Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 November 1894 — PRICES IN MEXICO. [ARTICLE]

PRICES IN MEXICO.

Oost of Canned Good’*. Provision* and Other Amerleai Product*All vegetables are sold in Mexico by weight In the capital they are expensive. Potatoes small ones at that, cost on an average a cent each. All the large ones in the country—and they are astonishingly few—are sold, while the small ones are planted. Any farmer can guess the result. Whimsical feuses oftentimes produce unlooked-for results, and boiled potatoes are rarely served in a'Mexican hotel. Although the Gulf of Mexico is pnly 250 miles away, and connected with the capital by a line of railway, running daily trams, flsh in the latter place are scarce and high. What can be secured—generally red snap per—sell from 35 to 40 cents per pound. Compared to Jfew York, it nosts about double to keep house In Mexico City. Canned goods taste sweeter where they are scarcer, but no man on a limited salary can afford canned goods on his table in Mexico. A two-pound can of American corned beef sells for'TS cents, while a threepound can of tongue brings $1.50. Canned corn and tomatoes retail at 40 and 50 cents. American cheese sells for 37$ cents per pound. A. twopound glass cylinder of preserves sells for $1.75, while soda wafers sell for 65 cents per pound. American ham and bacon sells for 50 and 40 cents per pound, respectively. Michigan apples retail at 12$ cents each and a bottle of Milwaukee beer sells for 62$ cents. Most of the bread consumed in Mexico is made by large bakeries which turn out millions of small loaves daily. In spite of the above prices there Is a large and steadily increasing demand in Mexico for American groceries. The departments in our principal wholesale groceries devoted to export exemplify this. The Mexican trade is a valuable one and for which the American manufacturer should work. One very essential requisite in filling export orders is careful packing. A strict adherence to Instructions, however whimsical they may appear, are also necessary, for the Mexican cus toms tariff is “fearfully and wonderfully made,” and the slightest blunder on the part of the shipper subjects him to a fine in some cases exceeding the cost of the shipment.— P. Philip Terry, in Michigan Tradesman.