36 THE TROPICAL 
PLANTING IN MEXICO : 
RUBBER-COFFEE-AND CACAO. 
We direct attention to another interesting 
letter from Mr. E. O. Darley. well-knov/n as 
a Knuckles' planter in the coffee clays of 
Ceylon, and who, after some experience of 
Mexico, is full of belief in its future as :i 
planting country. On the present occasion, 
however, he gives us some idea of the draw- 
backs to pioneers in this new planting region, 
althoutrh he still holds to phenomenal rates 
of production for our old staple coffee, as 
well as for cacao and rubber. As regards 
the testimony enclosed in his letter by Mr. 
Darley, we can only say it carries us back 
to the days when cinchona was going to 
make the fortune of every second planter 
in Ceylon and when such .a result could be in- 
contestably demonstrated by " facts and 
Hgures," on paper. For instance, what are 
Ave to make of the following cutting from 
an American \yciper— The Trader— sent us by 
Mr. Darley i*— 
Tlie following is a copy in part of a letter 
Written by a very prominent and competent 
Mexican to his bi'other-in-lavv : " I advise that 
at once you commence planting hule, or rubber. 
In order that you may have an idea of the im- 
portance of the advice whicli I take the liberty 
of offering yon, I refer jou to a fact which has 
really occurred in this State (Chiapas). In an 
hacienda called Dona Felipa Ortiz, in the depart- 
ment of Pichucalco (near El Salto) there were 
planted four years ago some 10,000 rubber trees 
to serve as shade for the cacao trees, instead of 
raising other trees for this purpose, which would 
have no value except for shade. Lately a house 
in Tabasco offered .50 cents per tree for the p^i^'i- 
lege of extracting the milk once, and to pay !|1.00 
for each tree which should be dried up by bad 
treatment. The proprietor did not accept the 
offer, believing he could realize more money by 
taking care not to allow any more juice to be ex- 
tracted each year than ought to be. He only per- 
mitted 3 lb. to be talcen from each tree, ivliich 
yielded li!;l.2.5 per tree net profit. The Avhole ex- 
pense of collection did not exceed $300. A single 
man can cut in a day 300 cuttings of rubber tree 
for planting, ^ inch tliick and one yard long. 
'Pen men in a day will cut 3,000 cuttings, wlu'ch 
in a month, not including Sundays, would anjount 
to 78,000 cuttings. 
If each man receives 7.5 cents a day, 
the 2t) would cost ... ... ly.j 00 
two carts with two men and two pair of 
oxen to carry the cuttings (where re- 
quired) at -ISIO per day, eight days ... 80 00 
One man can in a day make the holes 
and plant 200 cuttings, so the plant- 
ing will cost, a little more or less ... 300 00 
Other expenses, not provided for ... 1.50 00 
$725 00 
Simply by planting alone, the value of the 
property would be enlianced as soon as the cut- 
tings take root. The cuttings will take root in 
four uionths; three yeai-s afterwards the 78,000 
rubber trees will each be worth .f 1.00, thus in- 
creasing tlie value of tlie property by .178,000. 
'I'lie trees should be pkuited six y.irds apart, .so 
that 78,(ini) t-n.'cs would occupy 1/10 of a league 
about 500 Ji.'Tcs. A li'figuc xv ould be sufficient for 
about 780,000 lubbi'r trees, etc., etc. You thus 
see a single league of land, will, if well planted 
hi raliber ti ces, be worth in three years (without 
ccuiltirig its value for crazing purposes, for as 
soon as tlie young-trees are well rooted the cattle 
Hjn^- be jjcrmittecl l9 gragc 911 \\\^ iand) $780,000 
AGRICULTURIST. [July 1, 1900, 
and this result can be obtained at an expense not 
(exceeding $7,000 witliout counting the cost of the 
land. I am aware tliat to persons, not cognizant 
with the conditions existing liere, tlie above state- 
ments will seem exaggerated. The rubber trees 
may be planted on the same land as cacao, the 
latter being ]jut at a distance of 12 feet apart, 
or .300 to the acre. Tiiese trees, at four years of 
age, will, with proper attention, yield from four 
to eight pounds of cacao, worth at present in 
Mexico, .Sl-00 per lb. ; so that a league of good 
land should after four years produce yearly in 
cacao 807, ()70 lb. : or four pounds per tree, whicli 
is a siiKill ijroduet. As before stated, the rubber 
trees, which serve as sliade trees for the cacao, 
trees, would at the same time produce their 
vjduablc milk." 
It is right to luenticm that the above w<is 
written some ti)ne ajjo, so that the condi- 
tions Hs to prices may have chajiged, though 
we suppose, productiveness has not fallen 
off'. All the same, it is siu-ely time now to 
hear not so nuich of A^nericans rushing into 
Mexico, but of some of our Yankee cou.«ins 
as well as of Britishers coming back with 
"foi'tunes" — as they ought to do since the 
" boom" h.'is extended back at least five, if not 
more, years. ^Vi^at can be more tempting 
than the following programme of products 
and crops grown on the lands of one 
American Company^ who invite settlers and 
otter for sale 9f),0(K) acres :— 
PRODUCTS OF THE GKIJALVA LAXD. 
Corn.— Three crops per annum. Wheat.— Two 
crops. 
Alfalfa.— Seven cuttings. Sisal Hemp,— Four 
cuttings. 
Potatoes.— Two crops. Indigo.— Two crops. 
Cotton. — Matures in three months ; plant once 
in three years. 
Sugar.— Planted once in 10 years ; matures in 
eight months ; nets $300 per acre. 
Tobacco.— Matures in four months ; nets $100 
to $500 per acre. 
Pineapples.— Bear in two years ; net $200 to 
$250 per acre. 
Vanilla. — Matures in two years ; nets §200 to 
$300 per acre. 
Coffee.— Matures in three years ; nets $150 to 
,$200 per aci'c. 
Cacao bears in four years ; nets $300 t^ $500 
per acre. 
Rubber in six years ; nets $100 to $000 per acre. 
Coconuts in fl\ e years ; net $2.50 to $100 per 
acre. 
Most of the garden products, such as Peas, 
Beans, Turnips, Radishes, Tomatoes Melons, 
Onions, can be planted each month in the year'. 
While of fruits, you can grow Oranges, Lemons, 
Bananas, Granadas, Zapotes. Mangoes, Pears, 
Peaches, Plums, Grapes, Guavas, Dates and Fies. 
Walnuts, Almonds, Peanuts, Chestnuts and 
Pecans can also be grown. 
Instead of being housed by sleet and snow 
durine the winter season, you can serve fresh 
vegetables from your garden every month in 
the year. 
There is a very great profit in raising Ca tfle 
and Hogs for market. A steer can be fatte r t d 
in ninety days on one acre of land set in pa lar 
grass, and mast for hogs is abundant. 
.Voiff.— The aliove estimates are in Mexican 
money. 
Now, the wonder to hard-headed as well as 
stay-at-home Ceylon plantei's nnist be, how 
there can be an acre of such marvellously 
productive land left in the open market. 
Look at cott'eej realising hi three years £3(j 
