haciendas or large farmhouses, built of adobe and stone, are
seen; but isolated dwellings are not common. On these estates there is
usually less farming or raising of cereals carried on than there is of
stock raising, which seems to pay better. Large droves of cattle are
seen grazing, sheep, burros, and mules roam at large, and all seem to be
getting food from most unpromising land, such as produces in its normal
condition cactus only. It is the true climate and soil for this species
of vegetation, of which there are hundreds of varieties, flat, ribbed,
and cylindrical. No matter how dry and arid the region, the cacti
thrive, and are themselves full of moisture. Even these haciendas,
rectangular structures forming the headquarters of large landed estates,
are semi-fortifications, capable of a stout defense against roving
banditti, who have long been the dread and curse of the country and are
not yet obliterated. These structures are sometimes surrounded by a
moat, the angles being protected by turrets pierced for musketry. As in
continental Spain, the population live mostly in villages for mutual
protection, being compelled to walk long distances to work in the fields
at seed time and harvest. The owners of the large haciendas, we were
told, seldom live upon them. Like the landlords of Ireland, they are a
body of absentees, mostly wealthy men who make their homes with their
families in the city of Mexico, some even living in Europe, entrusting
the management of their large estates to well-paid superintendents.
There are not a few Americans thus employed by Mexican owners, who are
prompt to recognize good executive ability in such a position, and value
their estates only for the amount of income they can realize from them.
A hacienda ten or fifteen miles square is not considered extraordinary
as to size, and there are many twice as large. The proprietorship of
these haciendas dates back to the old Spanish times when Mexico was
under the viceroys. Little can be hoped for as to improvement in the
condition of the poor peons of the country, until these immense estates
are broken up and divided into small available farms, which may be owned
and operated by them for their sole benefit. No lesson is more clearly
or forcibly taught us by the light of experience than that the ownership
of the soil by its cultivator is the only way to insure successful and
profitable agriculture. There is nothing to induce emigration to Mexico
now.