Page:Appleton's Guide to Mexico.djvu/121

Rh The products of the three geographical divisions of Mexico may be briely stated as follows: In the hot region, cotton, vanilla, indigo, rice, hemp, sarsaparilla, peppers, bene-seed, anise-seed, caoutchouc, cocoa, cassia, oranges,

bananas, and other tropical fruits grow to perfection. Several of these plants thrive without tillage. In the temperate region, coffee, sugar, tobacco, cotton, brown beans, peas, and a few other vegetables, and the fruits of northern latitudes are cultivated. In the cold region, the cereals, the maguey, or aloe, and the hardy vegetables, as potatoes, carrots, beans, etc., are found. (Vide chapter on botany.)

Wheat grows at as high an elevation as 8,500 feet in the latitude of the capital; and maize and the maguey may be cultivated at nearly the same altitude.

The crops in Mexico are dependent partly upon