Weekly Independent

Nevada's Possibilities

Hon. Geo. W. Merrill, formerly of Eureka, this State, and afterward Minister to the Australian Islands, spoke as follows in the Irrigation Congress at Los Angeles last month, concerning the agricultural possibilities of Nevada:

"Mr. Chairman, I have not been loquacious upon this subject, but I beg to say that for nearly a quarter of a century the pride of Eureka was familiar to me and the richest hill-tops with ore. I remember as I have passed great desert tracts between the sun-kissed peaks of Lassen and Nevada and Salt Lake City that I have passed over tracts where the land was so barren that sagebrush looked lonesome as it raised its head above the ground. But, sir, since then I have passed over numerous countries and noted the miraculous change effected by irrigation in a comparatively small area. At a small station Kinks in Humboldt county, on the Central Pacific railroad, you who have passed through on the cars have noticed an oasis in this great desert. What produced it? A little stream running down from the mountains. To-day, after a dusty ride in the cars get out there, take your lunch and partake of some of the finest fruit that grows under the sun. You can find everything, except perhaps, oranges as they can be raised in other parts of the State; yes you can find apricots, pears and all fruits and vegetables known in the land, and whatever is necessary to sustain man and beast. It is no idle dream, the possibilities of the arid land, when once brought into contact with water. Developing a little farther west, and you will find yourself at the end a larger stream of pure, crystal-like water leaping down over the range through the greater part of which is unused and lost. This is but one of the many streams flowing into the State of Nevada and making the water facilities surpass by far those in the Sierra Nevada range but a little distance east of the Golden State. When the trains there is to stop water rushing about three feet the next to slopes ten large along within sturdy a real due out of thus viable twopence led. I have traveled over that country year after year, and I have at no time noticed waters which should and which can to-day fertilize a large portion of that country, flowing idly, and if properly cared for that State can be transformed into a veritable garden of Eden."