1846.] Mineral and Agricultural Resources of JVew York. 183 



counties in general. The soil of Rensselaer, Dutchess and West- 

 chester appears as well adapted to corn as any of the central and 

 western counties. Flax also grows well in the poorest parts of 

 Rensselaer county. In Livingston, and perhaps some other w'heat 

 growing counties, potatoes require to be changed frequently in 

 order to preserve a tolerable quality for the table. The hilly 

 and mountainous counties produce those of an excellent kind for 

 a series of years, and where corn is an uncertain crop, oats and 

 peas become excellent substitutes, especially for fattening swine. 



In view of the foregoing results, it may be interesting to some 

 of our readers to see an additional statement of the yield of the 

 cereals in South America and some of the European countries. 



It is in the temperate zones that wheat and the other nutritive 

 grasses find a region favorable to their cultivation. In the equi- 

 noctial parts of Mexico they are never cultivated below the height 

 of thirty-nine hundred feet. At Xalapa wheat is raised solely for 

 its straw; at elevations a little higher, the cereals begin to be 

 cultivated, and upon the table-land between Queretaro and Leon, 

 the wheat yields in the proportion of 35 or 40 to one. Hum- 

 boldt states that at Cholula, the common return is from 30 to 40, 

 frequently exceeds 70 or 80 to one. But the produce of the 

 whole country is stated at 20 or 25 to one. The Mexican wheat 

 is of the best quality, and enters into competition at Havana, with 

 that from the states. The Mexican wheat however, cannot be 

 preserved from decay, longer than tw^o or three years. 



The following is a general statement of the yield of the differ- 

 ent countries according to the best authorities. 



In France the yield of wheat is 6 to 1; in Hungary, Croatia, 

 and Sclavonia, from 8 to 10 to 1; in La Plata 12, and in the 

 northern parts of Mexico 17; in the province of Pasto in Santa 

 Fe, 25 to 1 ; in the province of Casamarca in Peru, 18 to 20 

 grains to 1. The cultivation of corn or maize is very extensive 

 in South America. It is cultivated from the coast to the valley 

 of Tolucca, which is 9,186 feet above the sea. Maize may be 

 regarded as the principal food of the Mexicans, as well as that of 

 all domestic animals. The fecundity of the Mexican corn is very 



