In 1913 a British company began work on a packing plant at Pto. Cabello, and in 1915 the first shipments of frozen beef to England were made. In this year 17,847 cattle were slaughtered yielding 2,197,240 kilos of frozen meat. This amount was increased slightly during the war, but has remained practically the same since." The greater part of the meat exported from this plant goes to Great Britain and the United States. Live cattle are also exported from Pto. Cabello, the largest market being in the several islands of the West Indies. Before 1921, Cuba took over half of the cattle thus exported, but in the last few years Cuba has taken very few Venezuelan cattle, which has resulted in a marked falling off of the total exported.s THE BARCELONA OUTLET The Barcelona outlet has this advantage over the one just discussed: that access to the Llanos is not rendered difficult by the interposition of a mountain range. Here the plains slope gradually to the Caribbean. The plains themselves resemble the rest of the Llanos in most details, being inundated over large areas during the rainy season, and being parched and arid during the dry season. Wooded land, however, is more common than farther south,9 although the trees are nowhere close enough together to form a serious obstruction to grazing. Because of the accessible location, this district might be said to be more favorably situated than the district south of Valencia. Nevertheless, the area has been relatively little developed. During colonial times there was considerable activity in cattle raising in response to the demand for cattle in Cuba and the other West Indies. Barcelona, and Aragua de Barcelona in the interior owe their early prosperity to the cattle industry. But shipments have always been made on the hoof, and there has been little investment in fenced pastures. It has been suggested that Guanta would be a strategic site for an American packing plant.10 Such a venture would, however, require the investment of much capital in the tributary cattle P. L. Bell, op. cit., p. 265. 8 United States Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. Trade and Economic Review for 1922, No. 13, "Venezuela," p. 10. "H. Pittier: Mapa Ecologico de Venezuela, Que Demuestra las Zonas Naturales, las Cultivas, las Vias de Comunicacion, y los Principales Centros Mineros, etc. (Caracas, 1920). lands. These, although even more favorably situated than the lands, for instance, near San Fernando de Apure, are held in private estates which are not for sale. Many of the titles are inherited from colonial times, and unless purchase would be arranged with the private owners, there would be no suitable land open to foreign investment. Eventually, no doubt this district will be extensively developed because its favorable location must some day draw it from its present relative unimportance. When this time arrives, a packing house at Guanta would see considerable prosperity. THE ORINOCO OUTLET Were it not for the tropical climate which prevails over the Llanos, the Orinoco outlet might well have become the most important of the three. Vessels of 12-ft. draft can reach Ciudad Bolivar, and vessels under 12 ft. can reach San Fernando de Apure throughout the year. This outlet, however, has suffered from the tropical climate of the lower Orinoco basin, and has not achieved the importance of Pto. Cabello. Nevertheless, live cattle have been shipped in great numbers from the grazing lands along the lower river between Ciudad Bolivar and Barrancas. In 1912 Ciudad Bolivar exported many more cattle than either of the other two outlets,12 this being due largely to the influence of the market in Trinidad. At the present time Trinidad is one of Venezuela's largest buyers of live cattle, and the exports from Ciudad Bolivar to this market are relatively large. Also, since few ocean steamers reach Ciudad Bolivar, shipments of cattle to other parts of the West Indies are usually transhipped at Port of Spain. The port of Barrancas also shares in this export. Barrancas, like Guanta, is recommended as a site for an American packing plant.13 Ocean steamers of 1,500 tons burden can reach Barrancas during the entire year and exports from there could be made without difficulty. The tributary cattle lands in the eastern portion of the Llanos are as yet little developed, there being no artificial pasturage. Also the land in this section, as around Barcelona, is held by Venezuelans. South of the Orinoco River lies the vast territory of Guiana, a rolling upland country, averaging around 1,000 ft. (300 meters) "P. L. Bell, op. cit., p. 110. 