deforested to provide timbers for the mines. In very limited spaces
on other mountains there are scattered trees—the piñon (nut
pine) and the juniper at an altitude between 5000 and 7000 ft.
on all but the lowest ranges, the trees rarely reaching a height of
over 15 ft.; and the stunted mountain mahogany on the principal
ranges at an altitude of 6800 ft. Several varieties of poplar are
found in the upper canyons, and trees of the willow-leaved species in
the Humboldt Mountains often attain a height of 60 ft. But except
for these infrequent wooded strips, the mountains are even more
bare than the valleys, because their shrubs are dwarfed from exposure.
The trees, except in the Washoe Mountains, are of very
slow growth and therefore knotty and ill-adapted for timber. As a
rule, the elevation of the timber line on the mountains increases as
the latitude decreases. On the foothills are found phlox and lupine,
and in the N. much bunch grass, which is valuable for grazing purposes.
The valleys are covered with typical desert shrubs; grease-wood
(sarcobatus vermiculatus), creosote bushes (larrea tridentata), and
sage-brush (artemisia tridentata); the first-named plant is abundant,
chiefly in the N. This vegetation, covering plains, mesas, and even
extending up the sides of the mountains, gives the entire landscape
the greyish or dull olive colour characteristic of the Great Basin.
To the southward, as the valleys become increasingly sandy and
saline, even the sage-brush disappears, and little vegetation besides
the cactus and the yucca is to be seen. The valleys are treeless,
except in the vicinity of the Truckee river, where considerable
quantities of the cotton wood and a small amount of willow, birch,
and wild cherry are found. The mesquite grows some distance
from water, and is especially common near the Colorado river. In
January 1910 there were seven national forests in the state, created
since July 1908 and chiefly in 1909, containing 7983·76 sq. m.
Climate.—As the lofty range of mountains on the W. deprives the winds from the Pacific of nearly all their moisture before they reach the Great Basin, the climate of Nevada is characterized by an excessive dryness. The skies are clear nearly every day in the year. The mean annual precipitation varies from 3 in. in the S.W. (Esmeralda county) to 12 in. in the E. (White Pine county). In the central, north-eastern and north-western sections, embracing the counties of Nye, Elko and Humboldt, the average annual rainfall varies from 7 to 8 in.; in the west-central section, at the foot of the Sierra, the average is about 10 in. A so-called “rainy season” lasts from October to April, but the precipitation is chiefly in the form of snow on the mountains. Except at great altitudes snow lies on the ground only a few days each year. The melting of the mountain snow-caps in the spring causes severe freshets, which in turn are followed by long seasons of drought at a time when water is most needed for agricultural purposes. Fogs and hail are rare, but, as in all treeless countries, the rain comes in unequal quantities, and cloudbursts are not unknown. The mean annual temperature for the state is 49° F., but varies from 54° in the S.W. to 46° in the N. The daily and annual variation is very great, and is intensified toward the E., where the altitudes are greater. At Elko, Elko county, in the N.E., the mean temperature for the year is 46° F.; for the winter (December, January and February) it is 26°, with extremes reported of 73° and −42°; the mean temperature for the summer (June, July and August) is 69°, with extremes of 108° and 20°. At Hawthorne, Esmeralda county, in the S.W., the mean temperature for the year is 54°; for the winter it is 36°, with extremes of 69° and −6°; the mean temperature for the summer is 72°, with extremes of 102° and 32°. At the head of the Humboldt river frosts are of almost nightly occurrence, and in the Carson Valley damaging frosts often occur in June. In the extreme S. the isothermal lines run almost due E. and W.; but farther northward they take a N.W. and S.E. direction. The annual range of temperature is about 124°; the highest temperature ever recorded being 119°, and the lowest −42°. In spite of the high temperatures of summer, however, the low humidity prevents the heat from being oppressive, and cases of sunstroke are unknown. While the western mountains keep out the moisture, they do not ward off the winds which pour down the steep slopes in the winter and spring and raise clouds of dust. Early-sown grain is often injured by flying sand and gravel. In the summer and autumn the winds are light.
Agriculture.—Because of this extreme aridity, agriculture in Nevada is dependent on irrigation. The three principal areas in which irrigation is practicable are along the Humboldt river, in the plains watered by the Carson, Truckee and Walker rivers, and at the foot of the mountains along the western edge of the state. There are various places also near the mouths of desert canyons, where small amounts of water are obtainable for irrigation purposes from intermittent streams. The total number of acres irrigated in 1899 was 504,168, an increase of 124·7% in the decade. In 1902 the total irrigated acreage was 570,001, an increase of 13·1% in three years. In 1902 Congress provided for the beginning of extensive irrigation works in the arid West, and Nevada (where preliminary reconnaissances had been made in 1889–1890) was the first state to profit from this undertaking. The survey for the Truckee-Carson system was begun in 1902, with the object of utilizing the waters flowing to waste in western Nevada for the irrigation and reclamation of the adjacent arid regions in Churchill, Lyon and Storey counties. A canal 31 m. long, diverting the waters of the Truckee river into the Carson river, was completed in 1905 at a cost of $1,250,000. A system of reservoirs (the main reservoir is Lake Tahoe with an area of 193 sq. m.), distributing canals, and drain ditches was also projected, making it possible to reclaim 231,300 acres of the desert. It was estimated that the works would require nine years for their completion, at a total cost of $9,000,000, although the first 200,000 acres could be reclaimed at a cost of $2,700,000. The works were to be operated by the government for ten years, and the cost assessed against the holders of the land.[1] At the conclusion of this period the system was to pass into the control of the landholders, with no further charge by the government.
