Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-06-19
FAMOUS HaCIENDAS.
A GLANCE AT MEXICAN METHODS
OF AGRICULTURE,
Seventy Bushels of Corn Per Acre
and Three Crops Year-trriga-
ton and Water supply.


and Three Crops Year-irriga-
ton and Watey supply.
lszsecial Correspondence Of the RECORD UNEcS,]
MEXICO, June II, 1885.
Under some circumstances lifein Mexi-
can hacienda would lie the most delightful
that can be imagined. For instance, how
better could ones honeymoon be spent
if the groom happens to be a hacfsndado-
than in the seclusion of his raral casa?
Robinson Crusae on his desert island was
not more completely cut oil from all the
world than sach happy pair may be; for
though monarch of all they survey, the
ancestral acres perhaps stretching away
hundreds of miles on every side-it is
picture eff still life" with themselves the
only acters in it. To be sure there is al
ways q multitude of peops and house-serv
ants, bat they are mere nIachines, with 70
part IN the lives of their superiors. Imagine
it, We spooning sweetheaFts, III this lovely
month of June. What would our respected
President give, or any other
NEwLY-wEDDE-D BENEDICT,
For such isolation with the idol of his
soul? In a former letter | asserted that the
majority of haciendadoes never live upon
their vast estates. bHt give them over to the
care of administrators and oyerseers;; but
few neglect so glorious an opportunity OF
having a world to themselves during moon
of honey. And as ali the world loves
lover the mothe7s-in law, sisters, cousins
and aunts who insist upon living with the
couple during the remainder OF their lives,
invariably betake themselves elsewhere M
the second month rolls round, that which
Zadig lie Borgne (who, occordlng TO our
schoolgirl French, lived in Babylon IN
the time of the King Moabdar) character
lied as IN ll1ie de rd5Silithe--worinWood!
Much has been written and said about
Mexican haciendas, but probably few peo-
ple realize the vast extent and possibilities
of some of them There are many estates III
this country into each of which a European
principality might he crowded, and which
a King might be proud to own as his do
main.
THE FAMOUS soLADo HACIENDA,
For example, which lies partlyin the States
of Coahuila. Nueva Leon, san Luis Potosi
and Zacatecas, on the great highway to the
CAPITAL and the line of the new Mexican
Central Railway, contains over 500 square
miles. Ii has an average elevation OF 4,Ooo
feet on the far-famed mesa central central
table-lands) of the republic. Chains OF
mountains traverse it-how rich IN mineral
wealth nobody knows; fourishing farms,
mining settlements. manufacturing centers,
and even incorporated villages are found
within its limits. A million and hall oil
acres of this fruitful soil which bears every
II l..kL A
cal zones. producing at least two crops OF
corn a wear, and perpetual and sPontane-
Gus " CROP of many other things, rs neat
little property. by no means " to be dis
piged," as the immortal Sairey said OF
"vittals.'
LAND MONOPOLY.
Living along the old stage road between
Sahillo and Zaeatecas-which Betsy and
raversed three years ago i'll an ambulance
our cavalcade rode for whole day, at
the top of mule speed, entirely within the
possessions OF one man, where on every
side. as far as the eye can reach, all belongs
to the same fat and ignorant old hacien-
dado whom nobody, by any possibility,
would ever mistake for gentleman. Ar
irving at a manufacturing village we in
CURED, "What town is this?"
"0h, that is only the cotton mills and
Dadlta factories of Senior -, the haclen-
dado" was the reply.
A few miles farther on another settle
ment Of perhaps thousand inhabitants
was pointed out as his sombrero and sad
die mandatory, and sull another and
larger pueblo as the home of hundreds en-
ployed in his smelling works. Inquiring
the name of the. distant Sierras, which lay
like wall Of amethyst against the western
sky, we were informed that they were a
part of the estate and known only as the
silver mines of Senior -.
Hundreds of miles north of this point
and not a great distance from the Rio
Grande which forms the boundary line
between Mexico and the United States, OIL
toward Lampazos. on the Cerralvo branch
of the Sierra Madre range, is little ranch
of thousand acres. owned by the wealthy
banker of Monterey,
slGNoR DON PATRIcIo MILMo-
This somewhat naughty ex-Irishman
(who was plain Pat Miller when he came
here, poor boy, not many years ago until
he married the daughter of rich Mexican
Governor, and afterwards ungratefully al
loved his papa-in-law to be shot for some
political offense, when few thousands
might have saved HIM, does not consider
! this tiny piece of property worthy to be
| cdllp0 an estate, Dlll IOOho upOll IL Idluti as
| a sort of suburban garden. A considerable
portion of it is in an almost perpendicular
position, towering up the mountain
side thousand feet, and is about
as easy of access as the Mussulman' S
| heaven, which, according to the Koran, is
reached only by the bridge of Al Sirat-
fine as q hair and sharp as sword -
| spanning the eternal abyss over which the
! faithful are miraculously carried. For the
| last mile or two bride path winds itself
zigzag fashion, like lacking a ship, up the
mountain side to Senior Miimos eyrie,
which needs Mohammed's miracle to travel
| in safety. There is no wagon road Beyond
this point, and everything needed for the
ranch must be carried up ON pack-mules.
! A few years ago Mr.. Milmo offered $50, 600
to any one who would construct him a
carriage-way to the top and guarantee
| it for five wears. Several parties
came and examined the mountain. but
all gave it up as an impossibility.
Upon reaching the summit a vast plain ex-
| tends before the sight for miles, as level as
| floor, and appropriately called the mesa
| table, of the mountain. A good deal OF
it is under cultivation, the products receiv-
! ing their moisture from the natural hui
midity of that hight. 1t looks odd to see
the corn and wheat of the north. with the
| figs. bananas and pomegranates of the
south all hedged by cactus and aloes,
growing luxuriantly together upon the
mountain top Much might be said about
this ranch, beauty of its location,
IN THE LAND OF THE SKY"
Did space permit. Like most things that
are difficult of attainment in this weary
world, it amply repays the toll and danger
of the ascent On the road thereto many
accidents have occurred, not few of which
amounted to tragedies. More than once
Senior Patrick himself has come near meet
| ing death in the ascent. The august Bishop
| of Iinares whose somewhat ponderous
cognomen, if written in full upon hotel
! register. would make such spread as this
| Senoria Ylustrisima Doctor Y Maestro Obs
DO Ignacio Monies de Oea y Obergon-fre-
auently desires to retire to the mountain
! top. presumably to pray. Now Bishop
! in this Catholic country must maintain an
immense amount of style, and never goes
abroad except in state. while all the people
| do him reverence, and kneel to kiss the
ring upon his hand. II would scarcely be
consistent for such greatness to be seen
| eantering up hill on donkey
| though We read that One greater than he
entered Jerusalem aforetime in that hum
| BILE maner; therefore it is customary for
| his Highness to be conveyed part way up
at least beyond the vulgar gaze-in car
| rage. Not long ago in making the ascent
L -