522 



MEXICO. 



dynamite were placed on the free list. Ma- 

 chinery, coal, telegraph and telephone wires, iron 

 pipes, and wood pulp remain on the free list. 



The Army and Navy. The standing army in 

 1891 consisted of 17,807 infantry, armed with 

 Remington rifles of '43 caliber ; 5,484 cavalry ; 

 1.604 artillery, having steel breech-loaders and 

 other modern guns ; 055 engineers ; 1,950 rural 

 guards ; and 244 gendarmes : making a total of 

 27,244. There are over 3,000 officers, and the to- 

 tal military strength of the nation, including the 

 reserve of the active army and the general re- 

 serve, is 131,523 infantry, "25,790 cavalry, and "8,- 

 650 artillery. The military academy at Chapul- 

 tepec has about 300 students. The naval force 

 consists of two unarmored vessels carrying two 

 20-pounders and three small gunboats. 



Commerce and Production. The export 

 trade has increased from $32,663,554 in 1879-'80 

 to $62,499,388 in 1889-'90. Aside from silver, 

 the greatest increase has been in henequen and 

 in coffee, the export of which increased from less 

 than 6,000,000 kilogrammes in 1883 to 9,250,000 

 kilogrammes in 1890. Henequen is grown on 

 the peninsula of Yucatan. The export of this 

 fiber in 1889-'90 was valued at $7,392,244, 

 against $6,872,593 in 1888-89. The ramie cult- 

 ure is encouraged by the Government. Other 

 fibrous plants are the organ cactus and the species 

 called cirio, growing in Lower California, from 

 which paper is made. The export of ixtle in 

 1889-'90 was $827,980 in value. Coffee is raised 

 in the States of Chiapas, Vera Cruz, Morelos, 

 Oajaca, Colima, and in Michoacan, where the 

 celebrated Uruapam coffee is produced. The 

 crop is valued at $4,200,000 per annum, and one 

 half of it is exported to the United States, which 

 is the chief market for henequen, taking 80 per 

 cent, of the entire export. The value of the cof- 

 fee export in 1889-'90 was $4,811,000, against $3,- 

 886,035 in 1888-'89. Cotton is produced without 

 fertilizers and with little cultivation in Sonora, 

 Chihuahua, and other States, and the annual 

 crop is valued at $10,857,000; but the culture has 

 become less profitable since the railroads were 

 built, allowing foreign cotton to be brought to 

 the manufacturing centers at less cost than the 

 domestic product. Cacao of fine quality is pro- 

 duced in Tabasco and Chiapas, but not on a 

 large scale for export. Tobacco has become an 

 export article of importance ; the value of the 

 crop is about $2,500,000 per annum, and the ex- 

 port in 1889-90 was $948,332. The rubber ex- 

 ports from the Soconusco district, where the 

 best cacao is raised, have almost ceased because 

 the Indians have destroyed the trees. The Pub- 

 lic Works Department in 1889 made a contract 

 with three Mexican citizens who have under- 

 taken to plant a million trees a year for the next 

 fifteen years in the State of Oajaca. The sugar- 

 cane is cultivated extensively in Morelos, Vera 

 Cruz, and other States ; the average value of the 

 crop is $8,735,000. The vanilla plant grows 

 wild, and the export of this article was $917,409 

 in value in 1889-'90. The gum exports were 

 $719,746. Orchil weed is collected in Lower Cali- 

 fornia, and pays an export duty of $10 a ton. Oth- 

 er mosses and lichens are gathered for the dye 

 substances that they yield. Medicinal herbs and 

 roots are found in the tierras calienfes, the low 

 plains on the Gulf of Mexico, and in the forests 



near the foot-hills of the Cordillera, which abound 

 also in mahogany, ebony, rosewood, rubber, Cam- 

 peche wood, ironwood, and trees yielding medici- 

 nal substances. The exports of woods in 1889- 

 '90 were $1,739,138. against $1,390,215 in the pre- 

 vious year. Sarsaparilla is gathered for export. 

 The cultivation of the banana on the coasts has 

 become a profitable industry, and the exporta- 

 tion of oranges from the State of Sonora and the 

 hot lands on the Gulf of Mexico is increasing. 

 The fruit brings high prices in the American 

 market. The same regions produce lemons, nuts, 



fuavas, pine-apples, tamarinds, citrons, and all 

 inds of tropical fruits and other products in 

 great variety, including rice, arrow-root, beans, 

 jalap, indigo, plantains, and dates. They also 

 contain good grazing ground. Indian corn 

 thrives in all parts of Mexico, and furnishes the 

 staple food of the people. Usually two crops are 

 grown every year. Since the introduction of the 

 wheat culture on the Mexican plateau the two 

 crops are raised in alternation, one of wheat and 

 two of corn every two years. Wheat began to be 

 exported from Sonora to Liverpool in 1889, and 

 the authorities have taken measures to encour- 

 age the trade. It is estimated that 110,000,000 

 bushels of wheat and 440,000,000 bushels of corn 

 might be exported if the entire suitable area 

 were brought into cultivation. The cereal prod- 

 uct of all the States in 1888 was returned as 

 131,478,425 bushels of corn, 11,396,195 of wheat, 

 and 5,930,716 of barley. Of beans, which form an 

 important part of the diet of the people, 7,766,- 

 980 bushels were raised. One of the great agri- 

 cultural industries is that of the maguey or agave, 

 from which the national fermented drink, pulque, 

 is extracted, while the pulp and fiber are used for 

 making paper, cordage, and other articles. The 

 raising of cattle in Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, 

 and others of the northern States, as well as in 

 Vera Cruz and Michoacan, lias become one of the 

 largest interests of the country. In the north 

 large ranches have been bought and stocked 

 by Texan cattle growers and British capitalists. 

 The capital value of the 20,574 cattle ranches ex- 

 isting in 1883 was $515,000,000, and in that year 

 there were estimated to be in the country 1,500,- 

 000 horned cattle, 1,000,000 sheep, 2,500,000 goats, 

 1,000,000 horses, and 500.000 mules. The ex- 

 ports of horses, cattle, and other animals to the 

 United States in 1887-'88 were valued at $507,- 

 377. In 1889-'90 the value of the animal exports 

 was $500,217. The exports of hides and skins 

 reached $1,913,129. 



The cotton mills consume 80,000,000 pounds of 

 cotton annually, of which one third is imported 

 from the United States, and the value of the 

 product is $13,000,000. The native industries of 

 distilling, cigarette making, pottery, the weav- 

 ing of woolen zarapes or blankets, tanning, 

 saddlery, hammock making, etc., are being sup- 

 plemented by others at a rapid rate ; though as 

 yet only the beginnings of manufacturing in- 

 dustry have been made. Sugar is extracted 

 by primitive processes. Good iron is produced 

 and common agricultural implements are made 

 in the country. The textile and other factories 

 . in the State of Colima have been freed from all 

 taxes, and by the law of 1887 anything required 

 for wine growing, the silk culture, or fish cult- 

 ure can be brought free of duty into any part 





