Il6 MEXICO - MISCEI^LANEOUS 



2. — The chief crops. 



Cereals. — The cereal most extensively cultivated is maize, which 

 forms the chief food of the natives. In good years the value of this crop 

 exceeds that of any other products, even that of the output of precious 

 metals. In certain localities it even produces three crops in one year. 

 In 1909-10, the area devoted to maize cultivation was 5,412,941 hectares, 

 producing 47,057,893 quintals, that is 8.7 quintals per hectare. 



The hdjio, under which name are comprised the low lying lands of the 

 State of Guanajuato, in the valley of St. Martin, the district of iVlUxco in 

 the State of Puebla and the valley of Toluca in the vState of Mexico, is 

 the region most productive of wheat, and the price of land here varies from 

 300 to 500 pesos per hectare. Though the natural conditions of the country 

 are less favourable for wheat than for maize, yet the production of wheat 

 is of great importance and it is cultivated in nearly all the states, especially 

 in Guanajuato, Jalisco (the granary of the Republic), ]\Iichoacan, Puebla, 

 Chihuanaa, Coahuila, Sonora, AguascaHentes and San Luis de Potosi. 



The territory best adapted for the cultivation of wheat is the great 

 central plateau, at an altitude varying between 1,800 and 2,750 metres, of 

 an area of more than 134,580 sq. km. In 1909-10 there were 1,063,355 

 hectares sown with wheat, producing 3,259,351 quintals, that is 3.1 quintals 

 per hectare. 



The chief barley growing region comprises the greater part of the States 

 of Hidalgo, Tlaxcala, Puebla and the Federal District. In 1909-10 there 

 were 555,378 hectares sown with barley, producing in the same year 1,338,146 

 quintals, i. e. 2.4 quintals per hectare. 



The great rice producing centres are the States of Colima and Guerrero, 

 and the communes of Teapa and Jalpa in the State of Tabasco. Over an 

 area of 83,911 hectares, the production of rice in 1909-10 was 917,743 

 quintals, that is to. 9 quintals per hectare. 



Cotton. — From time immemorial cotton has been cultivated in 

 Mexico. The Aztecs, the indigenous race, utilised the fibre of this plant 

 for their clothing ; during the colonial period, New Spain was the chief 

 supplier of cotton to the mother country. But after the proclamation 

 of Mexican independence the cultivation of cotton was abandoned, and 

 when, favoured by peace, large factories were opened, Mexico was obliged 

 to have recourse to foreign countries for raw material, and thus became 

 an importer of cotton. 



Great efforts have been made to restore the cultivation of cotton to its 

 former importance in the region of Lagunas, in the States of Coahuila 

 and Durango. Hitherto, the results have been very satisfactory. The 

 country watered by the Rio Nazas has been transformed into a rich cotton 

 producing district, realising the prophecy of Baron Humboldt that it would 

 become a rival of the Nile valley. In this district the price of land rises 

 to 1,400 pesos per hectare. The area devoted to cotton planting in 1909-10 

 was 115,082 hectares, producing 434,625 quintals, that is, a return of 3.8 

 quintals per hectare. 



