Page:A Study of Mexico.djvu/141

Rh on these matters, the writer would here mention, that a statement has come to him from a gentleman who has been long connected and thoroughly acquainted with the "Vera Cruz and City of Mexico Railroad," which runs through the best sugar and coffee territory of the country, that not a single acre of land more is now under cultivation along its line than there was at the time the road was completed, thirteen years ago. Added to which, export taxes, in some of the sugar-producing States—notably that of Vera Cruz—have been imposed to such an extent as to actually prevent the starting of sugar-plantations.

The cotton-plant is supposed to be indigenous to Mexico, as Cortes on his first landing found the natives clothed in cotton fabrics of their own manufacture. Its culture has continued to the present day, but with very little improvement on the methods which existed at the time of the conquest.

The fiber of Mexican cotton is larger than and not so soft and lustrous as American, but cotton production in some sections of the country possesses this signal advantage, that for several succeeding seasons the plants continue to bear profitable crops, while in the United States the soil must each year be enriched with fertilizers and the seed renewed.