Resources and Development of Mexico

Preface

It is the purpose of this volume to present a true picture of the natural and industrial condition of the several states of the Mexican republic as they are to-day. It is necessary, if we would keep pace with the progress here being made, frequently to review, examine, and compare one period with another, for in many respects there is more advancement in one of our present decades than during the whole three centuries of viceregal rule. Civilization surges for ward everywhere, but in no quarter of the globe are there such giant strides as here. Several causes combined to effect this result. For generations progress was retarded by intellectual en thralment, and the general state of society at home and commercial relations abroad. There were inter nal issues to be settled before external accomplish ments could be assumed.

With consummate energy and skill on the part of soldiers and statesmen, these and other things have been achieved, so that the whole country now basks in the sunshine of prosper ous repose. Nowhere are life and property more secure than here ; nowhere are the rights of men more respected. It has ever been the province and pleasure of Mexico to give more than she receives. The metals from her mountains and the products from her plains (V)

PREFACE.

VI have enriched thousands. Even from her aboriginal civilization the old world learned much, and much there was in her ancient arts and industries that to this day has not been surpassed or superseded. Not that the author could imagine that the hidden wealth and magnificent possibilities of this favored land may be fully revealed on any printed page ; it is only a glimpse at best that we can obtain of what here is and may be of those mysterious unfoldings whose secrets are locked in the occult powers of soils and climates, and in the recesses of mountains, rivers, and plains ; but enough can be brought out to enable us intelligently to compare this with other lands, and show clearly the marvellous progress which has been made under the present benign rulership. Auspices the most favorable attended the writing of this book.

The subject was presented to the author during a visit with his family to the capital of the Republic in the winter of 1891-2. The Presi dent manifested the deepest interest in the plan, believing as he did, that if the work was properly done it would prove of lasting benefit to the country. Experienced secretaries and assistants were summoned from the north, and entered upon the long and ardu ous labor of gathering information, all of which must be fresh and reliable, so as to give the best and latest knowledge regarding the fundamental interests of the country. Under the able direction of George H. Morrison, and armed with presidential influence with governors of states and men of intelligence every where, the tour of the Republic was made, and was attended by a gathering of facts which for thorough ness and extent stands without a parallel in the annals of bookmaking.

PREFACE.

VII Howsoever much the present phenomenal development of Mexico may be due to the leaven of progress working in humanity, to the inexorable necessity of associated intellect to enlarge and improve, the cause of causes must not be overlooked — good government. The student of history, be the history of whatsoever nation it may, cannot fail to observe how often, for periods of greater or less extent, progress is retarded by anarchy and misrule, and stimulated by paternal care and good government. If ever there was cause for national rejoicing we have it here. This is the golden age of Mexico, when through out the land peace and plenty reigns — prosperity at home, with the dignity of self-respect and the respect of all nations. Prior to this new era of progress, dark clouds of confusion enveloped the land, internal discord mingling with foreign invasion.

It was then that the patriotism which lives in the hearts of all true statesmen and rulers shone forth in the words and deeds of those who hold in their hands the destinies of Mexico, of those who contend not for personal advancement, but for the right, elevating themselves only as they raise the standard of public morality and intellectual liberty. PAGE CONTENTS OF THIS VOLUME

Chapter I General View

Position, Area, and Population — Climates— Hydrography— Races- Possibilities of Population within Prescribed Limits — Chief Sources of Production Already in Use or which may be Made Available— Flora— Fauna-Mineral and Industrial RESOURCES- GOVERNMENT — RELIGION — CUSTOMS — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE IN- HABITANTS 1

Chapter II Intellectual Development

Education During the Viceregal Period — Recent Condition of Public Instruction — State and Popular Education — Primary Instruction — Federal and State Educational Methods — Attendance and Appropriations — Proportion Per Capita Allotted to the Several Grades — Scientific Education — Means of Support — Professional Training — Fine Arts — Archæology- Museums — Libraries — Other Institutions of Learning Journalism — Progress of Intellectual Development 38

