Page:Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol 2.djvu/88

64 the expenses of the estate. The chief difficulty encountered by the proprietors, and their administradors, is in the worthlessness of the Indian laborers, whose character as agriculturists we have noticed in the section of this work treating of the classes of Mexican society. Three hundred hands are employed at the hacienda, who are paid a per diem of two and a half or three reals, according to their qualifications or work.

The hacienda of Temisco, in the valley of Cuernavaca, is one of the oldest establishments in the republic, and, within a few years, has passed into the possession of its present owners for the sum of $300,000. The extensive buildings, consisting of a commodious dwelling, constructed in the old Spanish style, and a large chapel, were erected soon after the conquest. The domain extends over eleven leagues of land in length, and three in width. Two hundred and fifty laborers produce yearly about fifty thousand loaves of sugar, of an average weight of 23 pounds. The annual expenses of the farming and management amount to thirty thousand dollars, which are repaid by the molasses, syrup, and spirits, as at Santa Iñez, while, in addition to the crop, about four thousand cattle are raised on the premises. On all these large estates a store is kept by the owner, at which nearly the whole amount of the Indian laborer's wages is received back in the course of the year. The planters, in many parts of the country, are no longer contented with the old system of extracting and preparing sugar; but, notwithstanding the enormous cost of transporting such large masses of heavy machinery, they have introduced all the modern improved engines used in the United Stales and the West Indies. The profits must be large that will warrant so extravagant an expenditure. The great haciendas disburse, in wages and other current charges, from 800 to 1 ,200 dollars weekly. The establishment of a Trapiche, or all the works required for a sugar estate, is so costly an enterprise, that it is not likely the cultivation of the article will become greatly extended by the opening of new estates in the most productive regions. Labor, as well as engines, will be required for this purpose, and it is quite improbable that the few indolent Indians in the neighborhood will be prevailed on to abandon their life of laziness for the toils of a sugar plantation. Besides this, the present production fully supplies the home market, and although the revenues and profits are extraordinarily tempting, it is doubtful whether the Mexicans are sufficiently enterprising in agriculture to adventure such enormous sums as are necessarily expended before a single cane is planted or a pound of sugar manufactured. As long as the