VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 
189 
produce it are beyond question. There are two varieties, one of 
which, raised in the neighborhood of Mina-titlan, is not inferior 
in texture, whiteness, or length of staple, to the finest uplands 
of the Southern United States. With the single exception of 
Acayucam, there are no gins in the country, and as the seed is 
therefore separated by hand (a work which is tedious and pro- 
tracted), the cultivation of cotton in other parts is necessarily 
small. At Santa Maria Chimalapa some attention is paid to its 
culture, and although the lands are incomparably rich, the yield 
does not exceed half a dozen bales per annum. The Pacific 
plains present many fine sites for its production, and it is not 
difficult to foresee the advantages which would result from an 
extensive cultivation of this staple. The other variety referred 
to, called coyote, is less white- — often tinged with yellow, and in 
many respects very inferior. What would seem to favor the 
cultivation of cotton, is the sheltered condition of the table-lands 
and savannas, and the entire absence of the army worm, which 
so seriously damages the cotton crops of the Southern States. 
It is entirely unknown to the natives. 
The enumeration of all the vegetable dyes found on the 
Isthmus, with all that might be said of the numerous varieties, 
would constitute matter for a well-filled volume on botany, rather 
than the general details of a statistical report. Many, neverthe- 
less, deserve an especial notice either from the brilliant colors 
which they yield, or the pecuniary considerations involved in 
their growth and production. Among these may be classed the 
indigo trees, which are indigenous to Mexico, There are two 
varieties of indigqfera: one grows in the wildest profusion 
throughout the southern portions, called " anil cimarron" (the 
indigqfera citisoyedes of Lindley), and that of Guatimala (the 
indigqfera tinctoria of Linnasus), which is extensively cultivated. 
The method of extracting the dye is, however, very primitive, 
and in the few instances which were witnessed by us, mostly 
confided to the women, who put the branches of the plant into 
a large vat containing hot or lukewarm water, and after having 
stirred them for a sufficient time with a stick, the water (when 
sufficiently impregnated with the dye) is passed into pots or 
cups, where it is left until the solid part of the dye is deposited. 
