Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1882-09-03
NEVADA FRUIT,
Some Very Remarkable PrOduc-
lions from Duck VALLEY.

Some Very Remarkable PrOduc-
lions from Duck Valley.
We do not believe that the capabilities
of Nevada for agriculture are half appre-
ciated. Had what is now accomplished in
this State in farming been talked of as pos
sible only a few years ago the proposition
would have been considered nearly absurd.
Notwithstanding all the disadvantages
with which our farming people have to
contend, we are satisfied that in the lapse
of time this %sagebrush country will be
made to blossom az the rose. From sew
eral parts of the State, notably along the
Truckee, Humboldt and Carson Rivers,
where the soil is ~alluvial and the tempera.
ture less rigorous, the fruit products. to
say nothing of the cereals, are remarkable
for their kind and variety. But the most
satisfactory evidence of what can be done
in Nevada in the cultivation of fruit is
some samples of apples, grapes, plums and
peaches that we have before us ON the ed
itorial table, brought to Eureka by Squire
Irwin from his ranch in Nye County.
The plums, yellow and purple, are large,
firm, sweet and very juicy. The punches
Of grapes, of the small, black sort, are in
dense clusters, substantial, well favored
and altogether nice. The peaches are fine
and superior to those of California. AS a
rule larger and finer looking fruit is grown
in California than in Nevada, but it is the
rule, also, that fruit matured in Nevada is
more substantial and juicy, and of better
flavor than that produced in California.
Squire Irwin has been experimenting in
fruit raising on his ranch for the last seven
or eight years. At first he was not success
ful-he allowed his trees to attain their
normal growth. The wind. which is vio-
lent in his vicinity, as generally, at times,
throughout Nevada, blew the blossoms off,
or if the blossoms escaped the rayases Of
the wind the young fruit would fall q VIC
tim to it and be blown from the stems to
the ground. He looked about HIM and
took a lesson from nature. He saw the
runty cedars how they grew on the hills,
close to the ground, with low trunks and
the limbs spread out nearly on a line with
the ground. He vent to work and pre-
pared his fruit trees to make them grow
in the same way. He planted young
trees and cut them off just above
the first limbs, and never allowed
any tree to grow higher than his head,
He thus saved them from the violence of
the wind. The branches spread out, and
as the fruit grew and matured it rested on
the ground. His best fruit, he says, is
that which rests on the ground, covered
over with straw. He makes a great
abundance Of gooseberries, currants and
other berries every year. Nor do thefrosts
ever kill the more tender fruits on his
place, except the grape vines, Of which
nearly one-half are winter-killed every
year. Hereafter he will save all these
vines by bending them down and covering
them over with straw and earth, after
harvest, until Spring. This year Mr..
Irwin will sell to his %neighbors in Duck
Valley between four and five tons Of fruit.
From his remarkable success, attained by
industry and thoughtful labor, it is plain
that others may go and do likewise any
where else, almost, on the slope. He says
he feels as though he had just started in to
find OUT q few Of the many things about
fruit raising that he knows he will come
upon by experience. From year to year
he will improve his fruits by purchase and
Of the best stock, and we feel
sure that within the next five or six years
his 0-acre orchard will be one which not
only Nevada but almost any State might
be prOud of.