THE DESERT AND THE ROSE 49 



ground, or the wheat heads were chopped off the 

 standing straw, and in such manner carried in dolls' 

 bundles to a rickety wagon. The reaping, if so it 

 could be called, was done with miniature reaping 

 hooks dating from bygone ages. All futile and in- 

 adequate, of course, but from the artistic viewpoint 

 not to be improved upon. 



I chanced to be on my way to visit an expert 

 North Western wheatgrower, not long established 

 in the Valley. His harvest was already gathered, 

 but he scorned the idea of having lost an hour's sleep 

 in "water worry"! His forty bushels to the acre 

 were raised because he had plowed and sown deep 

 instead of scratching the soil and scattering the 

 seed broadcast. Thus the abundant spring irriga- 

 tions went in and stayed in. Now he was preparing 

 the same acreage for corn, a double crop working 

 no injury to such rich land. Corn is a more trouble- 

 some and thirsty crop than wheat, but succeeds well 

 in the Valley. As for wheat, though yielding profit- 

 ably under good cultivation, I have heard farmers, 

 whose triumphs entitle them to a respectful hearing, 

 maintain that wheat will never bring fortune in its 

 train in the Rio Grande Valley, because the climate 

 is neither cold nor damp enough. 



My neighbor, the wheatgrower of that date, is 

 the father of two rosy little girls, constant visitors 

 to my ranch, either bent on raking my hay with 

 horses broken by themselves, or aiming for social 

 pleasures only. They do all the household work at 

 home, occasionally aided by their busy father, and 

 with joy apply themselves to outdoor duties as well. 



