8 



Introduction 



flood plain and for that reason is heavily wooded and seldom 

 used for farming. The pecan tree thrives in these bottoms. The 

 largest eastern tributary is the Salado Creek, formerly an inter- 

 mittent stream. It is now a perennial stream, being supplied by 

 one of the largest artesian wells in this country since 1912. The 

 largest western tributary is the perennial stream, the Medina 

 River. All the other tributaries are intermittent, containing 

 running water only a brief time following rains. 



Mitchell's Lake, the largest permanent body of water near 

 San Antonio is fed by natural drainage and the sewers of the 

 city of San Antonio. It is a marshy lake, covering some twelve 

 hundred acres to which size it has grown in the past thirty-five 

 years. Mr. H. P. Attwater of Houston visited the Lake in 1884 

 and described it as a big muddy water hole which could be waded 

 in dry seasons. 



CLIMATIC CONDITIONS 



The mean annual rainfall for the years 1884 to 1919 is 

 26.94 inches, the minimum being 10.11 inches in the year 1917 

 and the maximum 50.30 inches in the year 1919. While there is 

 no well defined rainy season, the largest amount of rainfall gen- 

 erally occurs in the months of April and May. A notable excep- 

 tion is the year 1919 when much of the rainfall was in June, 

 July, September and October. Inasmuch as the amount of 

 vegetation is directly dependent on the rainfall, San Antonio 

 affords a ' 'Hide and Seek" interest to her residents either as 

 lovers of Nature or as ranchmen and farmers. When the rain- 

 fall is above the average and well distributed, flowers are 

 abundant, crops are good, cattle thrive on the unusual amount 

 of forage, and the fall bespeaks prosperity. With less rainfall, 

 the character of the flora changes, crops are scant, cattle die in 

 the pastures for lack of forage and water, and lean years follow. 



The year 1919 was notable for the greatest amount of rain- 

 fall (50.30") recorded since the establishment of the San Antonio 

 weather bureau. This resulted in an unusual quantity of 

 flowers, and a general rank growth of vegetation seldom seen in 



