The Physical Aspect of Nevada.
Though the western edge laps up onto the Sierra Nevada Range, the greater part of the State of Nevada lies to the eastward and is embraced in that Great Basin region which extends to the western base of the Rocky Mountains. This interior region forms an immense plateau which has a mean elevation of four thousand feet above the level of the sea. In Nevada, however, the average altitude of the plateau may safely be set down at five thousand feet. The altitude of White Plains Station, west of the sink of the Humboldt, is 3,894 feet, and it is the lowest point on the overland railroad between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. Owing to this great elevation there is in all parts of Nevada an atmosphere pure, dry, and free from even the slightest malarial taint. It is such an atmosphere as in many other lands can only be found by going to the mountain tops. The average level of the State is higher than many of the noted mountain resorts in the Atlantic States. It is owing to this altitude that the nights in summer are always cool and pleasant, however warm the weather during the hours of daylight. The extremes of heat and cold are not great.
Running north and south through the elevated plateau which forms the general base or floor of the State are numerous parallel ranges of mountains. These interior ranges are quite regular in course and recurrence, and rise to a height of from one thousand to seven thousand feet above the general level of the country. Among these interior mountains are a few peaks that attain an elevation of from 9,000 to 12,000 feet above the level of the sea. Between these mountain ranges lie valleys ranging in width from one mile to thirty miles. As these valleys are hidden by the high, rocky ranges, and are not to be seen in a general survey of the country, even from an elevated position, the aspect of the country is sterile and austere, all being apparently a succession of barren, rocky hills.
The majority of the valleys lying between these rugged, parallel ranges are susceptible of cultivation, and many are wonderfully productive. The bench lands bordering the valleys are also exceedingly fertile and yield large crops wherever water for irrigation is led upon them. For all uses, those of the horticulturist as well as the agriculturist, these bench lands will yet be found the best in the State. The benches possess a warm and willing soil.
The interior mountains, rugged and timberless as they are, have their uses. From the summits of many of the ranges flow springs and small streams that afford a supply of water for the irrigation of the valley and bench lands below. They are also conservators of a supply of moisture. On the summits of the higher ranges snow falls in winter to a great depth, and from the melting of this in spring and summer is derived a considerable supply of water for use on the arable lands on either side. These reserves of snow are also of great benefit to the mountain pastures, causing grass to spring up along the courses of a thousand ravines and little valleys, or laps of land, on the slopes and tops of the hills. This water supply may be made infinitely more valuable than it is at present by the construction of suitable reservoirs at proper points in the large canyons for storing it up till needed in summer.
The construction of such reservoirs has already been commenced among the interior ranges, as well as in places along the main Sierra Nevada Range, and year by year more and still more such improvements will be made. Already Nevada holds a high place as an agricultural and stock-growing State, though for nearly the whole term of her existence mining for the precious metals has been the all-absorbing business of the majority of her people, and has been the business which has attracted the attention of nearly all the wealthy men of the country. The State annually produces immense quantities of hay, and the beef cattle of Nevada are the finest and fattest to be found on the Pacific Coast. A great part of the beef supply of California is obtained from Nevada. The horses of Nevada are also very fine and noted for their “staying” qualities, as they have much broader chests and larger lungs than the animals reared in valley regions near the level of the sea. The State is also beginning to make its mark in the business of wool-growing, not only on account of the quantity but also the quality produced. In price Nevada wool leads the wools of all the new regions of the West. Fine wheat and good grain of all kinds will everywhere be found in Nevada, and the apples, peaches, pears, plums, and all other kinds of fruit have a piquancy of flavor not to be found in that grown in the sweltering valleys of California. The same may be said of all kinds of kitchen vegetables, strawberries, and other small fruits. In the way of potatoes the State produces such as have no superiors in any part of the world. This elevated region seems as much the natural home of the potato as were those high valleys in the Andes where it was first found growing wild, and where it is said the wild tuber is still to be seen.