Page:Mexico (1829) Volumes 1 and 2.djvu/66

 36 M EX ICO. The great corn lands of Mexico are those of La Puebla, (near AtlTsco, San Martin, and Cholula,) the BaxTo, which comprises a portion of the States of Guanajuato, Queretaro, ValladolTd, Zacatecas, and Guadalajara, in the vicinity of the great river of Santiago ; — the valley of Ten5chtitlan, or Mexico ; that of Poanas, in Durango ; and the Missions in California. These are but spots of cultivation on so large a surface as that presented by the territory of New Spain; but it is supposed that the ground cleared, in the vicinity of each, is capable of producing a supply of wheat, sufficient for a po- pulation, five times as numerous as that of Mexico, at the present day. This is partly owing to the fertility of the soil, which gives an extraordinary ratio of increase, and partly to the large con_ sumption of maize and Bananas, in lieu of wheaten flour, in the Tierra caliente, and upon the whole hne of Coast. The difficulty of communication with the Table-land renders wheat an article of luxury to the inhabitants of these regions ; for, strange as the assertion may appear, in the present state of the roads, it would be easier, and cheaper, for towns upon the Eastern and Western coasts to draw their supplies from the United States, or California, by sea, than from the nearest corn lands on the Table-land. American flour, for instance, sells for fourteen dollars per barrel, at the Havanna, after paying a duty of six dollars. Each Carga, (or SOOlbs. weight) of flour, from Atlisco, if sent as a mule load to Veracruz, would cost this, or more, as freight, at the present day, without allowing any thing for prime cost. V eracruz could, there- fore, be supplied from Kentucky, or Ohio, at almost one half the price Avhich flour now bears there ; nor do I think that the amelioration in the internal communications of New Spain can easily be carried to such an extent, as to prevent the Mexican land owners from being undersold in their own market by their northern neighbours, unless they are pro- tected (as it is called) by prohibitory laws. They have, in-