ination.[1] Its introduction, as with the cotton plant is credited to the Toltecs as far back as the seventh century. During the days of the Aztec empire the people according to Prescott " were wont to cultivate it in the openings of the primeval forests or in the strips of the fertile glades." In 1888, 131,000,000 bushels of corn were harvested in Mexico. As porridge is to the Scotchman, pork and beans to the American, macaroni to the Italian, and caviare to the Russian, so is the tortilla the Mexican equivalent. With its three zones of varying temperature, the propagation of cereals can be as profitably undertaken in Mexico as can the cultivation of tropical fruits. Fully appreciating the possibilities that lay concealed in wheat, three crops of which could be raised in two years, and of which 11,000,000 bushels were raised in 1888—the state of Sonora offered a bonus to anyone exporting the grain from that district to Liverpool. In addition to the profits derivable from the more staple products, bananas, sarsaparilla, lemons, nuts, guavas, pineapples, tamarinds, citrons, dates, indigo, plantains and arrowroot, rice, coffee and sugar were raised in large quantities in the tierra caliente region, while beans and barley were harvested in big crops in the tierra templada. As for tobacco, [2] it is indigenous to the country and insists upon growing, the leaf raised at Vera Cruz rivaling that of Cuba. A growing trade was carried on in cochineal, and the introduction of bee culture resulted in the exportation of 50,000 pounds of honey to the United States. The consumption of pulque at this time was something enormous,
