Prospects in Mexico 151 



merit authorities, no matter which political 

 party may be in power. Of all agricultural 

 opportunities which offer in Mexico, the plant- 

 ing of coco-nuts presents the greatest poten- 

 tiality. Some maintain that Mexico is too far 

 north for the proper production of the coco-nut 

 palm, but according to official figures furnished 

 by the Mexican Government Financial Agency 

 in London, where a fine collection of Mexican 

 productions may be seen, Mexico exported in 



1906-7 ... 33,032 kilos of coco-nuts 



1907-8 ... 67,481 ,, ,, 



1908-9 ... 70,556 ,, ,, 



1909-10 ... 163,715 ,, ,, ,, 



This quantity is, of course, absurdly insig- 

 nificant in view of the vast areas of Mexican 

 lands suitable for coco-nut planting, but the 

 truth is that no attention has been paid to the 

 exploitation of the palm in Mexico, and extreme 

 ignorance prevails on the subject. Mr. de Berry, 

 as a result of his eight months' tour, when he 

 made careful notes on the subject of coco-nut 

 lands, whilst examining some of the chief plan- 

 tations of rubber, cacao, sugar, &c., in the Re- 

 public, maintains that in Oaxaca, the Isthmus, 

 and the State of Vera Cruz, coco-nut culture is 

 almost nil, but small plantations exist in 

 Chiapas and Tabasco. This authority was 

 speaking, of course, just after President Diaz 

 had left for Europe, but when peace reigns 

 again there are undoubtedly tens of thousands 

 of acres of ideal land, from the coco-nut planter's 



