the quantity of nourishment drawn from it by the insects, and it is then necessary to root them up and plant fresh ones.
The cultivation of this insect was not commenced in Guatimala till the year 1821, and so rapid has been its progress that it is estimated the harvest of the present year will produce 90,000 pounds weight.
The “haciendas de ganados” or grazing farms, are generally several leagues distant. Some of them are very valuable possessions, having good houses connected with the farms, and very numerous herds, but being generally left to the direction of mayor-domos or foremen, they are mostly neglected. The land is so good, and the climate so favourable, that the care and management, which to an English farmer is of the last importance, can here readily be dispensed with; and nobody in Guatimala thinks of taking more trouble than is absolutely necessary.
Some of the wealthy Spaniards were formerly in the habit of expending very considerable sums of money upon these estates, uniting to the grazing department, sugar plantations, and of late cochineal gardens. One of the most beautiful of this description, about a league and a half from the city, strikingly exhibits the thoughtless profusion with which money was wasted upon such undertakings. It is situated upon the side of one
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