White Pine news weekly mining review. [volume] (East Ely, Nev.) 1910-1920, 1911-02-12
SACEBRUSH LAND
REPORT OF sURVEYOR-GENERAL
GIVES INFORMATION ABOUT
NOT GENERALLY KNOWN.

The biennial report of c. l.. Deadly,
surveyor-general and state land reg
lister, for 19O9-10, has just been is
sued, and is an interesting document
on account of the large amount of
information it gives pertaining to
the public lands of the state. espec-
tally the agricultural, regarding
which it gives considerable valuable
data that should draw greater atten-
ton to the settlement of lands for
agricultural purposes and dispel the
belief that the so-called arid lands
are fit only for the raising of sage
brush. cactus and horned toads.
Regarding the soil and its produc-
ton, the report says:
The best arabic lands are the
sage lands. Sagebrush grows almost
everywhere, from the lowest valleys
to the mountain tops of the interior
portions of the state. The quality of
the soil is Indicated by the size and
thriftiness of the sage-Drush; the
larger, of course, indicating a rich,
deep soil, containing more than an
ordinary amount of moisture. A
short, dwarfed growth indicates a
thinner soil, with less moisture.
Where thrifty %sagebrush grows,
and the natural moisture is suffici-
ent. grain can be grown without irri-
cation, and water can be found be-
low the surface.
"Greasewood brush indicates a
Ill 49, - "a naAaFA - Ice
degree with alkali. and is often
found growing thriftily where the
ground is covered and white with
alkali.
"Greasewood lands usually indi-
cate a deep, rich soil. and are pro-
ductive where there is a moderate
amount of alkali. All that is needed
to make it so is a sufficient amount
of moisture, which, If not found to
exist naturally, must be supplied by
irrigation; and as a rule, it may be
said that all sagebrush lands, to be
productive, require TO be irrigated,
thus producing all the cereals, fruits
and vegetables adapted to this lati-
tude east of the Rocky mountains,
which can be raised in Nevada in
abundance and in superior perfec-
ton.
The prevailing opinion that the
desert lands of Nevada are produc-
tive of nothing useful to mankind
is rapidly being discredited.
THE experience of twenty-five to
thirty years has proven that not only
a greater area of the public domain
of Nevada is susceptible of cultivation
than was first supposed, butthat such
land possesses within itself a con
slant recuperatiye power. Instances
are numerous where lands have been
cultivated for fifteen years and yet
shows no signs of deterioration, and
some farmers claim that lands have
improved in productiveness during
that time, although no artificial fer
~tilizers have been applied to them.
This may be due, in part, to the fact
that such lands contain a super
abundance of silicas and alumina,
and that through the progress of
evaporation there are annually
brought to the surface a proportion
of the salt. alkalies, nitrates and
p~hosphates that lie stored in mex
HduSllDle deposits ldT DeloN the sur
face and produce such conditions of
the soil as TO render it prolific of
vegetation.
THE best evidence of this fact is
shown in the wonderful growth of
alfalfa, which crop, instead of dimin-
ishing, seems to increase in abund-
ance year after year. The selection
of farm lands is now being better un-
derstood, as the light of experience