1846.] Jigriculture of Different Countries. 285 



ridges and wide plains, every where watered by rivers and small 

 streams. The hills are covered with vineyards, and the valleys 

 display the most luxuriant vegetation. The southern part looks 

 like a garden in perpetual bloom. In external beauties few coun- 

 tries in the world equal Spain. 



Climate. — This country lies in the southern part of the tempe- 

 rate zone. The cold is never excessive, even in the northern 

 parts. In the south the heats of summer w^ould be intolerable 

 but for the sea breeze, which begins to blow at nine in the morn- 

 ing and continues until five in the afternoon. The interior is so 

 elevated as to be much cooler than might be expected from the 

 latitude. The two bastiles form a raised plain nearly 2,000 feet 

 in height. The sky of Andalusia is pure azure and gold ; the inhabi- 

 tants of Seville affirm that a day was never known when the sun 

 did not shine upon their city. Two kinds of winds are some- 

 times unpleasant in Spain. The Gallego from the northwest is 

 piercing and cold; the Solano, a southwest wind from Africa, is 

 so hot as to relax the human system and produce giddiness and 

 inflammation. 



Soil. — The greater part of the country is fertile, and covered 

 with a luxuriant vegetation. The fruits and plants offer a greater 

 variety than is afforded by any other region of the same extent. 

 The land is every where favorable to the cultivation of the vine. 

 The greater part of Spain may be regarded as naturally the most 

 fruitful country of Europe, but there are extensive wastes in the 

 interior, 



Jigriculture. — The greater part of the land of Spain belongs 

 to the nobility, the church, the towns, or corporate bodies. The 

 state of agriculture is wretched, and the implements of husbandry 

 are very rude; hardly two-thirds of the productive soil is under 

 cultivation. Hemp and corn are raised in almost all the pro- 

 vinces; olives and the sugar cane are cultivated in the southern 

 parts, and in this quarter may be seen large fields of safl^ron, rice 

 and cotton. Every part of the country yields wine. The raising 

 of sheep is an important branch of industry, and the wool is dis- 



