1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



25 



them show practically no regrowth. 

 The Apaches have followed the chase 

 and war, and have entramnieled them- 

 selves with nothing but war ponies. 

 The forests within their domain, where 

 they have not seen fit to appl>- the torch 

 in accord with their well-grounded su- 

 perstition that forest fires cause rain, 

 show a regrowth gradating into many 

 past decades. 



My experience forces me to the asser- 

 tion that the diminution of the flow of 

 springs and streams in Arizona is due 

 more to the destruction of brush, grass, 

 or herbage, than the destruction of for- 

 ests proper. I would not be understood 

 as opposing the pasturing of public 

 lands as a principle, but as indiscrimi- 

 nateh' practiced under no restrictions, 

 as at the present time. We must have 

 our herds, but it cannot be denied that 

 the free ranging of stock on the public 

 domain is measurabh' responsible for 

 the unfavorable conditions which we 

 find on the watersheds today. 



The country is not naturally well 

 adapted for stock-ranging. The infre- 

 quence of springs and open water com- 

 pels .stock to travel long distances. 

 They destroj- much more forage travel- 

 ing over it in search of water than the}' 

 consume. So great, in fact, is the dis- 

 tance in many instances that cattle 

 travel from ten to fifteen miles and 

 horses from fifteen to twenty miles for 

 water. It is not an uncommon thing 

 to see both horses and cattle running at a 

 pace of from eight to ten miles per hour 

 over the desert plains in order to shorten 

 the time between drinks. I do not 

 know that this has been paralleled even 

 by the proverbially thirsty governors 

 of the Carolinas. 



W'hen a drouth occurs, there is pre- 

 sented a problem in arithmetical pro- 

 gression and in vegetation destruction, 

 which is something like that which as- 

 tounded us all in our early .schoolboy 

 days when we figured the compensation 

 of the blacksmith who in shoeing a 

 farmer's horse modestly .started in with 

 the compensation of one grain of corn 

 for the first nail driven. The ratio at 

 which destruction increases as water 

 and feed become scarce is something 

 wonderful, and only in late years is it 



beginning to be understood by the 

 western farmer. The plowing by their 

 hoofs at such times pulverizes the 

 ground, and the wind and rain disin- 

 tegrate the soil, and much, and often 

 all, of the vegetation dies. Near Wins- 

 low, Arizona, and other points there 

 are hundreds of acres of once thoroughly 

 sodded meadow land which the winds 

 have swept clean of .soil, only the sand- 

 rock and an occasional hummock now 

 remaining. This was made po.ssible by 

 overpasturing. Other localities are sub- 

 ject only to the wash of flood water. 



Range stock of any kind in its jour- 

 neying to and from watering ]:)laces will 

 .seek the best grade and the least ob- 

 struction for its trail. These fall in the 

 lowest lands of the valleys, plains, and 

 plateaus. A path once broken is a chan- 

 nel for the next flood water, and in time 

 where was once a trail there is a wash, 

 only limited in depth by the bed rock. 

 Before these level or rolling lands were 

 broken there was a normal moi.sture 

 line, which enabled vegetation to exist 

 by remaining near the surface. When 

 the wash occurs that moisture line is 

 dropped in proportion to the depth of the 

 wash, and thus increases the drainage 

 of the soil. In man}- instances it drops 

 beyond the reach of the grasses or other 

 vegetation, and the land becomes barren. 



On the open range the hor.se is the 

 chief of all destroyers. He is the only 

 herbivorous domestic animal having 

 upper and lower teeth, and if necessity 

 demands he will not only crop the blades, 

 but the crown, and then possibly dig for 

 the roots. There are instances where 

 " bronchos " roaming the plains of 

 Arizona have actually dug to a de])th 

 of six feet to obtain water. In their 

 order I would name the horse, sheep, 

 goat, and cow as despoilers of ranges. 

 In the forest and forest covers the order 

 is reversed, and }ou may see the goat, 

 .standing on his hind feet, his whiskers 

 flowing in the breeze, while he, master 

 of all he surveys, placidly dines off of the 

 succulent shoots of any tree or shrub of 

 which his fanc}' may approve. We have 

 had no warning note, but the goat is 

 coming, and, like the Chinaman, it will 

 require legislation to l)anisli him. Next 

 to the goat, his near relative, the sheep, 



