324 



MAIZE — ITS CULTIVATION. 



Rye and 

 Barley. 



CHAP. XXV. ■^^•itll fields of this important plant all the way from the 

 Grain. coast to the valley of T(,)lucca, which is upwards of 918G 



feet above the sea. Although a great quantity of other 

 grain is produced in Mexico, this must be considered as 

 the principal food of the people, as well as of most of 

 the domestic animals, and the year in which the maiiie- 

 harvest fails is one of famine and misery to the 

 inhabitants. There is no longer a doubt among botan- 

 ists that this plant is of American origin, and that the 

 Old Continent received it from the New. 



It does not thrive in P^urope where the mean temper- 

 ature is less than 44° or 46"^ ; and on the cordilleras of 

 New Spain rye and barley are seen to vegetate vigor- 

 ously where the cultivation of maize would not l)e 

 attended with success. On the other hand, the latter 

 thrives in the lowest plains of the torrid zone, where 

 wheat, barley, and rye, are not found. Hence we can- 

 not be surprised to hear that it occupies a much greater 

 extent in equinoctial America than the grains cf the Old 

 Continent. 



The fecundity of the Mexican variety is astonishing. 

 Fertile lands usually afford a return of 800 or 400 fold, 

 and in the neighljourhood of Valladolid a harvest is 

 considered defective when it yields only 130 or 150. 

 Even where the soil is most steril the produce varies 

 from sixty to eighty. The general estimate for the 

 equinoctial region of Mexico may be considered as a 

 hundred and fifty. 



Of all the gramina cultivated by man, none is so un- 

 equal as this in its produce, as it varies in the same field 

 according to the season from forty to 200 or 300 for one. 

 If the harvests are good, the agriculturist makes his 

 fortune more rapidly than with any other grain ; but 

 frightful dearths sometimes occur, when the natives are 

 obliged to feed on unripe fruit, cactus-berries, and roots. 

 Diseases ari.sc in consequence ; and these famines are 

 usually attended with a great mortality among the 

 children. Fowls, turkeys, and even cattle suffer, so that 

 the traveller can find neitlier eggs nor poultry. Scar- 



FenUity. 



Great vari.v 

 tioiis. 



