Page:EB1911 - Volume 18.djvu/346

AGRICULTURE] cotton, woollen and linen textiles and yarns for national factories, hardware, furniture, building material, mining supplies, drugs and chemicals, wines and spirits, wheat, Indian corn, paper and military supplies and equipment. The exports include gold, silver, copper, coffee, henequén or sisal, ixtle and other fibres, cabinet woods, chicle, rubber and other forest products, hides and skins, chickpeas, tobacco and sugar.

Agriculture.—The agricultural resources of Mexico are large and unusually varied, as they comprise some of the cereals and other food products of the temperate zone, and most of the leading products of the tropics. Agriculture, however, received slight attention, owing to the early development of the mining industries. An indirect result of the industrial development of Mexico, which began during the last quarter of the 19th century, has been an increased interest in agriculture, and especially in undertakings requiring large investments of capital, such as coffee, sugar and rubber plantations. A large part of the country is too arid for agriculture, and even with irrigation the water supply is sufficient for only a small part of the dry area. This region has, for the most part, a temperate climate, and produces wheat, barley, Indian corn and forage crops. Long droughts often destroy the wheat and Indian corn and compel their importation in large quantities to supply the people with food. This uncertainty in the wheat crop extends to the southern limits of the higher plateau, and is a serious obstacle to the increased production of this cereal. Indian corn, also, is a comparatively uncertain product on the plateau, and for the same reason. As it is a staple food with the poorer classes, the deficiency is made up through importation. These drawbacks tend to restrict agriculture on the plateau to comparatively limited areas, and the country people are, in general, extremely poor and badly nourished. A comparatively new product in this region is that of canaigre, which is grown for the tannin found in its root. It is a native of the arid regions and is now cultivated with success. The district about Parras, in southern Coahuila, produces grapes, which are principally used in the manufacture of wine and brandy. An important product of the plateau and of the open districts of the tierras calientes, growing in the most arid places, is the “nopal” or prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus indica). Its fruit, called “tuna” by the natives, is refreshing and wholesome and is a staple food in spite of its spiny covering. In the tierras calientes of Mexico, however, better conditions prevail. A fertile soil, abundant rainfall and high temperatures have covered these mountain slopes and lowland plains with a wealth of vegetation. The problem for the agriculturist here is not irrigation, but drainage and keeping down spontaneous growths. In these regions, sugar, tobacco, indigo, cacao, rice, sweet potatoes, alfalfa, beans and cassava are produced, and Indian corn yields two and three crops a year. Fruits also are plentiful, both wild and cultivated. Among them are the banana, plantain, tuna, chili pepper, olive, coco-nut, orange, lemon, lime, mango, pomegranate, “piña” or pineapple (wild and cultivated), fig, ahuacatl (Persea gratissima), chirimoya (Anona chirimolia), papaya, gourd, melon, guava, ciruela (plum), and the several “zapote” fruits, including “chico zapote” from the Achras sapota, which produces the “chicla” or chicle-gum of commerce, “zapote blanco” from the Casimiroa edulis, “zapote-barracho” (or “amarillo”) from the Lucuma salicifolia, “zapote-prieto” (or “negro”) from the Diospyros obtusifolia, and “zapote-mamey.” The production of rubber is becoming an important industry, large plantations having been set with both Hevea and Castilloa rubber trees. Lying between these two regions is the subtropical belt where coffee of an excellent quality is produced, and where cotton is cultivated. Coffee has become an important article of export, but cotton does not yield enough for the domestic factories. Better cultivation would probably increase the output and make it an article of export. A peculiar and highly profitable branch of Mexican agriculture is the cultivation of the Agave for two widely different purposes—one for its fibre, which is exported, and the other for its sap, which is manufactured into intoxicating liquors called “pulque” and “mescal.” In Yucatán immense plantations of the Agave rigida var. elongata are cultivated, from which large quantities of “henequén” or “sisal,” as the fibre is called, are exported. It is produced on light shallow soils overlying calcareous rock. It is also cultivated in Campeche and Chiapas. The pulque industry is located on the plateau surrounding the city of Mexico, the most productive district being the high, sandy, arid plain of Apam, in the state of Hidalgo, where the “maguey” (Agave americana) finds favourable conditions for its growth—a dry calcareous surface with moisture sufficiently near to be reached by its roots. Its cultivation is the chief industry of the states of Mexico, Hidalgo, Puebla and Tlaxcala. Of the 208 plantations in the state of Hidalgo in 1897, 129 were devoted to maguey. The plant is propagated from suckers and requires very little attention after transplanting to the field where it is to remain, but it takes six to eight years to mature and then yields an average of ten gallons of sap during a period of four or five months, after which it dies. “Pulque” is the fermented drink made from this sap: “mescal” is the distilled spirit made from the leaves and roots of the plant. There are other agaves used both in the production of drinks and fibres, but they are not cultivated. The “ixtle” fibres shipped from Tampico and Chiapas are all obtained from the agaves and yuccas found growing wild.

