Passaic City record., 1897-01-02
PRODUCTS OF MEXICO.
Pineappies, Wine, Cloth, Chewing
Gum, Licorice and Ramis.
Remuneratave Returns from the Caltt-
vatfon OF the Native Plants-The
Only Source of Supply of
Some Products.

"a opo'@ Pi"he, PiASaPPiC. ginger,
''chicle," or chewing gum. sarsaparilla.
jalap, licorice, eanaigre and ramie.
These, together with the plants dealt
with IA previous report, form the
principal products which may be
proftabIy cultivated, together or
singiy, either on large or small scale.
by persons possessed OF some small cap
ital and desirous Of obtaining satisfac-
tory returns therefrom by investing in
hand in that republic. 'eThe fault gener-
ally committed by Mexican planters"
says Sir Henry, "is the eonfning their
attention to ono kind of cultivation on
thefr land. II several different crops
wero taken off alternately. as in a sys-
tenn of rotation, or grown in different
parts Of the land where soil and climate
prove suitable, the planter would find
himself in even better financial posi-
tion than he generally does now. There
is scarcely spot on any estate, whether
large or small, in Mexico that is not ca
pable Of giving remunerative returns
from some plant or another" In ad-
dftion to government lands there are
innumerable tracts held throughout
tho country by private individuals
which it 10 probable could be purchased
at comparatively low prices, inasmuch
as they can never be utilized by their
present owners. And contracts might
be made with the government by which
immigrants settling on such lands
might receive the same exceptional
treatment accorded to those settling on
government lands.
Sir Henry Dering states the yuca is to
the peon In the tropical section of the
republic what potatoes are to the poor
and working people Of Ireland. Yuca
IS q native Of the country and it's rise
dates back before the conquest by Her
nan Cortes, and it has always formed
a portion Of the food Of the ancientand
present Mexicans, especially those liv-
ing In Vera Cruz, Oaxaca, Chiapas,
Taba3co and Yucatan. The returns of
yuca cultivation are immense; the yield
OF an acre contains more nutritive mat
ter than six times the same area under
wheat. The writer planted last JaDu-
ary in Allan, Pueblo, two rows $50 feet
long, and was told by an old cultivator
that there was enough food in that plot
to feed more than 100 people for six
months. The Toltecs and Aztecs knew
how to cultivate the pineapple, and when
the Spaniards conquered Mexico they
found the fruit in the markets of the
the great Tenochtitlan. From time inn
memorial the pineapple has been cul-
tivated in Amatlan, a town two leagues
south Of Cordoba, from where the an
cient Mexicans used to get their main
supply. Now it is grown in tropical
Hidalgo, Puebla, Vera Cruz, Tabasco,
Chiapas, Oaxaca, Morelos, Guerrero.
Milchoacan, Colima, Jalisco and Topic.
Besides the fruit being very delicious
and wholesome, Sir Henry Dering says
a fine vino and vinegar are made Of the
juice. The leaf furnishes fiber Of ex-
traordinaFy strength and fneness,
making it even more valuable than the
fruit. The fiber ID made into ropes,
cables, binding twine, thread, mats.
bagging, hammoeks and paper.
A pine.ppie rope ssh inches thick
can support nearly three tons. A tex
tile fabric ~ fine and beautiful a. silk is
made Of this hber, too. It is believed
that tho hnc cloths of various colors
used By the upper classes among the
Astscs was made of tho pineapple hber.
Tho moderns Mexicans do not manu-
facture it much now, except in the
isthmus, where the Zapotec Indians
still make q cloth from it and from wild
silk. One cause of its disuse is the slow
and wasteful manner in which it is sep
arated. Ginger is found growing wild
in various parts of Mexico The returns
from an acre OF land vary considerably.
but when cultivated under favorable
conditions the crop ought to be 1000
pounds and upward. A man having
ten-acre patch ought to have an annual
income of $4,000 to $1,000. Though for
years canaigre has been used by the
Mexicans, both for medical and tanning
purposes, it has but recently attracted
the attention of the outside commercial
world as a valuable source of tannic
acid The result of Investigations has
been to create demand for canaigre
in the tanning business of European
countries and more recently in the
leather-making centers of the United
States. The only supply now to be OBJ
tanned of this plant is from the wild
growth along the rivers and valleys of
western Texas, New Mexico and this
republic, and Sir 81. Dering says fear
has been felt for some time that with
II. s-~r>or;prr Ja~panI