MEXICO 3769 MEXICO 



Resources and Industries 



Minerals. A mention of the minerals of 

 Mexico recalls thoughts of early days when 

 the Spaniards came seeking the precious metals 

 which they had heard that the country pos- 

 sessed in fabulous quantities. The adventurers 

 from Spain were not deceived in their dreams, 

 for few countries in the world have vaster min- 

 eral resources. Much gold is there, and though 

 for years the expense of mining it prevented 

 large production, the output has in recent years 

 increased very decidedly. But the great min- 

 eral is silver, of which Mexico, when not torn 

 by revolutions, produces thirty per cent of the 

 world's supply. Every state has its silver mines, 

 but they are richest and most numerous in the 

 southern part of the plateau. There is copper, 

 too, and iron in great quantities, with lead, tin 

 and sulphur, but the production of all of these 

 is hampered by lack of fuel. Mexico has coal 

 beds, but they are so far from transportation 

 lines that they cannot be worked with profit, 

 and most of the coal is imported from England 

 or the United States and sold at as much as 

 $20 a ton. Needless to say, most of the people 

 burn some other fuel, but wood is very little 

 cheaper. Within the last two decades petro- 

 leum has been discovered, and is now being 

 produced in great quantities. Tampico is the 

 center of this industry, and the Tampico fields 

 were the main source of supply for Britain's 

 war vessels during the War of the Nations. 



Vegetable Growth, and Agriculture. The 

 Spaniards were throughout much of their occu- 

 pation so deeply interested in mining that they 

 paid little attention to tilling the soil, so agri- 

 cultural pursuits gained slowly. Even in those 

 days, however, the value of many of the native 

 forms of plant life was recognized. The dense 

 tropic forests of the hot lands have palms and 

 acacias, mahogany, rosewood, ebony and iron- 

 wood trees, and olives and almonds, while 

 higher up grow oaks, pines and firs. Other 

 trees, not native, have been introduced, and 

 large plantations of rubber trees promise a 

 growth of the rubber industry. Then there is 

 the agave, or American aloe, a spinous, un- 

 friendly-looking plant which forms the basis 

 for two of the chief industries of the country. 

 From one species is produced a fiber known as 

 sisal hemp, which is exported in great quanti- 

 ties; from another a white juice which ferments 

 to form a very intoxicating liquor the pulque 

 which is the national drink of the Mexicans and 

 the cause of much of their unprogressiveness. 



The crops are many and of great variety. 

 Coffee, cotton, sugar cane, tobacco, corn, the 

 favorite frijole beans, wheat, vanilla, indigo 

 in fact, almost anything which will grow in 

 temperate or tropic climates thrives somewhere 

 in Mexico. There are also fruits apples in 

 the highlands, and lemons, oranges, bananas 

 and pineapples in the warmer parts. Even 

 with all these, the development of Mexico's 

 resources has but begun. The great lack is 

 water, but when this can be drawn from the 

 mountains and given by irrigation to the fertile 

 but dry plateau lands, Mexico will indeed blos- 

 som like the rose. 



Stock-raising has always been of importance 

 since early Spanish days, and to-day it is one 

 of the chief industries. The Mexican cowboy 

 is as fearless and as skilful in managing his 

 great herds as is his brother in the United 

 States, and it was from the Mexicans that the 

 American cowboy learned the use of the lasso. 

 The cattle, horses and sheep are for the most 

 part small and of rather inferior grade, but in 

 recent years much has been done toward im- 

 proving the various breeds. 



Manufactures. One thing which President 

 Diaz did for Mexico during his rule of over 

 thirty years was to make conditions secure 

 enough so that manufacturing might make 

 some headway, for before his time Mexico was 

 distinctly a nonmanufacturing country. Even 

 to-day few articles are manufactured in suffi- 

 cient quantities for export, but there was a 

 decided advance, which was nearly stopped by 

 the revolutions after 1911. Cotton cloth, to- 

 bacco, sugar, liquors, woolen goods of inferior 

 quality, glass, chocolate and molasses are some 

 of the chief articles of manufacture. Such dis- 

 tinctive products as the high-crowned, wide- 

 brimmed hats; the elaborate saddles; and the 

 pottery, baskets, mats and feather work of the 

 Indians are on sale in every market place, and 

 form part of the return baggage of nearly every 

 visitor to Mexico. 



Transportation and Commerce. After the 

 first railroad, a very short line, was built in 

 Mexico in 1854, development was slow for a 

 score of years. Since that time the lines have 

 been rapidly extended and improved, and at 

 present there is in the country a total of about 

 16,000 miles. All the important cities have rail 

 connection, and Mexico City is a busy railroad 

 center. The government owns a controlling 

 share in most of the large lines, and the plan 



