Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol. 2 of 2: A Historical, Geographical, Political, Statistical and Social Account of that Country from the Period of the Invasion by the Spaniards to the Present Time.Mayer, Brantz
History
Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol. 2 of 2: A Historical, Geographical, Political, Statistical and Social Account of that Country from the Period of the Invasion by the Spaniards to the Present Time.
The hacienda of Temisco, in the valley of Cuernavaca, is one of the
oldest establishments in the republic, and, within a few years, has
passed into the possession of its present owners for the sum of
$300,000. The extensive buildings, consisting of a commodious dwelling,
constructed in the old Spanish style, and a large chapel, were erected
soon after the conquest. The domain extends over eleven leagues of land
in length, and three in width. Two hundred and fifty laborers produce
yearly about fifty thousand loaves of sugar, of an average weight of 23
pounds. The annual expenses of the farming and management amount to
thirty thousand dollars, which are repaid by the molasses, syrup, and
spirits, as at Santa Iñez, while, in addition to the crop, about four
thousand cattle are raised on the premises. On all these large estates a
store is kept by the owner, at which nearly the whole amount of the
Indian laborer's wages is received back in the course of the year. The
planters, in many parts of the country, are no longer contented with the
old system of extracting and preparing sugar; but, notwithstanding the
enormous cost of transporting such large masses of heavy machinery, they
have introduced all the modern improved engines used in the United
States and the West Indies. The profits must be large that will warrant
so extravagant an expenditure. The great haciendas disburse, in wages
and other current charges, from 800 to 1,200 dollars weekly. The
establishment of a _Trapiche_, or all the works required for a sugar
estate, is so costly an enterprise, that it is not likely the
cultivation of the article will become greatly extended by the opening
of new estates in the most productive regions. Labor, as well as
engines, will be required for this purpose, and it is quite improbable
that the few indolent Indians in the neighborhood will be prevailed on
to abandon their life of laziness for the toils of a sugar plantation.
Besides this, the present production fully supplies the home market, and
although the revenues and profits are extraordinarily tempting, it is
doubtful whether the Mexicans are sufficiently enterprising in
agriculture to adventure such enormous sums as are necessarily expended
before a single cane is planted or a pound of sugar manufactured. As
long as the
[Illustration: HACIENDA.]
rate of interest is high, the roads bad, transportation costly and
unchanged, and the condition of the country unsettled, these vast and
valuable rural districts will, in all likelihood, remain untenanted and
unwrought.
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