AGRICULTURAL POSSIBILITIES IN MEXICO 



1025 



I^OADING BURROS WITH THKIR CARGOES 01^ BRICK 



agricultural pursuits. Unfortunately this 

 interest on the part of the American in- 

 vestor has given the conscienceless pro- 

 moter an opportunity of which he has not 

 hesitated to take advantage. That this 

 has been to the detriment of legitimate 

 undertakings is certain. However, the 

 public has become wise, and is now better 

 able to discern between honest and dis- 

 honest concerns. 



Every country needs tropical depend- 

 encies. Whether these are political de- 

 pendencies or not is immaterial tO: the 

 subject under discussion. Every country 

 situated in a temperate climate needs 

 a large amount of tropical produce. Cof- 

 fee, tea, cacao, sugar, spices, fruits, 

 fibers, rubber, camphor, vegetable oils, 

 condiments, drugs, tobacco, tropical ce- 

 reals, such as rice, and various starch- 

 producing plants, as arrowroot and cas- 

 sava, are imported in great quantities to 

 northern countries. The United States 

 have wisely in recent years acquired some 

 tropical dependencies, to which naturally 

 capital from the home country is di- 

 verted. But the Philippines, Cuba, Porto 

 Rico, and Hawaii, even if developed to 

 their full capacity, are not sufficient to 



supply the United States with the colo- 

 nial produce needed. 



American capital has therefore become 

 interested in the production of many 

 other countries, and principally so in 

 those close at her door — Mexico and Cen- 

 tral America. As tropical agriculture 

 has proved a profitable undertaking, it is 

 only natural that capital should turn 

 towards these countries and towards agri- 

 cultural investments. This desire for in- 

 vestments in the American tropics is be- 

 coming more and more evident, and Mex- 

 ico is now getting her share of this out- 

 flow of capital. 



THK COFI^EE INDUSTRY IN MEXICO 



Although the competition with Brazil 

 is keenly felt by cofifee planters through- 

 out Mexico and Central America, coffee- 

 growing has not decreased as an indus- 

 try in Mexico. This fact is ascribed to 

 the superior quality of most of the Mexi- 

 can coffees, which can find a good market 

 despite the reduction in price of coffees 

 from other countries. 



Coffee in Mexico is generally grown at 

 an elevation of 2,000 to 5,000 feet. In 

 certain districts the coffee plantations are 



