Little Falls transcript., 1883-09-28
Ian D. OF CACTUS AND PALM.

More About Mexico. with Especial Reference
to Facts About the Ownership
s$s i Of Land. ssi=z
a List Of Golden Opportunities Whereby
ss. Men Of Enterprise Might Coin
r. rsS Money.
$S MONTEREY, Estade do Nuevo Leon, Special
5Correspo ondence. Aug. 28.--Much has been
said and written about Mexican haciendas, but
probably few people realize the vast extent
and Unlimited possibilities Of some Of them.
In the Central and Northern States Of Mexico
are found estates large enough to hide our own
Little Rhody," or many principality of Eu-
rope. A million and half acres
Of this fruitful soil, which bears
everything grown in both temperate and
tropical zones, and produces two crops
year, is = neat little farm, by no means s'to
be despised," as the immortal Sairy said OF
'vittles." The famous Solado estate, for
example, contains over 600 square
Mules 1t lies partly in the States
OF Nuevo Leon. Coahuila, Zacatecas and
San Luis Potos, on the highway to the capital
and on the line Of the new Mexican Central rail
road Il has an average elevation of 1000
feet, on the far-famed central table lands OF
the republic. Its boundaries extend more than
LOU miles from north to south; chains of
mountains traverse it-how rich in mineral
wealth nobody knows-and hourishing farms
and mining villages are met at frequent inter-
walls. The fact that all Mexico IS owned by a
comparatively few individuals is the chief res
son for such wide distinction of caste-the i'm
passable gulf that ls fixed between rich and
poor--and why SO little progress has been made
In agriculture and manufactured Generally,
the p roprietor of these vast estates enjoys life
abroad, or in the gay and fashionable capital;
and his poems living on the land take about as
much interest in the cultivation thereof as would
negro slaves without an overseer. Beside
great possessions are death to ambition. That
Is wise clause IN the Ltany, 'In all time OF
our prosperity, good Lord deliver U.s." The
average New England farmer, whose few hilly
acres yield nothing bountifully but stones and
blackberry briars. and who acquires chronic
limp from constant stside- hill'' labor, really
produces more in his one crop year than the
proprietor of Thousand acres in this land of
eternal sunshine But then, climatic Influences
must be taken into account, as well as the Diff
ference in temperament between the happy-go-
lucky Latin and the thrifty, industrious Anglo.
Saxon race. AS to the actual productiveness
of this SOIL it is difficult to get reliable informa
tlon down to figures. If you inquire of
Mexican how much lis field or orchard
yields, the invariable reply -accompa-
MED by shrug Of the shoulders worthy OF g.
French dancing master-is "Quien sabe?" {Who
knows), or "Asi Dios quiere," las God wills y
have ascertained that with Mexican cult.va-
tlon-which means merely tickling the sur
face of the soil, and turning on water now
and then-from twenty-five to forty bushels
OF corn are considered satisfactory yield
The few who have tried our improved methods
of cultivation affirm that they readily produce
from fifty to seventy-fve bushels to the acre.
each crop, planting the first in February, and
the second in July or August. The standard
price Of corn in Monterey is 2 cents per pound
FERTILE LAND.
The principal crops in this State are corn,
barley, beans and sugsr-cane-and they tell
stories almost as tall as the corn about the
marvellous growth Of the latter. Riding along
the watercourses, anywhere in the suburbs,
one sees impenetrable thickets of giant Wild
cane, rivaling Jacks historic beanstalk in
height A Agentleman who owns what he calls
'quinta pequino" Qittle garden) Of 100 acres,
near Monterey tells me he bought it, in 1882,
for $22 per acre, and that the first years yield
of only ten acres Of it in sugnr-cane realized
$500. Judge Golindo, resident of this city,
and one of the federal judges Of Mexico, in
forms me that his sugar ranch was
seeded twentythree years ago. The
cane has ripened year after year more
than nine feet high, and there has never been
any falling off in the yield But there are
drawbacks to this aattering picture. Irriga-
ton, which is troublesome and and expensive
at best, is essential here, and the trouble IN
this section seems to be that all the available
water has already boon transferred from the
rivers to the irrigating bitches. The water
question, which in Utah the Mornaans have
regulated to the nicety Of clockwork, is here
among the mysteries which ''no fellow can
find out" If you ask q famer as to his irriga-
tion privileges. he will tell you he has s'nine
days water" Thirteen days water" s'twentv
days WATER" as the case may be-which
means that he has the privilege of
turning water on his land once
in nine, is !i3te thirteen or twenty days
good round sum. 1t must be borne in mind
that the raius of heaven, like many other things
in this tropical clime-are not to be depended
upon. They fall, according to promise, alike
upon the just and the unjust, but at long and
always unexpected intervals, and generally
come in torrents that flood the fields and do
far more damage than good It is but reason
able logic to conclude that if this land ia valu
able only when irrigated. and il all the avail
able water is already in use on lands now under
cultivation, then the country must look to i'm
proved methods to increase it's cult
vated area; and as the natives have
not advanced a single step in hundred
years in the way of agriculture, it clearly
rests with some enterprising Yankee to devise
the method. Artesian wells have not yet been
tried TO my knowledge) for purposes OF irnga-
tion, but that water is plenty, though far be-
low the surface, is proven by the numerous
very deep wells Of clear, pure water found all
over Mexico. A Mexican:s hovel may not
be fit for cattle to live in but it is certain to
have good we'll. which is as much hobby
with him as a fine barn is with Pennsylva-
MIA farmer: The other day visited Judge
Golindo's sugar ranch, and viewed the whole
process Of pilonciIle tsugar) making. The
family carriage IAN antique ark, guiltless of the
modern frivolity of springs, with square ap-
erature high up in the air for . door, through
barrassing display Of hosiery conveyed us to
the spot, about five miles from Monterey.
COUNTRY SCENES
wish I could make you see the queer scenes
en- route. The great Saddle mountain--ap-
pearing close at hand, but in reality miles awav
oyershadows US the entire disrance on the
right; and the bare, hot fields on the left are
dotted with the cane-stalk huts-thatched With
Spanish dagger leaves-of the Mexican poor.
There are few large trees in this part of Mexi-
co, and not many Of any kind-outside the
haciendas-but palm and Spanish dagger. The
meadows bear no grass worth mentioning, but
grow unlimited cactus and a variety Of wild
flowers. The roadsides are lined with luxu-
rant growth of towering bushes-plauted
for ,.9shhpedges-over which wild clematis
purple heliotrope and ageratuno, m,gnonette,
nasturtium and other floral favorites, which re-
quire careful cultivation in colder climates,
There are no fences" in Mexico, but vine