El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-01-05

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( land, and nevertheless its climate is
| so mild that cattle and sheep can feed
/ out OF doors there all the wear round
The great island of Terra del Fuego is
now devoted to sheep, and the whole
country about is a summer resort com
pared with the lands of central Alaska
As TO that part of South America,
speak from personal experience.
Filling Uncle Sani's Bread Basket,
speaking of the sheep at the strait
Drugs to the Investigations hope to
make as to whether South America can
not cut down the cost Of our legs of
mutton and tenderlOin roasts. There
IS no doubt that frozen meats can be
shipped from there to our country and
De served just as fresh as though they
came from the farm. have seen them
loading ships with frozen mutton in
New zealand for London. The distance
between the two countries is far
greater than that between New York
and the South American ports Never
uheless the meat sells readily in the
markets of Europe, and the same is
true OF the beef which goes to London
from the Argentine pampas There
IS no reason why the vast sheep and
caIIIe ranches of southern South Am
erica should not aid in the supply of
our American markets and still less
reason why we should not get cattle
from the selvas of Venezuela and Co
IOmb1a. / am told that Bolivia has so
many wild cattle that beeves sell in
parts of the plateau for 50 or So a
piece, and that some of the cattle are
killed for their hides and the meat
thrown away.
paraguay has fine pasture lands,
which are now sold by the square
league and some of which are being
exploited by American capital, and
the same is true of interior Brazil.
The bread possibilities of South Am
erica are almost equal to those of the
meats. Argentina has potential wheat
lands as great as those of the United
states and Canada combined, and it
now exports thousands Of tons of grain
every year to the countries Of Europe
Uruguay is shipping grain, southern
Brazil raises wheat and Chile has vast
estancias devoted to the cereals.
There is probably a great future for
the highlands of the Andes as to the
harder varieties of such products, and
our Agricultural Department has sent
down experts to investigate what can
De done. They are also going into the
meat countries to report to the govern
ment on the cattle and sheep and upon
other foods which may be sent to the
United States. I expect to make in
YeStlgatlOnS along the same lines, as
Wen as to report upon what they have
News for the American Farmer.
another part of my mission is to de-
scribe how farming is done in the va
rlous countries and to report upon
'-IW - aims ana IIulLS winch may pos
slply De used in our country. The
andes mountains are the home of the
potato and upon the plateau of Bolivia
there are many varieties which are IN
known in North America. Some of
these date back to prehistoric DAVIS
The common people ruled by the Incas
we're raising "sDuds" long before Ire
and was thought Of and every tuber
o1 the potato variety we eat has a
genealogical tree whose roots are
1uWfnn in the hafuhfe Of no
Further down the mountain the peo- |
de nave vegetable known as the yuc-
"a Ih1s IS tuber with branches like an
underground tree and there may be va |
'Ietles equal to that which Luther Bur |
1ank found when boy, and from that /
discovery continued his investigations /
% fame and fortune
was to investigate the guano 1
Stands, on the coast of Peru.
As 10 the guano islands they are /
scattered along the Pacific coast .
some distance above where the nitrate
1esert begins. They are fre0uented
9y millions Of birds, and the drOppings
rom these have already produced more
than twelve million tons of manure
as rich as that of your henhouse. They /
ave Drought into the treasure vaults /
p Fefu something over billion gold /
iollars and although almost exhausted I
are still yielding guanO.
On the Top of the Andes
an interesting part of this journey /
VII pc IN the footsteps of the Incas. I
shau see their old highway in 4
IN Quito, and shall travel /
)Ver IT later in Cuzco near the civ Of /
ne sun. That road was built long
'eIore there was a paved highway in !
my part OF the North American con-
iIle NJ ana L am told that parts of it
re IN good condition today. Just be-
ore left Washington, in a chat with /
lr Logan Waller Page Of the bureau /
I puollc roads, he asked me to get
I'M pieces OF the road metal and ship !
mem to MIN in order that they NAV be |
ested with view to new discoveries I
s 10 road material for our United
tates highways.
It was at CuzcO that the meas had
lelr capita! and there they worshipped
he sun in temple which was
oo1ed with gold plate. It was from
hat region that Pizarro and the SDan-
lrds got their ship loads of gold and
.IVer, and it is believed that vast
uanlirles were secreted by the Incas
M buried IN lakes and other out of (
ne way places I am told that there
re many traditions as to where these
'sU treasures lie I shall report 1IDon
lese through my Indian Interpreter.
nd I hope to give some idea of the
)ssible localities.
The Mines of the Andes.
Inc Andes are peppered with silver
az gold from the iSthmus to the strait
I'd of late several of the republics
-'C 1IC-A C-AEU4 LAAB vast quantities of ]
PIPER and tin A large percentage
all the tin now used in the world
mes from Bolivia, and the copper
mes there are just at their begin
ng- Many of the old silver mines OF
e Andes are now yielding conner
MS is so of CerrO de Pasco. which IL
Nv being operated by American can't
J. and also of the silver mountains
Potosi in Bolivia. As to gold. Bo-
IA IS one of the treasure vaults Of
e universe. It has already Welded
er billion dollars in gold. and if is
ID TO have tin enough to supply the
)rld- In some parts of the Andes
ere are also precious stones. Co.
mDla gives US our most beautiful
leralds, and Brazil was the chief
URGE of our diamond supply before
e. great mines of South Africa came
be known.
Indians OF South America.
Another field of investigation will
the indians of South America We
prone to look upon our own land
the chief home of the red man The
18th is, the United States was never
ckly populated before the white man
ne and its indians never surDa ssed
it is said more than 500 600.
nth America has always had millions
indians, and they are of as MANY
ferent kinds as we have peODIes IN
lerica. There were the Incas. who
re highly civilized, and who we're
rulers of many other tribes some
whom served as hewers of wood
! drawers OF water. In the north
ed the Chtbchas, who had an or
l lIz-eso government and considerable