CHAPTER XVIII
ECUADOR: RESOURCES AND INDUSTRIES
Agriculture
The chief productions, industries, and exports of Ecuador are, as might be expected, agricultural or forestal in character.
Cacao. The cultivation of cacao is by far the most important industry of Ecuador, the amount exported in 1910 having nearly ten times the value of any other commodity. The shrub grows wild in many tracts where it is necessary merely to cut out other growth, leaving such tall trees as may be desirable to shade the cacao shrubs. It remains only to weed the land once a year, to give occasional prunings, and to harvest the fruit. Besides these natural and irregular plantations many have been prepared by clearing a suitable tract except for the required shade trees. In holes two or three yards apart the fresh cacao seeds are sowed; they sprout and grow rapidly. The plants must be sheltered from the sun, maize or yucca serving this purpose for two years, or if the banana plant is used it will suffice for 6 or 7 years till the cacao comes into bearing. By this time other shade trees which may have been planted will be large enough to serve, and the banana plants are cut down. The plantation will then last indefinitely, for when the old trees die at the age of 60 or 80 years a new growth will have appeared to continue the work. The principal harvest is in March and April, but the fruit may be gathered during the entire year. The pod containing the seeds is left on the ground a day or two after cutting, then the seeds are taken out and put in the sweating house for fermentation, which gives a superior color, flavor, and aroma. Drying follows. The cacao is rich in fats, albuminoids, caffeine, and theobromine. In preparation for cocoa the fat is removed and used for cocoa butter; it is retained for chocolate, which is therefore richer than cocoa and for many persons is less digestible. A large area is now under cultivation but more land is available. The best plantations are at an altitude of 650-2600 feet. Twelve per cent is an ordinary return on an investment, and at 1918 prices from 15 to 25 per cent. It is the safest and easiest crop of the country, and foreign investors have engaged in the industry. The districts south of Guayaquil yield especially fine crops, though cacao flourishes on any of the hot humid lowlands. With more scientific culture the quality might probably be improved, as it is said to be hardly equal to the best raised elsewhere.
Other products are cotton, sugar, maize, tobacco, coffee, tagua, rice, yucca (known also as cassava and mandioca), bananas, indigo, rubber, quinine, bread fruit, etc., all growing up to 3000 feet and some much higher, but of these tagua, rubber, 1,000,000 pounds, and coffee, crop 7,000,000 pounds, in the order named, are the only important exports.
Sugar cane grows rapidly and many sections are suited to it, as also to rice, but not enough of either is produced to supply the home market, though the sugar output amounts to 16,000,000 pounds and much cane is turned into aguardiente or rum. Suitable land is open in Esmeraldas and Manabí. In the Guayas Valley large possibilities exist for extending the rice industry.
Tobacco is cultivated in low lying river lands and plains; that of the Daule River with culture might rival the Havana; that of Esmeraldas is noted for its agreeable aroma.
For the poor people along the shore the plantain is the staff of life, being eaten green, half ripe or ripe, cooked or raw. For the Indians above, maize is the staple article of food, chiefly eaten dry and toasted, and much used by others as a green vegetable.
Coffee, which grows up to 5000 feet, is raised for export on the large plantations in the lower zone. It is said to be of quality superior to the Brazilian and brings a high price. Tropical fruits abound such as pomegranates, paltas, chirimoias, granadillas, oranges, grape-fruit, etc., some of which are exported to Peru and elsewhere.
On the higher lands wheat and barley are cultivated, also maize in sheltered places as well as in the lowlands. Potatoes thrive in the sierra, and other temperate zone fruits and vegetables. Alfalfa is extensively raised wherever possible as fodder for traffic animals.
Forestry
Tagua and rubber are more forest than cultivated products, though a few plantations of each have been set out. In Western Ecuador rubber is produced by the caucho tree, and in consequence of the destruction of these by cutting down, they are now to be found in remote districts only. The rubber of the finer class, the hevea, is obtained from the Amazon Basin only. The forests contain many valuable plants and trees of which little use is made save by the Indians for their huts and for other necessities.
Stock Raising and Fisheries
The cattle industry is in a backward state, and the wool of the highland sheep is poor. It is used locally, a little exported; also hides. The quality of these is called very good. Goat and alligator skins are also exported. The llama, so much employed as a beast of burden farther south, is little used in Ecuador, in one or two Provinces only. A few horses and mules are exported.
A great variety of fish is found along the coast including oysters and lobsters. The industry is important, fish forming a material part of the food supply for this region. Some pearls are found near the island La Plata, off the coast of Manabí; the industry near Manta was suspended on account of the ferocious sharks which infest these waters.
Mining
Ecuador, so far as is known, is the poorest in minerals of any of the Pacific Coast countries. Copper, iron, lead, quicksilver and platinum exist, but apparently not in commercial quantities. In the province of Loja are copper deposits, but limited operation has been unsuccessful.
