erable planting has taken place of recent
years. Some thirty or more companies are engaged in this industry, and
some millions of trees have been planted, and whilst success has
crowned their efforts in many cases, and the industry seems a safe one
under proper conditions, it must be regarded as yet in a preliminary
stage. Moreover, the industry's reputation has had to contend against
frauds which have been perpetrated upon the investing public of America
and Great Britain. The _guayule_ shrub is now a further source of
Mexican rubber. It is a wild shrub occupying the area of the northern
plains, and was unconsidered until recently, but now a thriving
industry has been established through the discovery of its
rubber-bearing property by a German chemist. In this connection I may
say that I sent a sample of the _guayule_ to London from Mexico ten
years ago, believing it to be of value, but my friends failed to
investigate it and so lost a fortune. It is doubtful if Mexico will
ever compete with the Amazonian basin of Peru and Brazil as a
rubber-producing country. The output for 1905, not including _guayule_,
was valued at 44,300 pounds sterling. It came principally from Vera
Cruz and Tabasco.

Other main articles of Mexican produce are given in the following
_resume_, which serves to show the extent of the country's agricultural
resources, in their variety and order of value.

_Resume_ OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE: LAST AVAILABLE RETURNS.[35]
(Fractions omitted).

ARTICLE. VALUE POUNDS STERLING.
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
Pota