1'KMCKKSS OK Till' KA.XCK IsrSINKSS 43 



Tex. It generally lies bet ween ,\5U() and 5,000 feet ele- 

 vation, and is characterized by open prairie, broken here 

 and there by rough mountains. While there is com- 

 paratively little surface water here, well water can be 

 obtained in plenty at moderate depths, and windmills fur- 

 nish watering facilities sufficient for all the stock. 



This area may properly be classed as a semi-desert 

 country with considerable grass, mostly the gramas 

 ( Bouteloua) and species of Hilaria known variously as 

 Galleta (guy-et-ta), black bunch grass and curly mes- 

 quite. There is also sacaton (Sporobolus airoides), 

 sometimes but erroneously called salt grass, and many 

 varieties of sage (Artemesia.) There is an immense 

 growth of yucca (Spanish bayonet), of which both the 

 flower and the long banana-like fruit are greedily eaten 

 by cattle. In the foothills there are several varieties of 

 edible bushes like Mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus) 

 and the catclaw and mesquite found elsewhere. 



Owing to the presence in many portions of both 

 these desert regions of a grass known as needle or dog- 

 town grass (Aristida) and porcupine grass (Stipa 

 spp.), the sharp awns of each of which work into the 

 wool and finally into the very skin of the animals, sheep 

 cannot be successfully grazed in these lower desert 

 ranges, excepting in the immediate valley of the Salt 

 and Gila (He-la) Rivers and north of them. In southern 

 Arizona I have seen the meat from sheep killed by local 

 butchers, so badly inflamed and festered by the sharp 

 awns of these grasses as to be unfit for use. 



Higher Ranges of the Southwest. In the foothills 

 and mountain ranges of the Southwest is found a great 

 variety of grasses and forage plants. These ranges gen- 

 erally lie about the 5,000-foot line and, as elsewhere all 



