Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-07

Noe plantation also has vineyards which
yielded 10000 gallons of wine in 1908.
They have been extended this year by
planting 100000 new vines, which makes
them second only to the famous Stanford
vineyards OF California. which are the
largest and finest in the world.
There are several other big ranches
owned by natives and numerous small es-
tates of 1000 acres and upward. People
rigate into cotton. They cannot afford to
raise corn and beans. although the latter
are usually considered the most profitable
crops in Mexico. Here cotton pays so much
better. however, that 1t is cheaper for the
big planters to ship in the food for their
poems from outside.
Dependent Upon the Rains.
The capacity for this district for produc-
Ing cotton depends entirely upon the rain
fall. because the mountain streams do not
I'LL the reservoirs and could not irrlgate
one-fourth OF the territory now under cul-
dvation Drouths usually visit this Sec
ton in cycles of about fourteen years but
there has been no serious drouth since
1891, and during the last two years the
rainfall has been unprecedented There
have been showers every month. Irriga-
ton makes a sure crop. There has never
been failure thus far. When a planter
knows how much water he can depend upon
he lfmites or extends his cotton acreage
accordingly, and wastes no time seed
or labor
In addition to the certainty of the crop,
1t costs much less to raise cotton here
than on the other side of the Rio Grande
in Texas. In the first place, the planters
here are not troubled by any of the dis
eases or pests which have caused great
losses In Texas. Cotton does not have to
be planted every year in the laguna dis
trict 1t will yield for four or five years
without replanting. although both the quail
ity and the quantity deteriorate after the
third year 1t Is customary to plant once
in five years, giving tho land one year to
rest and blowing up the plants after the
fourth harvest.
Labor is getting scarce and wages are in
creasing Farm hands are paid Is cents
day in gold or 30 cents in silver. but the
neighboring towns are growing 80 rapidly
that they draw poems away from the
plantations and very soon the consequences
will be felt.
1t ia difficult for stranger to buy farm
down here. because the entire territory Is
in the hands of very few people, who are
making a great deal Of money and do not
care to sell Uncultivated land is not
taxed hence 1t Is no expense for the own
ers to carry 1t. If the government would
put tax upon idle land 1t would break
up the big estates and more rapid agri-
cultural development of the country would
follow. Occasionally you hear of some big
ranch being sold to close an estate, or be-
cause the owner has become bankrupt by
extravaganza or mismanagement. and then
ton. There is no fixed price for land
here as there is with US. 1t is worth what
ever a buyer is willing to pay for it.
Profits in Goat Raising.
Next to cotton am told that goat raising
is the most profitable business, and 1t Is
particularly 30 at present because OF an
unusual demand for skins. Several buyers
are down here from New York picking up
.oi1x hold aF md
they have run up the price to s1.25 skin.
Most of the skins go to Boston The meat
is dried and consumed In the neighborhood;
the bones are used for fertilizer. and the
tallow goes to the candle factories A live
goat is worth anywhere from so cents to
$1.5O. The meat and tallow will pay all the
expense of raising and killing, while the
skin, which usually sells for a dollar, Is
clear profit. Goats increase at the rate of
100 per cent year. A flock will double
little attention. They must have a large
tract Of land, but any kind of land will do
Goats are never stabbed or corraied. They
are always on the range, regardless OF
weather and are rounded up but once a
year for branding and killing. The males
are picked for slaughter; the females are
kept for breeding. On the large ranches
goats are usually divided up into herds of
LOO or 800, which require only one herds
man to look after them. and he is absent
for months at time following his charges
over the mountains and through the valleys
as they feed The boss usually visits him
every week or two, and food and other sun
plies are delivered to him at least once a
month. Range goats are never MIXED
The largest goat ranches In this vicinity
oeiong TO Pablo Martinez del Rio, a lawyer
and capitalist in the City of Mexico who
mas about 100000 head pastured upon more
thah million acres of range.
The Maguey ranch. of about 10000 acres.
is operated by r. NJ Spence, an English
man, ana the Otfnapa ranch, about the
same size, belongs to two Americans
Messrs. Clef and Williams