6 BULLETIN "743, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



by one factory in Antigua for the manufacture of potato mashers, 

 rolling pins, and similar articles. It burns rapidly and gives off 

 little heat; consequently it is not even esteemed as firewood, though 

 it is commonly so used by the Indians. 



CLIMATIC ZONES OF GUATEMALA. 



In Guatemala, as in Mexico and some other parts of tropical 

 America, three climatic zones are generally recognized. These are 

 the tierra caliente (hot region) , extending from sea level to an alti- 

 tude of about 2,000 feet; the tierra templada (temperate region), 

 comprising the territory between 2,000 and 6,500 feet; and the 

 tierra fria (cold region), which extends from 6,500 feet to the upper 

 limit of cultivation, about 10.000 feet. 



It is not to be inferred that the temperate region has a climate 

 similar to that of the Temperate Zone proper, but only that it is 

 cooler than the lowlands of the hot region. The cold region, in 

 turn, is not necessarily visited by snowstorms in winter, but is 

 merely cooler than the temperate region, owing to its greater ele- 

 vation. The lower and upper limits of each zone are exceedingly 

 indefinite and are variously fixed by different writers. 1 



For the study of a particular horticultural product, such as the 

 avocado, a clearer idea of conditions can perhaps be obtained if the 

 climatic zones are based upon the presence of certain fruit trees 

 whose requirements with regard to temperature are fairly well 

 known to residents of the warmer portions of the United States. 

 Working from this angle, it seems more appropriate to term the 

 three zones tropical, subtropical, and semitropical, thus indicating 

 more accurately the character of their climates viewed from a hor- 

 ticultural standpoint. However, it is impossible to fix definitely the 

 limits of each zone, since the characteristic trees will be found 

 occasionally in sheltered situations considerably above the ordinary 

 limits of the zone, just as some of the tropical fruit trees which can 

 not be grown in ordinary situations in California or Florida occa- 

 sionally succeed in a protected spot. The limits must be fixed at 

 the altitude where under ordinary conditions the characteristic 

 trees commonly cease to be grown. With this understanding, the 

 three zones of climate, or more properly of temperature, since rain- 



1 Pittier's classification of the climatic zones, based upon the distribution of vegetation 

 with relation to temperature, though applying primarily to Costa Rica, doubtless will 

 hold good in Guatemala as well. It seems one of the most accurate of these classifica- 

 tions, though, as explained by Pittier himself, it is artificial, the .transition from one 

 zone to another being quite unnotieeable. It is given here for comparison with the 

 classification based upon the presence of characteristic fruit trees which is followed in 

 this bulletin: Lower zone, from sea level to 3,300 feet (approximately), mean tempera- 

 ture 82° to 70° F. ; intermediate zone, from 3,300 to 8,500 feet, mean temperature 70° 

 to 57° F. ; upper zone, from 8,500 feet to the highest summits, mean temperature 59° to 

 41° F. — (From " Plantas Usualos de Costa Rica.") 



