ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT xill 



Coroiiado, Alarcon, and their followers saw witliin tiu- /..n,. 



between western Texas and eastern Calitornin a population 



twice or thrice the ag^n-ej^ate now suhsistinn- within it. and 



this despite modern nudti])li('ation of industries ronnccte*! witii 



mining, grazing, and transportation. Tlic success of tht* alu.- 



riginal husbandman in this region was jiartlv dut- to a system 



of irrigation so satisfactory that modern farmers often jirotit 



by the prehistoric ditches; yet his ehief advantages grew 



out of a more economical adjustment between labor and pro(l- 



uce, including crops now neglected. Ainonii- the neglecte<l 



crop plants are various cacti (locally known as saguaro, pita- 



haya, nopal, saguesa, etc.), whose fruits sufliced to support the 



entire native population for some two months of each vear, 



though they are rarely utilized hy white settlers. These carti 



are products of the desert par excellence, adju.sted to their 



habitat during geologic ages, and, in some way not yet made 



out, deriving their vital energy chiefly from light: and they 



give promise that, unless exterminated by vandalism, tlu-y will 



some day j'ield to intelligent cultivation and a<ld an inxaluable 



resource to our arid districts. The researches concerning 



aboriginal food sources have been coupled with other stu(lie.-< 



in native economics, including those pertaining to textiles used 



for clothino- birch bark used tbr canoes and hahitations. tlie 



making- of baskets, etc. In most cases the innnediate aim was 



to record the primitive customs and crafts as a contrihution to 



knowledge ot a })assing race, but the investigations have reached 



the stao-e of yielding useful lessons to the superior race. .\> 



1 ■ • 1 1 ■ 

 announced in recent reports, i)roductive studies ot the hegm- 



ning of agriculture and zooculture have heen conducted. 

 During the fiscal year a memoir on Wild Kice, by 1 )r 

 Jenks,''was published, with, a view of directing attention t.. 

 a natural resource giving promise ..f vain.- t.. modern agri- 

 culture; Dr Russell spent the greater i)art ..f the year m a 

 critical study of a typical trilx^ of the arid region (the I'nna 

 Indians), and has prepared a memoir on then- mdustnes tor 

 early publication; a systematic investigation ot the buch-bark 

 industries of the aborigines was taken up by Drdenks: an. 

 Dr Fewkes devoted a part of the year to a spec.; 



ll •.tllilX ot 



