326 



CEREAL PLANTS. 



Cereal 

 plants. 



Scarcity of 

 muiiiture. 



CHAP. XXV. the ancients, namely, wheat, spelt, barley, oats, and rye. 

 In the equinoctial part of Mexico they are nowhere 

 •^rown in plains of which the elevation is under 2625 

 feet; and on tlie declivity of the cordilleras between 

 Vera Cruz and Acapulco they commence at the height 

 of 3937. At Xalapa wheat is raised solely for the 

 straw ; for there it never produces seed, although in 

 Guatimala grain ripens at smaller elevations. 



Were the soil of New Spain watered by more frequent 

 showers, it would be one of the most fertile portions of 

 the globe. In the equinoctial districts of that country 

 there are only two seasons, — the wet, from June or 

 July to September or October, and the dry, which lasts 

 eight months. The rains, accompanied with electrical 

 explosions, commence on the eastern coast, and proceed 

 Avestward, so that they begin fifteen or twenty days 

 sooner at Vera Cruz than on the central plains. Some- 

 times they are seen, mixed with sleet and snow, in the 

 elevated parts during November, December, and Jan- 

 uary, but they last only a few days. It is seldom that 

 the inhabitants have to complain of humidity, and the 

 excessive drought which prevails from June to Septem- 

 ber compels them in many parts to liave recourse to 

 artificial irrigation. In places not watered in this 

 manner, the soil yields pasturage only till March or 

 April, after which the south wind destroys the grass. 

 Tiiis cliange is more felt wlien the preceding year has 

 been unusually dry, and the wheat suffers greatly in 

 May. The rains of June, however, revive the vegeta- 

 tion, and the fields immediately resume their verdure. 



In lands carefully cultivated the produce is surprising, 

 cspecmlly in those which are watered. In the most 

 fertile part of the table-land between Q,ueretaro and 

 Leon, the wheat-harvest is 35 and 40 for 1 ; and several 

 farms can even reckon on 60 or GO for 1. At Cho- 

 lulo the common return is from 30 to 40, but it fre- 

 quently exceeds from 70 to 80 for 1. In the valley of 

 Mexico maize yields 200, and wheat 18 or 20. The 

 mean produce of the whole country may be stated at 20 



Excessive 

 droughts. 



Great pro- 

 <luctivencs.s. 



