The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-06-03
MEXC0S NW SCHEMES
i 80. FOR THE FARMER

based ~. forests. and is gathered
of "pvh a tax assessed ON a val,,s
ton irh~ at fs pesos. or 80 ner
III. The actual value Of psI
.. ."e is at least saoa IRE
q. Wnen II is landed in Mo- W,
worth at least $500 in gold ~,
Sesston Is still in force h,,, %
expired" 40 us term has
Concession is co,,e.,oa
" M" a plant which grows
upon our high plateaus. Of whioh 80 ~
are now making rubber Accn,aiess
70 the terms Of the concass;on Us
should have opa-thira ~
the net profits. In some racent ~
turns our share Of a sale Of a ha1f
nailtion tons Of this stuff was a..
ss,soO. whereas it should have go
tL - or more. 1t is easy to figure
.he aGtuat value Of a ton of guayuie. I
tnn Say the stun is worth $125 a
on. ana that that half million tons
was probably worth $S25,Ooo in gold
" when a government should h,ye
hdo q fuu third. Nevertheless. a.
sent Us in 1900 pesos or
$500. We objected. and thew 6nam,,
a ! over $50. coo. but they sho,,,d
nave paid more"
American Capital in Mckee,.
capital?" icaH
Yes" replied the secretarv CIV
are l to have you peOn,e co,na ~
MEXICO. and we think we can shou,
you opportunities to make more mon
ey. perhaps. than in any place else
on this continent We want bona faa
and we want foreign can
i'at 10 develop u mines. our farms
anu our industries. AS it is now we
nave already hundreds of millions IF
dollars worth Of United States monev
invested here. n when conditions
become a little more settled we have
no oOuot but that we shall have hum
dreds OF millions more. There is no
between Mexican and
american interests. and I believe that
the relation Of the two countries will
De Closer and more cordial as time
goes on"
Big Reclamation Schemes.
The conversation here turned To tho
new schemes which the gov
has under way, and Senior
Hernandez said:
I'VE expect to do a great deal in
retaining u government lands. and
in the introduction OF irrigation works
which will water not only them, but
those OF private parties as well. A
great part of this country is high and
dry. but we have many t%orrential
streams which might be held back by
cams IN reservoirs. which would give
water for irrigation. Such undertake
ings are costly, and we have
That they may be carried on through
government loans. We have estab-
lished here at the capital what might
be called "the Bank of the Farmers"
1t is really a loan association for irri-
cation and agriculture. 1t was organ
lied as a stock company, wi it is now
operated as an official institution. h
government having purchased most
of the shares. This bank advances
money to farmers at a moderate rate
OF interest. provided they invest at
cas- 40 per cent of the loans so re-
ceived in improving their properties.
1t has already loaned about 0,000,-
300, and during the past seven
months it has effected transactions ag-
gregating almost $4,000, 600 pesos.
In this bank, under certain con-
ditiOns. farmers can ave loans up to
SO per cent of the value of their
property. For instance. a farmer,
owning a property worth 800, 900 can
get a loan Of $4,000, and if this is
invested in irrigation works he can
get a second oar Of $50, 900 more"
Artesian Wells for Farmers.
1--WE have also an appropriation
from Congress Of $780, 900 a year to
be used in artesian irrigation. This
is to be invested much like your own
reclamation fund, which has done so
much to irrigate tracts in the West.
We are using the money to sink wells
in different parts of the republic.
I'VE nave three classes of projects.
One is the drilling of wells for the
small landhOlder. say the man who
owns a thousand acres or less. If he
wishes to have an artesian well bored
we have our engineers report on the
possibility Of finding water and if their
report warrants it we will sink an
artesian well with the understanding
that if sufficient water for irrigation
is struck the owner of the land viii
nav the cost Of the boring and a
small interest thereon. The second
class is as to land holdings OF medium
size. that is, estates of a hundre
thousand acres or so. In this case
when the engineers reports are salts
factory. the government bOreS wells.
but in this case only on he under
standing that the private owner is
70 hoyo only half 0f the land that