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Pomona College Journal of Economic Botany 



like mesas around Mexico City, Guadalajara and Puebla, in the high mountain 

 valleys and even on the mountain sides around Orizaba, and Zacatecas, and on tlic 

 lower lands about Vera Cruz and Tampico and the southern hot lands. In fact 

 one can scarecely travel in Mexico without frequently seeing some sort of a corn 

 field — it may be a thousand acres or it may be a quarter of an acre; it may be in 

 a most flourishing and thriving condition or it may be poor and miserably devel- 

 oped and with almost no yield at all. Every man tries to maintain independence 

 and thinks that he can best do this by actually producing his own corn and whatever 

 other food he may need. Accordingly he plants regardless of surrounding 

 conditions. 



There are numerous other products, some agricultural and others growing 

 more or less wild and without cultivation. The chili, or red pepper, is grown quite 

 extensively, since this forms a necessary part of the daily diet. One or more of 

 the many varieties of avocado, or aguacate as it is called, by the Mexican, flourish 

 in all parts of the country and always find a ready market. There are many fruits 

 produced by more or less labor such as the mango, guava, many varieties of the 

 sapote — the sapote bianco, negra, Colorado, domingo and others, — the arrayan, 

 papaya, bananas of many kinds, and many other native fruits. A very extensively 

 grown plant is the maguey, one of the Agaves, which is grown for the production of 

 the native drink, pulque. The sugar cane is produced in large quantity both for 

 sugar and similar products, and also for aguardiente, or alcohol. Pineapples are 

 being planted more and more in the lower and warmer belts, and are found to be 

 very profitable. Citrus fruits have been produced in varying amounts for many 

 years. Oranges flourish in many parts of the Republic and when not infested by 

 the terrible Orange Maggot are a great source of profit. The lemon most com- 

 monly produced is the small seedling variety but it is very juicy and acid. The 

 sweet lime finds a ready market always and the large citron is not an uncommon 

 product. Cotton is being tried in many sections of the country, and in some in- 

 stances the results are most encouraging. Rice is produced in the lower belts and 

 even in the state of Morelos around Ixtla. Alfalfa and other fodders are grown 

 to a considerable extent. Vegetables of many kinds are produced for the local 

 markets. Temperate fruits such as peaches, apples, grapes, pears, quinces, and 

 others, are produced in small amounts, but very poor in quality ; these are planted 

 more in the higher and more northern sections where the climate is more or less 

 temperate. Finally we come to the tropical products of southern Mexico — coffee, 

 tea, cacao or the cocoa bean, vanilla, rubber, etc. 



As will be seen from this hasty and brief enumeration of products the possi- 

 bilities in agriculture are not only great but most remarkably varied. Mexico pre- 

 sents by far the most varied and at the same time accessible topography of any 

 country in the world. Almost every climatic, atmospheric and soil condition pre- 

 vails in some part of the land. 



In spite of these remarkable possibilities peculiar to Mexico, very little has 

 been done thus far to realize any of them. Nature has played by far the largest 

 part in agriculture in the past years instead of the agriculturist taking the upper 

 hand, as he has done in other countries, and directing the forces of nature in the 



