NOTES ON THE DESERTS OF THE UNITED 

 STATES AND MEXICO 



Some desert plants have cisterns zvhich they fill zvith zvater against the 

 days of drought, just as the ant stores its cellar ivith grain and choice morsels in 

 preparation for the days when it is imprisoned by the rain and snozvs of zvinter. 

 Another species zvill spend many years to gather the force to send upzvard a single 

 stalk of flozvers and then immediately die as if contented, after years of labor, to 

 perpetuate itself by this single blossoming. Other plants have developed hairy 

 coverings and resinous coatings zvhich protect them from the burning sun^s rays 

 and also prevent the evaporation of the zvater they have secreted. These and 

 other zvonderful characteristics of desert vegetation zvhich haz'c long excited the 

 wonder and attention of botanists are nozv being systeiPMtically studied in the 

 desert itself by the plant specialists of the Desert Laboratory, at Tucson, of the 

 Department of Botanical Research of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. 

 It is believed that these researches zvill result in much nezv information as to the 

 origin and physiology of plants, and that they zvill also ultimately be of much 

 practical assistance to the agricultural interests in sections zvhere the rainfall is 

 slight. The follozving article has been abstracted by the Editor from a recent 

 publication by the Director of the Department of Botanical Research, Dr Daniel T. 

 MacDougal, ''Botanical Features of the North American Deserts." The illustra- 

 tions are from this publication and are from photographs by Dr MacDougal. 



TUCSON has a climate of a thor- 

 oughly desert character, and a 

 flora, including mountains and 

 plain, rich in species and genera. In 

 addition to its situation in the heart of 

 the desert of Arizona, it is centrally lo- 

 cated, both as to position and transporta- 

 tion, with reference to the deserts of 

 Texas, Chihuahua, New Mexico, Cali- 

 fornia, and Sonora. The city has a pop- 

 ulation of nearly 22,000. It is situated on 

 one transcontinental railway, and has 

 good connections with others, as well 

 as shorter lines to various regions of 

 interest. 



The business of the city and the con- 

 duct of its municipal affairs are largely 

 in the hands of progressive Americans. 

 The elevation of Tucson is 2,390 feet, 

 while the highest of the mountains that 

 surround the plain in which the city lies, 

 the Santa Catalina Range, reaches about 

 7,000 feet higher. The University of 

 Arizona, with its School of Mines, and 

 the Arizona Agricultural Experiment 

 Station are located at Tucson. 



Not the least of the advantages of Tuc- 

 son as a center for the activities of the 



laboratory is the broadminded compre- 

 hension of the importance of the pur- 

 poses of the institution evinced by the 

 citizens, accompanied by an earnest de- 

 sire to cooperate in its establishment. 

 This appreciation was expressed in the 

 practical form of subsidies of land for 

 the site of the building and to serve as 

 a preserve for desert vegetation, the in- 

 stallation and construction of telephone, 

 light, and power connections, and of a 

 road to the site of the laboratory, about 

 two miles from Tucson. The monetary 

 value of these concessions is by no means 

 small, and is much enhanced by the gen- 

 erous spirit in which they were tendered. 

 This spirit of hearty cooperation has ani- 

 mated every organization in the city, and 

 has enabled the laboratory to gain con- 

 trol of a domain of 860 acres, of the 

 greatest usefulness for general experi- 

 mental work. 



IN THE ''journey OE DEATh" 



Extending northward for nearly 100 

 miles from El Paso is the noted Jornada 

 del Muerto (Journey of Death), which 

 has a width of 30 to 40 miles. It formed 



