Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1889-10-24
THE MEXICAN FARMER.
He Lives In . Pftiahls stats Of mis~F
aud I~gnornne&

he Live. In . risiahls stats Of nrlssFy
and Ignorsse~
A Mexican places no value upon his
time. An American may have to pay
him one dollar a day. q rich Mexican
only twenty-five cents In so far he
has a certain value set upon his time.
but il il comes TO . question Of a.
small amount Of money or q great
amount OF labor. the latter invariably
Is chosen. An Eastern farmer whes
planning a work OF improvement
carefully calculates the cost. estimas-
ing the value Of his time before decid-
ing upon the matter. No such thing
is done by the Mexicans. lcould emu
merate many cases where ten times
more expense has been INQUIRIES In
actual labor than would have been
necessary IL the project had been care
fully calculated and a small amoun OF
money used
Another popularity OF the Mexican
is his entire want of foresight IL
would seem that he never thinks upon
any subject A thing can or can not
be raised accordingly a. 1t has or has
not been raised in that vicinity before
In one place il was believed that
potatoes could not be raised
Some one had onee tried to raise
them. aud in irrigating had flooded
the ground aud rotted the potatoes
In the same place il was believed that
strawberries could not be grown The
reason for il was that in irrigating
muddy water was used and the flowers
were covered with a thin mud coating
after irrigation No fertilization could
take place. hence no berries we're
raised Many similar follies arc be-
Iieved In absolutely without reason
What their forefathers did they do.
and they are in consequence q very
impoverished race. No thought is
given TO the morrow and no improve
menis are made Fruit trees and
vines. although very prolific and profit
able. are rarely planted by the ordi-
nary Mexican. Wheat. beans. red
peppers and onions are planted in
quantities barely sufficient to last from
harvest TO harvest
In one part Of New Mexico where,
owing To the breaking of the head
works OF their irrigating system. theirs
was no water. and hence no crops for
one season. the store-keeper ga~s the
Nexicans seed beans for the next year
and took in payment one-half the crop.
without himself doing any work on the
crop. This is a good illustration Of
the character and condition of the
Mexicans. rs we'll as the rascality oil
the stOre-keeper.
In n short drive recently through
Northern New Mexico on the Rio
Grande saw several Mexicans pillow
ing. or rather scratching the grount
with a forked stick. The primitive
ness OF their agriculture is startling
The mortar and pestle for grinding
the wheat. the hand sickle for hzr
! ing the ground-thess are the farming
implements Of a large class of farmers
, One a hardly believe that he is In
the same continent and age with tn,
progressive Eastern agriculturist
| They live in mud (''adobe') houses
without a floor. with a mud and brssl
, rUof. with their dogs and chickens
and often with their pigs Swallow
: build their nests in the house. an,
every thing betokens a lownsss hardly
credible Vermin OF all sorts bree.
and thrive in the dirt and yet shes
Z people are unable TO account for tn
prevalence of smallpox and diphtheri
, among them Such n state of miser,
and ignorance is practically unknown
in the East 1t is as shocking as it |
? inexplicable American Agriculturis,
LIsTrs-a .onx Of rejoicing.