El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-03-24

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Coffee trees grow best in an alti-
tude Of from 1000 to 5000 feet and
require ground within the tropics
With the cocoa tree, coffee is the most
particular of all cultivated crops. The
elevation of the ground must be pleas
ing, the latitude must be satisfactory,
and in addition to this it refuses to
flourish either in the sun or the shade.
So it becomes necessary to plant some
other tree with it. usually the banana,
cocoanut or rubber tree, any one OF
which is dividend producer on it's
own account. Ordinarily about six
hundred coffee trees are planted per
acre, and the yield ranges from $50
to 800 pounds per acre. 1t costs about
$500 per hundred pounds to get coffee
ready for market, and the selling
price is about So. American money.
Banana Culture Profitable.
Banana culture is one of the most
profitable of all agricultural activi-
ties. Humboldt figured that an acre
of ground planted in bananas will
yield more human food than any other
crop. 1t produces A times as much
as the potato and 131 times as much
as wheat 1t is said that there is no
better banana land in the world than
that along the gulf coast south OF
Tampico. Banana experts say that
banana plantation can be made to pay
for itself the first year It is estfmat-
ed that a 250-acre plantation. with
$4,000 trees on 1t, will produce SO. 900
punches of bananas of full SIZE nine
months after being planted, which
bring 20 cents. gold, each.
Famous for Tobacco.
The southern gulf coast of Mexico is
famous the world over for the excel
lan0a fnh
sseur Of cigars declares that the
smoking qualities of the tobacco rails
ed in the Coatzacoa1cos valley are
equal 10 the best that Cuba ever pro-
duced In fact it IS a practice of
Havana manufacturers to buy Mexican
tobacco andNma Ike from it cigars which
are sold as straight Habanas" The
average yield per acre is perhaps
5000 pounds, with an average market
value Of Is cents, gold, per pound
The cost OF growing and curing is
about one-half the selling price, Ieav-
ing net prcfit per acre of upwards
OF 5000
Sugar cane is easily grown here and
at the same time is a most profitable
crop The average farmer who comes
to Mexico and thinks TO make a for
tune in a few years from a crop he has
never grown, will miss it unless that
of growing are so easy and the opera
tions so simple that anyone who can
grow wheat or corn successfully. can
scarcely make a failure 1t is uSu-
ally most profitable for the small
grower to locate near a large mill
first securing a contract with the pro
prietors to buy his cane The sugar
business in Mexico has been growing
rapidly of late. and the best sugar
H. l.
Henequea in Yucatan.
The growing of henequea plant in
Yucata which has made untold mil
lions OF dollars for the "henequea
kings, and which furnishes the sisaI
hemp Of commerce, is carried on prin-
cipally by the owners of vast estates.
1t seems now, that a new industry
Is to be opened up, in which all com
erS may participate, and which prom
1ses to exceed the henequea industry
1t is the growing of ixtile The Iechu-
guilla plant is a fibre producer closely
related to the henequea and the ma
guey. or century plant. 1t grows-in
the arid and semi-arid regions OF
northern Mexico. and ground that
would not sprout a black-eyed pea is
exactly to its liking The more atten-
tive the grower is in cutting it's heart
stalk out, the bigger the plant grows
and the better fibre it yields It hasa
sort of reservoir for holding water
The outer coating of the leaf is i'm
pervious to anything but moisture
When rain falls this coating softens
and the rain soaks in Then it be-
comes hard again and the moisture
is shut up again within the leaf
"A machine has been invented which
will separate the fibre from the stalk.
The fibre costs the producer about
four cents a qound, gold, and 1900
tons OF it were sold last year at
prices ranging between five and six |
cents a pound. At present it abounds
in such abundant quantities in a wild /
state that it is not necessary to cul- |
tivate it.
Rubber Plantations.
1t is believed by many that rubber I
can be cultivated profitably in Mexico. /
and thousands Of acres of ground have Z
been set out in rubber plantations I
Up to this time, however there is /
hardly sufficient evidence of profitable /
cultivation to justify any American !:
risking his all in such a venture 4
The milk from which the rubber is
made comes from the bark Of the rub
Der tree. and is entirely distinct from !
the sap Of the tree. In some localities 1
large profits are being made out Of the
gathering Of rubber, and in many !