The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-07-14
Continued from last sceek
THE LAND OF THE MONDAY
SUN.-MEXICO IN MID WINTER.
BY JUSTICE WALTER CLARK, Ii. D.
(From Arena for June.)

City of Mexico stands meat Will Dry
up, but it will not spoil or mould.
Droughts are a great loss to some Sec
tions, for places can be found where
scarcely any rain has fallen for three
or four years past. The best remedy
for this, of course, is to retOrest the
land for in ancient times it is said to
have been we'll wooded, but now, ex.
cept in the mountains, the greSt cen
trail plateau is almost as devoid Of trees
as the country from Omaha to Chey-
enne, or the Llaro of Texas. The
terra tenlp!ada has plentiful showers,
and it is there that thee ff5e tree grows.
They require a warmer climate than
the great central plateau, and plenty
Of rain, but have to be sheltered from
the sun. which is done By planting
other and larger trees or bananas
among them Tne Mexican c.f5e Is
very superior, and indeed by compo
tent judges is said TO be equal to best
Mocha IL Mexico ali the trees are,
properly speaking, evergCeens.
Oranges are equal to the best Flor
ida, and in good easoG they sell az
haciendas six for a cent, American
money. There are American fins
down there, notably On the line 30
Guadalaj ara, who buy up the prouce
of entire h~sCiendas. They then care
fully box the fruit, wrapping each
orange separately IN tissue paper, aud
ship by carload or t~rainl0ad 10 Chicago,
st. Louis. Cincinnati, etc, and man
age to get very low through rates. At
nearly every street c2Tner IS g vender
who sells sugar c Rue at & cRntuUO (Gex
lean cenr) for each cane, and they 81
ways do s thriving business with PASS
ers by, especially with Ghe children.
One pec1liarity Of the aaguey plant is
that il the central bulb is cut out over
night the rehabilitation is such that
even in this climate, who're frosts never
come, ice will form. The principle Is
the same as that used in the more
scientific American ice machines,
which are now il use ali over Mexico.
Whiskey and handy are unknown,
except when imported. The maguey,
or century plant, furnishes the mild, |
unfermented dunk which wells up in
the plant when the bulb is cut, and
which is called pu74 t8. There are al
80 distilled drinks made from that, or |
from the roots Of certain plants, which !
are known as me8caI. teguiiG, etc.
Mexico has been called the Land Of
ManunG. " which is MT the unfreQlent !
reply made to an application. Liter !
orally, mI1;dna means to morrow, or
IN the morning, but practically when
you are promised anything mGnana, it
means ''sone time, by and by-in the
sweet by and by" But railroads are
changing this easy going life and those
indOlent customs, and are introducing !
movement and vjgor and punctuaii5y !
here as elsewhere. When railroads !
were first introduced, there was Of
course considerable opposition, but it
has all died out. l heard of only enc
man who was sill declaring thai they !
had ruined the country" and he was !
the owner O. a stage and freight line
which had been recently displaced by
the opening of a new railroad. He
was like a certain party IL Raleigh,
n. O., soon after the war, who was !
complaining to Gen. Miles, now com
manderin chief of the United States |
Army, but then commanding the post
of Raleigh, that emancipation had for
ever ruined the South. The general
tried to reassure him by asserting that !
in a few years the South would be more
prosperous than ever, and would itself
rejoice that emancipation had taken
place. This party insisted SO strenu
ously that his business at least was !
hopelessly ruined, that the general
asked what it was, and a~scertained that
he had been a dealer in slaves. The
Mexican stage line owner was fully as
i~rreconcilable.
Postage between points In Mexico is |
five cents On letters, two cents on pcs
tai cards, and 4 cent on newspapers, |
and the rate OF postage 20 the United
States is the same, while postage !
A8VGS LAOLh Ch0 OA4EeU OGat0S 10 NICK !
leo are likewise the same as our inter
nal postase-two cents for letters and
one cent on postal cards and newspa
pers. The p~ostoffice in Mexico oper-
ates the telegraph es q part OF the pos
tai system. This is true of all couu
tries except the United States. Hawaii, |
and Honduras. We in the Uaitsd States
are kept in subsection to the enormous