The times., 1899-07-26
The Lincoln National Bank
Of Washington. D. c.. cer. 9TH and St.
SAFE DEPOSIT VAULTS, BOX RENT sa.5o
DEVELOPMENT IN PATAGONIA.
President Roca's Visit to the South
ern Part of Argentina.
From the New York SUM


| President Roca of Argentina. has been
visiting the great southern regions of the
| republic, and in his message to Congress
| last month he outlined what the govern
| ment desired to do for Patagonia, parts of
| which are capable of supporting a large
| population. He spoke in terms of the
warmest praise of the work done by the
| Welsh colony, and the story he told Of
| the enterprise and success of these foreign
| ers is quite remarkable To understand
what they have done it must be remember
ed that the greater part of Patagonia east
| OF the Cordilleras, is stony, almost rain
| less desert. The country is in the region
of the west winds, and the moisture from
| the Pacific falls in rain on the west slope
| of the Andes and so the vast plains to the
| east get little of it. But there are long
rivers crossing these great plains, and they
are swollen at times by the melting SHOWS
from the mountains, and, by irrigation,
| parts OF their valleys may be made very
| fertile.
Thirty-four years ago 1872 coal miners
| from Wales settled near the Atlantic Coast
in the valley of the Chubut. one of the
| largest of the Patagonian rivers. They
| knew nothing about farming, but we're
| tired OF labor troubles at home, and a
! countryman induced them to go to this
virgin region across the sea and begin life
anew. The land they settled on did not
| look very promising, but it was the best
they could find. Indians were their only
| neighbors, and fortunately the white
pioneers were men of kindly feeling, and
won the friendship of the natives, who
| were helpful to the emigrants when they
We're in sore neeed.
! The Welshmen set about the work of
building their cabins and sowing and till
! ing the ground, but their crops were
| wretched in this arid region, and suffering
came which was mitigated by the TehueI-
che Indians, who brought to the eolonists
| berries from the mountains, and gave them
game and fish in exchange for small wares
| from England. But the coloney would
| certainly have failed if it had not occurred
to them that they might make their fields
productive by damming the Chubut River
and turning the flood over the land.
Only the bountiful results of this scheme
need be referred to here. The plain that
was irrigated is forty-eight miles long,
with mean breadth of five miles and the
area is about 100,0 900 acres of as fine land
as any farmer need to plough. The soil
consists chiefly of volcanic ashes, which
make the best of tillage land If IL is suffi-
| ciently watered. network of 230 miles
| of irrigating canals carries the water to
the fields, and the size of the farms varies
| from $50 to 375 acres. Nearly half the
land is in wheat, and the crops are about
sevenfold as abundant as those OF any 9TH
| er settlement in that region.
Today the wheat of New Wales has
the reputation of being the very best that
| is produced in South America. About 1000
tons are exported every year to Liverpool.
after filling the local demand. The colo
| nists gave up the vain effort to make a
| good harbor in the estuary of the Chubut
River, and so they built railroad forty-six
80
| town. Rawson, with Port Madrin, in Neuva
Bay. which is their shipping point. Found
ed by few Welsh starvelings, the colony
is now the home of $500 prosperous people,
| of whom l. ti2 are Welshmen and the 9TH
ers are English, Italian and Argentine set
| tiers.
Cattle farming is also carried on. and
| the settlers own over 80, 600 horses, cattle,
and sheep. There is not a pauper nor a
| policeman in the community, and the colo
| nists have pianos. harps, and violins, as
well as plews and harrows. Sunday is re-
| ligiously observed, and services in the
chapels are conducted by seyen Welsh and
| two Church of England clergymen and a
Roman Catholic priest.
No wonder President Roca is encour-
aged to foster colonization in Patagonia.
He says the government should no longer
give grants of large blocks of land uut
/ must facilitate lilt dCuulSlllOu OI
| farms and thus encourage immigration and
| bona fide settlement. He adds that a bet
ter system OF administration is to be es-
| tablished throughout that region, that the
government will open better facilities for
| transportation, and that serious proposals
| for the building of railroads have been re-
| ceived.
1t is near the Cordilleras in the valleys
among the foothills that the largest areas
of land favorable for grazing and agricul-
tare are found. Here and there colonists
are taking up these lands. But there can
be no adequate development until the colo
nists have access to market either by
rail connection with the Atlantic Coast of
Patagonia or with the Argentine system
of railroads, and the new settlers IN the
great southern country will hail with joy
the assurance of the president that trans
portation facilities are to be provided in
the near future.