Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1899-10-25

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tie and sheep thereon. we are forced t.
the conclusion that the author of thu
article referred to has been imposed
upon by the parties from whom he de
rived his information.
The district composing this. reserve
| and the western end of the "Blacl
Mesa" forest reserve as well, is a pla-
| teau comparatively level, averaging si2
/ to seven thousand feet above sea, level
covered for the most part by an open
| forest of pine timber bounded on the
borders, where the plateau descends
into the deserts or timberless plains,
with a belt, a few miles in width, of
scrubby cedar. On the south it breaks
off abruptly into the tributaries of Salt
river, the headwaters of which extend
into this plateau in the form of pre-
cipitous canyons one thousand to fif-
teen hundred feet deep, which are fed
by numberless springs that burst out
at the bottom of these canyons.
The formation CT this entire plateau
is volcanic. 1t is covered with extinct
volcanoes and evidences of volcanic in
f1uence. The stratified formation is
everywhere broken and shattered, and
the soil is of a loose, porous nature, so
that the rains and melting SHOWS are
drunk up by the soil like a sponge and
appear again, if at all, only at the bot
tom of the canyons, or small springs at
rare intervals. on the mesa which dis
appear in a short distance from the
point at which they rise. We have alb
solutely no running streams on this
mesa, or forest reserve. 1t is not pre-
cipitous and does not wash. To illus
trate: The draw that passes through
Flagstaff heads at the foot of Mount
Agassiz and geographically drains an
area of more than two hundred square
miles, has no outlet but empties into
a little valley five miles east of town.
1t seldom runs to this valley and never
more than once or twice during the
year, and often dry the entire year.
The forest reserve districts of Ari-
IONA have been used for grazing sheep
for twenty or thirty years. We have
never before heard it claimed that
the canals and laterals of the Salt
River valley filled with sand and silt
because of the sheep grazing on the
forest reserves which lie two hundred
miles further up the river: and one ia
miliar with the mountain plateaus and
with the dry, sandy, dusty, and windy
districts and plains through which the
waters of the Salt river and the canals
and laterals of the Salt River valley
flow, after leaving the mountain forest
reserves, would be hard to convince
that the sheep on the mountain ma
terially affected the filling of the canals
and laterals referred to. If there were
any such results, they would be con-
slant, and it could not be said that
Whenever sheep have been driven
there in large numbers etc, these re-
suits were seen, because the ranges of
these forest reserves have been used
constantly for twenty years. and the
results would be constant and unver-
sal in the Salt River valley.
There is little in common with the
sheep grazing industry of Arizona and
that of many districts, perhaps any
district of California. The scarcity of
water on the mountain plateaus of Ari-
iona has confined the summer ranges
of each individual sheep breeder to a
more or less definite locality during
the summer and dry season, within
which he owns or controls the perma-
nent water supply. He is a settler.
This is his home from which he comes
and goes as the season may require.
There is no underground of cover
and none is needed to hold back the
snow or prevent surface floods
The great enemy to the forest and
to the wool growers is the forest fires
which burn up the feed for the fiocks
and destroy the young and tender
pines. The grazing off of the grass and
weeds by the sheep and the vigilance
of the sheep owners are the greatest
against these forest fires. .
Where the timber has been cut and the
laps and brush left scattered upon the
these fires are inevitable, and
destructive to much of the larger
growth. Steps should be taken to re-
1uire parties cutting timber to clean up
carefully all combustible material left
behind whether on private or reserve i
ands.
1t is the popular idea that sheep ,
craze in close, compact herds and hence |
out what they do not feed off. |
This is incorrect. They are not closely |
lerded or punched except in driving
or corralling, which, in we'll managed .
nerds, is seldom done, and when scat
.ered on the range the tramping of the A.
small tree plants is slight.
There are in the San Francisco Noun
ain forest reservation districts on
which sheep have been grazad con-
SANITY for twenty years or more, 9TH
rs on which cattle only have grazed,
md a few districts on which neither
nave grazed at any time to any consid-
.rable extent, and we have yet to find
he man who can go over these districts
md point out which district has been
,razed by the sheep, which by cattle.
II the district on which no stock has
'anged. There is practically no diff
erence in the growth of these districts.
t is claimed by the oldest settlers that
crest fires were more frequent and de-
tructive in the early settlement be-
ore the grazing by sheep and cattle,
md that in the growth of the young
zine, the reforestation is greater where
AIDES CAN WEAR SHOES
me size smaller after using Aliens Foot-Ease