Chapter III Communication

Mail Service — Cost of Mail Transportation — Postal Conventions — Organization — Telegraphs — Length of the Federal Lines — Rates— State Lines — Private Telegraphic Lines — Railroad Lines — Rolling Stock — Facilities Afforded to Trade by Railroads — Cost of Construction — Annual Revenue — Lines Building and Projected— Highways and Public Roads — Waterways and Navigable Rivers — Suggestions on Waterways 70 CONTENTS X

Chapter IV Mines And Mining

Geological Formations— Metalliferous Region of the Republic — Metals now Exploited — Metals and Metalloids that mat be Worked to Advantage — Precious Stones — Building Stones- Clay — Reduction of Ores — Development of Metallurgic Industries — Smelting Works — Mines and Mining Experts — Metallurgists — Capital Invested in Mining Operations — Mining Yield — Present Condition of Mining Compared with the Preceding Decade — Coinage Export and use of Metals in the Mechanic Arts 108

Chapter V Agriculture

Mexico as an Agricultural Country — Climates — Varieties of Soil — Chief Staples Cultivated — Produce that May Be Raised to Advantage — Agricultural Products Exported — Home Consumption — Forests, Their Extent and Preservation — Tree-Planting — Timber — Cabinet and Dye- Woods — Cinchona and other Medicinal Plants — Irrigating Canals — Lands to Be Improved by Irrigation — Effects of Irrigation in Arizona and California — Prospective Benefits of Irrigation in Mexico — Agricultural Implements and Tools — Suggestions as to Agricultural Industries 175

Chapter VI Stock Raising

Lands Suitable for Stock Breeding — Pasturage — Breeding of Cattle, Horses, Sheep, and Swine — Ostriches — Camels — Methods for Improving Stock— Information on the Breeding of Animals — Exportation of Stock — Development of Stockraising— Culture of the Silk Worm — Favorable Conditions for Sericulture — Its Probable Yield — Cochineal — Axe or Ni-in — Bees-wax and Its Uses — Export and Consumption of Wax — The Heron — The Crocodile 209

Chapter VII Manufactures

The Field for Manufactures — Fabrics of Cotton, Wool, and Silk — Of other Fibres — Manufacture of Paper, Hats, and Hammocks — Tanneries — Saddleries — Boot and Shoe Factories — Sugar Making — Confectioneries and Sweetmeats — CONTENTS XI Chocolate — Flour Mills — Breweries — Distilleries —Cigars and Cigarettes — Soap — Cabinet Making and Tapestry — Pottery and Terracotta Works — Earthenware — Artificial Stone— Brick, Paving Stone, and Tiles— Glass and Glass ware — Ceramics — Marble Cutting — Cart Making— Jewelry — Filigree Work — Wax Matches — Bronzes — Need of De veloping Manufactures — New Factories — Plants Suitable for Manufactures 225

Chapter VIII Communication With Foreign Countries

Railroad Lines and Their Operation Between Mexico and the United States — Communication with Central America — Atlantic and Pacific Ports — Available Harbors and Navigable Rivers— Regular Lines of Steam and Sailing Ships Between Europe and Mexico — Between Asia and Mexico — Maritime Communication Between Mexican Ports— Shipping and Discharging Facilities — Works in Course. of Construction or Contemplated 241

Chapter IX Commerce

Drawbacks to Commercial Activity — Progress Under the Diaz Administration — National Finances and Credit — The Monetary System — Banking Institutions, Their Origin' and Present Condition — Influence of Banks on Trade — Express Companies — Traffic between the Mexican States — Importations and their Source — Consular Bills of Lading — Ports — New Commercial Code — Zona Libre — Exportations — Resume 254

Chapter X Material Development Of Mexico

Early Retarding Causes — Class Distinctions — Encouragement of Agriculture and Mining — Grants to Intending Settlers — Inducements Offered to Stock-raisers — Reduction Works — Mining Regulations and Exemptions — Prospecting — The Protective Tariff and Its Effects — Encouragement of Manufactures — Inventions and Patents— Copyright — The Commercial Code in Relation to Bankruptcy CONTENTS XII

