wheat yield annually 5280 millions of pounds, which amounts to 1173 kilogrammes per hectare*. This is also the mean produce in the north of Germany, Poland, and, according to M. Rühs, in Sweden. They reckon in France in some remarkably fertile districts of the depart. ments of l'Escaut and le Nord 15 for 1; in the good land of Picardy and the isle of France from 8 to 10 for 1; and in the lands of less fertility from 4 to 5 for onet.

8 to 10 grains for 1 in Hungary, Croatia, and Sclavonia, according to the researches of M, Swartner.

12 grains for one in the Reyno de la Plata, especially in the environs of Montevideo, according to Don Felix Azara. Near the city of Buenos Ayres they reckon even 16. In Paraguay the cultivation of cerealia does not extend farther north than the parallel of 24°‡. 17 grains for 1 in the northern part of Mexico, and at the same distance from the equator as Paraguay and Buenos Ayres,

24 grains for one in the equinoxial region of Mexico, at two or three thousand metres of elevation above the level of the ocean. They

*2588lb. avoird. p. 107,639 square feet. An arpent is rather more than a demi-hectare. Trans.

+ Peuchet statistique, p. 290. Voyage d'Azara, t. I. p. 140.

reckon 5000 kilogrammes per hectare*. In the province of Pasto of the kingdom of Santa Fe, through which I travelled in the month of November, 1801, the plains of la Vega de San Lorenzo, Pansitara, and Almaguer†, commonly produce 25, in very fertile years 35, and in cold and dry years 12 for 1. In Peru, in the beautiful plain of Caxamarca ‡, watered by the rivers Mascon and Utesco, and celebrated from the defeat of the Inca Atahualpa, wheat yields from 18 to 20 for 1.

The Mexican flour enters into competition at the Havanah market with that of the United States. When the road which is constructing from the table-land of Perote to Vera Cruz shall be completely finished, the grain of New Spain will be exported for Bordeaux, Hamburg, and Bremen. The Mexicans will then possess a double advantage over the inhabitants of the United States, that of a greater fertility of territory, and that of a lower price of labour. It would be very interesting in this point of view could we compare here the mean produce of the different provinces of the American confederation 'with the results which we have obtained for

11,035lb. avoird. p. 107,639 square feet. Trans. + Lat. 1o 54' north. Absolute height 2300 metres (7545 feet).

Lat. 7° 8' north. Absolute height 2860 metres (9382 feet),

Mexico. But the fertility of the soil and the industry of the inhabitants vary so much in different provinces, that it becomes difficult to find the mean term which corresponds to the total harvest. What a difference between the excellent cultivation of the environs of Lancaster and several parts of New England and that of North Carolina! "An English farmer," says the immortal Washington in one of his letters to Arthur Young, "ought to have a horrid idea of the state of our agriculture, or the nature of our soil, when he is informed that an acre with us only produces eight or ten bushels. But it must be kept in mind that in all countries where land is cheap and labour dear, men are fonder of cultivating much than cultivating well. Much ground has been scratched over, and none cultivated as it ought to have been*." According to the recent researches of M. Blodget, which may be regarded as sufficiently exact, we find the following results:

*This interesting letter was published in the Statistical Manual for the United States, 1806, p. 96. An acre contains 5368 square metres. A bushel of wheat weighs 30 kilogrammes. Author.

The square of a metre is 10.76397 feet, consequently 5368 square metres = 57780 square feet; but an acre contains only 43560 square feet. Trans.

We see from these data, that in the Mexican intendancies of Puebla and Guanaxuato, where on the ridge of the Cordillera the climate of Rome and Naples prevails, the territory is more rich and productive than the most fertile parts of the United States†.

As since the death of General Washington the progress of agriculture has been very considerable in the western territory, especially in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Louisiana, I believe we may consider from 13 to 14 bushels as the mean term of the annual produce, which, however, only amounts to 700 kilogrammes per hectare,

According to the proportion laid down by the author in the preceding note for converting bushels into kilogrammes, which is 1:30, and taking the acre at 43,560 square feet, and the hectare at 107,639 square feet, we shall find the numbers in this column 2372, 667, 2965, and 1853 kilogrammes. Trans.

+ The comparative fertility, taking the highest of the American produce, is 5000: 2965. Trans.

13 bushels amount to 963 and 14 to 1037 kilogrammes. Mean 1000. Trans.