382 CEREAL PLANTS 
known to the ancients, namely, wheat, spelt, barley, 
oats, and rye. In the equinoctial part of Mexico 
they are nowhere grown in plains of which the 
elevation is under 2625 feet ; and on the 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 fre- 
quent showers, it would be one of the most fertile por- 
tions 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 westward, so that they begin fif- 
teen or twenty days sooner at Vera Cruz than on 
the central plains. Sometimes they are seen, mixed 
with sleet and snow, in the elevated parts during No- 
vember, December, and January, 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 J une to September compels them 
in many parts to have recourse to artificial irriga- 
tion. In places not watered in this manner, the soil 
yields pasturage only till March or April, after which 
the south wind destroys the grass. This change 
is more felt when the preceding year has been un- 
usually dry, and the wheat suffers greatly in May. 
The rains of June, however, revive the vegetation, 
and the fields immediately resume their verdure. 
In lands carefully cultivated the produce is sur- 
prising, especially in those which are watered. In the 
most fertile part of the table-land between Quere- 
