ISTHMUS OF TEHUANTEPEC 
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must have a deep, rich soil, and well drained withal. It is a deciduous 
tree, which means that at a certain time each year it encourages the 
presence of the sun’s rays on its trunk and limbs. The prospective 
planter should, therefore, pick out land that is covered with a growth 
of soft, rather than hard wood trees, as the latter points to a gravelly 
soil instead of clayey loam. It should be rolling land, or at least land 
that is naturally well drained. It should be soil that will give the tree 
plenty of moisture during the dry season and yet that will not be soggy 
during the wet season. For a running rule, there should be at least 
four feet of drainage soil. In the clearing of the land, if there are not 
natural windbreaks, a certain amount of forest should be left standing 
to act as such. Referring again to the long taproot of the Castilloa, 
HOTEL PALO MARES, MANITITLAN. 
[Copyrighted Photo by C. B. Waite, Mexico] 
it is said that as the tree grows older it often disappears, its place being 
taken by large laterals. 
I struck the Tierra Calient c just at the beginning of the dry season, 
and therefore was curious to know exactly what constitutes the rainy 
and dry seasons in the tropics. Of course, no general answer could 
be given, as in different tropical regions these seasons have their own 
idiosyncrasies. I believe I had but little idea of what the weather was 
in the rainy season, whether it rained all the time, or was partly rainy 
and partly clear, and this is what I learned: In the state of Vera Cruz, 
the dry season runs roughly from February to June. During the latter 
part of May there are about three weeks of genuine hot, dry weather. 
