CULTIVATED IN NEW-SPAIN. 331 



« have not men preserved everywhere the names of 

 those who, in place of ravaging the earth, have en- 

 riched it with plants useful to the human race V 



The temperate region appears most favourable to 

 the cultivation of the cerealia, or nutritive grasses 

 known to the ancients, namely, wheat, spelt, barley, 

 oats, and rye. In the equinoctial part of Mexico 

 they are nowhere grown in plains of which the 

 elevation is under '2625 feet ; and on the declivity 

 of the Cordilleras between Vera Cruz and Acapulco 

 they commence at the height of 3937. At Xalapa 

 wheat is raised solely for the straw ; for there it 

 never produces seed, although in Guatimala grain 

 ripens at smaller elevations. 



Were the soil of New-vSpain watered by more fre- 

 quent showers, it would be one of the most fertile 

 portions of the globe. In the equinoctial districts 

 of that country there are only two seasons, — the 

 wet, from June or July to September or October, 

 and the dry, which lasts eight months. The rains, 

 accompanied with electrical explosions, commence 

 on the eastern coast, and proceed westward, so that 

 they begin fifteen or twenty days sooner at Vera 

 Cruz than on the central plains. Sometimes they 

 are seen, mixed with sleet and snow, in the elevated 

 parts during November, December, and January, but 

 they last only a few days. It is seldom that the in- 

 habitants have to complain of humidity, and the ex- 

 cessive drought which prevails from June to Sep- 

 tember compels them in many parts to have recourse 

 to artificial irrigation. In places not watered in this 

 manner, the soil yields pasturage only till March or 

 April, after v/hich the south wind destroys the grass. 

 This change is more felt when the preceding year 

 has been unusually dry, and the wheat suflTers greatly 

 in May. The rains of June, however, revive the 

 vegetation, and the fields immediately resume their 

 verdure. 



In lands carefully cultivated the produce is sur- 



