The Goldfield news. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1904-1911, 1909-11-06
Nevada Mines Have a New Rival

~ EOPLE of Nevada are becOmings suddenly awakened to the fact
that the mining industry of the state has a new rival-one
that has grown to tremendous proportions in a night, as it
were; an industry that, while not productive of great wealth in a
few hours, is steady, solid and substantial. We refer to agriculture
and hortculture-to the industry that is today first in the United
States-to the science of producing wealth and creature comforts of
and from the soil.
Mans creature comforts have always come from the soil The
food that he eats, the clothes that he wears, that which keeps him
warm, are direct products Of the soil Man lived first on fruits, in
the garden Of Eden. Expulsion from the garden meant he must
toll in less congenial chimes for his food and clothing. At first, it
seemed easier to STAY animals, and use their flesh for food, their
skins for warmth. Then man discovered that he could easier coax
certain forms Of plant life to give him food; that he could easier
domesticate certain silage-eating animals for the purpose of food and
clothing than he could sy the wild beast of the jungle. And 50 it
has ever been; a steady progression to the present day.
The call Of the soil has always been strong in the human breast.
The dwener in the city longs for his little bit of land where he might
scratch the soil. The farmer leaves for a time, only to return. Gold
may lure to delving in the depths of the earth, but the delving is done
that man may return to the sunlight and scratch the surface OF the
ground.
For untold ages Nevada has been a parched desert. The streams
have disappeared beneath the earth. The winds, and SHOWS, and
rains. tornado and tempest have been doing their work Of tearing
down the rugged hills, and filling the valleys with rich aluvium, full
of all those mineral salts which maintain plant life, against the time
when man should read the secret of the underground streams; the
time when he would yield to the invitation OF the surface waters, and
store them for the purpose Of giving the desert drink. Many people
have been lured to the desert, called by the greed for gold. That first
fiery passion has lost its keen edge, and the call of the soil is being
needed.
No lands in the world are better fitted for mans needs than are
these brown acres Of the desert. With water added, they will grow
grain and vegetables; they will grow fruits and flowers; they are
filled with a richness of mineral salts that will give the product of
tree and vine it's utmost excellence in points OF yield, color, flavor
and nutriment. In all parts of Nevada the climate is more salubrious
than the climate of the Middle West. The winters lighter, the
m more eouable. All that is lacking is water. The surface
streams Of the state are carrying water, now unused, sufficient to
bring luxurisnt plant life to hundreds OF thousands OF acres The
underground streams r slmost equally abundant.
We have see the birth and the growth Of arid districts reclaimed
Nv the applicat;on Of water. We can cite, for instance, one famous
ranch in semi-arid California where, in summer, the ground was as
and parched as any Of the desert acres. On the $4,000 acres OF