The soil when reclaimed is well adapted for forage crops, cereals, vegetables and deciduous fruits. Nevada is a great ranching state, and stock-raising has shown a rapid extension. In 1900, 88·9% of its farm acreage was devoted to hay and forage crops, being more than doubled in the decade. Fifty-one per cent. of the improved lands in 1899 were devoted to the cultivation of these crops. With the growing of grasses as the chief agricultural product, farming in Nevada is necessarily extensive rather than intensive. In 1899 the average size of the farms was 1174 acres.[2] The value of the different kinds of agricultural products for 1899 was as follows: live stock, $4,373,973; hay and grain, $1,535,914; dairy produce, $385,220; vegetables, $216,600; fruits, $20,900. It thus appears that the live stock industry is one of the most important in the state; the value of its product in 1899 exceeded its output of gold and silver, which had then reached its lowest point, by over one million dollars.[3] About 64% of the value of the live stock was represented by neat cattle; 19% by sheep; 10% by horses, and the remainder by mules, swine, asses, burros and goats.
In spite of the predominating interest in stock-raising, intensive cultivation of the soil is practicable where the water supply is sufficient. Nevada, for example, ranked third in 1909 in the amount of wheat produced to the acre (28·7 bushels),[4] but in the total amount produced (1,033,000 bushels) ranked only thirty-eighth, and furnished only 0·145% of the crop of the United States. In 1909 in the amount of barley per acre (38 bushels) Nevada ranked third, and in the average farm price per bushel ($0·75) ranked first among the barley-producing states of the country, but in the total amount produced (304,000 bushels) held only the twenty-second place; and in the same year the average yield of potatoes per acre in Nevada was 180 bushels, exceeded in two states—the average for the entire country was 106·8 bushels per acre—but the total crop in Nevada (540,000 bushels) was smaller than in any state or Territory of the Union, except New Mexico.
The prevailing soils are sand and gravel loams, but other varieties are numerous, ranging from rich alluvial beds of extinct lakes, as in parts of Lyon and Esmeralda counties, to the strongly alkaline plains of the southern deserts. The most productive part of the state is the Humboldt Valley and the region near Pyramid Lake, including the counties of Humboldt, Elko and Washoe.
A singular menace to agriculture in Nevada was the plague in 1907–1908 of Carson field mice. These first appeared in large numbers in the lower part of the Humboldt Valley in the summer of 1906, and in October and November 1907 it was estimated that they numbered on certain ranches from 8000 to 12,000 on every acre. The alfalfa crop suffered particularly, the total loss being about $300,000. After unsuccessful attempts to rid themselves of the mice, the farmers appealed to the United States Biological Survey, and alfalfa hay poisoned with strychnia sulphate was used successfully in the Humboldt Valley in January 1908 and in the Carson Valley, where a similar plague threatened, in April 1908.[5]
Minerals.—To its mineral wealth Nevada owes its existence as a state; but for the richness of its veins of gold and silver ore it would be still little more than an arid waste. Extending from central California S.E. along the dividing line between that state and
- ↑ The public lands are open to entry free of charge, but the government withholds the title until all the payments for water have been made. The yearly payments amount to $2·60 per acre under the present system; this amount covers the cost of maintenance and operation and also of a thorough drainage system, which is as important to the settler as irrigation. Lands already held in private ownership are supplied with water at the same price as public lands.
- ↑ Compare this figure with that for the neighbouring state of California, where the average size of the farms was 397·4 acres.
- ↑ That conditions are favourable to the animal industry is shown by the fact that in 1897 the valleys of northern Nevada were so overrun with wild horses, to the detriment of the grazing grounds for cattle, that the legislature authorized the killing of such animals. For a time this was a profitable pursuit, as the horse hides brought good prices.
- ↑ This is the yield reported by the United States Department of Agriculture. Between its reports and those of the Census Bureau in census years there are sometimes great discrepancies. According to the Year Book of the Department of Agriculture in 1909 a crop of 165,000 bushels of oats was grown in Nevada on 7000 acres; there was no crop reported of Indian corn or of rye.
- ↑ See Stanley E. Piper, The Nevada Mouse Plague of 1907–1908 (Washington, 1909), Farmers’ Bulletin 352, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
