332 WHEAT RYE OATS. 



prising, especially in those which are watered. In 

 the most fertile part of the table-land between 

 Queretaro and Leon, the wheat harvest is 35 and 40 

 for 1 ; and several farms can even reckon on 50 or 

 60 for 1. At Cholulo the common return is from 

 30 to 40, but it frequently exceeds from 70 to 80 

 for 1. In the valley of Mexico maize yields 200, and 

 wheat 18 or 20. The mean produce of the whole 

 country may be stated at 20 or 25 for 1. M. Abad, 

 a canon of the metropolitan church of Valladolid 

 de Mechoacan, took at random from a field of wheat 

 forty plants, when he found that each seed had pro- 

 duced forty, sixty, and even seventy stalks. The 

 number of grains which the ears contained frequently 

 exceeded 100 or 120, and the average amount ap- 

 peared to be 90. Some even exhibited 160. A few 

 of the elevated tracts, however, are covered with a 

 kind of clay impenetrable by the roots of herbaceous 

 plants, and others are arid and naked, in which the 

 cactus and other prickly shrubs alone vegetate. 



The following table exhibits the mean produce 

 of the cereal Dlants in different countries of both 

 continents : 



In France, from 5 to 6 grains for 1. 



In Hungary, Croatia, and Sclavonia, from 8 to 10 grains. 



In La Plata, 12 grains. 



In the northern part of Mexico, 17 grains. 



In equinoctial Mexico, 24 grains. 



In the province of Pasto in Santa Fe, 25 grains. 



In the plain of Caxamarca in Peru, 18 to 20 grains. 



The Mexican wheat is of the very best quality, 

 and equals the finest Andalusian. At Havana it 

 enters into competition with that of the United 

 States, which is considered inferior to it ; and when 

 greater facilities are afforded for exportation it will 

 become of the highest importance to Europe. In 

 Mexico grain can hardly be preserved longer than 

 two or three years ; but the causes of this decay 

 have not been sufficiently investigated. 



