I'RUITS THE GRAPE. 157 



r 



republic for sale, without risk of its being 

 immediately confiscated. A still more power- 

 ful cause operating against this, as well as 

 every other branch of agriculture in New 

 Mexico, is the utter want of navigable streams, 

 as a cheap and convenient means of transpor- 

 tation to distant markets. 



Famous as the republic of Mexico has been 

 for the quality and variety of its fruits, this 

 province, considering its latitude, is most sin- 

 gularly destitute in this respect. A few or- 

 chards of apples, peaches and apricots, are 

 occasionally met with, but even these are of 

 very inferior quality, being only esteemed in 

 the absence of something better. A few 

 small vineyards are also to be foimd in the 

 valley of the Rio del Norte, but the grape does 

 not thrive as at El Paso. The mode of cul- 

 tivating the grape in these parts is somewhat 

 pecuUar, and might, I have no doubt, be prac- 

 tised to great advantage in other countries. No 

 scaflfoLd or support of any kind is erected for 

 the vines, which are kept pruned so as to 

 form a sort of shrubbery. Every fall of the 

 year, these are completely covered with earth, 

 ^vhich protects them during the winter. 

 Upon the opening of spring the dirt is scraped 

 away, and the vines pruned again. This be- 

 uig repeated from year to year, the shrubs 

 soon acquire sufficient strength to support the 

 heavy crops of improved and superiorly fla- 

 vored grapes which they finally produce. 



Indigenous wild fruits are not quite so 

 scarce; a clear evidence tliat tlie lack of culti- 



14 



