Mexico is filled with varieties of Aloes and Cacti. A species known as the Organos—whose tall, erect and fluted columns shoot up to a height of ten, fifteen or twenty feet, is used in many parts of the table land for fences. Planted in close rows, its fine spines and firm limbs afford an impervious wall against intruders, whilst the tops of these evergreen and growing barriers are almost always covered with the most beautiful blossoms. In many districts of Mexico these cacti form one of the most picturesque as well as useful features in the landscape.
CHAPTER V.
COLONIAL PRODUCTS.
ESTATES IN THE VALLEYS OF CUERNAVACA AND CUAUTLA—MEXICAN HACIENDAS.—SUGAR REGIONS—COFFEE—ITS YIELD.—TOBACCO—ORIZABA—CHIAPAS, ETC.—INDIGO—COTTON.—MANUFACTURES ENCOURAGED IN MEXICO.—NO NEW AGRICULTURAL POPULATION—NEW MANUFACTURING POPULATION.—PRODUCTION OF COTTON—VAINILLA—JALAP—CACAO—COCHINEAL—ITS PRODUCTION AND QUANTITY.—SILK—FRUITS—AGRICULTURAL PROSPECTS.—GRAZING, AND NOT AN AGRICULTURAL COUNTRY.
Agricultural Products continued.—Colonial Products.
Sugar.
It is generally admitted that the cultivation of Sugar commenced in China. The cane became first known, through Marco Polo, in the middle of the thirteenth century; and it was soon after introduced into Nubia, Egypt and Ethiopia; whence, about the 15th century, it reached Europe. It was first planted in Sicily, and carried to Spain, Madeira, and the Canary Isles; and, twenty-eight years after the discovery by Columbus, it was introduced into Hayti, by Pedro Atienza, and speedily spread over the West Indies and other parts of America.
The Sugar Cane is one of the most valuable agricultural products of Mexico, and we are convinced from personal observation that the estates in the tierra caliente, where it is chiefly raised, are the richest, as well as most beautiful, in the republic. There is scarcely a lovelier prospect in Mexico than that which spreads before the traveller as he descends from the northern mountains into the valley or Cuernavaca, which lies south of the valley of Mexico, and may be reached easily in the course of a day. On every side, as far as the eye can reach, fields of the freshest verdure are spread out, dotted with the white walls and towers of the magnificent haciendas, which have been founded in this valley ever since the conquest. Screened from the cold winds of the upper table land by the protecting barrier of mountains which hem in the vales of Mexico and Puebla, the valley of Cuernavaca basks, on their southern slopes and feet, in a tropical climate. Winter never destroys the foliage in this sheltered region. Pleasant streams gurgle through its midst and afford sufficient supplies for irrigation. On the plain the tender green of the young cane, waves in the sun-light like a mass of purest velvet; whilst the palm and the plantain mingle their
