Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-07-04
PRIMITIVE rHREsHrNo.

when the enormous load was complete il wa
hauled to the threshing yard, where the whea,
was carelessiy dumped in heaps without the
trouble Of stacking it, for here it rarely raina
during the summer months, 90 there ID little
danger Of the grain spelling. Meanwhile
| threshing was going on. slowly but surely. A
| spot OF hard ground had been swept, and upon
It were pitched few bundles; then horses were
| driven over and over them until the wheat was
shelled from the straw. The straw was then
removed, the wheat raked to the center and
more bundles thrown down. When consider
| able quantity OF shelled wheat was collected q
wind mill was introduced to blow away the
| chaff.
! No wheat conld be Of better quality The
plump, sound grains were fully one-fourth Of
an inch long. and was told that an average
yield here is twenty bushels to the acre. The
corn crop is smaller, because the seasons are
too cold Oats return about sixty bushels to
| the acre, but unfortunately, there is no market
| Tor them. Oranges, lemons, figs, peaches, APP
pies, pears, grapes. melons. &C., are always q
| sure crop, because-though the summers of
Chill are seldom warm enough to make thin
clothing necessary, there is never frost enough
in winter to kill the flowers. All kinds of vege-
| tables thrive remarkably, and whenever q
native plants beets he ties a knot in the end of
| each growing plant to prevent it from running
beyond reasonable bounds.
FLOWING AND PLANTING.
The plows in general use are primitive imple-
ments-a beam, with one long, stout handle
! extending far enough downward to attach fiat
piece of iron which has been hammered sharp on
stone. OF course with such rude machine
the earth can barely be scratched. Wheat is
| sown broadcast and covered by dragging it
over with a weighted plank. Corn land is fur
| rowed into rows in one direction. Holes are
made at regular intervals in the rows with
sharpened sticks, into which the corn is dropped
a M ara1x Oh Il, F. A. L
! about fourteen inches high by FIVE inches wide,
| and each weighs not less than eight pounds.
Every well-regulated hacienda has its vine
yard and that OF Senior Smith includes 100
acres. The crop is always abundant and the
grapes sell in market for about l cent per
pound. They make good raisins as well as
wine A superior quality Of the latter costs
about cents per quart, but is too new to be
desired by anybody but Chilians. Every
native. old or young, drinks wine at all times Of
He may not afford a more luxurious dinner
than common puchero (Which is composed Of
all the seeds and vegetables the cook can lay
bands on. boiled witha bit of beef or bacon and
navored, il possible, with q few links of sau-
sage, but he must wash it down with glass or
two OF wine, and SO must his wife and children.
There is never a word heard here on the tenn
perance question, yet drunkenness il far more
rare than in the United States.
AGRICULTURE PROFITABLE.
BY dint Of diligent questioning cleaned the
following facts relative to farming in Chilli:
Nowhere is agriculture more profitable, be-
cause labor is cheap. prices high and crops
certain. 1t costs less than one dollar to raise
three bushels of wheat, and it sells for about
Sl.25 per bushel What little can be grown this
year, since the iaborers have mostly rushed off
to the war. will bring much higher price in
market; Wheat and barley, however. are about
eign demand for anvtbipg eIsa in1r;rod -
the gentlemanly administrator il all his
harxes's we're gathered in with reap
mon as ". had sae ~. 1emg Hooaen
soul. mo-" replied he. II have twentv-tiv Ivy
of the latest improved reapine machines. right
from the United States, and two good thresh-
ing machlnes. ihe reapers cost me $3.50 apiece
ana the threshers $4,000 each. The duties,
Ireight ana exchange make such things fright
1nily expensive, because we have no direct line
OF communication with the United States. Most
modern implements in place Of their reap hooks
and wooden plows, but they cannot afford the
enormous expense Of transportation, not
to mention the duties, which, on agricul-
tural implements, are about 40 per cent of
their original valuation. II we have Ameri-
can machinery and it gets q little out of
repair from SIX months to year are con-
sumed IN sending 1t back to be mended.
were there direct communication the
clumsy carts OF Chill would soon give place to
american Iarm wagons. The timber OF the
country, tnough beautiful Tor furniture, ia not
NJ Tor wagons, being too porous and swelling
baay In wet weather. All we use for that pur-
with their ponderous wheels. are necessarv n
made smaller they would twist out of shape be-
fore the rainy season was over, and the wood
ls 80 ora..ie tnaI Inc wnesis would faA tn pieces
TAXES NOT ExoRRrTANr.
III rep! 70 'he question whether taxes are
exorbitant the gentleman said: ''As a general
thing no. OF course during these war t;mes
everything ia ont ~ io;nt pr. uo,,,, ,,.n..
80 -. =, "oui" si"uiy
pa! 'fee tiHes ING amount 10 feel as sure OF
HE and property here as in the United States
hlch men residing In the country are regarded
as lawful prey for every lazy rascal inclined to
steal Remote from cities, they are not under
the eyes OF the police. and therefore robberies
OF every description, but especially of horses
and cattle, are very common. The haciendado
cannot even be sure of his life from one day to
another, and that is the reason why they 30
generally reside in the city"
The reason why horses and mules are not
more commonly used rs draught animals is be-
cause harness. If brought from abroad, is very
expensive, and that made in Chill. Of tanned
leather. is worthless. Consequently horses are
used only for the coach and the saddle Chilians
are extremely fond Of horseback riding and a
tolerable horse costs about S1OO The best of
mules bring only from S10to SIS and donkey