Chapter XI Labor And Immigration

The Mexican Laborer — Organization of Labor in the Several Industries — Hours op Work — Labor of Women and Children — Sanitation in Workshops — Compensation of Labor— Need of Hands for Industrial Development — Encouragement of Immigration — Probable Improvement of Immigrant's Condition — Price of Public Lands — Immigrants Suitable for Mexico — Tendency of European Emigration toward Mexico 275

Chapter XII Resume

The City of Mexico — Its Streets and Buildings — The Federal District — Drainage and Sanitation Works — Former Degradation of the Aborigines — The Mestizos — Benito .Juarez and Porfirio Diaz — The Progressive Movement in Educational and Social Matters — Brigandage — Decrease of Crime — Foreign Relations — The Cabinet— Comparison Between Mexico and Other Spanish-American Countries — Conclusion

Chapter I General View

Position, Area, and Population — Climates — Hydrography Races Possibilities of Population within Prescribed Limits Chief Sources of Production Already in Use or which may be Made Available— Flora— Fauna— Mineral and Industrial Resources- Government — Religion — Customs — Characteristics of the Inhabitants. The Republic of Mexico occupies largely the trop ical portion of the North American continent, lyino between latitudes 14 30' and 32° 42'. It has on the north the United States of America, and on the south Guatemala and the small British colony of Belize. On one side are the Mexican gulf and Carib bean sea, and on the other the Pacific ocean, the latter seaboard extending from Alta California to the Guatemalan frontier. The general aspect of the territory is mountainous, the central part lying for the most part in the high plateau, along whose eastern side extends the Rocky Mountain axis of the continent, while on the west, under the name of Sierra Madre, is the continuation of the Cascade-Nevada range, which comes down from Alaska parallel with the sea-shore, and merges in the small sierras which at Tehuantepec cross the continent toward the southeast.

Thus inclosed between the great cordilleras, the plateau slopes from its highest part between Mexico, Toluca, Pachuca, Puebla, and Tlaxcala, where it rises to the height of 8,200 feet i GENERAL VIEW above the sea, and sinking toward the north until near the frontier, where begins the Colorado plateau, it is but little above the level of the two oceans. The watersheds of the high plateau on the north west descend to the Pacific in the form of terraces, while on the southeast, south, and along the Mexican gulf, though likewise terraced, the slope is abrupt, and there are places almost too steep to traverse, as it drops down to the ocean. The heights surrounding the valleys of the central plateau are rugged, and denuded of vegetation, the summits presenting the appearance of a rent cloth, owing to the absence of plants, and the destructive action of water, which, in the form of melted snow or rain, carry below the drift from the decaying rocks.

At some distance from the centre of the plateau, the mountain sides are covered with forests, and if the elevation be not too great, the trees extend to the summit, protecting the mountains from the destructive action of air and water. Hence some of these elevations sustain suffi cient moisture from streams, and send down to the sea under a tropical sun rivers to water the redundant vegetation. The snowy peaks of Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl, which lose themselves among the sportive clouds at a height above the sea of 17,798 and 16,076 feet re spectively, send down streams to fertilize the valleys of Mexico and Puebla, and supplement the scanty rains of the dry season. The slope of Perote, which on the Vera Cruz side rises to a height of 13,415 feet and forms the terminus of the central plateau, like other great elevations hereabout, becomes surcharged with moisture, which it sends down to the grateful valleys below.

