Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1881-08-28

The Grea Wealth Of the State I'm.
telligently Discussed.

~ ~AN0 W. stohO IA
diligently Discussed.
The SENTINEL has always had faith in
the wealth and future greatness Of Nevada.
A correspondent Of the Reno Gazette adj
dressing himself to other resources than
those contained in our silver and gold
bearing leads, sets forth the following
we'll digested facts
At first the rancher confined himself to
the natural meadows Of the w~ell-watsred
valleys, and was slow to discover that in
the adjoining sagebrush desert a more
prolific soil was found, which, by irrigat-
ing, would produce abundant crops Of
grain and vegetables. So the sagebrush of
the valleys and plains (deserts) is slowly
and surely disappearing, to be superseded
by large areas Of grain, alfalfa and vegeta-
bles. In Western Nevada there are streams
that afford water enough, properly utilized,
to irrigate ten-fold the area Of land now
under cultivation. In less favored parts
| of the State, reservoirs may be constructed,
and a~rtesian wells bored that will afford
waters enough to irrigate hundreds of
thousands OF acres Of these desert wastes,
but the time has not yet come for their
reclamation. Our population, for obvious
reasons, increases slowly. Give us a
steady, industrious people, who will be
content to labor and improve farms, and
Nevada may claim honors as an agricul-
tural State that all New England could
never hope to attain. But the great
wealth OF Nevada lies not altogether in her
agricultural valleys and mountains of min
eral veins. Her most barren and utter des-
erts, that are now decried and sneered at,
bid fair to become the sources Of her
| greatest wealth. That nature makes moth
ing in vain is assured by the fact that dis
c~overies are constantly being made Of vast
deposits of salt, soda, borax, nitre, sui
phur, etc., on the desert plains, and in the
desert hills that are destitute of vegetation,
except scattering, stunted sagebrush and
grease-wood, 10, 200 acres of which would
scarcely sustain an OK, and where q horned
toad can scarcely live, are also found gyp-
sum, asbestos, silica, kaolin, cinnibar,
plumbago, bituminous shale, indications
Of coal, iron and many other deposits, 90
well as veins Of copper, anthony, galena,
gold, silver and other metals, all of which,
when fully developed, will constitute i'm
mense sources of wealth. But little pro-
gress has been made in the development
of these valuable deposits, solely on ac-
count Of the want of some cheaper means
Of transportation than has yet been af-
forded. Already narrow-guage railroads
are being projected and constructed to
reach these deposits.
The first inception Of the Carson and
Colorado narrow-guage road had for its
object the traffic to be derived from the
salt and borax deposits Of Esmeralda
County. These cover several townships of
land aud we're a few years ago surveyed by
the Government for the owners. When
the c.. & G. R. r. is completed to Column
bus the development Of these deposits will
begin in earnest and will prove a bonanza
for the owners. The soda deposits in
Churchill County have not been fully de-
veloped for want of some better means of
transportation. The deposit seems to be
almost unlimited; it exists in a solid STRAIT
flied form and looks like ice as it is quar-
ried from the pits. Notwithstanding the
long distance it has to be hauled by teams
to the railroad, large quantities are being
shipped to San Francisco.
The nitre deposits of Humboldt county
was the subject Of a very able paper read
before the California Academy Of Sciences
by Hon. B. B. Redding, which has been
published in the San Francisco Bulletin
and other papers on the coast, and is o
exciting much attention. Immense tracts
VI apparently WOTtultbb utbtTL l6uQ udVe
been located by large companies, some Of
them locating tracts 10 or 10 miles in ex-
tent. These parties have made application
under the deposit system to have the coun-
try embracing the nitre fields surveyed,
and parties are now in the field making the
surveys. A narrow gauge railroad to
these deposits has been projected, and will
undoubtedly be completed in due time.
The sulphur deposits in Humboldt county
are numerous, some Of them producing
the nearly pure birthstone Of ommerc
These mines or deposits seem to be capable
of producing an almost inexhaustible
quantity, but the distance from the G. P.
railroad is considerable, and the roads are
sandy and heavy. To one of these de-
posts a narrow gauge railroad is contenn-
plated, connecting with the Central Pacific
at Humboldt. In fact these minerals and
salines are found In every part of the State,
and exist in lands mostly unfit for cultiva-
ton, hence these lands should be surveyed
as we'll as the farming, timber and mineral
lands, in order that parties locating them
may secure proper title. With the pro-
gress of the railroad system now being ex-
tended over the State, the Development OF
these great laboratories of nature will pro-
coed, and must form one Of the leading
industries Of the State.