14 



IISrSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 1 2 



the village is the center, 2,000 alqueires (about 

 12,000 acres) were "very good," 800 "good," 500 

 "average," 467 "poor," none "very poor," and none 

 "improper for agriculture."' Although the cate- 

 gories employed in these estimates are obviously 

 subjective and relative, they do perhaps give some 

 indication of the value for agricultural purposes 

 of the land in this community as a technician 

 thinks of it in comparison with the land in other 

 parts of the region. 



CLIMATE AND SEASONS 



The climate is that of a subtropical region at 

 about 2,500 feet altitude : ordinarily healthy and 

 agreeable with a minimum of both heat and cold. 

 During the last 23 years, or the period for which 

 complete data are available,^^ the rainfall has 

 averaged 57.8 inches a year. The heaviest precipi- 

 tation during this period was in 1931, when 81.4 

 inches fell ; the lightest in 1944, when 36.4 inches 

 fell. These data are presented in table 1. 



Table 1. — Rainfall, by years, Cruz das Almas community, 

 1926-4S ' 



» Source : A priyate agency. See footnote 31, below. 



There are two seasons most often referred to 

 by the inhabitants, the rainy and the dry. The 

 local terms are te?npo das aguas ("the time of the 

 rains") and temfo da seca ("the time of the 

 drought"). The months covered by these seasons 

 naturally vary somewhat from year to year. In 

 general, however, the rainy season begins in De- 

 cember and extends through March; the dry 

 season begins in April, becomes most acute in 

 July, and usually continues through August. In 



=' Data on rainfall and temperature which are available at 

 the Governmeut station in the nearby seat of the municijtio 

 cover only a few recent years. The data presented here were 

 furnished by a private agency which maintains its own station 

 even nearer the village (only about 5 miles away). This agency 

 prefers to remain anonymous. The readings are standard, how- 

 ever, and have a high degree of accuracy. 



the intervening months of September to Novem- 

 ber, inclusive, rainfall usually is not heavy but 

 increases as the weeks pass. These data are indi- 

 cated in table 2. 



Table 2. — Maximum, minimum, and average rainfall by 

 months, Cruz das Almas community, 19S6-48 ^ 



Month 



January... 

 February.. 



March 



April 



May 



June 



July 



August 



September 

 October. .- 

 November. 

 December. 



Maximum rainfall 



Inches 



30.4 

 12.9 

 15.9 

 7.0 

 8.4 

 7.9 

 4.8 

 6.9 

 11.7 

 12.7 

 14.8 

 20.1 



Year in 



which 



occurred 



1929 

 1927 

 1931 

 1937 

 1929 

 1945 

 1926 

 1927 

 1935 

 1935 

 1939 

 1932 



Minimum rainfall 



Inches 



3.6 

 .5 



1.2 

 .3 

 .1 

 .0 

 .0 

 .0 

 .4 

 .9 



2.6 



3.3 



Year in 



which 



occurred 



1939 

 1926 

 19.30 

 1933 

 1934. 1943 

 1936 

 1937 

 1944 

 1944 

 1939 

 1926 

 1937 



Aver- 

 age (in 

 inches) 



9.7 

 8.1 

 6.6 

 2.6 

 1.9 

 1.9 

 1.6 

 1.8 

 3.6 

 5.0 

 6.2 

 9.7 



' Source : A private agency. See footnote 31, below. 



The rainy and the dry seasons are to some ex- 

 tent also defined by temperature variations. In- 

 habitants speak of the tempo do color ("the time 

 of the heat") and the tempo do frio ("the time of 

 the cold"). The warm season corresponds 

 roughly to the i-ainy season and the cold season 

 to the dry season. This correspondence, however, 

 is only approximate. The average daily tempera- 

 ture begins to increase in August and September 

 and reaches a maximum in January and Febru- 

 ary, following which it declines. The decrease is 

 quite gradual until May when it becomes more 

 ajjpreciable and in July the average temperature 

 reaches its lowest point for the year. These data 

 are indicated in table 3. 



The "dry" season, however, is not completely 

 without rain. In fact, the average precipitation 

 for the 5 months of this season, during the 23 

 years for which data are available, was 9.6 inches 

 each year. The rainfall for the 4 principal months 



