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1917 ANNUAL REPORT 



malan race produced in the highlands and carried perhaps fifty miles on 

 the backs of Indians. 



Climatic Conditions 



TTiere is probably no place where one gains a clearer idea of the dif- 

 ferent climatic requirements of the various races than in Guatemala. On the 

 coast you meet with practically nothing but the West Indian race. Occa- 

 sionally a tree of the Guatemalan race will be seen, but it does not seem 

 to be at home, and it is said that they do not fruit well. Ascending to- 

 ward the central plateau from either side, the West Indian race disappears 

 at approximately 2500 feet, and at 3000 feet or slightly higher the Guate- 

 malan commences to become common. The regions in which this race is 

 most abundant lie between 4000 and 6000 feet. Above the latter eleva- 

 tion it becomes less common, being rare at 7500 and disappearing entirely 

 between 8500 and 9000. The two trees of the Mexican race which I 

 have mentioned were growing at elevations close to 7000 feet, but there 

 is no doubt that they could be successfully cultivated much higher. 



The mere mention of these elevations, without an explanation of what 

 they indicate in terms of minimum temperature, will not mean much to 

 North Americans. It is necessary, therefore, to consider in detail the re- 

 lation between altitude and climate in Guatemala. In this republic, as in 

 Mexico and some other parts of tropical America where high mountains 

 are present, three climatic zones, dependent entirely upon elevation, are 

 generally recognized. These are the tierra caliente (as it is called in Spein- 

 ish) or hot region, extending from sea level to about 2000 feet; the tierra 

 templada or temperate region, comprising the territory between 2000 and 

 6500 feet; and the tierra fria or cold region, which extends from 6500 

 feet to the upper limit of cultivation, — in Guatemala about 1 0,000 feet. 



It has seemed to me that this division of all the territory between sea 

 level and 1 0,000 feet into three climatic zones, — at best an artificial ar- 

 rangement, since each zone merges imperceptibly into the next, — would be 

 more useful to horticulturists if based upon the presence of certain well 

 known plants whose climatic requirements, in regard to tolerance of cold, 

 are well known. This is, in fact, practically the only means by which we 

 can form a reasonably accurate idea of these zones, since climatological 

 data are lacking, and there would otherwise be no way of determining, 

 even approximately, the minimum temperatures of any particular region. 

 Many of the well known tropical fruits, such as the mango, the tamarind, 

 and the sapodilla, have been planted in California and Florida, and we 

 have a fairly accurate idea of the minimum temperatures to which they can 

 be subjected without injury. By citing the behavior of some of these fruits 

 at various elevations in Guatemala we can perhaps obtain an idea of the 

 temperatures in the different climatic zones. In discussing these zones, 

 however, I am going to term them tropical, subtropical and temperate, in 

 place of hot, temperate, and cold, as indicating more accurately their horti- 

 cultural character. In the tropical zone, grow only those fruits which horti- 

 culturists term strictl}) tropical; in the subtropical zone, such fruits as the 

 loquat and cherimoya are found; in the temperate zone, the fig thrives 

 and even the temperate fruits are fairly successful. 



The tropical zone is characterised by the breadfruit tree (Artocarpus 

 incisa), the custard apple (Annona reticulata), the sour-sop (Annona 



