MEXICO
The United States of Mexico lie between 14 degrees 30 minutes and 32 degrees 42 minutes north latitude and 86 degrees 46 minutes and 117 degrees 7 minutes west longitude. On the north the boundary is the United States of America; on the east the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean sea, British Honduras and Guatemala; on the south British Honduras and the Pacific ocean, and on the west the Pacific ocean. The superficial area of the country is 765,537 square miles. Its greatest length is 1942 miles and its greatest width is 762 miles. It has a coast line of 5486 miles, of which 1603 miles are on the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean sea and 3883 miles on the Pacific ocean and the Gulf of California.
The surface of Mexico rises sharply from the seacoast levels by a series of terraces to a central plateau, that varies in height from 4000 to 8000 feet and runs northwest and southeast. This tableland has been formed by the material deposited during the gradual erosion of the mountains and by matter thrown up by a great number of volcanoes. In this manner the original valleys became completely filled up and those that now exist are of later formation. To illustrate this filling process, buried mountains whose peaks appear above the surrounding mass are found in the higher parts of the plateau, while elsewhere they are met with as continuous ridges. The eastern coast is low and sandy, except in a few places where the mountains come down close to the shore. The Pacific coast lands are also low, but occasionally broken by mountain spurs. Owing to the terraced character of the country, very little river navigation is possible, but on the other hand an enormous amount of powercan be developed from the numerous waterfalls. Two high mountain ranges, one on each coast, run parallel to the sea the entire length of Mexico. The eastern chain is about ten miles inland, while on the west there is only a narrow shelf of land between the sea and the cordilleras. This western range has several branches that run in different directions, the most important being the Sierra Madre Occidental. In Mexico the highest mountains are volcanoes. On the Pacific side and west of the plateau are found the Volcán de Colima (12,750 ft.) and the Nevado de Colima (14,354 ft.). Southwest of the City of Mexico is the Nevado de Toluca (16,610 ft.) and to the south and east are the snow-crowned giants Popocatepetl (17,540 ft.) and Ixtaccihuatl (15,705 ft.). Still farther east are Orizaba (16,176 ft.) and Cofre de Perote (14,309 ft.). Popocatepetl and Orizaba may be classified as dormant cones, for the reason that aqueous and sulphurous vapors are constantly being emitted from their perfectly formed craters. One of the highest lakes in the world is found in the crater of the Nevado de Toluca. Colima has been in eruption continuously for many years and is still active. The snow never leaves the summits of Orizaba, Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl, and on the last the ice cap attains a development sufficient to form true glaciers.
On the western coast the principal ports are Guaymas, Mazatlan, Topolobampo, Acapulco, La Paz and Salina Cruz; on the eastern seaboard, Tampico, Vera Cruz, Puerto Mexico, Campeche and Merida. Of the numerous rivers, the most important is the Rio Grande, 1550 miles long, which forms a natural boundary between Mexico and the United States from El Paso to the Gulf. However, the conformation of the country does not admit of river navigation to any extent.
According to the census of 1910, the population was 15,063,207, of which 20 per cent were whites, 43 per cent of mixed blood and the remainder of Indian extraction.
In Mexico there are three distinct climates and a wide range of temperature. The hot country,tierra caliente, extends from the seacoast inland to an altitude of about 3000 feet. Here the mean annual temperature is between 80 degrees and 88 degrees, and the highest between 100 degrees and 105 degrees Fahrenheit. In this region the winter climate is delightful, except when severe gales sweep down from the north. In summer the extreme heat is not so great as in New York, because of the moderating effect of cool breezes.
The temperate region,tierra templada, extends from 3000 to 6500 feet above sea-level, and it is here that the ideal climate of Mexico is found, the mean annual temperature being between 73 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit, with a total variation of possibly not over 6 or 8 degrees during a season. In this dry, clear atmosphere the hygienic disadvantages of the seacoast, the sharp, cold winds of the upper altitudes, sudden changes in temperature, heavy frosts, extreme humidity and harmful insects are unknown, and in the dry season there is no malaria.
Tropical and semi-tropical growths flourish side by side, and there are estates on which wheat and sugar cane are raised almost in touch of each other.
The cold country,tierra fria, extends from the 6500-foot level to the snow line, but here the term cold is used in a comparative sense, as distinguished from the heat of the seacoast. The average temperature runs between 59 degrees and 62 degrees Fahrenheit, with slight variations. At times, however, a norther will drive the mercury down to 40 degrees or 35 degrees and sprinkle the streets of Mexico City with white.
As a rule, in Mexico the rainy season begins in May or June and ends in October. The annual rainfall varies greatly according to locality, ranging all the way from fifteen to fifty inches. Earthquakes are of common occurrence, especially on the western coast.
Sugar cane was brought to Mexico by the Spanish conquistadors. Prescott, in his “Conquest of Mexico,”[72]says that the sugar cane was transplanted from the neighboring islands to the lower level of the country, and that, together with indigo, cotton and cochineal, it formed a more desirable staple for the colony than its precious metals. He also states that it was Hernan Cortés himself who introduced the cane from Cuba. This famous soldier established the Atlacomulco plantation, which lies an easy hour’s ride distant from Cuernavaca in the state of Morelos, and there, in 1520, a hundred years before the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth, he erected the first sugar mill in Mexico. This mill is owned by the descendants of Cortés and is still in operation.
Thirty years later sugar was shipped from Mexico to Peru and Spain, and the production of the commodity was maintained steadily until 1791. In that year all the cane-growing countries of western America received a stimulus from the wholesale destruction of the plantations and mills of Santo Domingo.
In Mexico natural conditions are very favorable to sugar culture, but the growth of the industry has been retarded by the primitive methods in vogue, the inadequacy of transportation facilities and political disturbances. In the seaboard states the sugar plantations are found chiefly in the rich lowlands bordering on the Pacific ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. In the Gulf states the rainfall is ample to insure good crops. The largest sugar producer, however, is the inland state of Morelos, and there, as well as on the west coast, irrigation is necessary. The higher levels do not give such good crops as the lowlands; on the latter the yield is between forty and sixty tons to the acre, and on the former it runs between twenty-five and forty-five tons to the acre. Sugar beets have been grown on the plateauwith marked success. In the low, tropical regions seven or eight crops of ratoons can be raised, but on the higher lands replanting must be done every two or three years. The best-known plantations are situated on large estates that have been owned by the same families for many generations. For instance, in Morelos, where about sixty per cent of Mexico’s crop is produced, the estates are owned by non-resident families and, as a rule, managed by Spaniards. Labor is cheap and abundant, the cane is rich in juice and the sugar content is high, but the extraction in the small, crude mills is poor, the recovery of sugar, as a rule, not exceeding six per cent of the weight of the cane. There are a few large factories in Mexico where the methods and results should be more closely in accordance with modern practice.
The nineteenth century saw the industry maintained on a fairly even basis, but about 1900 an improvement was noted, as the following table will show:
The effects of the internal disturbances in Mexico are plainly reflected in the crop figures. In addition to the sugar tonnage shown, about 50,000 tons ofpiloncilloorpanela(concrete sugar) are turned out annually by the small mills and the production of molasses is large. A considerable amount of the latter is used in the manufacture of rum and alcohol.
As regards the future of sugar in Mexico, there is much to justify belief in ultimate expansion and prosperity. Labor is cheap and plentiful, there are vast tracts of rich virgin land awaiting cultivation, irrigation possibilities are great, and when the present political disorders shall have been quieted and stable conditions established, a movement forward will surely follow.