64 



MEXICAN HACIENDAS. 



the expenses of the estate. The chief difficulty encountered by 

 the proprietors, and their administradors, is in the worthlessness of 

 the Indian laborers, whose character as agriculturists we have 

 noticed in the section of this work treating of the classes of Mexi- 

 can society. Three hundred hands are employed at the hacienda, 

 who are paid a per diem of two and a half or three reals, according 

 to their qualifications or work. 



The hacienda of Temisco, in the valley of Cuernavaca, is one of 

 the oldest establishments in the republic, and, within a few years, 

 has passed into the possession of its present owners for the sum of 

 $300,000. The extensive buildings, consisting of a commodious 

 dwelling, constructed in the old Spanish style, and a large chapel, 

 were erected soon after the conquest. The domain extends over 

 eleven leagues of land in length, and three in width. Two hundred 

 and fifty laborers produce yearly about fifty thousand loaves of su- 

 gar, of an average weight of 23 pounds. The annual expenses of 

 the farming and management amount to thirty thousand dollars, 

 which are repaid by the molasses, syrup, and spirits, as at Santa 

 Inez, while, in addition to the crop, about four thousand cattle are 

 raised on the premises. On all these large estates a store is kept 

 by the owner, at which nearly the whole amount of the Indian la- 

 borer's wages is received back in the course of the year. The plan- 

 ters, in many parts of the country, are no longer contented with the 

 old system of extracting and preparing sugar ; but, notwithstand- 

 ing the enormous cost of transporting such large masses of heavy 

 machinery, they have introduced all the modern improved engines 

 used in the United States and the West Indies. The profits must 

 be large that will warrant so extravagant an expenditure. The 

 great haciendas disburse, in wages and other current charges, from 

 800 to 1,200 dollars weekly. The establishment of a Trapiche, or 

 all the works required for a sugar estate, is so costly an enterprise, 

 that it is not likely the cultivation of the article will become greatly 

 extended by the opening of new estates in the most productive re- 

 gions. Labor, as well as engines, will be required for this purpose, 

 and it is quite improbable that the few indolent Indians in the 

 neighborhood will be prevailed on to abandon their life of laziness 

 for the toils of a sugar plantation. Besides this, the present pro- 

 auction fully supplies the home market, and although the revenues 

 and profits are extraordinarily tempting, it is doubtful whether the 

 Mexicans are sufficiently enterprising in agriculture to adventure 

 such enormous sums as are necessarily expended before a single 

 cane is planted or a pound of sugar manufactured. As long as the 



