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46 to counteract the effects of the drought. Irrigation is, therefore, the great object of the Mexican farmer, and to attain it immense sums are expended on the principal estates, in the construction of ăcēqŭiăs (canals of irrigation), prēsăs (dams, or reservoirs), and norias (water wheels, roues à godet), by the aid of which a sort of balance is established between the dry and the rainy season, and the soil refreshed, when burnt up by the rays of a vertical sun. There have been instances of the dry season continuing for three whole months beyond the usual period, as in 1802, when almost all the crops throughout the country failed. In 1826 the rains did not commence till quite the end of July, and the maize was lost in consequence; but these irregularities are, fortunately, rare. Wherever a system of irrigation is established, the corn lands, (haciendas de trigo), are watered twice; once in January, when the young shoot appears above ground, and again in the beginning of March, when the ear is about to form; and so well is the importance of this process known, that a situation is seldom chosen for a hacienda de trigo, where a supply of water cannot be obtained.

The great corn lands of Mexico are those of La Pūēblă, (near Ătlīscŏ, San Mărtīn and Chŏlūlă) the Băxīŏ, which comprises a portion of the States of Guănăjūātŏ, Qŭerētărŏ, Văllădŏlīd, Zăcătēcăs, and Guădălajāră, in the vicinity of the great river of Santiago;—the valley of Tĕnōchtĭtlān or Mexico; that of Pŏănăs, in Durango; and the missions in