f the fertility
of the soil, an able writer upon the subject tells us, among other
statistical facts, that while wheat cultivated in France and some other
countries averages but six grains for one planted, Mexican soil gives an
average product of twenty-two times the amount of seed which is sown.
Humboldt was surprised at this when it was reported to him, and took
pains to verify the fact, finding the statement to be absolutely
correct. Being situated partly in the tropics and partly in the
temperate zone, its vegetable products partake of both regions, and are
varied in the extreme. In the hot lands are dense forests of rosewood,
mahogany, and ebony, together with dyewoods of great commercial value,
while in the temperate and cooler districts the oak and pine are
reasonably abundant. It must be admitted, however, that those districts
situated near populous neighborhoods have been nearly denuded of their
growth during centuries of waste and destruction by the conquering
Spaniards. From this scarcity of commercial wood arises the absence of
framed houses, and the universal use of stone and clay, or adobe, for
building purposes. There is valuable wood enough in certain districts,
which is still being wasted. The sleepers of the Monterey and Mexican
Gulf railway are nearly all of ebony. Attention having been called to
the fact, orders have been issued to save this wood for shipment to our
Northern furniture manufacturers. Iron ties and sleepers are being
substituted on the trunk lines of the railways as fast as the wooden
ones decay, being found so much more durable. Those used on the Vera
Cruz line are imported from England; on the Mexican Central, from the
United States. There is a low, scrubby growth of wood on the table-lands
and mountain sides, which is converted by the peons into charcoal and
transported on the backs of the burros (jackasses) long distances for
economical use in the cities and villages. All the delicious fruits of
the West Indies are abundantly produced in the southern section, and all
the substantial favorites of our Northern and Western States thrive
luxuriantly in her middle and northern divisions. Some of the cultivated
berries are remarkably developed; the strawberry, for instance, thrives
beyond all precedent in central Mexico, and while larger, it is no less
delicately flavored than our own choice varieties. The flora throughout
Mexico is exceedingly rich and varied, botanists having recognized