The natural and forest products of Mexico include the agave and yucca (ixtle) fibres already mentioned; the “ceibón” fibre derived from the silk-cotton tree (Bombax pentandria); rubber and vanilla in addition to the cultivated products; palm oil; castor beans; ginger; chicle, the gum extracted from the “chico-zapote” tree (Achras sapota); logwood and other dye-woods; mahogany, rosewood, ebony, cedar and other valuable woods; “cascalote" or divi-divi; jalap root (Ipomaea); sarsaparilla (Smilax); nuts and fruits.

Stock-raising dates from the earliest Spanish settlements in Mexico and received no slight encouragement from the mother country. For this reason much importance has always been attached to the industry, and stock-raising of some sort is to be found in every state of the republic, though not always to a great extent. The Spaniards found no indigenous domestic animals in the country, and introduced their own horses, cattle, sheep and swine. From these are descended the herds and flocks of to-day, with no admixture of new blood until toward the end of the 19th century. The horses and cattle are of a degenerate type, small, ungainly and inured to neglect and hard usage. The horse is chiefly used for saddle purposes and is not reared in large numbers. The mule is more generally used in every part of the country, being hardier, more intelligent and better adapted for service as a draft and pack animal. The transport of merchandise and produce was wholly by means of pack animals before the advent of railways, and is still the common means of transport away from the railway lines. For this purpose the sure-footed mule is invaluable. In some districts, however, oxen and ox-carts are employed, especially in the southern states, and always in the open, level country. The varying climatic conditions of Mexico have produced breeds of cattle that have not only departed from the original Spanish type, but likewise present strikingly different characteristics among themselves. Those of the northern plateau are small, hardy and long-lived, being bred on extensive ranges in a cooler atmosphere, and accustomed to long journeys in search of water and pasture. In the south they are larger and better nourished, owing to the permanent character of the pasturage, but are less vigorous because of the heat and insect plagues. In Yucatan the open plains, rich pasture, and comparative freedom from moist heat, insects and vampire bats, have been particularly favourable to cattle-raising, and the animals are generally rated among the best in Mexico. Notwithstanding the frequency of long, destructive droughts, cattle-raising is a preferred industry among the landowners of the northern states, and especially near the American frontier. Almost total losses are frequently experienced, but the profits of a favourable year are so great that losses seldom deter ranchers from trying again. In the sierra regions of western Chihuahua and Durango, Nuevo León, Coahuila, Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosi, and the plateau states farther south, the rainfall is more abundant and the conditions more favourable. The largest herds are to be found in Chihuahua and Durango. Above 5000 ft. the wild pasturage is short, tender and reproduces itself annually. It is exceptionally nutritious, but it disappears altogether in the dry season because of its short roots. The lowland pasture, from 2000 to 5000 ft., is composed of more vigorous grasses, with an undergrowth of an exceptionally succulent character. The stock-raiser on the border pastures his herds on the uplands during the rainy season, and on the lower pastures during the remainder of the year. Next in importance is the breeding of sheep, which is largely confined to the cooler sierra districts. They are commonly of the Spanish merino breed, and suffer in many localities on account of insufficient pasturage. Some attention is given to the breeding of goats because of the local demand for their skins, but the industry is apparently stationary. The raising of swine, however, is increasing. In the last decade of the 19th century the capital invested in these live-stock industries was estimated (by Bancroft) to exceed $700,000,000, but an official return of the 30th of June 1902 gave an aggregate valuation of only $120,523,158 (Mexican), or about £12,052,316. According to this report, which is not strictly trustworthy, there were in the republic 5,142,457 cattle, 859,217 horses, 334,435 mules, 287,991 asses, 3,424,430 sheep, 4,206,011 goats and 616,139 swine. Two years later home consumption returns noted the slaughter of 958,058 cattle (129,938 in the Federal District), 561,982 sheep, 992,263 goats and 887,130 hogs—the last item being larger than the census return of 1902. The greater part is consumed in the country, but there is a considerable export of cattle to the United States, Cuba and Central America, and of hides and skins to the United States and Europe. A few mules are sent to Central America, but the home demand usually exceeds the supply.

Other Industries.—There are no fisheries of importance except the pearl fisheries on the eastern coast of Lower California, and the tortoise fisheries on the coasts of Campeche, Yucatán, and some of the states facing the Pacific. The pearl fisheries have been worked since the arrival of the Spaniards, and were once very productive notwithstanding the primitive methods employed. Since the closing years of the last century pearl fishing in the Gulf of California has been carried on with modern appliances and better results by an English company under a concession from the government. Mother-of-pearl or abalone and other shells are also found, and, with sponges, are exported. Fishing for the tortoiseshell turtle gives employment