240 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 



scribed plan, and thereby save 

 the bush for future fruit bearing. 

 In the accompanying photo, the 

 proper mode of gathering agaritas 

 is vividly depicted, showing one 

 of our party holding the berry- 

 laden branch with one hand, whilst 

 the other hand gently thrashes 

 them off by rapid strokes on the 

 branch. (The photo of this agarita 

 bush shows the branches blurred — 

 from a stroke it had received a 

 few seconds before taking the 

 view.) The berries thus handled, 

 drop to the xjloth below and the 

 bushes are not mutilated to any 

 extent, and the same thrashed 

 branches will ■ bear fruit again 

 the following year. 



At some seasons, especially in 

 droughty times, these agaritas, 

 as well as other fruit-bearing bushes 

 are invaded by niyriads of various 

 insects which feed on the berries, 

 and these insects in return are 

 a great boon to our mockingbird 

 and other warblers of the Texas 

 plains. 



The other photograph represents 



parts of one of the agarita bushes 

 and also branches of the wild 

 persimmon with ripe fruit. The 

 best way to rid the thrashed 

 berries of all brush debris and 

 insects was invented by one of 

 the gentlemen seen on the first 

 photograph. After the berries had 

 been gathered as described, (and 

 they had a large tin bucket and 

 a box filled to the brim,) one of the 

 boys suggested to try a screened 

 window-frame (which happened to 

 be at the farm where the berries 

 were gathered) and it worked fine! 

 After elevating one end of the wire 

 screen, several handsful of the . 

 gathered berries were put at the 

 top, and after tapping the screen 

 with the hand, all the berries 

 rolled down into a large kettle 

 below, whilst the debris of leaves 

 and small fragments of brianchea 

 and numerous insects remained 

 on the surface of the wire screen. 

 In this way the greater part of> 

 the large bucket full of berries 

 was soon cleared in a comparative 

 short time of all deleterious ma- 

 terial. 



Midsummer Outing at the Beautiful Guadalupe 

 River- --Insect Plague in Camp 



Texas, and admirers of na- 

 ture in general, are proud of the 

 many romantic rivulets and for- 

 est sceneries we possess, travers- 

 ing the great State of Texas, and 

 the pleasure they afford to outing 

 parties. This pleasure, however, 

 of hiking into the woods, especial- 

 ly during hot summer days, is not 

 at aU times a pleasurable one — ^liy 

 no means! Often unforseen ob- 

 stacles must be contended with, 

 and one, therefore, has to be pre- 

 pared for such emergencies during 

 outings in our hot summer days. 

 Above all, one should be provided 



with plenty of wholesome drink- 

 ing water and the necessary food 

 supplies, of course, especially if 

 intended to camp out far off from 

 some farmhouse or a cool spring'. 

 For drinking purposes, there is no 

 better contrivance on the market 

 than the so-called "African wa- 

 ter cooler bag, ' ' holding about two 

 gallons of water. Such water- 

 bag (seen attached to buggy, on 

 One of the original pictures here- 

 in) keeps the water just right, 

 cool — the hotter the atmosphere, 

 the cooler the water in the bag— 

 and it is more handy and trans- 



