182 SOUTHERN BORDER OF CENTRAL COAL FIELD. 



for domestic purposes than dry mesquite. It is a rapid growth, and where 

 the fire is kept away, in a few years a growth will be made sufficiently large 

 for firewood. In some places farther west, the roots of the mesquite com- 

 pose the only kind of firewood to be had. and it is very little more trouble 

 or labor to get a load of roots out of the sand than it is in many places to 

 get a load of wood above ground. 



In the San Saba River bottoms are to be found some very large burr oak 

 trees. I measured one near the town of San Saba that was four feet in 

 diameter. It was straight and twenty-five feet to the first limbs. This was 

 not an isolated tree, but stood in the midst of a forest of others almost as 

 large. 



The pecan trees are found along every creek and river, often in great 

 numbers and of large size. Their chief value now is not in the excellent 

 timber they afford, but for the abundance of nuts they bear. The growth 

 of timber is everywhere rapidly increasing, and will so continue where it is 

 protected from fires. 



The fencing is almost entirely done with posts and wire. The posts are 

 made of cedar found so abundantly along the Colorado River and shipped in 

 car loads to the place needed. In other localities the mesquite is used for 

 posts. In other places the live oak and other oaks are used for this purpose. 



