Arizona weekly citizen., 1886-02-20
DOWN THE VALLEY.
""u'h Of Canada del Gro - Slaughter House of Pusch X Zenweger--
 Sundry Matters
LFor the CITIzES.l

ih cattle sustained by the owners o :, herds m Texas, Kansas, Montana and [ other places through the cold blasts ', losses which in some instances amounted E to 2d per cent and more, We must con. i sider ourselves supremely happy in this D part of the country, for through expos. [ ure to the inciemency of the weather it II may safely be said We have not lost 7 one single head.
 A walk along the river towards the 2 north, however, shows that We have not escaped altogether unscathed, but tLe , loss ct cattle here sustained was occa- 5 stoned by starvation caused by the total failure of the accustomed rains which produced a drought to a heretofore un-
 precedented degree. After the cattle had eaten mp thelast spear Of dry grass,
 they sustained thenselyes upon mesquit
 and willow leaves wherever accessible
 and later on they feasted upon the bean
 O. the mesquit and The palo verde. The
 pea contained m the pod of this latter
 plant, when in its green state. tastes
 almost exactly like our green peas and
 are very noulIstiug. These failing the
 starving cattle contented themselves
 with the broad tieshy leaves of the Nopal
 or prickly pear.
 All these make-shifts, however. womb
 barely suffice to maintain a low degree
 of vitalIty-for the summer IS long-and
 when at last the winter rains came, they
 found the cattle, to great extent. in an
 emRcIated condition. The rains oyer- | flowed the rIver bed and formed a
 swempy surrounding on the watering places, and right here It is where by far the greatest part of the loss occurred. not
 so much from starvation, but having en-
 tered the swampy ground they lacked l ths necessary strength to pull them |
 s1-,es out again. This Is what the |
 Mexican Ianchero calls ''atascado." In this manner a considerable num- | Der of animals died along the river from | Tucson tC the Nlne-mlle- water hole: | estimate the number thus perished at | | about seven or eight per centum of the | herds to which they respectively belong. |
 Much of this loss however, l am con | vinced by facts, could have been avoid ed with but little trouble and expense. bg NnC GdAAAC DlhCH | t. place, ID order to procure for them | some pasture at all times and thus avoid | their constantly increasing loss of vital | fly; the main difficulty in the execution of this manue7er was the great lack of | ater and the almost general distress on all the ranches, which caused the owners of good ranches to jealously guard their pasture grounds and water ing places from the intrusion of out side cattle. Still It IS my belief that about three per centum of the above de- scribed loss could have been avoided by friendly understanding with the more fgyorRbly located ranchmen and a iud- icIous repRrtitIon of the herds during the season of distress.
 The large herds oi Pusch & Zellweg. CT and r. Charouleau, both of which have considerable bloodei stock and who moved their animals from time to time to such pasture as conld be found, sustained loss not exceeding three per cent during the whole time of the drought.
 The fields along the Santa Cruz river bottoms are clothed in lovely green; the barley and wheat crop Is very far ad- vanced und If Jupiter Pluvius will ex- tend upon us the liberal hand so long withheld, our farmers may hope to hsr- vest their small grain early in June and put in a corn crop to be harvested Tn November. Indeed everything along the valley Is lovely, while the inhsblt- ants of the Northern and Eastern States go about with blue noses wrapped up in tUrs and all nature Is still plunged In the deep sleep of Information, we are enjoy ing the Tevlving influence of the most beautiful spring weather, the cotton wood, peach, and apricot trees are bud
 ir- forth and gradually assume sa -rer rnIsn Al.e, Ll-. ,Lc light hearted bird
 s already seeking with whom he might mate to prepare the nest for the coming progeny.
 The late rains have started the growth f grass on the foot hills along the Santa Catalina mountains and m the valley leading to Canada del Gro, which latter already appears 10 the eye like an i'm mense green carpet; more ram however Is needed to accelerate the growth; the cattle you meet are without exception ID poor condition yet, the pasture Is most abundant m the cafion,I saw some spots with grass 6-inch high) and water Is plenty everywhere forming small riy- ulets descending from the mountains. One good rainy day IS all that is neces- SuTH AD Li hht AIt bNLE4S tue hALc supremely happy.
 While visiting the mountain tank of Mr. Charolleau where he keeps some of the carp received from the U. $. Fish commission I had occasion to observe that; the large carp (nOw , years old) have grown from to 2 inches, Tn length -ince June last, and that instead of be- ing hidden in the mud on the bottom of .I.. &. I.Harpusa ta eak lsap,rf ! themselves freely in the water, and rise to partake of the bran thrown to them. II we add to this that the smalls carp re- ceived by Mir. Carrillo during the first week of January last, have since grown almost one inch, We must come to the logical conclusion that in thIs climate on account of its mildness the carp does not hiberRte st all but continues to grow without any mtermissiOn, while in the Northern and Eastern States and Terri torres they are known to pass period Of about four winter months buried m th- mud in a state of absolute Inaction and hibernation.
 Along the valley leading from Pusch & Tellweger's ranch to that Ut Charou- leau and for miles above, my attention was repeatedly called to certain herb with tiny violet hoger by an old Call fornig. Mexican vino has lived there and here at intervals for about 2Oyears. He stated to me that this little plant which we found m great profusion along the banks of the riverbed was the feed par excellence of the sheep ranges of CslIfor- nia, that he was sure 1t did not grow here formerly, that Le noticed 1t Tor the first time about four years ago and that since then 1t had spread all over this valley in low ground" His theory as to its transplanting [, these regions is that some of the seed must have been m sack of California barley opened herea- bouts by party of travellers or prospec- tors, dropped,on the ground; and, being very prolific, disseminated by natures ! help alone.
 About three miles north of Tucson ID A low bottom We come upon the wind mill, tank and slaugnterhouse of MessrS. ; Pusch & Zellweger, all of which are con uected together and arranged Tn the , most practical manner. The well from ,
 nm n :