there are rich alluvial deposits which I should say consist mostly of volcanic ash which has been carried down from the volcano. In some of the old swampy regions one sometimes finds a thick loam layer, a product of decayed vegetation, which is very suitable for agriculture. Our work here has been carried on in the dry season. The sky is ordinarily clear and during the day the thermometer usually registers about 90°F while at night it goes down sometimes as low as 65°F. A dusty cow trail leading west from the little clump of mud houses and shacks takes one to the Rio San Miguel which is one half mile away. As one crosses an old dry ditch like lagoon he comes to wild pine apple hedges, wild cactus and thorny that section the rich deposits along the Rio San Miguel into small fields or patches of perhaps an acre and a half to two acres. One of these fields