ffiora. 45 



Mexico in 1874, and which contains detailed information on the sev- 

 eral factors affecting that industry. 



It is interesting to know the production of coffee in Mexico, taken 

 from some statistics for 1896 : 



Cordoba produces 10,000,000 Ibs. 



Huatusco and Coatepec 10,000,000 " 



Oaxaca 6,000,000 " 



Tabasco 5,000,000 " 



Chiapas 3,000,000 " 



Other districts 26,000,000 " 



60,000,000 Ibs. 



Sugar-Cane. Mexico has many localities where sugar-cane can be 

 raised at a very small cost, and where that industry can be made very 

 lucrative, although we hardly produce enough sugar for our home con- 

 sumption. From the sea-level to the frost line, which ranges, in differ- 

 ent localities, from three to five thousand feet above the sea-level, 

 sugar-cane can be raised in Mexico to great advantage. I have seen 

 the cane in some places, especially in Soconusco, attain a height of 

 twelve feet and a diameter of about five inches ; and in some localities 

 it lasts from ten to eighteen years without need of replanting, and can 

 be cut for grinding twice a year. When it is considered that in some 

 places, like Louisiana, sugar has to be planted, as I believe, every two 

 years, and that it is liable to be destroyed by frosts, the advantages of 

 Mexico for that industry are apparent. 



The favorable conditions of Mexico for raising sugar-cane are so 

 great that I have seen the natives in the Indian town of Loxicha, in 

 the State of Oaxaca, plant a small plot of sugar-cane, grind it with 

 primitive wooden mills moved by hand power, using very primitive 

 earthen pans, to evaporate the juice and make brown sugar losing of 

 course a great part of the saccharine matter in the cane, transport the 

 sugar, sometimes a distance of thirty miles on mule-back, and sell it at 

 one cent per pound, and still make a profit. 



For sugar-cane the lowlands are the best, and the plant is essen- 

 tially a tropical one. It will grow, however, at very considerable alti- 

 tudes, but when planted in the mountains it takes a longer time to 

 ripen, and soon ceases to give remunerative crops. There was in 

 southern Veracruz a sugar-cane only six months old which had a 

 circumference of 7} inches. Where that cane grew the yield of cane 

 per acre was about 80 tons when twelve months old. The elevation 

 was something like 1000 feet. It is true, however, that the bulk of 

 the cane grown in Mexico is to be found above 2000 feet, but I am 

 convinced that a lower altitude would produce even better results. 



Tobacco. Among the tropical products of superior quality that we 



