XV 



NEW MEXICO 



The mountainous States of the West, from Montana 

 to New Mexico, from Colorado almost to the Pacific, have 

 a climate of their own, varying naturally according to 

 latitude. A resident of Las Cruces, New Mexico, writes: 

 "The first killing frost is usually to be expected from the 

 7th to the 25th of October, very often it is much later, 

 and we have had tomatoes till December with the slight- 

 est possible protection. Many flowers in a sheltered 

 position bloom in winter, such as Calendula, Violets, 

 Wallflowers, and Pansies. The highest ordinary summer 

 thermometer is ninety- two to ninety-eight degrees. The 

 lowest usually in winter is fifteen degrees occasionally it 

 has gone down to fifteen or twenty degrees below zero, 

 but that is most exceptional. The climate is extremely 

 dry. Most of New Mexico is at a high altitude we are 

 about three thousand eight hundred feet above sea-level 

 here. 



"As some plants blossom through the winter, it is 

 hard to say when the garden begins to bloom. But about 

 the middle of March we have Crocuses, followed the 1st 

 of April by Jonquils, Narcissus, Tulips, and other bulbs, 



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