require the permanent attendance of more than twenty men to weed and water.[1]
The young plants, however, are delicate, and must be protected from the sun for two whole years, for which purpose a large piece of ground, called the Sĕmĭllērŏ, is covered in, and thickly planted with young shoots; the third year these will bear transplantation to the open field, and the fourth they may be reckoned in full vigour; they last from twenty-five to thirty years. From the attention which is now paid to coffee plantations throughout Mexico, it is probable that coffee will soon be added to the list of her exportations, in which case the European market will, undoubtedly, draw from New Spain a very considerable addition to the supply now derived from the West Indian Archipelago; for, although the islands have the advantage of being already in possession of the market, Mexico has that of attracting annually to her shores a vast number of European vessels, to all of which a return cargo is an object of no little importance. The slope of the Eastern Cordillera is well calculated to supply this, by its vicinity to the coast as are the Peninsula of Yŭcătān, (in which a few small coffee plantations already exist,) and the State of Tăbāscŏ, where coffee,
- ↑ Ten regadores (waterers) and ten escardadores (weeders) are the allowance for a plantation; but in addition to these, from fifty to sixty men must be employed in collecting the crop, and as many more in cleaning and pruning the trees afterwards, (la poda;) but these operations do not last above three months.
