May 13, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



193 



Pine or Sugar Pine. This is the San Hedrin Mountain, 

 while farther east Mount Hull, Snow Mountain and Mount 

 St. John are higher still, each having a geology and flora 

 peculiarly its own. Rising at the base of this range Eel 

 River flows north-west to the ocean, while near by the 

 Russian River flows to the south. The banks of the first 

 are rugged and rich with conifers, while the basin of the 

 latter is the home of a large and varied family of Oaks. 

 East of the Russian River valley is another great barrier 

 range, smooth and round topped, its higher slopes a vast 

 even growth of brush, its lower slopes grassy and dotted 

 with Oak woods, and its canons treasure-houses to the 

 lovers of trees and flowers. High on these shrub-covered 

 mountains are little vales which are also mines for the 

 flower lover. 



Beyond these lies Clear Lake, thirty-five miles long, sur- 

 rounded by high mountains, and although 1,300 feet above 

 the level of the sea, it furnishes congenial homes for Orange 

 groves. Further to the east another lofty Pine-covered 

 'range divides Clear Lake from the headwaters of the Sacra- 

 mento and offers a region, half-alpine, rough and hard, yet 

 of surpassing interest. I have been collecting in this won- 

 derfully diversified region for sixteen years, and yet there 

 are numberless fields that I have not explored, and every 

 year I am reminded how little I really know of them. I 

 shall try to convey some faint idea of the characteristic 

 trees and flowers of some of these sections, always keep- 

 ing in mind that twenty other such belts might be cut from 

 the Coast Range, each quite as interesting to the naturalist 

 and without any danger of monotony, while the whole 

 series terminates at the north in that wild Olympic range 

 between Puget Sound and the ocean, one of the most strik- 

 ing and least-known of our nation's possessions. 

 Uliiah, Cam. Carl Purely. 



A Botanical Journey in Texas. — IV. 



LEAVING Marfa very early the thirteenth day of June, 

 _j we arrived in the afternoon of the same day at El 

 Paso, one of the best-known cities of Texas, situated at the 

 extreme western limit of the state. The city contains about 

 twelve thousand inhabitants. It is the capital of a county 

 of the same name, which covers eight thousand four hun- 

 dred and sixty square miles. El Paso is near the one hun- 

 dred and sixth meridian, near the thirty-second parallel, 

 and the average annual rainfall for the last nine years is 

 about ten and one-half inches. 



Across the river, and nearly opposite El Paso, is the 

 Mexican city, Cuidad Juarez, the two cities standing near 

 the head of the "Pass," a nearly level valley extending 

 many miles down the river, and probably an earlier lake- 

 like expansion of it. Centuries ago the beauty of the Pass, 

 and its adaptability to irrigated agriculture, led to the estab- 

 lishment of a Spanish colony and mission at Juarez, which 

 is one of the oldest cities of America, and Baron Humboldt, 

 who visited this locality early in our century, speaks in 

 praise of the Pass, of the Mission, of the vineyards there 

 and of the Mission grape. 



The vicinity of El Paso is one of the principal seats 

 in Texas of successful agriculture by irrigation. At the 

 river rapids, about a mile above the city, low dams 

 have been built letting the water of the river into the main 

 ditches on each side of it for distribution to the fields of 

 grain, vegetables and fruit. At this immediate point most 

 of the farming is done on the Mexican side of the river. 

 But on the American side, farther down the river, and near 

 Ysleta, fields of Wheat, Barley, Corn and other grains are 

 common. Alfalfa, the great forage plant of irrigated lands, 

 is the commonest farm crop. Its growth on such fields is 

 wonderful, three or four cuttings of it being made in a sea- 

 son. At Juarez are venerable Pear-trees, two or more feet 

 in diameter, larger Apricot trees than I had seen before, vine- 

 yards, Apple orchards, and occasionally a Quince tree, and 

 this where cultivated trees, as well as cultivated smaller 

 plants, live only by irrigation. 



