The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1881-06-18

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So much has been said and written
about the resources of Mexico, and SO
little has been made out of them that a
shadow of distrust oyerclouds the glow
ing eulogies of all the travellers; but the
testimony is uniform, and at the risk OF
being discredited as new addition to
the long list of Mulberry Sellerscs who
swarm here. can only join in the gen.
eral voice which proclaims Mexico the
world wonder. and the richest OF all
the lands of the earth in the production
of nature. Its mining wealth has hardly
been scratched. While we have reached
a depth of nearly 5000 feet on the Com
stock and hand up ore by the ton in
hotel elevator the Mexican miner IN the
Pachuca district climbs down zoo feet
on poles with pegs stuck in them, with
an empty bag on his back, and climbs
back with his bag full Of ore-say eighty
pounds-and his labor is less effective
at fifty cents a day than that of the
Comstocker at four dollars. Yet, with
this rude labor Mexico has managed to
produce nearly half of the whole worlds
supply of gold and silver since the days
of rubal Cain. There is not blast
furnace in the land. but the iron mount.
ain of Durango could furnish all the
world with ore for generation, and
there are 900, 000, 900 tons lying above
tho surface in Michoacan. Coal has
never been mined, but now there is
hardly week that some new coal dis
covery is not located or "denounced,"
as they call it here. There is copper
enough in Mexico to bring down the
price one-haf. There is quicksilver,
and lead. nickel. anthony, tin, zinc.
As for sulphur and chemicals the great
laboratories of nature are still at work
producing them.
But none of these things are good to
eat, and, after all, the basis of perma-
nent prosperity and equally diffused
wealth consists not in mines, but in the
agricultural products Of the soil. Unless
there is large and wealthy population
Of cultivators to consume the product
of the mines and manufactures, the
country will be at a great disadvantage.
How does Mexico stand in this respect?
The resources of her soil are simply
more marvellous than her mineral
wealth. The marvellous feature of it is
that the ranges of mountains. by their
varying elevation, bring all the climates
of the world side by side. and a days
journey up from the coast on either
side takes one from the tropics 20 the
temperate zones. The chief commercial
export of Mexico is coffee, and the Mex
lean coffee is cheaper TO grow and more
nutritious to drink than that of any 9TH
er country; the sugar cane here grows
to height of twenty feet without cult
walton, and excellent pure sugar is
everywhere abundant. Cotton Is but
little cultivated, but it grows well. The
Mexican tobacco is good enough to ex-
port to Cuba and TO come back as Ha-
yana tobacco. and am very sure that
under better cultivation its plantations
willrival those of the vuelta Abajo. Rice,
indigo, cocoa, dyestuffs and all tropical
products flourish in the TERRA Caliente.
or low lands, while hundred miles off.
amid the ranges, the fields are green with
wheat and barley and the waving leaves
of the graceful Indian corn. The fruits
of Mexico, like everything else here,
attest how much nature does for the
country and how little is done by man.
! took dinner last Sunday at the hospit-
able house of an American resident, and
as matter Of course we had strawber-
ries and strawberry short-cake. When
asked how long the strawberry season
lasted Twas told it lasted eleven months.
We had our choice also of watermelons
and muskmelons, and the pyramid of
fruit passed around included bananas,
grenadines, mameys, chirimoyas, aqua
Gates and other more or less sweet and
juicy natural fruits of the country. OF
these the grenadina is the fruit of the
passion flower, its interior looking and
tasting like magnified and sweetened
gooseberry; the chirimoya is called the
king of fruits, and looks and tastes very
much like good vanilla ice-cream; the
aquacute or alligator pear, the Nancy
and the saporte taste like nothing out
side of Mexico. Pears and peaches are
poor and dear; Strawberries dear but
very fine; but all the tropical fruits are
good and cheap and plentiful, and are
in universal use among rich and poor.
They are eaten raw, they are made into
salads, they are stewed into sweetmeats.
every meal having it's dulce as one of
the courses; they are candied with the
pure sugar OF the country. their sweet
ened juices are drunk with water, they
are invaluable aids to good health and
good living. AS for the vegetables,
peas and string beans. tomatoes. arti-
chokes, cabbages, caulifowers. brussels
sprouts, broccoli, onions, lettuce and ev-
erything known to the American palate,
seem to be- plentiful and perennial =
Cor. st. Louis Globe Democrat.
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