From the configuration it is easy to determine the climate, mark off the zones of temperature, and tell the regions of ice and snow, of temperate climates and of soft, balmy airs. Situated as it is so far to the south, as the land rises inward from the sea the THE IXTACEIHUATL volcano. CLIMATIC ZONES 3 air becomes milder, until reaching the high plateau, which notwithstanding it is called the tierra fri'a, has a temperature, throughout the year and nearly over its whole extent, that is agreeably warm, producing in the beautiful valleys of Mexico, Puebla, and others, plants and fruits, which like the plantain belong more especially to the lower tropical regions. Between the seaboard and the snowy peaks is every shade of temperature properly belonging to all the zones embraced between the extremes of 5° and 35°c. The tropical zone, properly so-called, and com prising the region between the sea level and an ap proximate height of 3,280 feet, extends in a narrow belt along the gulf coast, from Matamoros to the city of Vera Cruz, where it broadens, taking in the whole eastern and southern portions of the state, as well as Tabasco, Campeachy, and Yucatan to the frontier of Guatemala.

Chiapas, lying somewhat higher, all save a narrow belt along the coast, has a more heated atmosphere, the thermometer in the mountainous region and elevated valleys standing usually between 15° and 25°c. The tropical zone embraces also the isthmus of Te huantepec, and continues in a narrow belt along the Pacific coast, including portions of Oaxaca and Guer rero. Thence it enters the interior by the lowlands forming the banks of the Mezcala, or Balsas river, and extends into a portion of the states of Puebla, Morelos, Mexico, and Michoacdn, and confining itself anew to the coasts, predominates in Colima, the inte rior of Jalisco to a limited extent, Tepic, and part of Sinaloa. Advancing toward the north the belt broadens from the Topolobainpo to the mouth of the Colorado river. This region, though unhealthful for foreigners, is an Eden to the natives.

Various causes unite to give to the Mexican tierra caliente, or hot lands, the name of mortiferous, which has so greatly retarded settlement. The people there are mostly Indians who have little idea of rules of health ; but the change effected in the education of the aborigi nal race within the last ten years has been surprising. Innumerable prejudices exist against any innovation however beneficial which precludes the adoption of sanitary measures. Another not less potent reason is the failure to clear and cultivate the land, the inhabitants of the tierra caliente declining to do more labor than is necessary to provide themselves with food. Vast areas of overflowed land act as centers of infection, instead of sources of unlimited wealth, as in Topolobampo. In Yucatan, Campeachy, and Tabasco together, the mortality does not exceed 29 per thousand ; and if a few rules of hygiene were observed it would not exceed that of the most healthy countries.

The same may be said of the tierra caliente of the other states. The tierra templada, or semi-tropical zone of Mexico, which is enclosed within the tropical, em braces the watersheds of the high plateau between the altitudes of 2,625 and 5,577 feet. The climate here is considered, from every point of view, as healthy and pleasant, the average annual temperature being about 24°c. Thus it is in the greater portions of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, nearly half of Tamaulipas, a small part of Vera Cruz, and nearly the whole of Chiapas in the watersheds of the gulf. In the states of the Pacific the temperate belt com prises nearly all of Oaxaca, a large portion of Guer rero, Jalisco, Sinaloa, and Sonora, extending inland into the states of Puebla, Mexico, Morelos, and Michoacdn. The vegetation throughout the tierra templada is exuberant and varied, the useful predominating over the ornamental.

It would be difficult to find plants better adapted to human wants than are generally found in these sections. Chilpancingo, Jalapa, VARIED TEMPERATURE 5 Huatusco, and many other places leave nothing to be desired as regards salubrity. The highest part of the Mexican central plateau, and where the climate is most severe, the mean temperature being about l7°c, is at an elevation ex ceeding 5,577 feet above the sea, and is not altogether appropriately called the tierra fria, for with the ex ception of a few places in Chihuahua, Durango, Zaca tecas, Tlaxcala, and Mexico, frosts rarely occur save in exceptionally severe winters. The vegetation is characteristic of the subtropical and temperate zones, and by the bifurcating of the principal cordilleras, numerous valleys are found whose climate could not be excelled, and whose vegetation partakes diversely of the characteristics of the torrid, tropical, semi tropical, temperate, and even frigid regions.

