MEXICO. 593 



would surely break down. Whether or uot the supposition is correct, 

 and so far as I can learn it is only supposition, it serves as an effectual 

 objection to the introduction of other breeds. I have no information 

 that any attempt has been made to introduce any other. I can con- 

 ceive that when some man demonstrates the feasibility of making wells 

 so as to insure a good water supply, the whole question will be changed. 



MILK, BUTTER, AND CHEESE. 



Milk is only an incident. A man is content if he qan get milk enough 

 for his family from ten to twenty cows. A cow is popularly supposed 

 to yield a gallon of milk a day, but half that quantity would be nearer 

 the truth here. 



Butter is not made to any extent. The milk, as I have observed it, is 

 very thin and poor. Then the excessive heat renders butter-making 

 diflScult. 



A little cheese is made, put up in little cakes weighing about a pound. 

 They look as digestible as marble, yet people eat them and live. 



THE GRASSES OF TAMAULIPAS. 



There are no cultivated grasses. The short grass found on the plains 

 grows under apparently unfavorable conditions, and while there is prac- 

 tically a limited range, there is no motive to cultivate gra'Sses. I do not 

 think that any one of the ordinary grasses cultivated elsewhere would 

 succeed here. I think the excessive droughts which prevail would 

 make their successful cultivation impossible, 



* CATTLE EXPORTS. 



Comparatively few cattle are kept on the ranches to maturity. The 

 Sales are mostly of two and three year olds. The price is agreed on 

 between seller and buyer with reference to an average as they stand, 

 the buyer stipulating that they shall be in good flesh. 



Only a very small number of fattened animals are driven. For the 

 most part the beeves exported come from small owners near the point 

 of export. 



The larger part, almost all the cattle exported, are taken to points in 

 Texas and farther north lor fattening. The cattle on the range are 

 neither sheltered nor fed, and are, therefore, in better traveling con- 

 dition than very fat animals. 



No considerable number of cattle have been exported for breeding 

 purposes. , 



MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS. 



When, as in this year, there have been heavy losses of cattle, and herds 

 must have the number of breeding animals increased, these are drawn 

 from the State of Chihuahua by ranchmen living near the Sierras. No 

 breeding cattle have been imported from the States at this point dur- 

 ing the year. 



A majority of the work animals are bulls. Some oxen are seen, but 

 comparatively few. 



These observations have been very general from the fact that exact 

 data were impossible. The estimate o"f numbers of animals is the best 

 obtainable. 



H. Ex. 51 38 



