transportation and
the small profits afforded have prevented its extensive cultivation,
and it is imported from the La Plata republics for consumption along
the coast. Much has been said in regard to the production of wheat,
and efforts have been made in various places to promote its
cultivation. It was once cultivated in Rio Grande do Sul with some
success, and it has been grown in Minas Geraes and Sao Paulo, but in
no case have the returns been sufficient to give it a permanent
standing among the productions of the country. The great majority of
the people are unused to wheaten bread, using the coarse flour of the
mandioca root instead, consequently the demand for wheat and flour is
confined to the large cities, which can obtain them from Argentina
more cheaply than they can be produced in the country. One of the most
common and important productions of Brazil is _mandioca_ (_Manihot_),
of which there are two well-known species, _M. utilissima_ and _M.
aipi_. The first named, which is poisonous in its native state, is the
_cassava_ of Spanish America. From it is made _farinha de mandioca_,
which is the bread of the common people of Brazil, and tapioca. The
poison is extracted by soaking the bruised or grated roots in water,
after which the coarse flour is roasted. Mandioca was cultivated by
the natives before the discovery of America, and the wide area over
which it has been distributed warrants the conclusion that the
discovery of its value as a food and the means of separating its
poisonous properties must have occurred at a very remote period. The
peanut, or ground-nut (_Arachis hypogaea_), is another
widely-cultivated plant, dating from pre-Columbian times. Very little
attention has thus far been given to the cultivation of fruit for
exportation, the exceptions being bananas for the Argentine and
Uruguayan markets, and oranges and pineapples for European markets.
The coast region from Ceara to Rio de Janeiro is adapted to the
cultivation of a great variety of fruits of a superior quality. Ceara,
Bahia, and Rio de Janeiro are celebrated for their oranges, and
Pernambuco for its delicious pineapples. Tangerines, lemons, limes,
grapes, guavas, figs, cashews or cajus (_Anacardium occidentale_),
mangabas (_Hancornia speciosa_), joboticabas (_Eugenia cauliflora_ and
_E. jaboticaba_, Mart.), cocoa-nuts, mangos, _fruitas de conde_
(_Anona squamosa_),