The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

EESOUECES OF BRAZIL—STOCK-BREEDING. 271
Other European plants have little economic value, except in Rio Grande do
Rul. But even here wheat has been attacked by mildew, and is being gradually
abandoned in favour of stock-breeding. Rice, which might bo largely grown on
the marshy lowlands, and wliich is a staple article of diet throughout lirazil, is
almost entirely imported from Burma. The ant, which till recently made all
cultivation impossible in some districts, and which was popularly called " king of
Brazil," is no longer dreaded by the farmer. Certain fonnicides {" ant-killers "),
introduced into the nests, destroy their inhabitants, and the smoke from the
explosions may often be seen issuing from every fissure in the ground. To get
rid of rats many gardeners keep a tame gihoia, a small boa 10 or 12 feet long,
which sleeps through the daj"^ and hunts at night.
In a region of boundless woodlands, such as Brazil, forest produce must
always hold an economic position of primary importance. The city of Para
holds a monopoly of the export trade in rubber, here called borracha, and in the
bertliolletia, or " Brazil nut," forwarded chiefly to England and Russia. Ama-
zonia also exports the guarana bean, and large quantities of medicinal plants,
while Ceara and the neighbouring coastlands, as far as Sergipe, supply the wax
of the carnauba palm. This palm yields, besides wax, a wine, a gum resembling
sago, a sap which answers as a substitute for cork, an edible fruit, and a fibre
from which textile fabrics are woven. The wax, which covers the leaves in the
form of a glutinous powder, and which is extracted by heat, is used in Europe
for various purposes, such as the preparation of tapirs and varnish, and also for
colouring paper. England imports the fibre of the piassava palm (atalea funifera)
for making brushes and brooms. All the seaboard States abound in excellent
timber, cabinet and dye woods. To one of these plants, the echinata ccesalpinia,
Brazil owes its name. Another, the Jacaranda, has such an exquisite grain that
it has been named the pah santo, " holy wood," whence is derived the French
word, palissandre, and the English palisander, a somewhat obsolete name for rose-
wood.
Stock-Breedino—Land Tenure.
In horse and cattle breeding Brazil is outstripped by Argentina, although
possessing on the central plateaux and southern campos a nearly equal extent of
pastures. The industry, however, flourishes in Rio Grande do Sul, which supplies
Rio and other northern cities with a hardy breed of small mules, noted for great
staying power and endurance. Goyaz, Matto Grosso, and Minas also send to the
coastlands their boiadas, or droves of oxen, which reach their destination by short
stages, browsing by the way on both sides of the track.
In the central regions these animals spring from two ver}' distinct stocks,
which may be recognised especially by the length of the horns, which in the
Minas Geraes cattle may attain as much as six or seven feet from tip to tip. The
Jersey cow, the Indian zebu, and other stock, are now contributing to tlie
improvement of the native breeds. In Minas Geraes dairy-farming has acquired
a great development, and Minas cheese is now found on every table.