flora* 53 



After the sizing and classification are finished, the pods are tied up 

 in bunches of 100-150, so as to weigh one pound, and wrapped in 

 filtering paper and tin foil. 



Silk Culture. The mulberry-tree and silkworm industries have a 

 very great future in Mexico, and are destined to produce a veritable 

 revolution in the industries of the central plateau of that country. 

 The mulberry tree can be grown in Mexico almost to an unlimited ex- 

 tent, especially in the central plateau, and, as wages are low, the raw 

 silk can be manufactured at a great profit. Several experiments have 

 been made on a small scale, more particularly in the Valley of Mexico, 

 by Mr. Hipolito Chabon, a gentleman of French descent, and he has 

 obtained most satisfactory results. I have no doubt that the time is 

 not far distant when the silk industry will assume great proportions in 

 Mexico, and we will be able to stand among the foremost silk-producing 

 countries of the world. 



Cochineal. The cochineal is a bug which feeds on the cactus ; and 

 which, when fully developed, is brushed off the cactus leaves and 

 roasted to prevent decomposition, being then ready for market. It is 

 raised to great advantage in Mexico, and especially in the valleys of 

 the State of Oaxaca. When it was the only article used to dye red it 

 was very valuable, commanding sometimes between four and five dol- 

 lars per pound, and it made the wealth of that State. But recent dis- 

 coveries in chemistry have supplied other substances for dyeing which 

 are very cheap, especially aniline, and the price of cochineal has fallen 

 considerably, so that now it is hardly raised at all. When it had a 

 high price, it was raised in Guatemala, and it was the beginning of the 

 wealth of that State. It is now raised, I understand, in several other 

 countries. 



Rice. Rice grows very well in Mexico, and I have not seen any 

 district where it is necessary to inundate the fields to favor its produc- 

 tion, although I understand it is also raised in that way in some locali- 

 ties. It is generally planted just as wheat and barley are in the United 

 States, needing no irrigation and depending entirely on the rainfall. 

 I imagine that raising rice by inundation would be more expensive, 

 and also be dangerous, because it could not fail to affect the salubrity 

 of the country. 



Chicle, or Chewing-Gum. This article, like many others, grows wild 

 in Mexico, where the demand that has arisen for it in the United 

 States has begun to develop its production. For some time past the 

 shipments from Mexico have been on an increasing scale, owing, no 

 doubt, to the comparatively high prices which ruled early in 1896. 



Every year a larger extent of forests is worked for chicle, result- 

 ing in a steady growth of the production since the gum first became 

 an important commercial article, about ten years ago. Prior to that 



