Evening star., 1898-10-01

TOL.nd-upS- They raise every year over
2SODO.OdO S,ushels OF wheat, millions of gall
Ions OF wine and the finest horses and best
cattle on the western coast of this conti
nent. Some of them have the most modern
machinery. and men who own a dozen
American thrashing machines are not un-
common
Fully One-haf of the population OF Chile
IS devoted to agriculture. but only these
nabobs are the landowners. In the whole
United States with its 100000 inhab
tants only 31,U.O men own farms of 1000
acres and over. Here thOusand-acre farm
is little more than garden patch. l meet
daily men who have ten, twenty and thirty
thousand acres of land, and | have visited
a number of estates worth more than one
million dollars. l have a geography of
Chile, just published, which gives the gov
erument valuations of the farms of each
province There are hundreds in nearly
every state worth over $lon,uQU, and IL the
country there are scores valued at more
than million l now at the little
railroad and farming town of San Rosend0,
in the central valley of Chile. San Rosendo
is about $40 miles south of Santiago and
about 1.2uU miles south of the Peruvian
frontier.
In coming here I rode through one of the
chief agricultural sections of the country.
This valley is from twenty to one hundred
miles wide and about six hundred miles
long. II extends from above Santiago to
ItIilIttlS tI Il4llsS SolIlI bl IillS DDIHl Cll
the east OF it are the snowy walls Of the
Andes, with here and there the great cone
of q dead volcano rising above the other
peaks. and on the west are the lower
mountains and hills Of the coast range,
their sides covered with green Between
these almost parallel but winding walls
lies the rich valley Of Chile. Its surface is
rC ling ana il II cut by many creeks and
SHOWS. carry with them to the sea loads OF
silt. So rich that it makes fat every inch
Of soil upon which it drops.
In the Interior.
In some streams. such as the Mapo, the
amount OF silt IS SO great that it is said to
coat the lands by the irrigation canals to
depth OF an inch a year. Other streams,
such as the Bio-bio and some streams of
south Chile are almost as clear as crystal.
The whole Of the valley north of this point
is irrigated and the country is like a vast
garden made up Of fields divided by canals
along which hedges of LOmbardy poplars
have grown 70 tne height Of sixty feet AID
more.
Some Of the estates are walled with stone
and it is only occasionally that you see
fences Of wire or boards There are no
barns standing out on the landscape, and
the only buildings are the great low ram
bling structures Of the owner Of the estate
and the mean sQuaHd houses OF the la
bor-rs. which / shall describe more fully
further on oxen everywhere take the
place Of horses or mules. Clumsy carts
drawn by these beasts with yOkes tied to
their uJrns are the farm wagons. and the
plOws are forced through the furrow by the
same motive power The estates were as a
rule well kept / passed vast Vineyards
the vines Of which now covered with the
red leaves Oi winter, spotted the landscape
with fields Of blood The vines were dwarf
ed as they are in France, and in many
eases w're trained upon wires. Every
vineyard has, l am told. its skilled French
man as superintendent. The vines are
planted in rows about five feet apart. and
oxen aye used 10 plUw them The Chilean
wines. both white and red. are excellent
and the amount exported every year is in
creasiug Tia" climate of Chile Is just about
tho same as that of California The same
crops and fruits are raised in both places
and the conditions Of successful farming
are about the same. save that in California
You ind most of the farms very small.
How One Woman Farms In Chile.
What would one of the California women
who tells you that forty acres are more
than enough foT one person 10 take care of
think # she were asked 10 manage a farm
worth million dollars and comprising
more than eleven thousand acres? There
is d woman who owns estate Of this size
near Santiago She directs 1t herself, and
This LyIWIr hStanliug she is now cOuSidera-
bly, over three score and ten. She keeps
her own books. the balances of each page
OF which run into the thousands of dollars,
ana az the same time manages all the de-
tails connected with her household and its
numerous guests. This woman is to me
one Of the remarkable characters of Chile.
Her name IL Sonora Emilia Herrera De
TOrU. She belongs TO one of the Oldest
families Of Chile and the estate has been
l.. her family for hundreds of years 1t
.hes within two hours by train Of Santiago.
and, as Is the case with most of the wealthy
farmers Of this country. the family live
Upon II only during the summer months
speeding their winters in their home at the
capital II was IN company with our Amer
lean minister and his wife that l visited
Madame de Toro and had one Of the most
pleasant and interesting experiences / have
had during my stay IN Chile.
Visit to Great Hacienda.
Leaving Santiago on the train, we rode
under the snow walls Of the Andes, through
hacienda after hacienda, by vast vineyards
of bl0od-red vines. by walled fields filed
with herds Of cattle and sheep until we
came to the station Of the "Aguila" estate.
Here we were met by a spanking team Of
bays and driven for mile or 90 en- the
estate before We came to the home This
consisted Of many long, low one-story