Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/627

Rh eighteenth century Viceroy Revilla Gigedo considered it necessary to dictate measures to remedy the evil.

The most important agricultural product of New Spain was maize, which both to the Aztecs and the Spaniards was the principal article of food, as some time elapsed before the cultivation of European cereals became general. A failure of this crop was generally equivalent to a famine, as the inhabitants seldom accumulated sufficient supplies in granaries. In the southern provinces the average yield was a hundred and fifty fold, and, under very favorable conditions, as much as eight hundred fold. The plant was used for a great variety of purposes, and furnished food for animals as well as men. From it was manufactured the liquor called chicha; the stalks were extensively used to make sugar, while the leaves served as wrappers for cigarettes. Although an important factor in the internal trade of New Spain, no early statistics have appeared as to the total yield of the country. In the beginning of the present century it was estimated at 17,000,000 fanegas.

Nearly as indispensable to the Mexicans as Indian corn was the maguey, or agave Americana. Its cultivation dated from very ancient times, and the esteem in which the plant was held is not to be wondered at when we consider the variety of purposes for which it was used, and that it could be raised with so little labor and on so small an area of fertile ground. To the Indian it not only gave food, but its leaves covered his hut, and cloth was woven from its fibres; its medicinal qualities were highly valued, and its juice was his favorite beverage, being known