GRAINS OF DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. 11 



and millet, prevail near the Caspian sea, in Georgia, &c. Wheat and 

 barley are raised in Egypt, simply by strewing the seed upon the mud 

 after the subsidence of the Nile. Occasionally it is slightly ploughed 

 in, but it is not again attended to till gathered. Further up the Nile, 

 iri Nubia, water-wheels are used to water the grain soils. 



The grains much cultivated in the United States, Rice excepted, are 

 rarely seen in China and Japan. Rice, indeed, constitutes the chief 

 grain there, though wheat, and other grains might be successfully cul- 

 tivated. The greatest attention is there paid to agriculture by the 

 government. One of their Emperors was taken from the plough and 

 placed on the throne, and most others have Been distinguished agricul- 

 turists. Rice is principally cultivated in the tropical parts of Asia. 

 In parts of India wheat is good, but it gives place to rice. In colon- 

 ized parts of Africa rice and maize are chiefly cultivated, but in these 

 last countries the arts of agriculture are comparatively wretched. la 

 North America, wheat and maize, or Indian corn, are principally cul- 

 tivated and in such quantities as to be largely exported. The highest 

 limits for the cultivation of the cereal grains, on this continent, is in 

 the southern parts of the Russian possessions, about latitude 58 J north, 

 where rye and barley are raised. On the eastern coast, however, the 

 limits are no higher than about 51. 



In the lower latitudes of Mexico wheat, rye, oats, &c. are not cul- 

 tivated lower than 2500 feet above the sea. In France every 540 feet of 

 vertical elevation is equal to a recession of one degree from the equa- 

 tor, and in the tropics 390 feet are equal to one degree North. On 

 the Cordilleras wheat cultivation does not generally commence lower 

 than 4000 feet above the sea, but in Guatemala it is raised much low- 

 er. Some of the finest harvests in South America are more than 15000 

 feet above the sea. On more level lands irrigation is necessary, which 

 produces good crops. Some Mexican farms, thus watered, are wonder- 

 fully productive, yielding often 50 or 60 measures of wheat for one 

 sown. Maize is much cultivated in Mexico and yields in some valleys 

 two hundred for one. The Indians mostly feed on this. In southern 

 temperate latitudes the productions are similar to those of the north- 

 ern. Wheat is found abundant in Chili, Buenos Ayres and Brazil. 

 In Australia it is the principal object of culture and makes beautiful 

 bread ; and further south rye and barley are raised. In New Hol- 

 land wheat is abundant. 



All these grains grow abundantly in the United States ; and, as im- 

 provements in the arts of culture increase, there can be no definable 

 limits to the amount of their production. Rice is limited to the south- 

 ern states, but all the others are cultivated in the other states. Wheat 

 and maize especially abound in the western states. 



The amount of products in the United States in 1842 may be gath- 

 ered from the following. Of wheat there was raised, 102,317.340 