Some thing like this is the beautiful valley of Oaxaca where the pear, apple, and plum flourish in neighborly proxi mity to the sugar-cane, plantain, mango, pineapple, alligator-pear, and mamee. As a rule, all the regions embraced within the so called tierra fria are salubrious, and the mortality exceeds about 22 per thousand only in marshy places having no drainage, and where the rainy season is longer than usual. Fortunately, but a comparatively few small towns find themselves so situated, the predominant population therein being aborigines, who, however, have begun to recognize some of the rudimentary rules of hygiene. Finally, as regards climate, the entire republic, save the tropical belt, and some small areas in the high plateau, enjoy the delights of perennial spring ; in the coldest spots snow storms are rare, and on the seaboards the north east and southwest winds of the Pacific, and on the gulf side the winds from the north and northwest, soften the temperature in winter.

Geographical position and altitude here unite to render atmospheric conditions peculiar. In Califor nia the rainy season comes in the winter, and the dry season in the summer. In Mexico, this is reversed, the rainy season being from April to September, and the dry season from October to March. To this rule certain localities present modifications. In Chihuahua, Durango, and Coahuila, the rainfall is so scanty that almost every year a portion of the crops and live -stock is lost. On the great plains, extending over thousands of kilometres, small sheets of verdure only are seen here and there, showing how slight the hold of life is on this arid soil. Not that the condensation here is so much less than in other parts of the plateau, the mean annual rainfall exceeding one metre, or 39.37 inches; but instead of being gradually dis tributed throughout the season, it comes within a short period of time and in torrents.

Some of the water thus falling evaporates, and flows off through the Rio Bravo del Norte ; the ground can scarcely absorb the little that is left, owing to the layer of clay underneath the soil. Within two or three weeks the ground is dry again, and in about a month all moisture has disappeared. There are in this section but few streams, and most of them are dry in winter. As the elevation of the plateau to the southward increases the rains are more regular, and the country from Puebla to Zacatecas has the benefit of periodical rains. In the high plateau there are several streams, some finding their way across the cordilleras to both seas ; among them are the Rio Mezcala, otherwise called Las Balsas, some of whose affluents have their sources in Tlaxcala and Puebla. Its course is to the south and west, gathering on the way the waters of numerous streams running from Mexico, Morelos, Michoacdn, and Guerrero.

The Grande de Lerma, called San tiago near its outlet, also collects its waters in the mountains of the state of Mexico, and is enlarged by streams from Queretaro, Guanajuato, and Jalisco, forming in the last-named state Lake Chapala, and running to the northwest drains part of RAINFALL 7 Aguascalientes and Durango, and empties itself into the Pacific near Santiago in Tepic. The valley of Mexico, with its lakes, is probably the most perfectly inclosed bas;n among those of the high plateau. The rainfall usually exceeds 1.85 metres, or about 73 inches, which added to the rather high temperature, keeps well supplied with moisture the declivities, valleys, and plains as far as the seacoast, with a consequent development of exuberant, rich, and varied vegetation, such as that of the Huasteca region in Vera Cruz.

The rainfall throughout the republic is quite abundant, the yearly average exceeding one and a half metres, or 59 inches. The soil of the plateau, though resting upon an argillaceous base, with the rainfall and some aid from artificial irrigation, might be kept moist during the dry season. Rivers but little utilized heretofore for irrigating may be advantageously used for agricultural and manufacturing purposes. The population of Mexico may be classified in three well-defined groups, namely aborigines, com monly called Indians ; Europeans and their pure white descendants ; and mestizoes, or those coming from the crossing of whites and Indians. The first named class, of whom whole tribes have disappeared or are quickly disappearing, are scattered throughout the country, aggregating about 4,500,000 souls.

