MONTHLY. !>* 
XXII. 
COLOMBO, APRIL Lst, 190.3. 
No. 10. 
'NEW MEXICO." 
T is difficult to say which is 
presented in more attrac- 
tive colours to American 
capitalists and pioneers, 
the rich undeveloped re- 
sources of the Philippines 
in the Far East, or the 
productive wealth of what 
is now known as "New Mexico." The former 
has the advantage of being under American 
law, currency and Government ; while the 
latter has the great attraction of proximity 
to a grand market close by for all th.at 
ean be grown, whether coco palms, rubber 
cacao, sugar or a host of other products, 
" The silver dollar " is a farther attraction 
to investors in Mexico— labour and all ex- 
penses being paid in silver, while the crops 
can be realised in gold. These remarks have 
been suggested by the receipt of a copy 
of a profusely illustrated New i ork Journal 
(printed in English and Spanish) entitled 
"Modern Mexico," from which we learn 
much of the silver and gold currencies, the 
buildings (ancient and modern) the railways, 
irrigation works, the electric trams, the 
education, the pottery, bull-rights, the 
legends, sheep and cattle raising ; but above 
all the tropical agriculture in Mexico. The 
illustrations in the latter show in one gi oup :— 
oranges, (Mexican oranges sell in New York) 
banana, coconut, rubber, and plum trees, 
We do not admire the pahns in any of 
the pictures ; but the growth oF rubber for 
18 months and sug ir c.iue for 10 months, is 
phenomenal. " Forest cut ready for burning 
on San Miguel plantation," points to a 
Ceylon man being on the scene— perhaps 
John Darley of the Knuckles as V. A.? In 
writing about " Money in Coconuts," George 
D. Coleman of Orizaba gives the most pre 
posterous estimates— figures which show he 
can have no practical experience beyond a 
stray group of trees. He writes : — 
" A coconut tree will yield from 150 to 250 nuta 
per year when in full bearing, as every lunar raonrh 
a new branch of blossoms comes oub, and only a 
hurricane will destroy them. As from three hun- 
dred trees to the acre is fair number (I have seen 
500 trees in fine condition on an acre), the yield of 
nuts would be, calculated on the basis ot 200 nuts 
and 300 trees, 60,000 nuts to the acre, which at 1 
cent per nut would mean $600. At Tlacotalpam, 
in the 8tate of Vera Cruz, where tliere are three 
small groves, I liave been asked un real, or 12 cents 
at retail for one single nut, and in other places I 
have never seen tiie ripe and fully developed sold 
for less than 6 cents each. The half-ripe nut is 
sold in quantities for half that sum for making the 
favourite refresco or drink of the hot country. But 
the owner of the coconut grove who is content to 
receive 1 cent per nut for the nut on the tree or 
ground is losing much money," 
[One cent of a dollar or ;3 of a rupee Is 
certainly a low price, even for Ceylon.] 
Mr. Coleman is supposed to be a traveller 
who knows something of India and the 
Philippines and yet what will he say when 
told that Ceylon, which can boast of 
the most reguh'.rly planted and best 
ciiltivated coconut plantations in the 
world, can nowhere show more than IW 
trees per acre, that 70 to 75 is the rule, and 
that only an ignoramus would dr?am of 
planting more than 100 trees, To do justice 
