556 



MEXICO. 



The following is a translation of a decree for 

 the encouragement of the silk-industry, issued 

 by the Governor of the State of Puebla, Mexi- 

 co, under the authority of the Legislature of 

 that State, dated March 30, 1886: 



A subvention of one dollar for each kilogramme of 

 silk produced during the first year, and of fifty cents 

 for each kilogramme produced during each of the fol- 

 lowing years, is hereby granted to the inhabitants 

 of the State who, within its territory, dedicate them- 

 selves to the culture of silk. 



The tracts of land that are solely and exclusively 

 devoted to the planting of mulberry-trees become 

 thereby exempt from all contributions in the State 

 for five years, as long as, during this period, the 

 mulberry-plantations are preserved. 



Those persons who gather a crop of more than one 

 hundred kilogrammes of silk during the years in which 

 they receive subventions will deliver to the State 

 government, or its duly authorized representatives, 

 one hundred grammes of silk- worm seed and two 

 hundred saplings of mulberry-trees. 



The first factory of spun and woven silk goods es- 

 tablished in the State, and judged by the Executive 

 to offer fair prospects of stability, shall receive a sub- 

 vention of $5,000. 



Mining. The extraction of silver in the Pa- 

 chuca district from Jan. 1 to April 1, 1886, was 

 as follows : 



Kilos. 

 516 



Purl sima y Guadalupe. 



LaBlanca 462 



Calderona 370 



Marcial Jslas 221 



Total 



Kilos. 



Real del Monte 13,797 



Maravillas 9,432 



Santa Gertrudis $,056 



Sacramento 2,428 



El Encino 1,054 



El Rio 723 



P.Duarte 561 



The exclusive privilege of reducing metals 

 by electricity was granted by Government de- 

 cree for ten years to Messrs. E. H. and A. H. 

 Cowles. 



The locality in Quere"taro is the only one in 

 Mexico that is worked to any extent for opals. 

 The principal mines are on the hacienda of 

 Esperanza, where the opal was discovered ten 

 years ago. No mines were taken up until 1870, 

 when Dr. Jos6 Maria Liurof located the mine 

 of Santa Maria Iris. The fine specimens se- 

 cured during the next few years created so 

 much excitement that a large number of mines 

 were located, most of which are now aban- 

 doned. The district has been traced over a 

 region about twenty leagues long by thirty-one 

 leagues wide. At Ciervo, fourteen leagues 

 from Esperanza, the opal is quite abundant, 

 though none of the precious variety of good 

 quality has been found. The mines of Espe- 

 ranza can only be reached on horseback. 



In the Popocatepetl sulphur-mines, the best 

 sulphur is obtained around the respiradores 

 or orifices of the volcano ; it contains from 82 

 to 87 per cent, of pure sulphur. The miners 

 are paid 75 cents American for twenty-five 

 pounds, a low price, considering the heavy and 

 sickly work they have to undergo. 



Agricultural Implements. Consul Campbell re- 

 ports to the State Department at Washington 

 as follows: "Among the more enlightened and 

 progressive Mexicans modern agricultural im- 

 plements are used to some extent, and Ameri- 

 can mowing, reaping, and thrashing machines 



are slowly coming into use. American plows 

 are also common enough, but of a small and 

 entirely unfit pattern for the use to which they 

 are put. Following the idea that the wooden 

 plow is a necessity, the Mexican farmer, if he 

 buys an American plow at all, insists upon get- 

 ting so small a one that the result of its use is 

 but little more effective than would follow that 

 of an old-fashioned iron-toothed harrow. Such 

 innovations are rare, however, and by ninety- 

 nine out of one hundred farmers the only tools 

 used are the plow made from a forked stick, 

 the hoe weighing often from three to five 

 pounds, and the saw-toothed sickle. /With 

 these three tools, year in and year out, Mexi- 

 can crops are raised and gathered." 



Railroads. There were in operation, early in 

 1886, the following lines of railway : 



The net earnings of the Mexican Central 

 road, for the year 1885, were $1,530,618, 

 against $1,322,764 the previous twelvemonth ; 

 during the first four months of 1886 they were 

 $410,116, as compared with $601,537 during 

 the corresponding period of 1885, and during 

 the first five months $508,685, against $734,- 

 515; the decrease was, therefore, $225,830, 

 while the operating expenses had increased 

 $183,003. 



In August a conference was held between 

 the representatives of the Mexican National 

 Construction Company and the foreign bond- 

 holders of the Mexican National Railway Com- 

 pany, on the proposed reorganization of the 

 company. The foreign bond-holders declared 

 their willingness to accept the main features 

 proposed by the American company ; but they 

 insisted that there should be a complete fore- 

 closure and reorganization, and that the control 

 should vest in the bond-holders until the prop- 

 perty was placed on a satisfactory earning 

 basis. The total amount of the new first mort- 

 gage proposed was $12,500,000. This was 

 considered sufficient to complete and equip the 

 road, and provide for other requirements. 



In October the basis of an agreement was 

 signed between the banking-house of Matheson 



