io OBSERVATIONS OF A RANCHWOMAN 



Mexico it is the hat that maketh the man, 

 not the man the hat. 



From this desolate mesa the beauty of the 

 Valley the Rio Grande, smitten by the strong 

 sunlight gleaming here and there lay spread 

 wide before us, a Vale of Promise. At our 

 backs rose the mountains, rich in ore silver, 

 lead, copper, and gold. Across the Valley 

 and the river was the western mesa, swelling 

 in its northward course to the dignity of 

 another mountain range. In the centre of 

 the picture crouched the adobe town, ad- 

 mirably picturesque at a distance, and boast- 

 ing a few brick buildings in which those who 

 prefer ' progress ' to comfort can be as un- 

 comfortable as they desire. Notable among 

 these buildings were the court-house, the 

 public and convent schools, the Catholic and 

 Methodist churches, and a mile or so to the 

 southward the New Mexico College of 

 Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, with which 

 is connected an experiment station. To 

 north and south of the town swept the wide 

 alfalfa meadows, irrigation ditches bordered 

 by cottonwood-trees, orchards abundant in 

 promise of almost all non-tropical fruits that 



