Résumé OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE: LAST AVAILABLE RETURNS.[35]
(Fractions omitted).
| ARTICLE. | VALUE £. |
| Maize | 8,965,000 |
| Cotton | 3,340,000 |
| Henequen (Sisal hemp) | 2,933,500 |
| Sugar-cane | 2,644,000 |
| Wheat | 2,215,200 |
| Coffee | 1,508,700 |
| Chilli peppers | 950,000 |
| Frijoles (beans) | 933,200 |
| Pulque | 800,000 |
| Tobacco | 606,800 |
| Barley | 562,500 |
| Rice | 273,000 |
| Mezcal (spirits) | 256,000 |
| Ixtle fibre | 202,000 |
| Pease | 200,000 |
| Chocolate (cacao) | 160,000 |
| Chewing gum | 150,000 |
| Tequila (spirits) | 135,000 |
| Other spirits | 113,500 |
| Potatoes | 95,300 |
| Peanuts | 92,800 |
| Sweet potatoes | 71,000 |
| White beans | 70,200 |
| Vetch (alfalfa) | 54,000 |
| Sesame | 51,000 |
| Crude india-rubber | 44,300 |
| Yucca | 17,100 |
35 Compiled from the Mexican Year Book, 1908.
These, with other minor matters, give a total for the annual value of agricultural products, of approximately £27,500,000.
Fruit Culture.—A wide range of fruits are grown and marketed throughout the different climatic regions of Mexico, and the following list of these is of much interest to horticulturists:—Alligator pears (ahuacates), ciruelas (plums), cocoanuts, apricots, apples, dates, peaches, strawberries, pomegranates, guavas, figs, limes, lemons, mamey,[36] mangoes, melons, quinces, oranges, nuts, pears, pineapples, bananas, tunas (the fruit of the nopal), grapes, zapote. The considerable trade in these will be gathered from the fact that its value yearly amounts to more than £1,000,000.
36 This strange fruit is known as "the fruit of the Aztec kings."
Forestry.—As has been shown, the country is rich in woods for constructional and cabinet purposes. Laws are being enacted regarding the preservation and cultivation of forests, and subsidies are to be granted in this connection to cultivators. Among the kinds of timber either natural or cultivated, in addition to those already enumerated, are:—Cypress, poplar, myrtle, balsam, Brazil-wood, cinnamon, mahogany, cherry, cedar, copal, mezquite, ebony, oak, ash, beech, osier, mulberry, orange, walnut, pine, log-wood (campeche), rosewood, spruce, willow, and numerous others bearing native names which have no equivalent in English, forming a total of more than seventy-five kinds. The value of these timbers, felled and marketed, is about £2,225,000 per annum, and constantly growing.
Stock-raising.—This is an important and non-speculative industry, and the owners of the cattle-ranches are generally wealthy. The industry can be conducted on a large or small scale. The principal demand is a home one, although some export to the United States takes place, with a steady output. The exports from 1901 to 1907 fluctuated between 50,000 to 200,000 head. The great plains of the north are in the hands of the large landowners, but on the coast foot-hills, where pasturage abounds, small parcels of land can be purchased. On the great plateau the droughts at times cause severe loss, and I have on one occasion observed cattle dying about the plain of thirst, and others whose lives were only saved by feeding them with pieces of succulent palm-stem. On these arid plains water is generally encountered in the subsoil in wells of not extreme depths, and these norias, as the well and windlass are termed, are seen in many places. Laws for the encouragement of stock-raising have been promulgated. The value of Mexican live-stock, including cattle, horses, mules, sheep, goats, and hogs, is given as £12,000,000.