320 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 



A VISIT TO OLD MEXICO. 



For two hundred miles north of El Paso, in New Mexico and Texas, and the 

 same distance south of the Rio Grande, in Mexico, the desert is in evidence most 

 of the way. Mesquite, yucca, cacti in variety, with herbs and shrubs of arid 

 growths, are everywhere present. Rolling hills, sloping plains, with glimpses of 

 distant mountains, make up the desert picture. 



Southward are the tablelands, with an elevation of from 5,000 to 8,000 feet. 

 There are numerous valleys of remarkable fertility, producing corn, wheat, al- 

 falfa, sugar cane, cotton, with vegetables and fruits in profusion. 



THE SKIES OF MEXICO 



are something wonderful ; the blue is intense, while the light scattering clouds 

 float slowly about the horizon, but as they come in contact with the higher moun- 

 tain peaks they cling to the mountains and accumulate in dense masses, until re- 

 lieved by a brisk precipitation amidst discharges of lightning. 



AGRICULTURE. 



With the richest kind of soil, kindly in its nature, easily worked, having a 

 fairly abundant rainfall, agricultural productions should be vastly greater than 

 they are. 



The plow in use, which we illustrate, is responsible for the small production 

 of farm crops. By the use of 



IMPROVED AMERICAN PLOWS. 



Loosening the soil to an increased depth, pulverizing it and giving it a greater 

 body of mellow earth, it will absorb and retain the moisture from every rainfall, 

 and thus aid growing plants in obtaining nourishment. The same power exerted 

 by the ox teams, with good plows, would double the agricultural area of the Re- 

 public simply by increasing the soil depth. 



ECONOMY OF WATER. 



Water evaporates rapidly in summer weather and under the present system 

 of plowing and cultivating there is little absorbed by the shallow soil. Frequent 

 cultivation with a harrow or fine toothed cultivator, which keeps the surface pul- 

 verized, will break up the capillary attraction and thus check evaporation. 



