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 llanos and surrounding slopes, which have not as yet been devoted to cultivation, will require a different system of agriculture with systematic irrigation. In colonial times the llanos were covered with immense herds of cattle and horses and were inhabited by a race of hardy, expert horsemen, the llaneros. Both sides in the War of Independence drew upon these herds, and the llaneros were among the bravest in both armies. The end of the war found the llanos a desert, both herds and herdsmen having nearly disappeared. Successive civil wars prevented their recovery, and these great plains which ought to be one of the chief sources of meat supply for the world are comparatively destitute of stock, and the only source of revenue from this industry is the small number of animals shipped to the West Indies. The breeding of goats and swine is an important industry in some regions. The climatic conditions are not so favourable as in Argentina, but these are counterbalanced to some extent by the great river system of the Orinoco, whose large navigable tributaries cross the plains from end to end, and whose smaller streams from the surrounding highlands provide superior opportunities for water storage and irrigation. On the mesas alfalfa could be substituted for the native grasses and be used for stock when the pasturage of the lower plains is not available. Other industries of the colonial period were the cultivation of indigo and tobacco. The former has nearly disappeared, but the latter is still one of the more important products of the country. The best known tobacco-producing localities are Capadare, Yaritagua, Merida, Cumanacoa, Guanape, Guaribe and Barinas. The best quality is that from the Capadare district, in the state of Falc6n, which rivals that of the Vuelta Abajo of Cuba. No effort is made to improve the Venezuelan product, a part of which is exported to Cuba for cigar making. The principal agricultural products are coffee, cacau (cacao), sugar, Indian corn and beans. Coffee was introduced from Martinique in 1784 and its exportation began five years later. It is grown at elevations of 1600 to 3000 ft., and the yield is reported to be to  ℔ per tree, which is much less than the yield in Sao Paulo, Brazil. An official work (Veloz Goiticoa, Venezuela, Washington, 1904) gives the number of coffee trees in Venezuela as 250,000,000 belonging to 33,000 estates; the output was 42,806 tons in 1907. Several grades are produced in Venezuela, determined by geographi- cal position, altitude and method of curing and preparing for market. The Maracaibo type from the mountain-slopes of Merida, Trujillo and Tachira is perhaps the best known and brings the best price. Cacau ( Theobroma cacao) is an indigenous product and is extensively cultivated on the Caribbean slopes. It requires a high temperature (about 80° F.), rich soil and a high degree of humidity for the best development of the tree. The tree has an average height of 12–13 ft., begins bearing five years after planting, requires little attention beyond occasional irrigation, bears two crops a year (June and December), and produces well until it is forty years of age—the yield being from 490 to 600 lb per acre of 100 trees. There are two grades of Venezuelan cacau—the criollo or native, and the trinitario, or Trinidad, the first being superior in quality. The best cacau comes from the vicinity of Carácas and is marketed under that name. The exportation of 1907 was about 14,000 tons. Sugar-cane is not indigenous, but it is cultivated with marked success in the lowlands of Zulia, and at various points on the coast. The industry, however, has not kept pace with its development in other countries and, in great part, still employs antiquated methods and machinery. Its principal product is “papelón,” or brown sugar, which is put on the market in the shape of small cylindrical and cubical masses of 1 to 3 ℔ weight. This quality is the only one consumed in the country, with the exception of a comparatively small quantity of granulated, and of refined sugar in tablets prepared for people of the well-to-do classes. The annual output is about 3000 tons. Cotton was produced in several places in colonial times, but the output has declined to a few thousand pounds. The plant is indigenous and grows well, but, unlike cacau, it requires much manual labour in its cultivation and picking and does not seem to be favoured by the planters. Indian corn is widely grown and provides the staple food of the people, especially in the interior. Beans also are a common food, and are universally produced, especially the black bean. Wheat was introduced by the Spaniards immediately after their occupation of Venezuela, and is grown in the elevated districts of Aragua and the western states, but the production does not exceed home consumption. Rice is a common article of food and is one of the principal imports. Several states are offering bounties to encourage its cultivation at home. Other agricultural products are sweet potatoes, cassava (manioc), yuca, yams, white potatoes, maguey, okra, peanuts, pease, all the vegetables of the hot and temperate climates, oranges, lemons, limes, bananas, plantains, figs, grapes, coco-nuts, pine-apples, strawberries, plums, guavas, breadfruit, mangoes and many others. There are also many fruits found growing wild, like those of the cactus and various palms, and these are largely consumed. The forest products, whose collection and preparation form regular industries, are rubber (called caucho or gotna), tonka beans, vanilla, copaiba, chique-chique, sarsaparilla, divi-divi, dye-woods, cabinet-woods and fibres. The rubber forests are on the Orinoco and its tributaries of the Guiana highlands.

