Los Angeles herald., 1909-06-27

made by horseback. II is well worth
taking. After crossing the divide one
descends gradually into the valleys OF
the Pacific slope where thousands of
acres Of land are under cultivation
Rice and sugar cane are the principal
products. One hacienda in this district
owned by Senor Dante Cusi, produces
major percentage of the rice grown in
the entire republic. He has some 1900
acres under cultivation. and his annual
profit from rice alone runs into the
pictures
The Hacienda de los Bancos
sugar plantation is a large one, and
the annual profit from this industry
pays the owners over 100000 year.
Other instances in cattle raising, and
different lines are equally surprising,
and serve to show the wide-awake,
progressive American what could be
accomplished by modern methods
The town of Apatzinsan, at the head
of the valley Of the same name. is one
of the historic spots Of Mexico. Here
was held, in 1914, the first constitutional
congress of the republic. 1t is the
chief town of the district of the same
name, and has a population Of about
10000. From this point one enters
country which undoubtedly win some
/ day he thickly settled by American
/ farmers. The soil is rich black loan,
! from four to forty feet in depth, and
will grow any product of the temperate
or tropical zones. One sees on every
hand an varieties of fruits, from ba-
nanas to apples, while great fields Of
sugar cane. rice, corn, alfalfa and other
profitable products abound through the
valleys Of the west slope,
Evidence of Cultivation
The valleys Of this section give evil
dence of having been under high
state of cultivation during centuries
past. Two varieties of olives are found
growing wild. and many Of the trees
/ resemble tho fruit trees Of the temper
ate zone, bearing fruit similar TO our
plum and cherry. The photographs Of
the ancient system Of irrigation bear
out this belief of prehistoric cultiva-
ton This aqueduCt system was acci-
dentally discovered by me and
Frank Allen, president Of the
San Antonia Land and cat
tie company, on whose ranch it is To-
Gated. 1t is in the foothill portion Of
the ranch, and shows how the anCients
contriVed to bring water from the
springs and small streams Of the noun
tains. across the broken portions Of the
land. and distribute it over tillable land
at different elevations The tunnel
mouth shown in one Of the illustrations
shows how provision was made to carry
water under the aqueduct, and thus
prevent the structure from being dam
aged by a Washout during the rainy
season. Search was made of the rec
ords i'm order to locate some mention OF
this system Of irrigation. but nothing
could be found in records dating back
nearly 400 years, proving that irrigation
was practiced in this section centuries
before the arid lands of the Great
American desert were peopled by the
| white race.
Transportation in this section is a
problem or has been until the past few
months, but concessions have recently
been granted for building three rail
roads through the valley section, and II
is only a question Of year or two un-
til this part of Mexico will be opened
up to transportation. and become a fac
tor as a producer of the many agricul
tural and horticultural money makers