PRODUCTION AND INDUSTRY
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loading gun, and 4 small breech-loaders. A steel training cruiser, the Zaragoxa (1,200 tons), was built at Havre in 1891 ; 4 gunboats and 5 first-class torpedo-boats are building or projected. The fleet is manned by about 90 officers and 500 men.
Production and Industry.
Mexico has been estimated to contain 479 s([uarc leagues of forest, 18,134 square leagues of mountain-land, and 4,822 s<{uare leagues of uncultivated land. The climate and soil are fitted for very varied produce, but, as regards crops usually grown in cold countries, agriculture is in ilexico in a very primitive condition. Provision is made for the sale and occupation of public lands by a law of Jul)^ 22, 1863. The demarcation of such lands is carried out by public companies, the third part of the area demarcated being ceded to them for expenses incurred. There are 34 colonies, or agricultural settle- ments, of which 13 with 6,926 colonists have been established by the Govern- ment, and 21 with 4,091 colonists by companies or persons authorised by the Government. Government has assisted in introducing plants of vines, olives, and other fruit trees, while seeds of vegetables and of silkworms have been dis- tributed gratuitously. The cultivation of the orange is rapidly extending, and already there are large overland exports to the United States. The chief agricultural products in 1896 were : —
Rice, tons .
44,275
Henequen, tons .
. 531,319
Maize, hectol.
. 25,833,503
Cotton, tons
. 29,185
Wheat, tons
601,782
Logwood ,, .
. 67,853
Sugar
71,429
Cacao ,, .
. 1,313
Panocha ,, .
62,688
Coffee ,, .
. 13,254
Molasses ,, ,
52,749
Tobacco ,, .
. 15,875
Brandies, hectol.
. 5,663,757
Rum, hectol .
. 328,986
Large numbers of cattle are reared in Mexico for the United States. In 1883, in Northern Mexico alone, on an area of 300,000 square miles, there were 1,500,000 cattle, 2,500,000 goats, 1,000,000 horses, and 1,000,000 sheep. In the whole of Mexico in 1883 there were 20,574 cattle ranches, valued at 103,000,000Z.
Mexico is rich in minerals, gold, silver, lead, iron, copper, quicksilver, tin, cobalt, antimony, sulphur, coal, petroleum, being either worked or known to exist. There are in the country (April 1, 1894) 3,167 mining enterprises, of which two-thirds belong to Mexican companies or individuals, and the rest to foreigners.
The gold and silver presented at the Mexican mints and assay offices in ten years have been in weight and value as follows : —
Years
Gold
Silver
Total value
Kilogi-.
Dollars
Kilog.
Dollars
Dollars
1SS6-87
832
548,415
601,83'.t
25,897,9S2
20,446,306
1887-88
1.112
738,599
652,828
25,570,903
20,309,561
18S8-89
1,313
874,224
669,797
26,246,729
27.120,953
1889-00
1,405
979,060
632,o:;(j
24,814,005
25.704,025
1890-01
1,610
1,089,702
632,0:i2
24,M4,782
25,004,485
1891-02
2,471
1,657,717
712,572
28,096,085
29,758.802
lsO'2-O:}
2,840
1,902,296
772,637
30,383,429
32,285,725
1S93-94
3,382
2,260,865
886,178
34,845.543
37.106,408
1894-95
3,991
2,674,278
981,222
38,934,102
41,008.470
1895-96
6,289
4,247,760
1,314,840
53,797,061
58,044,820
Up' to 1895 the official values of gold and silver were respectively !?643'529 and .§39-109 l>er kilogramme ; in the year 1895-96 they were raised to 8675 417 and ^0-915 per kilogramme.