Their most numerous family is the Mexican, comprising Mexicans proper, and Cuitlatecos, with upwards of 1,700,000, dwelling in the federal district, and in portions of the states of Tlaxcala, Puebla, Mexico, Hidalgo, Vera Cruz, Jalisco, Sinaloa, San Luis Potosi, Aguascalientes, Oaxaca, Tabasco, and Chi apas, and the territory of Tepic. The Othomies, nearly 800,000 souls, occupy parts of the states of Mexico, Morelos, Hidalgo, Queretaro, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi, and the Mexican valley, comprising among their tribes Mecos, Pames, Mazahuas, Serranos and others. The Zapotecos and Mixtecos, whose tribes aggregate about 700,000, include Zapo tecos, Mixtecos, Mazatecos, Cuicatecos, Papabucos, and Popolocos, mostly dwelling in Oaxaca, Guerrero, and Puebla. The Mayas or Yucatecos, who are perhaps the best-featured of the Mexican aborigines, inhabit Yucatan, Campeachy, part of Chiapas, and are also found scattered in Tehuantepec.

The principal families of this nation are the Mayas, Lacan dones, Choles, Tzendales, Mames, Huatecos, Comi tecos, and Chanabales, forming about 415,000 souls. Then, in smaller number, are the Totonacs, Apaches, Matlanzingos, Chontales, Tarascos, Guaicuros, Opata- Pimas, Tapijulapas, Seris, Zoques, Mixes, and Huaves, scattered all over the country. Much the larger part of the Indians depend upon agriculture for their support. Stock raising is also a favorite occupation with them. A few engage in hunting or fishing. The Indians at all times prefer living by themselves, or in small communities of their own race. In eastern Yucatdn the Mayas live in a state of independence, and owing to the activity displayed by the authorities for some years past, have been made to keep the peace with the whites and mestizoes of the other sections of the peninsula.

Physically the natives are strong ; they are intelligent, sober, and not quite so indolent as they have been represented. For three centuries they were kept in an abject condition, some of them being made to labor hard while held in a state of peonage. But the old order of things having ceased to a great extent, these people show a desire to better their condition. This is evidenced by the fact that so many, not only of their children but of adults, are in regular attendance at the schools. The European part of the population is made up mainly of Spaniards and Spanish Americans, to gether with small colonies of English, French, AHUEHUETE TREE AT SANTA MARIA DEL TULE, OAXACA POPULATION 9 Americans. Germans, and other nationalities, forming an aggregate of about 2,400,000 inhabitants. This class comprises most of the property-owners and pro prietors of the various industries, as well as political rulers.

They embody the progressional idea, to which is due material improvement as well as intel lectual progress, of which much has been attained in the fields of letters and science, with a beneficial effect upon the other races. A majority of the whites live in the principal towns, although many are found engaged in mining and agriculture. The mestizoes are certainly an interesting portion of the Mexican population, not only for their numeri cal superiority, approximating 5,000,000, but for their force of character, their desire to surpass the whites in progressive development, their sound judgment on social topics, and their love of country. Not a few of them have won distinction in the fields of literature and science, and likewise for military prowess and statesmanship. This class furnishes competent work men for the several industries, and in trade has begun to compete with the Europeans, who until recently have controlled most kinds of traffic.

Much property of every kind is owned by mestizoes, whose ability to increase and manage their estates is well established. There are other smaller groups which are the result of crossing of negroes with Indians and whites, to which must be added a few natives of the Philippine islands, or recently imported Chinese ; but their number is too limited to call for any especial notice. The aggregate of the Mexican population, according to the latest official records, is about 12,000,000, distributed among the several states and territories, as appears in the following table, which likewise gives the respective areas in square kilometres, each kilometre being equivalent to about five-eighths of a mile. GENERAL VIEW EXTENT AND POPULATION OF THE STATES AND TERRITORIES. EXTENT IN KILOMETRES. STATES.

They show an average of six inhabitants to the kilometre. The most sparsely populated countries in Europe, such as the Iberian peninsula, have 50 inhabitants to the square kilometre ; according to which juanacatlan falls, near ouadalaiara PRODUCTS 11 ratio Mexico might afford subsistence to 97,314,600 inhabitants. If we take into account the difference between old and new Spain, as regards natural wealth and fertility of soil, we must award the advantage to Mexico. In Andalussia, Murcia, and Valencia, the richest agricultural provinces in Spain, there are sixty inhabitants per kilometre. The fields, neither for their fertility nor for value of products, can bear comparison with the coasts of Mexico, nor with the whole of the states of Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Tabasco, Campeachy, Yucatdn, Vera Cruz, and Tamaulipas, which form nearly two-thirds of the Mexican territory, the products consisting of staples of the temperate region, fruits, cereals, garden vege tables, and woods, together with others peculiar to the warm and hot belts, namely coffee, cocoa, tobacco, sugar, rubber, cocoa-nuts, vanilla, dye-woods, henequen, and numerous other varieties of the agave.

