62 



Pomona College Journal of Economic Botany 



producing, in fact suffer constant depletion and the entire country will feel 

 this loss. 



What might almost be called the universal crop of the country is corn ; it 

 is grown on large tracts of hundreds of acres and it is grown on small arable 

 patches on the mountain sides ; and yet not in any year has there been enough 

 to feed the nation. The reason for this is not hard to find. I have seen thou- 

 sands of cornfields "plowed" with the ancient wooden plow drawn by oxen and 

 I have seen a few cornfields plowed deep with modern steel plows, and the 

 difference is great. When a soil is scraped over the surface year after year 

 and never turned, what sort of a yield of corn can be expected? And yet 

 because of the great original fertility of some soils the yield is surprisingly 

 good ; but that condition is rare and will not last. The usual crop is much 

 smaller than it need be. 



Again, a great deal of land is annually planted to corn which would be 

 far better suited to some other crop. Some of the higher mountain valleys 

 and mesas are quite well adapted to corn culture, but many such places, while 

 they may be forced to produce some inferior corn, are far better suited to 

 the culture of such crops as the apple, cherry or some other hardy, cold endur- 

 ing fruit. It may be difficult for many to believe that cold climates exist in 

 Mexico, but nevertheless it is entirely true. On many of the mountain plateaus 

 and mesas the temperature falls low enough for snow and very hard freezing. 

 Portions of the Tehuantepec Isthmus territory, also, because the soil conditions 

 are not adapted to its culture. There is very little doubt in my mind as to the 

 adaptability to this soil of the olive tree or the eucalyptus and many other 

 similar trees. The market price of olives is so high that this crop could be 

 made to pay very well. In this very region as well as in other parts of the 

 Republic there is a great demand for good railroad ties and telegraph poles, 

 and this demand will increase constantly. Eucalyptus wood is beginning to 

 be used in this country for such purposes with good results, and a similar 

 demand in Mexico should stimulate its culture on a very large scale in certain 

 states. 



While we must realize that the habits of the masses of the Mexican people 

 demand corn as the chief crop of the country, at the' same time one cannot 

 help recognize certain places as being well fitted for other crops equally valu- 

 able to the country. For instance the Cuernavaca valley with its wonderfully 

 fertile soil, mild climate and abundant rains in season could produce, after 

 proper acclimatization, grapes, melons, berries and other similar crops which 

 have to be marketed immediately. Mexico City, only four or five hours dis- 

 tant by rail, affords a limitless market for such fruits, and the consequent 

 lowering of the present market price of these products would place them 

 within the reach of many more. The current retail price of table grapes in 

 the city is about twenty-five cents per pound, and other fruits are propor- 

 tionately high. The sugar beet could be grown very well in several localities 

 of large extent as, for instance, in the Yautepec region of the state of Morelos 

 and in the southern part of the state of Vera Cruz. Whether this could be 



