4 CHAXGE OF VEGETATION ON SOUTH TEXAS PRAIEIES. 



permanent supplies of water by wells and reservoirs the cattle were 

 greatly increased. About a decade ago there was a series of very 

 dry seasons when the cattle left little grass to burn, often none at 

 all. This was a time of notable prosperity for the bushes and cacti. 

 Through many square miles of the Rio Grande Valle3^ and doubtless 

 in many other parts, the victory over the grass was complete and final. 

 There has been no burning since, nor ever will be, unless the bushes 

 grow thick and accumulate dry wood enough to furnish the fuel. 



The mesquite alone worked little injury to the grazing industry, 

 for the pods are relished by cattle and horses, supplementing the 

 otherwise exclusive diet of grass and affording a reserve supply of 

 food in dr}^ seasons. ^\Tien, however, the huisach {Acacia farnesi- 

 ana) and smaller shrubs and cacti become numerous enough to kill 

 out the grass, the pasturage rapidly diminishes. The ranch owner 

 then encounters the problem of clearing his pastures anew at much 

 expense of labor and time or of selling the more fertile lands in small 

 areas to the truck farmers who are now finding in south Texas a 

 field of very remunerative labor. The warmth of the early spring 

 months enables them to market their products while prices are still 

 very high. This movement toAvard more intensive agriculture in 

 south Texas is carrying with it the building of railroads and the con- 

 struction of extensive facilities for irrigation. In the Kingsville and 

 Falfurrias districts water is being developed by artesian wells; in 

 the Eio Grande Valley by pumping from the river. 



South Texas was occupied until recently by a few cattle ranches, 

 larger than many counties of our Northern States and managed in 

 truly feudal fashion by widely scattered communities of Spanish- 

 speaking retainers. Formerly there was no welcome for the crop- 

 raising farmer, but now buyers of small tracts are in demand. South 

 Texas is being rushed under the plow to escape the invasion of 

 bushes. Large tracts which could have been bought a few years ago 

 for a dollar or less per acre and could then have been put under 

 cultivation without other expense than the plowing and sowing, 

 now cost $5 or $10 an acre to clear of woody growth, in 

 addition to the greatly increased prices of the land itself. But in 

 the region to the north of Brownsville many thousands of acres are 

 already lost, at least to the present generation, for the bushes are so 

 well intrenched that the cost of clearing would greatly exceed the 

 value of the land. 



This shrubby vegetation which is threatening the cattle industry 

 and opening south Texas to the truck and cotton farmers will 

 undoubtedly continue to advance and multiply wherever the land is 

 not cleared and cultivated. The south Texas farmer of the future in- 

 stead of being a cattle king may even find himself Avithout a place to 

 pasture his milch cows except in his tilled fields. 



[Cir. 14] 



