MALADIES PRODUCTIONS VINE OLIVE. 



311 



easily treated in this region than in other portions of the Republic. 

 The laborers in the mines formerly suffered from diseases of the 

 chest, arising probably from the mephitic vapors which were con- 

 fined in the badly ventilated galleries ; but the Deputacion de la 

 Mineria took this subject into consideration, and have forced the 

 owners of mines by stringent laws to construct shafts and openings 

 by which these buried workmen may receive continual supplies of 

 fresh air. 



Maize, wheat, frijoles, beans, and the common cereal grains are 

 produced abundantly in the fertile plains of the Bajio and San 

 Felipe. Corn, though the chief product for consumption, not only 

 for man but for beasts, is often so abundant, that the farmers are 

 obliged to export it to other States. The quality of the wheat of 

 this State is so excellent, that when it will bear the cost of transpor- 

 tation, it is sent to the national capital, where it commands a better 

 price than even the grain raised in the immediate vicinity of the 

 city. The frijol, — a fine dark, nutritious bean, which is commonly 

 used throughout Mexico, by all classes, from the highest to the 

 lowest, — grows abundantly in Guanajuato. The Chile pepper is 

 used in Mexico, not only as a seasoning for food as in other coun- 

 tries, but as an aliment of life, which is placed on tables of all ranks 

 at dinner. It is consumed both in its green and dry states, and in 

 the latter, it is exported from Guanajuato to the capital, where the pro- 

 duct of the haciendas or plantations at Apaseo are preferred by the 

 epicures as being of the best flavor in the Republic. The vine, is 

 also cultivated in various parts of this State, especially at Dolores 

 Hidalgo, Celaya, and Chamacuero, but as manufactories of wine 

 have not been established, its culture does not extend beyond the 

 quantity of grapes required for consumption in the markets. The 

 potato does not flourish in this State. 



It is believed that the olive may be advantageously reared in 

 Guanajuato. At the beginning of the present century, Joaquin 

 Gutierrez de los Rios made the experiment at his hacienda de Sara- 

 bia, within the district of Salamanca. The scarcity and dearness 

 of oil in Spain, at that period, in consequence of the war, enabled 

 the mill established by this person to supply the neighborhood with 

 the article at such prices, that the lucky proprietor realized a large 

 income from his enterprize. But during the insurrection in 1810, 

 his property was destroyed, and with it, a large part of his olive 

 plantation. At present, considerable plantations are making at sev- 

 eral haciendas, especially at that of Mendoza, where 30,000 olive 

 trees had been already planted in 1849. 

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