Annual report of the Bureau of ethnology to the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution .. . n becomes covered withgrass, and later with mesquite and cat-claw bushes, interspersedwith such cottonwood trees as may have survived the period when theterrace was but little above the river level. Cotton woods, with anoccasional willow, form the arborescent growth of the valley of theVerde proper, although on some of the principal tributaries and at alittle distance from the river groves of other kinds of trees are these trees, however, are confined to the immediate vicinity of theriver an
Annual report of the Bureau of ethnology to the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution .. . n becomes covered withgrass, and later with mesquite and cat-claw bushes, interspersedwith such cottonwood trees as may have survived the period when theterrace was but little above the river level. Cotton woods, with anoccasional willow, form the arborescent growth of the valley of theVerde proper, although on some of the principal tributaries and at alittle distance from the river groves of other kinds of trees are these trees, however, are confined to the immediate vicinity of theriver and those of its tributaries which carry water during most of theyear; and as the mountains which hem in the valley on the east andwest are not high enough to support great pines such as characterizethe plateau country on the north and east, the aspect of the country,even a short distance away from the river bottom, is arid and for-bidding in the extreme. Within the last few years the character of the river and of the coun-try adjacent to it has materially changed, and inferences drawn from. mindklbpf] EFFECT OF FRESHETS. 191 present conditions may be erroneous. This change is the direct resultof the recent stocking of the country with cattle. More cattle have beenbrought into the country than in its natural state it will support. Oneof the results of this overstocking is a very high death rate among thecattle; another and more important result is that the grasses and othervegetation have no chance to seed or mature, being cropped off close tothe ground almost as soon as they appear. As a result of this, many ofthe river terraces and little valleys among the foothills, once celebratedfor luxuriant grass, are now bare, and would hardly afford sustenanceto a single cow for a week. In place of strong grasses these placesare now covered for a few weeks in spring with a growth of a plantknown as filaree, which, owing to the rapid maturing of its seeds (ina month or less), seems to be
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