n the arid zone and is extremely hot and dry. Under such conditions it is but natural to suppose that all plant life must necessarily be scant and dwarfed, but such is n

ensing moisture by an unusual and unknown method. It is, however, a beneficent provision of nature as a protection against famine in a droughty land by

etrable armor of prickly mail they defy encroachment and successfully repel all attempts at undue familiarity. To be torn by a cat-claw thorn or impaled on a stout dagger leaf of one of these plants would not only mean p

nown as mescal, but is also called the century plant from a mistaken notion that it blossoms only once in a hund

est while it is new and is consumed in large quantities by the populace. Pulque trains are run daily from the mescal plantations, where the pulque is made, into the large cities to supply the bibulous inhabitants with their custo

r principal means of support. Its sap was variously prepared and served as milk, honey, vinegar, beer and brandy. From its tough fiber w

s their daily bread. Before the Apaches were conquered and herded on reservations a mescal bake was an important event with them. It meant the gathering of the clans and was made the occasion of much fe

Mexican brandy, is much stronger than pulque, but less used. Both liquors are said

most common, and under favorable conditions attains to the proportions of a tree. Fine specimens of yuc

As the new leaves unfold on top the old leaves are crowded down and hang in loose folds about the stem like a flounced skirt. When dry the leaves burn readily, and are sometimes used for light and

hazy distance they are easily mistaken for the plumed topknots of a band of prowling A

hygienic insoles, tree protectors and calendars. As a splint it answers an admirable purpose, being both light and strong and c

Its root is saponaceous, and is pounded into a pulp and used instead of soap by the natives. It grows a bunch of large white flower

natural state it is inaccessible to cattle because of its hard and thorny exterior. To make it available it is cut down and quartered with a hoe,

, but all are handsome bloomers, and the mass of white flowers which unfold

l and climate of the southwest from Texas to California seem to be just to its liking. It grows rank and often

s and cattle like the young leaves, but will not eat them after they become old and hard unless driven to do so by the pangs of hunger. In Texas the plant is gathered in large quantities and gr

white needles that glisten in the sun. Its stem is hollow and filled with a white pith like the elder. After the prickly bark is stripped off the punk can be picked out th

ess to believe that the plant has some kind of sense as they say that it jumps and takes hold of its victim before it is touched. This action, however, is only true in the seeming, as its long transparent needles, being invisible, are touched before

mething to eat and will browse on mescal, yucca and cactus and find some nourishment in the unusual diet, enough, at least, to keep them from dying. The plants mentioned are not nearly as plentiful now as they once we

of an even thickness from top to bottom but, if there is any difference, it is a trifle thicker in the middle. It usually stands alone as a single perpendicular column, but is also found bunched in gro

As everything in art is an attempt to imitate something in nature, is it possib

d is, perhaps, the only thing growing anywhere that could have suggested the design. Wherever it grows, i

if ignited, burn with a bright flame. They are sometimes set on fire and have been used by the Apaches for making signals. The cactus tree, like the eastern forest tree, is often found bored full of round, hol

edy birds which feed on it and by arrows shot from bows in the hands of the Indians. The natives esteem

d consists of a cluster of nearly straight poles of brittle wood covered with thorns and leaves. It

seemingly dry sticks are thrust into yet drier ground where they take root and grow without w

It is full of sap that is sometimes used to quench thirst. By cutting off the top and scooping out a hollow, the cup-shaped hole soon fills with a sap that is not exactly

sert, but has little or no value and cattle will not touch it. Like many other desert plants it is resinous a

g on the dry mesas of Arizona, it is only a small bush, but on the moist land of a river bottom it becomes a large forest tree.

ts and firewood. On the dry mesas it seems to go mostly to root that is out of all proportion to the size of the tre

eful branches, feathery leaves and fragrant flowers, and c

that either walks or flies on the desert. The Indians make meal of the seed and bake it into bread. Cattle that feed on the open range will leave good grass to browse on a mesquite bush.

resembles a weeping willow tree stripped of its leaves. Its numerous long, slender, drooping branches gracefully criss-cross and interlace in an intricate figure of filigree wo

rn Arizona. There are several varieties of this parasitic plant that are very unlike in appearance. Each kind partak