AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



789 



sired ; but owing to a lack of time it was 

 not reached, but it will appear in the 

 pamphlet Report just the same as if 

 read at the convention. — Ed.] 



Presidio and Foley Counties, 

 Texas, Described. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY C. G. ATEN. 



To avoid taking up space with un- 

 necessary explanations, I will begin at 

 once to describe Presidio and Foley 

 counties, Tex., beginning with Presidio; 

 suffice to say that my knowledge of this 

 country was obtained by riding over this 

 rough and barren desert as a member of 

 Company " D," Texas Rangers. I was 

 stationed in this section of country from 

 April Brd to Sept. 1st, 1890. 



Presidio county was organized in 

 1875. Geographically the county con- 

 sists of high ridges, for the most part 

 rocky, and gradually rising into moun- 

 tains. Don't picture in your mind 

 mountains that are covered with green 

 timber, and valleys that are washed with 

 clear, cold streams of water, but, in- 

 stead, picture the very oposite — moun- 

 tains that are barren save here 'and 

 there the soto plant and tufts of the 

 coarse gamma-grass, with great boulders 

 of reddish brown sand-stone projecting 

 from their sides. Picture in your mind 

 a desert, almost, of mountains and hills, 

 for the most part barren, with now and 

 then a level plain, perhaps thousands of 

 acres in extent. 



There are very few streams of water 

 in the valleys, more generally dry gravel 

 beds over which water runs after one 

 of those quick cloud-bursts common in 

 that country in June and July. I have 

 heard an old resident of the county say 

 that he had never witnessed a general 

 rain over the county, that is, a rain that 

 extended over all of the county at one 

 time. In the rainy season clouds will 

 form in a few moments, as if by magic, 

 rain a heavy shower, and disappear to 

 form again may be 50 miles away. 



The greater part of the county's popu- 

 lation is Mexican, and they are Mexi- 

 cans of the meanest type. Marfa is the 

 county-seat, with about 800 population. 

 The elevation at Marfa is about 4,000 

 feet above sea-level. The elevation falls 

 from Marfa — (which is in the northern 

 part of the county) — to Presidio, on the 

 Rio Grande, and in the southern part of 



the county, 1,700 feet, while the dis- 

 tance is about 70 miles. This makes a 

 great difference in the climate. In Au- 

 gust and September the sand storms will 

 almost suffocate one at Presidio, while 

 at Marfa the wind approaching near a 

 hurricane without a cloud in sight will 

 chill you to the bone. They have no 

 warm and sultry nights at Marfa. 



While the Rio Grande valley has en- 

 tirely a different climate, the valley 

 winds are hot and dry, as though they 

 came out of an oven, while a few miles 

 up on the mountain sides, or on the 

 plains at Marfa, the wind is cool and 

 bracing. 



At the time that I was in the county, 

 there were but eight men living in it on 

 the Rio Grande, and I believe that a 

 white woman was never seen in this sec- 

 tion. Four of these men have married 

 Mexican women. If the true history of 

 some of these men that have exiled 

 themselves, and almost turned against 

 their race, were known, I have no doubt 

 but that it would be interesting to some. 



Shafter is a silver mining town with 

 about 700 inhabitants, mostly Mexicans, 

 and like the people of Presidio, they live 

 in adobe (sun-dried brick) and grass 

 houses. These adobe houses are often 

 built very substantially, and when plas- 

 tered inside and ouc they look very much 

 like a rock-house, and last about as 

 long. 



The Presidio Mining Co. have a ten 

 stamp mill at Shafter, and ship about 

 $35,0C0 worth of bullion a month. The 

 town is in what is known as the Chanetti 

 mountains, 50 miles south of Marfa, 

 and 22 miles north of Presidio. In the 

 Chanetti mountains there is a scattering 

 and stunted growth of live-oak timber. 



The valley of the Rio Grande, at Pre- 

 sidio, is about 8 miles wide. The Mexi- 

 cans along here raise some corn, beans, 

 and melons — enough to keep them 

 alive, that is all. All farming is done 

 by irrigation in this country, and it is 

 often managed in a curious way. I be- 

 lieve that parts of this valley could be 

 made to produce fruit as well as the 

 same valley at El Paso, only about 125 

 miles up the river, and on which as good 

 fruit is grown as in California. 



Now in regard to bees in Presidio 

 county, and I have finished. There is 

 but one part that I would think of trying 

 apiculture, and that is the Rio Grande 

 valley. The winds on the plains are too 

 severe for bees, but, as I have said, the 

 valley of the Rio Grande has an entirely 

 different climate. Near the river there 

 is a dense growth of mesquite, while 



