plantains, &c. are produced in abundance and with
little labour. In some parts of southern Brazil the fruits and
vegetables of the temperate zone do well, but within the tropics they
thrive well only at a considerable elevation above sea-level. Apples,
peaches, quinces, raspberries, strawberries, &c., are produced under
such conditions, but the flavour of their kind grown in colder
climates is usually wanting. The vegetable productions are less
numerous, but they include sweet potatoes, cabbages, cauliflower,
lettuce, beans, peas, onions, garlic, tomatoes, okra, radishes,
cucumbers, couve, chuchu (_Sechium edule_), and aipim (_Manihot
aipi_). The white potato, known as "batata inglez" (English potato),
is grown in elevated localities, but it deteriorates so greatly after
the first planting that fresh imported seed is necessary every second
or third year.

The pastoral industries, which date from early colonial times, have
suffered many vicissitudes, and their development has failed to keep
pace with the country's growth in population. Horses are used to some
extent for riding, but very little for carriage and draught purposes,
consequently there has been no great incentive for their breeding.
They are largely used and raised in Rio Grande do Sul, but in the
warmer regions of the north only to a limited extent. The hardier
mules are generally employed for draught, carriage, and saddle
purposes in every part of the country, and their breeding is a
lucrative industry in the southern states. Cattle-raising is the
principal industry in Rio Grande do Sul, and receives considerable
attention in Minas Geraes, Matto Grosso, Santa Catharina, Parana,
Piauhy and Rio Grande do Norte. It was estimated that there were
30,000,000 head of cattle in the republic in 1904, but the estimate
was unquestionably too large. A very large part of the jerked beef
consumed in Brazil is imported from Argentina and Uruguay, and some
beef cattle also are imported. These importations at Rio de Janeiro in
1906 were 12,464,170 kilograms of jerked beef and 12,575 head of
cattle. In the Rio Branco region of Amazonas and in Piauhy, where the
national government has long been the owner of extensive cattle
ranges, the industry is in a state of decadence. This is partly due to
such pests as the vampire bat and bush ticks (_carrapatos_), and
partly to the unprogressiveness of the cattlemen.