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National Geographic : 1910 Aug
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NOTES ON THE DESERTS OF THE UNITED STATES AND MEXICO Some desert plants have cisterns which they fill with water against the days of drought, just as the ant stores its cellar with grain and choice morsels in preparationfor the days when it is imprisoned by the rain and snows of winter. Another species will spend many years to gather the force to send upward a single stalk of flowers 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 which protect them from the burning sun's rays and also prevent the evaporation of the water they have secreted. These and other wonderful characteristicsof desert vegetation which have long excited the wonder and attention of botanists are now being systematically 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 will result in much new information as to the origin and physiology of plants, and that they will also ultimately be of much practical assistance to the agriculturalinterests in sections where the rainfall is slight. The following 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, anda flora, including mountains and plain, rich in species and genera. In addition to its situation in the heart off 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 OF DEATH" Extending northward for nearly 1oo miles from El Paso is the noted Jornada del Muerto (Journey of Death), which has a width of 30 to 40 miles. It formed
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