Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 1.djvu/75

Rh appear still greater, were it not for the quantity of grain unnecessarily employed as seed, a great part of which is choked, and lost: yet, notwithstanding this prodigious productiveness, wheat in Mexico is half as dear again as at Paris, and considerably exceeds the price which it now bears in the English market.

It is difficult to institute any exact comparison between two countries, where the measures in use are entirely dissimilar; but the following statement may give some idea of the relative value of corn in England, and New Spain.

The Carga, or mule load, which is the usual mode of selling the more bulky agricultural produce, weighs twelve Arrobas, or three hundred pounds, which, taking the English bushel at sixty pounds, are equivalent to five bushels English measure. The price of the Carga, I have found to vary but little; for, as the consumption of wheaten flour is confined almost entirely to the towns, where the demand can be pretty correctly ascertained, a sufficient supply is raised, in the vicinity of each, to meet that demand, and no more. Thus, there is neither much competition, nor any great fluctuation in the value of the article when brought into the market.

The Carga fetches, almost uniformly, from Mexico to Dŭrāngŏ, from thirteen, to sixteen dollars, according to the year; which, taking the dollar at four shillings, and the Carga, (as stated) at five