the wealthy city of Lima. Husbandry products made up the bulk of Chilean exports to the rest of the viceroyalty. These products included suet, charqui and leather. This trade made Chilean historian Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna label the 17th century the century of suet (Spanish: Siglo del sebo). Other products exported included dry fruits, mules, wines and minor amounts of copper. Trade with Peru was controlled by merchants from Lima that enjoyed protection by the Spanish authorities in Lima. In addition to the exports to coastal Peru Chile also exported products inland to Upper Peru through the port of Arica. Trade inside Chile was small since cities were tiny and self-sufficient. Generally the extraction of wood had little importance in colonial Chile but Chiloé Archipelago and Valdivia were exceptions. These two areas exported planks to Peru. With the destruction of Valdivia in 1599 Chiloé gained increased importance as the only locale that could supply the Viceroyalty of Peru with Fitzroya wood. In 1641 the first large shipment of Fitzroya wood left Chiloé. Century of wheat (1687–1810) In the 1650–1800 period the Chilean lower classes grew considerably in size. To deal with the poor and landless population a policy of founding cities and granting lands in their surroundings was implemented. From 1730 to 1820 a large number of farmers settled in the outskirts of old cities or formed new cities. Settling as a farmer in the outskirts of old cities (La Serena, Valparaíso, Santiago and Concepción) was overall more popular than joining a new city since it secured a larger consumer market for agricultural products. Chilean haciendas (latifundia) engaged little in the supply of Chilean cities but focused on international exports for revenues. Chile begun exporting cereals to Peru in 1687 when Peru was struck by both an earthquake and a stem rust epidemic. Chilean soil and climatic conditions were better for cereal production than those of Peru and Chilean wheat was cheaper and of better quality than Peruvian wheat. According to historians Villalobos et al. the 1687 events were only the detonant factor for exports to start. The Chilean Central Valley, La Serena and Concepción were the districts that came to be involved in cereal export to Peru. It should be pointed out that compared with the 19th century the area cultivated with wheat was very small and production modest. Initially Chilean latifundia could not meet the wheat demand due to