El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-04-05

put. as a rule. is much smaller than
I ours. I see plOws drawn by oxen
/ (which look for all the world like those
/ O. Palestine and Egypt. They are the
same as those used in the days Of the
I scriptures
Mexico Our Future Meat Basket.
with this subdivision of the ranches,
l Mexico is bound to become the breed
! ing ground for our beef supply Of the
future. In the northern part OF the
republic are millions of acres adapted
to cattle, but on account Of the long
dry season, the feed is not sufficient
throughout the year TO fatten the
beasts for the market. The present
plan is TO breed the stock here, and
then drive them across the boundary
Tor fattenlnS- Mexico IS q good breed
ing ground. The losses of calves are
small and already many yearLngs ana
year Olds are sent to the United
states 10 be fattened- Inc Ordinary
Mexican cattle are understood, and
when full grown seldom welsh more
. than 1900 pounds This standard can
be increased by crossing the stocks
with our larger animals.
The country is excellent for sheep
and goats, and II has millions of them
The MeXicans are fond Of goat meat,
and there are some ranches which Kill
as many as $4,000 goats in a year, 500
or 900 being killed in one night
A great many kids are sold and a.
common sight of the cities is the ped
Ter who goes from house to house with
a half dozen kids flung over his should
er. He pinches the kids to make them
cry and their babylike shrieks are the
sign of his trade On my way to Mex
leo City ] stopped at station where
200 kids were unlOaded for the mar
ket. They were dear little things, four
o. five months old. and would SELL I
was told, for about a dollar apiece
Mexieo's Cotton Plantations.
One of our agricultural experts has
said that Mexico has cotton areas al
most equal to those of the United
states This is q question I have just
rad talk with an American who is
Io-reon, in the central part of the
plateau He says that the irrigated
lands of the Naza river IN the region
known as the Laguna district have
the only soil that viii produce cotton
in comparison with our cotton belt
There are patches of country around
the edges Of the high plateau where
the plants Will grow and there are
some south of the Rio Grande near
Brownsville and also about Tampico
and along the Pacific coast. But a g it
is now, 90 percent OF all the cotton
grown comes from the Laguna dis
trict. and the most of this is from the
plantation / have referred to-
Trying TO Squeeze the americans.
The big plantation Of the Laguna
district is owned by an American syn
dictate, whose president is James
Brown Potter. 1t is said 70 be the
largest cotton plantation of the world
under one ownership Its lands cover
about 200 square miles, and when in
fun bearing the estate has more than
100000 acres OF cotton. Just now the
revolution and the disputes as to the
water rights have affected the cultiYa-
ton of this property, but nevertheless /
the amount Of land under crop is enOr- |
nous.
The estate covers the site of what |
60 years ago was the second LARGEST I
lak Ike OF Mexico. This lake was fed by I
the naza river. which is subject TO 4
torrcntial flows. During one of these I
flows the river changed its course and I
left this lake basin dry. The Ameri-
can company redeemed the land and /
made hundreds of miles OF canals to I
irrigatc il. 1T has spent more than
five million dollars in its DEVELOPMENT }
and has made the property worth alto I
gether something like - or 90 million I
dollars. It has divided the land into 4
great farms. has constructed so miles