334 Twelfth Annual Report. 



lected. It was the intention to attempt to conserve water flow on 

 the mesa, and to discover what can be done towards preventing 

 "run-off" of water during the rainy season of July and August. 

 Such washes, although the most favorable for the growth of vege- 

 tation of all kinds, are nevertheless typical of large tracts of des- 

 ert not only in the Santa Cruz, but in the San Pedro, Gila and 

 Salt river valleys as well. 



A triangular portion of this reservation, consisting of three 

 hundred and thirty-six acres, adjoining the Southern Pacific 

 right of way, has been placed under a substantial four-wire fence. 

 The area compasses nearly all varieties of exposure, drainage 

 and soils, and is, in short, a typical mesa region in every respect. 

 The advantage taken of the railway fence enabled us to enclose 

 the tract at a minimum cost. Two miles of fence, at an ap- 

 proximate cost of $150.00 a mile, covers practically the entire 

 expense of the enclosure. 



Recognizing that the greatest probability of success would 

 attend our efforts if we restored as nearly as possible Nature's 

 conditions, rather than attempt to introduce foreign plants 

 (always of questionable adaptability), a special effort was made to 

 secure native seed for experimentation; seed of those plants which 

 we know grew in the region in greater or less profusion before the 

 advent of the white man with his destructive herds of cattle and 

 sheep. Accordingly, the writer made a short trip into the Sul- 

 phur Spring valley in October, and secured some eighty bushels of 

 seed of a great variety of native forage plants. These were 

 shipped to the Division of Agrostology, cleaned, and returned in 

 January. 



All the cultural operations which have been performed thus 

 far were conducted during the month of January, and under very 

 favorable auspices as far as climatic conditions are concerned. 

 Fifty-two acres of the reservation is now under cultivation, and it 

 is the intention to operate on more ground next season. The 

 cultivated portions are distributed over the fenced area in four 

 localities, each portion being subdivided into plots varying in size 

 according to the quantity of seed available. The salt bushes 

 have been planted in an area by themselves, in the edge of one of 