12 L. V. Dalton, op. cit., p. 278. "P. L. Bell, op. cit., p. 110. above sea level, as compared with 650 ft. (200 meters), the average elevation of the Llanos. This region is little explored excepting south of Ciudad Bolivar in the neighborhood of the famous El Callao gold mine. Much of the area is reported to be a savanna and apparently just as suitable for grazing land as the Llanos to the north, with the additional advantage that the lands are not flooded during the rainy season, and that there are flowing streams even during the dry season. Here is a vast field for foreign enterprise since the land is not yet divided up into estates. Of course the establishment of a cattle industry in the Venezuelan Guiana would require some scheme of extensive colonization as a necessary part since the region is almost uninhabited. However, the geographic conditions would seem to indicate this district as possibly even better suited to cattle raising and dairying than the Llanos themselves. CONCLUSIONS Obviously, Venezuela is not ready-made as a cattle land. Much capital and labor must be invested in the region before a large scale, sound cattle industry can be built up. Nevertheless, with this investment, the returns should eventually be large enough to repay the cost of the undertaking because of Venezuela's strategic location. with reference to the great world markets. The improvements which are essential if this development is to be accomplished are as follows: 1. The Llanos must be stocked with good breeds of cattle which are adapted to the climatic conditions and which can yield a good quality of meat, or a rich and abundant milk. Crossing imported stock with that already in the region would serve to raise the quality of the native breed, at the same time keeping the cost of the undertaking within the bounds of possibility. 2. Sanitary measures must be undertaken for both men and cattle. Standing pools of water must be drained, ranch houses must be screened and hospitals provided-in other words, the usual measures must be taken which are necessary in any problem of tropical development. For the cattle, dipping pens must be provided for the eradication of the tick and other parasites which stand on the plains. That these parasites can be eliminated has been proved by experience in our own southern pastures.14 14 "United States Department of Agriculture Yearbook, 1922, loc. cit., p. 342. 3. Artificial, fenced pastures must be provided, seeded with para or guinea grass, and maintained throughout the dry season by irrigation. The native grasses are not sufficiently palatable or nourishing to support a thriving industry, and these fenced pastures are an absolute necessity during the dry season when the native grasses are too dry, and during the height of the rainy season when only a few areas are left above the floods. 4. A water supply must be provided for drinking and for irrigation during the dry season. Generally this can be done by boring wells in the sandy soil. A dependable source of pure water can be found at moderate depths, in places close to the surface. Near the mountains, irrigation ditches can be used to bring the mountain streams out on the plains. 5. Some form of protection against the floods of the rainy season is necessary. Either diking must be resorted to, or drainage canals must be dug to carry off the excess water. 6. The lines of communication to an outlet must be developed. If cattle are to be driven overland, a chain of holding pastures at intervals of a convenient day's march should be seeded and fenced, so that the trip can be made in comfort and leisure. Each of these pastures must be provided with its own system of water supply. If the cattle industry reaches large proportions, no doubt railroads will become financially feasible, in which case the chains of holding pastures could be dispensed with excepting around the packing plants or docks at the end of the journey. Along the Orinoco River, boats will be used long before the railroads invade the Llanos. The shipment of cattle from an upstream point to the packing plant or the docks at Ciudad Bolivar or Barrancas would not be a very expensive undertaking. 7. Finally, in order to accomplish any of these things, some form of imported labor is essential. Venezuela itself cannot provide the necessary quantity or quality of labor. West Indians, brought in under contract, will perhaps be the solution of this. If the British undertake the work they may resort to East Indians as in Trinidad and British Guiana. Chinese coolie labor, if acceptable to the Venezuelan government, would also solve the problem. However, some form of imported contract labor, of a type which can perform manual work under tropical conditions, will be a necessary part of any large scheme of development. Whether or not these difficulties are overcome, and Venezuela becomes a great center for the production of cattle, will depend on two things: First, Venezuela must have a stable and honest government. Foreign interests will not invest money, particularly when such a large investment is necessary before returns will be very great, in a country which is governed by an unscrupulous clique, or where the party in power is likely to be put out at any time by a revolution. The policy of this government regarding foreign interests should be carefully and explicitly stated, and not liable to change with each change of administration. Whether such a condition is possible remains to be seen. The second factor which will make possible the development of the Llanos lies outside of Venezuela. Much depends on the growth of a large demand for foodstuffs in Intermediate Latitudes. It is only this increased demand which makes possible, in fact imperative, the development of the more distant sources of supply, and which will offer sufficient return on the capital and labor expended in the Llanos. That day will be felt by the increased cost of living, as the expense of developing these poorer lands is spread among the consumers of cattle products all over the world. |