Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/379

* GUATEMALA. 335 GUATEMALA. conditions. The lower-lying districts, up to 2000 feet above the sea, are called the hot lands (Tierra caliente). The mean temperature is from 77° to 82° F. The population here is very small. Fevers are prevalent, and most of the hot lands are unsuitable for settlement by the white races. These are the regions of cacao cul- ture, of the cocoa palm, and of ruliber and ma- hogany forests. The healthful temperate regions (Tierra templada). forming the central and southern plateaus and plains among the moun- tains, are from 2000 to (iOOO feet above sea-level. The zone between 2000 and 4000 feet, with a mean temperature of 08° to about 73° F., is the chief region of coflfee culture. Less coffee is grown in the higher parts of the temperate lands, where the temperature has been known to fall to the freezing-point. The cold lands (Tierra fria), above GOOO feet, where the mean temjjerature is 50° to 0.3°. are adapted to the cultivation of wheat, the potato, and apple; and in particular- ly favored spots, well exposed to the sun. even oianges and bananas, which, with sugar-cane and cotton, are characteristic products of the lower altitudes, are successfully grown. Above 10,600 feet, among the highest mountains, where the mean annual temperature is under 50° F., there is no agriculture. Here are found Alpine coni- fers, and there is more or less mountain grazing. The tops of the highest mountains are treeless, and are sometimes covered with a little snow. The Atlantic slope, swept to a considerable ex- tent by eastern or northeast trade winds, has a larger rainfall than the Pacific slope, where the heaviest precipitation is on the southern slopes of the mountains. The driest regions are the plains among the mountains. These plains are partly screened by the elevations around them from rain coming from either ocean. Thus the inland district of central Guatemala has only about 27 inches of rain in a year, which is suffi- cient for agriculture, while the city of Guatemala, on the coast of the southern Cordillera, has 57 inches, and Tual, high on the Atlantic slope, 195 inches. The temperate lands, covering a large col- lective area in central Guatemala, are the great source of the country's agricultural wealth. Among the wild plants, the bamboo grows in thickets on the low-lying Pacific seaboard, and the dense forests of the northern hot land are famous for their magnificent orchids. Animal life is more abundant in the moist than in the dry regions. A number of mammals, including the tapir and peccary, inhabit the forests. The alligator, and thirty species of fish previously unknown, were found in Lake Peten. Some of the most danger- oiis snakes find a home in the forest imder- growth. There are very many species of birds, the most notable of hich is the quezal or long- tailed trogon, "with an emerald-green silky plu- mage, dashed with a golden lustre above, with a lovely jiurple hue below, and a tail three feet long." This bird has been chosen as the national emblem of the Republic. Horses, mules, cattle, sheep, swine, and goats are important factors in the industrial life of the drier and cooler agri- cultural districts. Agriculture and 1Miner.ls. The principal industry is agriculture, for which the country is well adapted on account of its fertile and well- watered soil, as well as its favorable climate. Government lands are sold at from .$250 to ,$500 a eaballeria (113.62 acres), or leased on favor- able terms. The most important product is cof- fee, Guatemala producing half the crop of Cen- tral America, and being surpassed only by Brazil and the East Indies in the quantity harvested. The large destruction of plantations by the vol- canic eruptions of 1902 will reduce the yield for some years. Coffee is cultivated by German and United States planters on very large plantations, and is also grown on a smaller scale by a great number of Guatemalans. The average annual yield in recent years has been about 05,000,000 pounds. In the lower regions where coffee is raised, the trees are shaded by the banana-plant, which also yields good crops. Cane-sugar yields an average of about 45,000,000 pounds, nearly all consumed at home, the rum distillers taking much of the crop. The eocoa product of northern Guatemala is about 700,000 pounds a year. Tobacco, indigo, rubber, vanilla, and sarsaparilla are also important. The output of cereals, con- fined to narrow areas in the higher lands, is in- sufficient for the domestic demand. Cattle on the plateaus yield hides for export, and the cotton-fields and high, dry sheep-pastures pro- vide fibres for the spinners and weavers who ply their trades in the homes. The mineral de- posits have received little attention, although the mining code encourages the industry. They in- clude gold, silver, salt, iron, lead, and coal, of which onl.v placer gold is obtained, to some ex- tent, in the valley of the Jlotagua River. Manuf.ctuees and Commerce. The manufac- turing industries are onl.v slightl.v developed, and are confined chiefly to the production of blankets, coarse cloth, straw hats, ponchos or cloaks, wood- en and earthen wares, tobacco products, and leather goods. The transportation facilities are far from adequate. In many parts of the coun- trv there are merel.y paths on which trains of pack-mules furnish the only means of transpor- tation. The railwa.v lines, all owned by Ameri- can iind German companies, have at present a total length of about 400 miles. The Guatemala Central Railroad, connecting the capital, Guate- mala, with the Pacific seaport of San Jose, and with a branch line connecting Santa Marfa with Patulul, is 129 miles long, Tlie Northern Rail- way is in operation from Puerto Barrios up the Jlotagua Valley to Rancho de San Agustin, a distance of 134 miles. With the completion of the portion (62 miles) from the latter place to Guatemala — a line under construction in 1903 by an American company — the capital will have a direct line of communication between the two coasts. Most of the railwa.v bonds are guaran- teed by the Government, and the companies are assisted by annual subventions, as well as by land grants, Puerto Barrios, the chief Atlantic seaport, is connected by steamers with Xew York and New Orleans. The Pacific ports have direct steam communication with San Francisco and Europe, The chief article of export is coffee, which goes mainly to German.v, the United States (about one-eighth of the total export), and Great Britain, Besides coffee there are shipped hides and skins, bananas, rubber, and mahogany. The imports consist chiefl.v of cotton goods .supplied by Great Britain, the United States, Germany, and France: railway materials, and telegraph and electrical supplies, chiefl.v from the T'nited States; and building materials and iron manu- factures, which are also supplied to a large ex-