OUR NEIGHBOR, MEXICO 



495 



BUILDINGS OE HACIENDA ATEACOMUECO, CUERNAVACA, MEXICO, BUII/f BY CORTES 



AND STILE OWNED BY CORTES' ESTATE 

 This hacienda supported the first hospital built on the American Continent 



THERE ARE EEW SOIL PRODUCTS WHICH 

 CANNOT FLOURISH IN MEXICO 



The Mexican flora include cacti of the 

 desert,* varieties of fiber plants, wheat 

 and maize of the temperate zone, cotton 

 (which is indigenous), sugar, rice, cof- 

 fee, vanilla, spices, medicinal plants and 

 luxuriant tropical growths, citrus fruits, 

 and berries, with flowers and orchids in 

 endless variety. The variety of fruits 

 and vegetables covers practically the list 

 of other lands, due to the influence of 

 topography and geographical location. 



The vegetable products and the cattle 

 raised in Mexico exceed in value 200 

 million dollars annually. The former 

 includes corn (50 million dollars) and 

 beans (6 million dollars), the popular 

 foods of the country, all of which are 

 used within its borders; w r heat (13 mil- 

 lion dollars), which is augmented by 



* The National Geographic Magazine for 

 August, 1910, presented illustrations of some 

 of the enormous cactus growths which are 

 found in the desert lands and occur in many- 

 portions of Mexico. 



large importations ; sugar and its prod- 

 ucts (13 million dollars), insufficient for 

 the demands of the country; cotton (17 

 million dollars), representing but about 

 one-half of the nation's consumption ; 

 coffee (8 million dollars), part of which 

 is exported ; henequen, the sisal hemp of 

 commerce, most of which is shipped to 

 the United States (16 million dollars) ; 

 while other fiber plants add 2 million 

 dollars to the country's exports. The 

 tobacco crop is large, supporting, it is 

 claimed, 600 factories. 



The annual export of rubber from 

 Mexico is valued at 13 million dollars, 

 of which practically two-thirds is ob- 

 tained from the rubber trees of the hot 

 country and one-third from the shrub 

 "guayule," which flourishes upon the 

 desert plains of the great plateau. 



The beverages used by the people, 

 made from aguave plants and from 

 cereals, are estimated at 10 million dol- 

 lars per annum. 



Upon the plains and among mountains 

 sheep and goats in large numbers are 