Rice, now raised in small quantities, might be extensively cultivated in the marshy grounds of Tabasco. Cotton, maize, and other plants are largely produced, but a small part of the available soil only is utilized. Cattle breeding in the forests on the slopes might be increased. Mining operations are carried on extensively in Hidalgo, Guanajuato, and Zacatecas, and doubtless will soon be in Coahuila, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Guerrero, and other states. And lastly, the lands of the great plains on the high plateau, with the aid of irrigating canals, can be made sources of inexhaust ible wealth. Many of the valleys amid the moun tains are even now veritable gardens, displaying in rich luxuriance plants of all the different zones. Numerous manufacturing industries may be largely developed. The raw material grows wild, or may be cultivated ; hydraulic power can be obtained from streams of the sierras and the waterfalls of the slopes.

For example, the Juanacatldn falls, near Guadalajara, whose usefulness has run to waste for ages past, rival currents dashing against each other GENERAL VIEW in the channels hewn out for their descent, are now about to lend a part of their force to light that beautiful city with electricity, and will have enough left to aid a variety of industries awaiting their establishment. Such are the physical conditions of Mexico for supporting a population of 90,000,000 ; but this in crease of people and production cannot be expected without a vast influx of foreign immigrants, alike intelligent and industrious, disposed to bend their energies and to give the needed impulse to the many sources of wealth the country so happily possesses. Obviously, altitude and latitude here unite to de termine and diversify products.

Vegetable life pre sents a different aspect in each of the separate climatic zones. At the base of Popocatepetl, and in the tropical region, with its dense forests of perpetual verdure, plant life is exuberant. The weeds of the tierra fria or of altitudes higher than 3,000 metres, and the mosses found mingled with the perpetual snows, form the framework of one of the beautiful pictures the Mexican flora present to view, em bracing the coniferous family, containing several varieties of pines. Below this are found the white cedar and the cedar of the sierra (chamoecy pares thurifera), in forests, the ahuehuete (taxodium dis. tichum), the ocote or common pine (pinus comunis,) and the religious pine (pinus religiosus), covering the high mountain sides. In Santa Maria del Tule, not far from the city of Oaxaca, are found beautiful and large-sized ahuehuetes, the trunk of one of them occupying at its base a slightly oval surface, with the curve measuring about 89 feet by 178 feet in height.

There are also some fine specimens in the Chapultepec park. Evergreen and dwarf oaks cover large tracts, and the teocote (cratoejus Mexicanus), grows close to a variety of cacti, the pitahaya (pitajaiæ cactus), the nopal or Indian fig (cactus opuntia), the exdgono or ORANGE TREES IN SdNORA VEGETABLE LIFE 13 organo, a cactus so called for its resemblance to an organ pipe, and others fill the hill sides. Near To mellin, in Oaxaca, the foot-hills resemble the back of an enraged porcupine. The pitahayas attain the height of fifteen metres, or nearly fifty feet. On the mountain sides and valleys of Hidalgo, Puebla, and Tlaxcala, the maguey is largely cultivated for pulque, in the manufacture of which much capital is invested, and many thousands of people employed. Pears, apples, quinces, cherries, pomegranates, walnuts, together with figs, plums, zapote bianco (casimidora edulis), and other fruits are cultivated in the valley on the high table lands stretching over Chihuahua, Coahuila, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi, Nuevo Le6n, Aguascalientes, Queretaro, Jalisco, Mexico, Puebla, Tlaxcala, and in the Federal District.