1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



449 



SHEEP FEEDING ON MESQUITE BEANS. 



of native houses. Almost all of the 

 Spanish residents of Arizona and New 

 Mexico have used Mesquite in their 

 buildings. It is also used by the In- 

 dians in the construction of their te- 

 pees, hogans, huts, and lodges, or wher- 

 ever it can be obtained. 



The wood has a close, hard grain, and 

 a specific gravity greater than oak. It 

 weighs 3,000 pounds to the cord, and one 

 cord is equal to something over one ton of 

 coal. The heart wood has a deep, rich 

 brown color, similar to walnut but 

 brighter. It admits of a fine polish and 

 would make beautiful veneering. The 

 sap wood is white, with a tinge of yellow 

 when seasoned. 



As an ornamental or shade tree, the 

 Mesquite has been neglected, possibly be- 

 cause it is a slow grower and also because 

 it is difficult to transplant. Naturally it 

 is a handsome tree. In form it is not 

 unlike a fruit tree, especially the large 

 and prolific growing varieties of the 

 apple. The mesquite groves on the 

 river bottoms often closely resemble the 

 old apple orchards of New York. The 

 branches are strong, j^et supple and 

 yielding; the heavy foliage of pinnated. 



decompound leaves are moved by the 

 slightest breeze. The natives believe 

 that there is something about the mes- 

 quite leaf which cools the atmosphere, and 

 the}' speak of the " cool shade " of that 

 tree as a distinctive and marked charac- 

 teristic. This hallucination is due to the 

 structure of the leaf. The leaflets are 

 suspended upon a small stem, allowing 

 them to turn with the slightest move- 

 ment of the atmosphere. The flexibility 

 of the branches, with the form of the leaf 

 described, permits the easy passage of 

 the breeze through the heav}' foliage 

 and yet does not destroy the shade; hence 

 ' ' the cool shade of the mesquite tree. ' ' 

 The plant is very tenacious when 

 grown from the seed. It sends down 

 long, slender rope-like roots, which 

 penetrate the earth to great depths, in 

 consequence of which it is able to 

 flourish when there is no moisture on 

 the surface. It also has the quality of 

 adapting itself to a wide range of con- 

 ditions of climate and soil. From this 

 fact has originated a popular belief that 

 there are many different varieties of 

 Mesquite. If the seed falls in deep, 

 rich soil, with abundant moisture within 



