486 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Jan. ], 190L 
To the Editor. 
PLANTING IN MEXICO. 
(By an ex-Ceylon Planter.) 
The Editor, Tropical Agriculturist, Ceylon. 
Mexico, Sept. 9, 1900, 
Dear Sir,— In the T. A. for .January (wliicli 
went amissinfi; and only reached me in August) 
and for July, I notice a couple of letters from 
Mr. E O Barley on " Planting in Mexico," also 
your note on the same, asking Jor information re 
labour, taxes, police etc In the July number, 
Mr. Darley has given you some information, and 
I now take the liberty of supplementing ihe same. 
It must be remembered that Mr. Darley writes 
from the State of Tabasco, whereas I ain in the 
State of Oaxaca, and therefore my remarks and 
statements mostly apply to this State, and to the 
district I am in, Eut at the same time tliere is 
little or no difference between tiie States as re- 
gards taxation, communication, etc. I have now 
been nearly 18 months in Mexico, and have iiad 
ample time and opportunity for going fully into 
every matter that affects planting and give my 
actual experience. I may preface my remarks by 
stating that I was planting in Ceylon from Jan- 
nary 1877 'to May 1880 'in Uda'pussellawa and 
Maturata, and from May 18S0 t;o December 1898 
in Johore, the Federated Malay States, and 
West Coast of Borneo. I arrived here at the end 
of March, 1899. 
Soil and Lay of Land.— Beyond any doubt 
the soil of Tropical Mexico is exceedingly rich 
and of vast extent, and, in what I may call the 
low 'country, is of a rolling character with 
large areas of almost level country, generally 
along the rivers, and between the spurs of 
the main ranges, these spurs generally being 
of limestone formation. Taken all round, 
however, the country is badly watered. 
For instance, in the whole of this Company's 
lands extending to 111,000 acres, there are three 
large streams, miscalled rivers, two of which form 
the North, East, South and South- Western boun- 
daries, one running through the centre of the 
block. There are only ten other small streams 
running into these, and yet our land lies at the 
foot of the "Sierra Madre" mountain. Soil 
suitable for atniost any kind of tropical culti- 
vation can be purchased for from to $50 the 
acre, anywhere in the best part of Mexico. We 
sold for tobacco for the latter price here. 
Climate and Rainfall, — Once outside the 
range of yellow fever " voniito " which roughly is 
confined to a distance of about 60 miles inland from 
the sea, from Tanipico to Coalzicoalcos, the 
climate for the Tropics is remarkably good and 
perfectly healthy. The rainy season begins about 
June and ends in September, but during October 
to end of December there is generally a fair 
amount of rain. From January to May the 
weather is tine wil li ocoa.sional showers, March, 
April and May are the hot months, November, 
December and .January the cold ; aixl even at this 
elevation, 615 feet, lires are often necessary at 
nights, and a cou|ilc of thick blankets. The rain- 
fall has been systematically kept only since my 
21-30 
19 
3-40 
25-48 
17 
4-30 
17-31 
11 
6-00 
505 
5 
2-00 
3-52 
2 
2 72 
3-55 
5 
1-58 
3-23 
9 
1-30 
1-83 
2 
•92 
204 
5 
•72 
1-30 
2 
1-00 
6-80 
G 
2-50 
13-83 
11 
3 75 
25-51 
25 
^•77 
18-94 
12 
3-45 
arrival, but eoiiimencing Irom 1st July, and I 
append it : — 
1699. Inches. Eainv days. Heaviest fall inches. 
July 
August 
September 
October 
November 
December 
1900. 
J anaary 
February 
March 
April 
May 
June 
July 
Alls. 
On the 18th February, the I hermoniei.er registered 
in the otlice 55° Fahr. at U S' a.m., about the 
lowest it lias been since my arrival. 
Communication ail over Mexico is by means 
of railway, river and tiacks, Metalied or nn- 
metalled rjiads outside the cities (and few even 
there) do not exis^. The rough jungle track>% 
worn down by the feet of man ami animals, that 
were in existence in, or perhaps before, Monte- 
zuma's time, are the only ones that are available, 
and as these go up hill and down dale, one can 
tancy what tlie travelling is like, especially in wet 
weather. As far as I am aware, the Government 
has not even commenced to think about road making, 
I will confine myself to the Kailways serving the 
tropical portions M'here plantations are mostly 
being opened. First there i.s the line from Vera 
Cruz toAlvavado, sonie4<J mile.'^. It; now belongs to 
Sir Weetman Pearson, a bad line, badly managed. 
Ordinarily it takes four hours to do the journey. 
Another line runs from Coatzacoalcos to Salina 
Cruz, across the Isthmus of Teliuanlepee, and 
a branch line from the main line to the San 
Juan river. Another line is now under construc- 
tion from Mozorengo to .Santa Lucrecia on the 
Tehuantepec railway. All these are either under 
the management of Sir Weetman Pearson or are 
being constructed by him. On pa))ei', tliis seems 
to give ample communication, but one lias only 
to look at the map to see what a small portion 
it serves, especially as there are no roads to serve 
as feeders. The lines, too, are chiefly strategical 
ones, as President Diaz does not intend to allow 
revolutions to grow unchecked. Now as to the 
rivers. Stern-wheel shaliow-draft steamers run all 
the year round from Alvavado up the Papaloaparm 
river to Tuxtepec from TIacotalpam (twu hours 
steaming above Alvavado) up theTesecboacan river 
to Tesechoacan, and during the wet season np to 
and a little above Playa Vicente, There is also 
regular steamer communication, all the year 
round up the San Juan river from TIacotalpam, 
up the Coatzacoalcos, and some of t!^e other 
rivers in the more Southern States, but how far 
the boats can go during wet. and dry seasons I do 
not know. What I do believe is that these rivers 
only serve a small part of the latids suitable 
for cultivation, and here again there are no roads 
as feeders. In the section I am in, during the dry 
.season, we have to depend on canoes for transport, 
and as the "canoeros" as a body area <lruuken 
lot, we are at their mercy. It has often taken 
three moutiis to get goods up from Tiacotplpani 
to where I am (just above Plaj'a Vic'^;ite) during 
the dry season. Freight from TIacotalpam to 
here, by canoes, is paid for by the piece of 200 lb. 
and costs $28 (twenty-eight) the ton up and 1^17 
