ABSTRACT
Clear evidence that irrigation could, under favorable circumstances, multiply the value of benefited land is provided by eighteenth century appraisals that separately valued irrigated and unirrigated agricultural land on the same haciendas. In the region of Celaya, the best comparison is afforded by several evaluations in 1739 of haciendas of comparable land, one lying within the irrigation system and the other some lying just outside. The irrigated hacienda was valued at 2,400 pesos per caballeria, and the unirrigated haciendas were valued at 300 pesos per caballeria. A first irrigation in November appears to have been a more common practice than Humboldt suggests. In the north of Mexico, wheat was irrigated as many as eight times, and furrow irrigation was practiced. The use of irrigation for maize production, though much less important than for wheat, was not uncommon in the colonial Bajio. The Indian pueblos and barrios of the Bajio valued irrigation for somewhat different reasons than the Spanish haciendas.
