CULTIVATED IN NEW SPAIN. 327 



or 25 for 1. M. Abad, a canon of the metropolitan cuap.^cxv 

 church of Valladolid de Mechoacan, took at random j^earrDnj- 

 from a field of wheat forty plants, when he found that duce. 

 each seed had produced forty, sixty, and even seventy 

 8talks. The number of grains which the ears contained 

 frequently exceeded 100 or 120, and the average amount 

 appeared to be 90. Some even exhibited 160. A few 

 of the elevated tracts, however, are covered with a kind 

 of clay impenetrable by the roots of herbaceous plants, 

 and others are arid and naked, in, which the cactus and 

 other prickly shrubs alone vegetate. 



The following table exhibits the mean produce of the Comparative 

 cereal plants in different countries of both continents : — ' 



In France, from 5 to 6 grains for 1. 



In Hungary, Croatia, and Sclavonia, from 8 to 10 grains. 



In La Plata, 12 grains. 



In the northern part of Mexico, 17 grains. 



In equinoctial Mexico, 24 grains. 



In the province of Pasto in Santa Fe, 25 grains. 



In the plain of Caxamarca in Peru, 18 to 20 grains. 



The Mexican wheat is of the very best quality, and Quality of 

 equals the finest Andalusian. At Havannah it enters into ^*^^^'- 

 competition with that of the United States, which is 

 considered inferior to it ; and when greater facilities are 

 afforded for exportation it will l)ecome of the highest 

 importance to Europe. In Mexico grain can hardly be 

 preserved longer than two or three years ; but the causes 

 of this decay have not been sufficiently investigated. 



Rye and barley, which resist cold better than wheat. Rye and 

 are cultivated on the highest regions, but only to a small '"^ ®^' 

 extent. Oats do not answer well in New Spain, and are 

 very seldom seen even in the mother-country, where the 

 horses are fed on barley. 



The potato appeal's to have been introduced into Potatoes 

 Mexico nearly at the same period as the cereal grasses 

 of the Old Continent. It is certain that it was not known 

 there before the arrival of the Spaniards, at,which epoch 

 it was in use in Chili, Peru, Quito, and New Grenada. 

 It is supposed by botanists that it grows spontaneously 

 in the mountainous regions ; but our author asserts that 



