THE OTHER END OE THE ROPE-WALK 



Photo by J. E. Kirkwood 



"By means of a string passed over the wheels a boy keeps them in rapid revolution, 

 while the spinner, carrying a bundle of fiber suspended at his waist, backs away toward the 

 other end of the walk, feeding out the fiber slowly to form the rope yarn, a hundred feet or 

 more in length. These yarns may then be twisted into ropes or fed into a rude wooden 

 loom, operated by foot power, and woven into matting" (see text, page 584). 



purple, red, or yellow in color. This fruit 

 is largely a food of the poorer class of 

 people, who use it fresh or preserved. 

 Pecans are largely planted for their nuts 

 and for the ample shade which their 

 crowns afford. 



THESE DESERTS SUPPORT VAST HERDS OE 

 CATTLE 



On the haciendas of the plateau the 

 business of stock-raising is one of the 

 most important and one to which the nat- 

 ural features of the country are best 

 adapted. Though semi-desert in its char- 

 acter and with few springs and fewer 

 streams, yet large herds of animals are 

 raised on these vast plains. 



At the time of the transfer of Cedros 

 to its American owners it was estimated 

 that the hacienda supported a half million 

 head of live stock of various kinds. So 



scant is the growth of grass in this land, 

 however, that one is not impressed with 

 it at sight as a stock range, but the stock 

 get much of their forage from leaves and 

 twigs of many species of woody plants 

 in which the place abounds. 



The problem of water supply is a seri- 

 ous one and is solved by the construction 

 of numerous represas, or tanques, in 

 which the drainage of the surrounding 

 slopes is collected in the rainy season. 

 These tanks are often many acres in ex- 

 tent and the water fills the shallow basin 

 to the depth of 15 or 20 feet. A tank is 

 formed by throwing a dam of earth or 

 masonry across a valley at a convenient 

 point, thus forming a reservoir into which 

 are gathered the waters drained from a 

 considerable area. In this way the herds- 

 man makes good the lack of streams, for 

 there is usually water retained in these 



575 



