CHAPTER, V. 



COLONIAL PRODUCTS. 



estates in the valleys of cuernavaca and cuautla mexican 



haciendas. sugar regions coffee its yield. tobacco 



orizaba chiapas, etc. indigo cotton. manufactures 



encouraged in mexico. no new agricultural population 



new manufacturing population. production of cotton — 



vainilla jalap cacao cochineal its production and 



quantity. silk fruits agricultural prospects. gra- 

 zing, and not an agricultural country. 



Agricultural Products continued. — Colonial Products. 



Sugar. 



It is generally admitted that the cultivation of Sugar commen- 

 ced in China. The cane became first known, through Marco Polo, 

 in the middle of the thirteenth century ; and it was soon after intro- 

 duced into Nubia, Egypt and Ethiopia ; whence, about the 15th. 

 century, it reached Europe. It was first planted in Sicily, and car- 

 ried to Spain, Madeira, and the Canary Isles ; and, twenty-eight 

 years after the discovery by Columbus, it was introduced into Hayti, 

 by Pedro Atienza, and speedily spread over the West Indies and 

 other parts of America. 



The Sugar Cane is one of the most valuable agricultural pro- 

 ducts of Mexico, and we are convinced from personal observation 

 that the estates in the tierra caliente, where it is chiefly raised, are 

 the richest, as well as most beautiful, in the republic. There is 

 scarcely a lovelier prospect in Mexico than that which spreads be- 

 fore the traveller as he descends from the northern mountains into 

 the valley or Cuernavaca, which lies south of the valley of Mexico, 

 and may be reached easily in the course of a day. On every side, 

 as far as the eye can reach, fields of the freshest verdure are spread 

 out, dotted with the white walls and towers of the magnificent 

 haciendas, which have been founded in this valley ever since the 

 conquest. Screened from the cold winds of the upper table land 

 by the protecting barrier of mountains which hem in the vales of 

 Mexico and Puebla, the valley of Cuernavaca basks, on their south- 

 ern slopes and feet, in a tropical climate. Winter never destroys 

 the foliage in this sheltered region. Pleasant streams gurgle through 

 its midst and afford sufficient supplies for irrigation. On the plain 

 the tender green of the young cane, waves in the sun-light like a 

 mass of purest velvet ; whilst the palm and the plantain mingle their 



