The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1889-01-02


to us, who had left SHOWS and blizzard
only three days behind. He wore, afte
the manner of Chinaman, blouse o.
loose shirt Of white cotton cloth, wild,
baggy pants of the same material, tnd {
shawl-though the Mexican doesn't cal
it shawl, but zarape, and throws
over his shoulders, letting the long enc
hang down on the left side. A wide
brimmed straw hat completed his
costume.
You have seen pictures of the plows oi
the ancient Egyptians. Then you have
fair Illustration of those Of Mexico.
They have one handle, are often hewn
from hard wood trees, the forks Of which
give them proper shape, an the tough
fibred wood is sufficient without a share
of metal. Iron is scarcer than silver in
Mexico. The plowman holds the single
handle with one hand, and with the
other and long pole, goads the two,
four or eight oxen which furnish the
slow but sure motive power for this alb
original cultivator. Some enterprising
rancheros or farmers tried to Introduce
the American plow, but they were found
tc have too many handles and one was
promptly sawed off, with which altera
tion they worked very well. The steel
share of the American plow spoiled the
Mexican plowman, and owing to the
scarcity Of iron in the country, the rail
road companies commenced to miss their
couplings, pins, and other loose iron
and the nsh- plates distributed along the
track for fastening the rails were appro
priated, and, Ike the swords of ancient
warriors, fashioned into plowshares.
The crops are harvested with imple.
ments as primitive as the Egyptian pillow,
the sick and the scythe doing duty in
place of the reaper and the mower.
Threshing machines are comparatively
unknown.
The hacienda is plantation which may
contain thousands or tens Of thousands
OF acres often owned by one man, whose
acres are cultivated hy. the eoons, as the
natives are cal ed, and who are Erac-
tically his slaves, as they work on shares
and are in debt from year to year to the
owner of the lands, who collects his own
with interest.
The home Of the landowner is also
called the hacienda. 1t is located on
some healthful hillside and resembles a
walled town, with its arched gateways,
towers and church belfry overlooking
the walls, within which are gathered at
night, on Sundays and feast days, the
peon laborer, all the horses, cattle, and
everything that is his, and are fed, man
and beast. There is church and Aiest
at every hacienda, supported by the
tribute exacted from all OF high and low
degree. Rich and poor must pay, ac-
cordlng rs the land has yielded SUBJ
stance--a duty religiously adhered to.
As on the plantations in the South, the
poems are supplied with what they need
from the hacienda ''commissary." Their
wants are few, but the end of the year
usually nds balance against them,
which must be deducted from the next
crop, and thus the peon is ever dealing
in futures
The farm wagon is as much a curiosity
as the one.handled plow. 1t goes on
two wheels. The wheels are very
curiously wrought. They are sawed, or
more properly hewn, from the trunk of
tree. Trees large enough for a wheel
are scarce, and the wheel must be
built IN sections. The proper thickness,
say six or eight inches, is cut OIL the tree
this is cut in half making two pieces,
which are afterward oined together with
other pieces, making a wheel not ex-
actly round, but the Mexican does not
care for that, so long as his wheel is big
enough. A wooden axle, tongue and
huge box or bed complete the vehicle
not pretty one to be sure, but sub
stantial enough to bear a load needing
e'" en- and twelve oxen to draw it.
farm transportation does not
n on wheels. The burro, or
the chief beast of burden, and
trry more than it can pull Each
las them in droves The little
--nlmals are patient aud untiring, and
will trudge for miles to market or the
railway station, with two to four sacks
of corn or wheat, weighing more than
their own body. In the mining districts.
and from the stone 9uarries, they carry
bags OF silver ore, or slabs of stone, stag
gering over mountain roads, where a
horse would not dare to go. have seen
a drove Of burros coming to city in the
early morning, so concealed with their
loads OF garden provender that only
their little hoofs aud the tips of their
long ears could be seen, looking for all
the world like walking hay mows.
While the hacienda may own hun
ureds OF burros, the peon may be too
po rto possess one, and must carry on
his own back the product of his labor.
He will often carry as much as the burro.
AT Toluca | saw the most novel team |
came across in all my travels. An In
dian had hewn a stick of timber, about
SxlO inches, and twenty feet long, which
he had placed on two wheels-or rather
rollers, they were so small-and with his
squaw (who had a baby on her back,
and the burro, they three brought the
timber from the mountains to market at
Toluca, all working abreast in the
harness.
Fruits, 'garden-truck," chickens.
turkeys and other poultry, pottery and
light farm products, are brought to the
cities from distances of thirty, forty and
fifty miles, in Slated boxes or cages.
strapped to each burro. or one on the
back Of an Indian peon. The contents
sold, the homeward trudge is with a
lighter load but a scarcely heavier pocket,
the net profits having gone for puloue,
the native drink, new Zarape, a reboso
for his wife, or a spreading, gilt edged
sombrero, for your average Mexican will
wear a thirty-dollar hat, if he goes bare
footed. 1t is only the burro that must
walk home, and it is always the unhap.
py lot of this one or that to carry bur.
den both ways, for his master must ride
home always, and sometimes with the
load to market. &Prairis Fary1e3.