Mining.—The principal minerals are gold, copper, iron, sulphur, coal, asphalt and petroleum. Silver, tin, lead, mercury and precious stones are listed among the mineral resources of the country, ut no mines have been developed, and they are possibilities only. Gold is found throughout a wide area, but chiefly in the Yuruari region, about 100 m. S.W. of the principal mouth of the Orinoco and near the borders of British Guiana, where the famous El Callao minesare. These mines have produced as much as 181,040·2 Spanish oz. in one year (1886) and a total of 1,320,929·09 oz. from 1871 to 1890, while another report gives an output valued at $23,000,000 U.S. gold in the fifteen years from 1884 to 1899. The production since then has greatly declined. There are 14 copper mines in the country, those at Aroa, 70 m. W. of Puerto Cabello and in railway communication with Tucacas (89 m.), being the most productive. They date from 1605 and now belong to an English company. The output from 1878 to 1891 was 329,218 tons of ore and 53,053 tons of regulus, valued at £2,794,986. Iron of a good quality has been found in the Imataca region, Delta-Amacuro territory, 53 m. from the “Boca Grande” of the Orinoco. The principal coal deposits developed are at Naricual, near Barcelona, and a railway has been constructed to bring the output to the port of Guanta. Asphalt is taken from several deposits—from Maracaibo, Cuman4 and Pedernales in the Orinoco delta. The latter place also yields petroleum. Sulphur is mined near Carupano, and salt in Zulia and on the peninsula of Araya. The latter is a government monopoly, and the high prices at which it is sold constitute a serious prejudice to the people and to industries like that of meat packing.

Pearl Fisheries.—One of the oldest of Venezuelan industries, the Margarita pearl fisheries, was prohibited in 1909 for an indefinite time because of the threatened extinction of the oyster beds. The industry dates from the first exploration of this coast and was probably carried on before that by the natives. The fisheries are established about the islands of Margarita, Cpche and Cubagua, the best producing beds being at El Tirano and Macanao, the first N.E. and the other N.W. of Margarita. The natives engaged in the fishery used some 400 sailboats of 3 to 15 tons capacity, and the beds were raked in search of pearl oysters. In: 1900 a concession was granted for an exclusive right to fish for pearls, &c., between Margarita and the coast, the contractor to use submarine apparatus.

Manufactures.— There are few manufacturing industries in Venezuela, and these usually of the parasitic type, created by official favour and protected by high tariffs on imports in, competition. The manufactures of this class include aerated waters, beer, candles, chocolate, cigarettes, cotton fabrics, hats, ice, matches, boots and shoes, drugs and medicines. There are a number of electric plants, three of. which use water power, one at El Encantado, 10 m. from Carácas, one at Merida, and the third at San Cristobal, Tachira. The plants using steam for motive power are at Carácas, Maracaibo, Valencia and Puerto Cabello; There has been sonie development in the manufacture of agricultural machinery and implements, vehicles, pianos and furniture, and some older industries,' -such, as tanning leather and the manufacture of saddles and harness, the milling of wheat and Indian corn, distilling, soap-making, &c. At Guanta there is a factory for the manufacture of patent fuel from Naricual coal and asphalt. In 1901 there was one saladero, or meat-packing establishment, in the Orinoco- Apuré region, but it did not prove successful because of the high cost of salt.

Government.—The government of Venezuela is that of a federal republic of nominally independent, self-governing states, administered according to the provisions of the constitution of the 27th of April 1904, modified or revised on the 5th of August 1909. The legislative potter is nominally vested in a national Congress of two houses—the Senate and Chamber of Deputies—which meets at Carácas every two years on the 23rd of May, the session lasting 90 days. The Senate consists of two members from each state, or 40 members, who are elected by the state legislatures for a period of four years. A senator must be a native-born citizen and not less than thirty years of age. The Chamber consists of popular representatives, elected by direct vote, in the proportion of one deputy for each 35,000 of population, each state being entitled to at least One deputy, or two iii case its population exceeds 15,000, the federal district and territories being entitled to representatives on the same terms. A deputy must also be a native-born citizen, not less than twenty-one years of age, and is elected for a period of four years.

The executive power is vested by the constitution in a president, two vice-presidents and a cabinet if ministers. The president and vice-presidents, who must be Venezuelans by birth and more than thirty years old, are elected by an electoral body or council composed of members of the national Congress, one member from each state and the Federal District. This