000 acres of land, less than 5 per cent. is devoted to agriculture, owing to lack of population. There are about 1,700,000 acres of virgin forest lands and over 40,000,000 acres devoted to grazing cattle and sheep.
Wheat is the chief cereal grown, with corn, barley, oats and linseed in the order named. Tobacco has been tried with favorable results.
The raising of cattle of all kinds and the maintenance of slaughter-houses and packing establishments for the purpose of supplying Europe with meat forms the largest industry. One plant alone at Fray Bentos—owned by the Liebig Company and where the extract of that name is made,—kills over 3,000,000 head a year. Very naturally meat by-products are produced and exported in large quantities. Much frozen and tinned meat is exported. Some idea of the enormous size of the cattle industry here may be gained when we are told that at the present time Uruguay has over 9,000,000 cattle, 30,000,000 sheep, 800,000 hogs, 600,000 goats and 430,000 horses.
One of the leading industries is the shearing of wool, all of which is exported. The good climatic conditions, in connection with attention paid to breeding, have resulted in the production of a wool of superior length and texture and as a consequence wool-buyers from Europe are attracted to this market. In 1913 the amount exported reached the enormous sum of $35,875,975.
Despite the fact that Uruguay has no gold coin of its own, it is on a gold basis and its peso, or dollar, is worth almost four cents more than ours, or to be exact, $1.034. This is a decidedly unusual state of affairs for Latin America, and reflects favorably on the financial condition of the country.
There is much English capital invested here, and to a large extent trade is in the hands of Englishmen. Many German and Italian houses are represented and these nationalities are also becoming interested in local enterprises.
Uruguay exports wool, hides, horn, hair, meats and meat products, grease tallow, grain and cereals, the total amount expressed in figures for 1913 being $65,142,000.
In 1913 she imported goods to the value of $50,666,000, the leading items being foodstuffs, iron, steel, glass, china, wooden products, oils, chemicals, medicines, stationery, toilet articles, tobacco, textiles, shoes, hats, and silks.
While commercial travellers are supposed to pay a yearly license of $100, still this can be waived by making the proper connection with some local dealer or commission house.
The following cities should be visited: