12 MEXICAN RESOURCES. 



production of nature, in the form of a bird's foot, or the hand of an ape. Not a 

 flower blossoms in Mexico that has not an expressive Aztec name, so well versed 

 were the aborigines of that country in the lore of the field and forest. 



" Besides these, and innumerable other flowers," adds the historian, " which the 

 ancient Mexicans delighted to cultivate, the land has been enriched with all those 

 which could be transported from Asia and Europe, until the gardens of Mexico 

 rival those of the Old World." 



The pastures are abundant and nutritious, and in several states, as in Sonora, 

 Tamaulipas and Lower California, are fragrant with aromatic herbs, like the sweet 

 marjoram and wild thyme. 



Fournier, the eminent botanist, finds in Mexico six hundred and thirty-eight 

 varieties of grasses, three hundred and seventy-six of which, it is said, occur in no 

 other land. Of the rest, eighty-two are found in the United States. 



AZTEC AGRICULTURE, , 



At the time Mexico was invaded by the Spaniards, was in In advanced state, 

 even if we compare it with European progress at the opening of the fifteenth 

 century. 



When, according to tradition, the Toltecs were banished from their native coun- 

 try, — or that in which they had sojourned for a long period, — and began their 

 journey southward, they tarried at certain places, and there erected houses and 

 planted cotton and corn ; and in this manner leisurely approached Tula, where they 

 remained many years, and eventually reached the valley of Mexico. The Aztecs, 

 upon their arrival, or at a period subsequent, incorporated into their nation the 

 remains of the scattered Toltec tribes, and gained thereby many arts and processes 

 hitherto unknown to them. It was probably after the founding of the Aztec capi- 

 tal, Tenochtitlan, in 1325, that they made use of the chinampas, or floating gardens, 

 upon which they planted vegetables necessary for their subsistence. 



In preparing their land for cultivation, they first cut down the trees, and then 

 burned it over, the ashes being, so far as is known, their only fertilizer. They 

 enclosed their fields with walls and hedges of agave, and labored industriously to 

 keep them in good condition. Their implements were few, and of the rudest 

 description, being but a wooden shovel or spade, the coatl, or hoe, of copper, with a 

 handle of wood, and a rude knife or sickle of the same metal. In planting, they 

 made a hole with a sharpened stick, into which the seed was dropped, and covered 

 with the foot. They carefully protected their fields from birds and predatory 

 animals, by means of watchmen, and, especially in the tierra caliente, — practised 

 irrigation in a most economical and scientific manner. They built granaries and 

 stored vast quantities of corn — their only cereal ; besides which, they had beans, 

 chile, magueys, pumpkins and gourds, and later, cacao, vanilla, and many other 

 native fruits. While providing themselves with the necessaries of life, they did not 

 neglect the cultivation of those plants usually regarded by the savage as useless : 

 their gardens of flowers and odoriferous plants were the wonder of the Spaniards 

 when they first entered the valley. The markets of Mexico, as the Aztecs became 

 firmly fixed in their valley fortress, and as they extended their conquests to the 

 coasts on either side, became filled with the vegetable production of every zone and 

 climate ; as attested by the letters of Cortes, Bernal Diaz, and others. 



