The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1883-10-05
LAND OF CACTUS AND PALM

LAND OF CACTUS AND PALM.
More About Mexico. with Especial Reference
to Facts About the Ownership
e.ag. OF Land 5e.r9
A List Of Golden Opportunities Whereby
~ Men OF Enterprise Might Coin ~
H,s@5. Money.
MONTEREY, E4tads do Nuevo Leon, Special
Correspondence. Aug. 2S.-Much has been
said and written about Mexican haciendas, but
probably few people realize the vast extent
and unlimited possibilities Of some Of them.
ln the Central and Northern States Of Mexico
are found estates large enough to hide our own
"lisae Rhody," or many Q principal:.y Of Eu-
rope. A million and . half acres
Of this fruitful soil. which bears
everything, grown in bath temperate and
trorical zones, and produces two crops
q year, is q neat little farm. by no means sto
be despised," ~ the immortal Sairy said OF
'vittles."@ The famous Solaeo estate, for
A"AAPASS COutaau6 OV6E .OVV Square
miles. 1t lies partly in the q States
of Nuevo Leon. coahuil., zacatecss and
San Luis Potosi, on the high way to the capital
and on tho line Of the new Mexican Central rail-
road II has an average elevation Of 1000
feet, on the fsr-famed central table lands OF
the republic. Its boundaries extend more than
100 miles from north to south: chains of
mountains traverse it-how rich in mineral
veal h nobody knows-and Furnishing farms
and mining villages are, met at frequent inter-
walls. The fact that all Mexico Is owned by q
comparatively few individuals is the chief rea-
son for such ide distinction of caste-the i'm
passable gulf that is fixed between, rich and
poor-andw why SO little progress has been made
IN agriculture and manufactures. 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 dnath to ambition. That
is 3 wise clause IN the Litany, in all time OF
our prosperity, good Lord deliver u.s." The
average New England farmer, whose few hilly
acres yield notning beautifully but stones and
blackberry briars. and WHO acquires a chronic
linn from constant ''side- hill" labor, really
produces more in his ono crop q year than the
proprietor OF q 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 bo.ween the happy go
lucky Latin and the thrifty. industrious Anglo.
Saxon race. AS to the &c ual productiveness
of this soil, it is difficult to getreliabls iaiorma-
zion down to figures. If you inquire 81. a
Mexican how much lis field or orchard
yields, the invariable reply-acchmpa.
MED by a shrug of the shoulders worthy OF
French dancing mastsr-is "Qnien sabey ~ {Who
knows), or A Dios quiere,3' las God willsD
l have ascertained that with Mexican ~culttvat
tion-which meaus merely TICKLING tie SUR
face Of the soil, aud turning on water now
and then-from twenty-five to forty buehels
Of cern are considered . satisfactory yield.
The few who have tried our improved methods
Of cultivation affirm that they readily produce
from fifty to seventy five bushels to the acre,
each crop, planting the fret in February, and
the second in July or August. The standard
price of corn in Monterey is 2 cents per pound.
-A@1 A FERTILE LAND. W.; s. q 3a ~
The principal crops in this State are corn,
barley. beans and sugar-csne-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. Agentleman who owns what he calls
a ''quinta pequino' ait,le garden, of 100 acres,
near Monterey tells me be bought it. in 1882, +.
for $22 per acre, and that the first years. yield
of only ten acres of it in susar-cane. realized
and one Of the federal judges Of Mexico, in
forms me that; his sugar ranch was
seeded twenty-three years ago. The
csne has ripened year after year more
than nine feet high, anu there has never been
any falling off in the yield. But there are
drawbacks to this fiattering picture. sIfriga-
ton, which is troublesonce 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 trans erred from the
rivers to the .irrigating bitches. The water
question, which in Utah tho Mormahs have
regulated to the nicery of aciockwork, 10 here
among the mysteries whichMtn fellow can
ton privileges, he will tall you. he has s''iine
daya' water Thirteen days water, y 'twoaty
days. water" as the case may b%e--which
means that he has the privilege. Of
in nine, thirteen OF. twenty d.ys@
for which privilege you may BE sure he pays 3 |
good round sun. It must DO borne in mind |
that tue rsi,'s of heaven, like many other things |
in this tropical clime-ara 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 food the fields, aud do |
Gar more damage than good i is but reason
able logic to conclude that IL this land is yalu- |
able only when irrigated, and il all the avail |
ahls water is alreadyin use onlands now under |
CIVILIZATIONS, then the country must look to im-
proved methods TO increase j! its culti-
vated area; aud us the natives ( have |
years in tie way : s'p 81 .g sasp : II He eiearlg
rests with some e~nterprising Yankee to devise
the method. Artesian wells have not yet been
tried ito my knowledge for purposes OF irr1ga-
ton, but that water is plenty, though far be-
low the surface, is proven by the numerous
worry deep wells OF clear. pure water found all
over Mexico. A Mexican's howell may not
be fit for cattle to live in, but IL 10 certain to
have q good well. which is as much . hobby
with him as a fine barn ia with a. Pennsylya-
mia farmer. The other day T visited Judge
Golindo's sugar ranch, and vie wed the whole
process of piloncille (sugar)I making. The
family carriage ian antique ark, guiltless or the
modern friyolity Of springs, with . square ap-
which ingress and egress necessitated an an
barrassink display OF hosiery conveyed usI to
the apo, about five miles from Monterey Z
'ts. Re43 COUNTRY SCENES! ~ 7s!t4ts
I wish Icould make you see the queer scenes
en- route The grest. Saddle mountain-ap-
pearipg, close at hand, but in reality miles away,
overshadows us. the eutirer distance on the
right; aud the bare, hot fields on the left are
dotted wath heIcane-etalk huts-thatched with
Spanish dagger leayes-of the Mexican poor
There ars few large trees'in this part Of Next
co, and not many Of any kind-outside tho
hsaiendas-bnt palm and Spanish dagger. The
meadows bear no grass worth mentioning, but
grow Unlimited caotus and q, variety Of wild
iovexs. The roadsidss are lined with Q luxu-i
riant growth CT Towering Dbushes-plansed
for hedges-over which wild clematis
climbs in great profusion. mixed With
purple heliotrope and ageratnm, mignonette,
nasSurtium and other floral fAvorites, which re-
quire careful cultivation in colder climates.
There are NO fences" in Mexico. but vine
draped walls Of gray adobe, upon which the