PARAGUAY  63

crop  amounts  to  about  18,000,000  pounds
yearly.
Quebracho,  a  red-colored  wood,  rich  in
tannin,  is  indigenous  to  the  country.  It  is
used  for  furniture  and  railroad  ties  and  the
extract  made  from  it  is  employed  in  tanning
leather.  In  one  year,  over  $4,000,000  of  this
wood  alone  was  imported  to  the  United  States,
much  of  it  being  used  for  paving  blocks.
Thousands  of  acres  of  cabinet  and  other
commercial  woods  are  to  be  found  in  the  forests, ­
  but  are  without  value,  owing  to  their  isolation ­
  and  lack  of  means  of  transportation  to
get  them  to  the  markets.
The  country  has  some  ore  deposits.  The
principal  ones  are  copper,  mercury,  manganese ­
  and  iron.  They  cannot  be  developed
on  account  of  their  remote  location.
It  therefore  follows  that  the  chief  industries ­
  of  Paraguay  for  years  to  come  will  be  in
the  production  of  raw  materials  and  in  the
raising  of  cattle  for  which  its  well-watered
plains  are  admirably  adapted.  It  has  now
about  6,000,000  head  of  cattle  and  sheep  and