St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1889-12-14
THg MEXICAN. FANAaER.


0o Lives h H1ttA1oo 0oooo - 10eoy
snA Isnssaas&
A Mexican places no value upon his
time. An American may have 70 pay
him one dollar day. . rich Mexican
only twenty-five centa In 20 far he
has o certain value set upon his time.
but il It comes TO . question Of .
small amount OF money or . great
amount OF labor. the latter invariably
is chosen. An Eastern farmer wheD
planning q work Of Improvement
carefully calculates tho cost. estimat'
ing the value of his time before decid-
ing upon the matter. No such thing
is done By the Mexicans. Icould emu.
meratc many cases where ten times
more expense has been Incurred In
actual labor than would have been
necessary if the project had been care.
fully calculated and q small amount Of
money used.
Another peculisrity Of tho Mexican
is his entire want Of foresight II
would seem that he never thinks upon
any subject A thing can or can not
be raised accordingly as it has or has
not been raised in that vicinity before.
In one place it was believed that
potatoes could not DO raised.
Some one had once tried to raise
them. and in irrigating had flooded
the ground aed rotted the potatoes
In the same place it was believed that
strawberries could not be grown. Tho
reason for 1t was that In irrigating
muddy water Was used and the flowers
wore covered with thin mud coating
after irrigation. No fertilization could
take place. hence no berries were
raised. Many similar follies arc be-
lieved in absolutely without reason.
What their forefathers did they do.
and they are in consequence . very
impoverished race. No thought 10
given to the morrow and no improve
mcnts are made. Fruit trees and
vines. although very prolific and profit
able. arc rarely planted by the ordi-
nary Mexican. Wheat, beans. red
peppers and onions arc planted in
quantities barely sufficient TO last from
harvest to harvest
In one part Of New Mexico whore.
owing to tho breaking Of the head.
works OF their irrigating system. there
was no water. and hence no crops for
one season. tho store-keepcr gave the
Mexicans seed beans for the next year
and took in payment one-half tho crop
without himself doing any work on the
crop. This is a good illustration Of
the character and condition Of the
Mexicans. as we'll as the rascality Of
the store-keeper.
In q short drive recently through
Northern New Mexico ON the Rio
Grande saw several Mexicans plow-
ing. or rather scratching the ground
with a forkcd stick. The primitive
ness OF their agriculture is startling.
The mortar and pestle for grinding
the wheat. the hand sickle for hxr-
vesting it the forked stick for plow-
ing the groupdCthese are the farming
implements Of large class Of farmers
One can hardly believe that he is in
the same continent and age with the
progressive Eastern agriculturist-
They live in mud ("adobe") houses.
without floor. with mud and brush
roof. with their dogs and chickens.
and often with their pigs. Swallows
build their nests in the houSe. and
every thing betokens . lowncss hardly
credible. Vermin of all snrts breed
and thrive in the dirt and yet these
people are unable TO account for the
prevalence of smallpox and diphtheria
among them. Such state Of misery
and ignorance 10 practically unknown
in the East 1t is ~ shocking - it Is
lpexplicable. A1riculturisk