Petroleum has better prospects. Bituminous seams with fair quantities of oil have been located in the north, but more favorable developments would naturally be expected in the same line with the rich oil fields of Peru. In El Oro near the town of Santa Rosa there is said to be an oil field with good prospects, but the principal deposits so far discovered are more nearly in line with the Zorritos and Lobitos districts. The field, extending about 6 miles north and south and 20 miles inland, is close to the coast, 90 miles west of Guayaquil, in desert country near the port of Santa Elena and 750 miles from Panamá. A small oil fountain with considerable gas indicates that deep drilling would bring results. The 25,000 barrels now secured annually are obtained by digging small holes down 50 feet to a layer of impermeable sandstone which is impregnated with oil. The life of these wells is from 3 months to 3 years. A deep well bored by an Anglo-French Company contains oil of a high quality. There is connection with Guayaquil by a fairly good automobile road and by telephone and telegraph. A railway to Santa Elena and Ballenita is in construction. Petroleum claims have recently been denounced in the Canton of Quito, Province of Pichincha. Indications of petroleum in the Oriente have been sufficient to warrant the Leonard Exploration Company in securing a concession of nearly 10,000 square miles east of the Andes from Tulcán to Riobamba in which to explore and drill for oil.
Gold. Of metals, gold mines only have up to the present been profitably worked; those of Zaruma in Southern Ecuador have long been known and operated. In 1549 the towns Zaruma and Zamora were founded and mining was established. Other discoveries followed attended by a gold mining rush from Peru; but owing to the greed of the Governor of Macas, residing at Sevilla, the Jívaros Indians rebelled, destroyed several towns, and murdered many inhabitants, so that in later times the mining has been limited to the placers of Esmeraldas and the lodes of Zaruma. In recent years there have been examinations and working at Zaruma with some mismanagement, but the values are considered proved and shipments have been regularly made, to the extent of $250,000 in 1910. Placers have been found on the west slope of the East Cordillera in Loja and Azuay with gravel from 3 to 6 feet deep. The Collay, anciently worked by Indians, has alluvium 20-35 feet thick, with gold in grains and dust but in small quantities. The placers of the small streams are believed to be paying only as worked individually by the patient Indian. In Esmeraldas there is platinum with the gold but in too small quantities to be worth while. The mountain sections have good lodes which might develop into paying propositions, but appearances are judged less favorable than in some other quarters.
Coal. Beds of coal are found in several places among the mountains, but none have yet been successfully worked. The Southern Railway has recently consumed eucalyptus wood, well dried, in their locomotives.
Manganese. Deposits are said to exist near Pomasqui, from which it is expected to ship 200 tons of ore monthly to the United States. Near San Antonio in Pichincha a deposit from 3 to 9 feet thick covers 21,000 square feet. The ore runs from 46 to 53 per cent manganese.
Industries
Panamá Hats. As might be supposed the manufactures of Ecuador are slightly developed, with no articles save Panamá hats made for export. In this they rank third, following cacao and tagua. The demand for the hats has increased in recent years. They are due to the patient labor of the natives. Made from two different kinds of plants, the paja toquilla, and the macora, the finest hats are from the first, those of average quality from the second, from which material fine hammocks are also made. Both plants grow wild 6-10 feet high; but the toquilla is transplanted, placed four feet apart, and kept free of weeds. The fan shaped leaves of the toquilla rise directly from the ground. Conditions are especially favorable to the plant in Manglar Alto in Manabí, but it grows elsewhere along the coast. The portions used for hats are separated before the leaves open, and picked only in certain weather conditions. The macora grass grows wild on the hills and is had for the gathering.
In Peru similar hats are made from Ecuador straw. In order to prevent this a tax of one sucre a kilogram was placed on the export of the straw, but without killing the Peruvian industry. The finest Ecuadorian hats, which come from Montecristi and Jipijapa in Manabí, are sold in Guayaquil at high prices, but far less than in New York.
A shoe factory, cotton and woolen mills, breweries, ice plants, tanneries, flour mills, saw mills, etc., not forgetting chocolate, are locally important. Along the coast are many maguey plants, from the fibre of which to make bags and twine a profitable industry might be created. For the establishment of a paper factory, the Government proposes, it is reported, to grant valuable concessions to British capitalists.
Investments
From the list of Ecuador’s productions and exports, agriculture, especially cacao, might seem to offer favorable opportunities; to some gold mining might appeal or the possibilities of petroleum. For many years engineering and construction work of various kinds, including sanitation, must present openings for capitalists, and for experts in such matters. With forests so near the coast saw mills and lumbering would undoubtedly be profitable. Stock raising for local requirements is a fair possibility.