While in Mexico I visited the extensive orchards and 

 vineyards of Dr. Alexander, a sturdy hospitable German of 

 the old school, who bought his grange of a son of the priest 

 who entertained Baron Humboldt in his home at the time 

 of his visit to the Pass. The vineyards of Dr. Alexander 

 contain about thirty thousand vines of the Mission 

 Grape, which was probably introduced into this country 

 by the Spaniards. Little is known of its origin or of 

 its introduction to America. The fruit when ripe is dark- 

 purple in color, of fair size, well clustered and full of thick 

 sweet juice, fermenting into a rich strong wine. Its leaves in 

 general outline resemble those of the southern Muscadine, 

 but they are larger and more deeply lobed,' the larger 

 leaves sometimes approaching in form those of our com- 

 mon Ampelopsis. The trunk readily takes a tree form and 

 requires no trellis. The vine has simply adapted itself to 

 the climatic conditions of the country to which it has been 

 transferred, since no poles for trellising grow here. The 

 grapes begin to ripen early in the month of August. Sep- 

 tember is the wine-making month. It is said that the wine 

 would be better if the grapes remained on the vines until 

 November. But for obvious reasons it is necessary to 

 gather them much sooner. 



On an average each vine yields an annual crop of ten 

 pounds of grapes. The pure juice of fourteen pounds of 

 grapes will afford a gallon of ripe wine. A glass of this 

 wine kindly proffered by Dr. Alexander, although but ten 

 years old, was well matured for its age, healthful, full of 

 good cheer, and vivacious. Long experience has led my 

 host to conclude that the Mission Grape is the only 

 variety that is well adapted to the conditions of climate and 

 soil which exist in the El Paso region, and that will afford 

 at the least cost of production a good potable wine. 



In the streets, yards and parks of El Paso I saw growing 

 western Cottonwood, Silver Poplar, Lombardy Poplar, 

 Willow Catalpa in handsome tree form, Barbadoes Flower 

 Fence, or, as some people call it. Bird of ParadiseTree (Cae- 

 salpinia pulcherrima) ; Jerusalem Thorn, Yellow Locust 

 (Robinia), Silk Tree (Albizzia), Mexican Elder (Sambucus), 

 China Tree (Melia), Paradise Tree (Ailanthus), Wild China 

 (Sapindus), Osage Orange (Ioxylon), English Ivy (Hedera), 

 Virginia Creeper (Ampelopsis), Red Mulberry. Morus, and 

 others. There are thousands of acres of land in this great 

 valley now vacant, but capable, under irrigation, of becom- 

 ing highly productive. Nature is doing all that is in her 

 power to assist in redeeming and fitting the alkaline flats 

 for agriculture. She is employing several Hoffmann- 

 seggias, some Daleas, a half dozen species of Atriplex, 

 three or four Amaranths, a species of Lepidium, Siuedas, 

 Bigelovias, Helianthi, Sesuvium, Trianthema, coarse 

 Grasses and Sedges and other plant laborers, to change 

 and purify the soil by their living, and by their death and 

 decay to add to its permanent fertility. The refuse-matter 

 of the streets and stables should be utilized for the same 

 purpose, and then the only great need would be a perma- 

 nent supply of water for irrigation. 



As it is now, irrigation at El Paso is far in advance of 

 actual agriculture. Probably three times the amount of 

 farm and garden products might be raised with little addi- 

 tional expense for water. But the river-bed itself is some- 

 times as dry and dusty as the unsprinkled streets of the 

 city. Irrigation is yet in its infancy. A dam sufficiently 

 strong to hold the accumulated floods of the Rio Grande 

 and of other large rivers would involve an expense of 

 millions of dollars and heavy damages for overflows, and 

 could exist here only by international agreement. In Lime 

 such structures might be worth far more than the cost of 

 building them. 



The general features of the flora around El Paso are 

 somewhat peculiar. Species of the 1'ea family have de- 

 creased, while species of the much smaller Malva family 

 have increased in numbers. Species ol Compositse, espe- 

 cially shrubby species, are very numerous. Crucifenehold 

 their ground, species of Lesquerella being unusually abun- 

 dant. Certainly two, perhaps three, species of Agave rep- 



