GRAZING AND STOCK-RAISING. The hills and mountains of Nevada and many of the valleys abound in nutritious grasses, which will ultimately render the business of stock-raising only subordinate to that of mining the precious metals. The area devoted to grazing is extending annually, and the industry of raising stock is certain to become one of our marked sources of profit. Even now the prime quality of the beef and mutton, fattened on the sweet bunch-grasses of our mountains and foot-hills, is well known in the markets of California. The periodical droughts which occur in the adjoining State of California send large droves of cattle and flocks of sheep into this State, where they are saved and fattened and returned to the markets of the coast. At the close of August, this year, it was estimated from credible data that 60,000 head of cattle and 100,000 sheep had been driven in from California, and before the close of October it is probable that the number of cattle will be swelled to 75,000 head, and the sheep to 150,000. From June 30, 1870, to June 30, 1871, the Central Pacific Railroad delivered 8,874 head of beef cattle from Nevada to San Francisco; 2,500 were driven thence to the same market; making the ascertained total of 11,374 head of beef cattle during the year. AGRICULTURE. As yet, comparatively.slight attention has been devoted to the products of the farm and the dairy, although perhaps enough has been done, in both directions, to establish the fact that the wants of a largely increased population may be supplied. The surface of the State is very generally arid, and water for the garden and farm, and even for the stock "ranch," must be supplied by ditches and artesian wells, and by the construction of reservoirs for holding the water from the melting snows of the numerous mountain ranges. Since the completion of ditches for irrigation, in Washoe County, on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevadas, considerable tracts of arid land, which were overgrown by sage-brush and grease-wood, have been cleared and planted with grass, grain, and roots. In every case where these warm, rich sage-brush lands have been irrigated they have returned generous crops. Alfalfa grass in particular thrives wonderfully. According to the report for 1870 of the surveyor of the county, the sage lands in Steamboat Valley produced that year, the second year after seeding, eight tons of Alfalfa hay to the acre; and he says he has heard of other lands which surpassed that yield. He adds that two and even three crops have been cut from the same land in one year. Paradise Valley and Queen's River Valley, in Humboldt County, in the northwestern part of the State, are well watered by the Little Humboldt and Queen's Rivers, and their rich alluvial soil is very productive. Ruby Valley, in the eastern part of the State, has a fair natural supply of water, and the soil is remarkably fertile. When the travel overland was performed in coaches, nearly all the hay and grain consumed over the route through a considerable part of the State were grown in this valley. The grain was of excellent quality and the yield per acre large. The valley still produces abundant crops of hay and grain and is noted for its fine stock. The valleys of Nevada are treeless, the timber growing altogether in the mountain ranges. Scarcely any effort has yet been made to cultivate trees, either for fuel or fruit. In the adjoining Territory of Utah, where similar physical conditions exist, the hardier forest and fruit trees have been planted freely and thrive well; and there is no doubt that they would thrive equally well in Nevada. Small orchards have been set out in some localities, and the trees grow finely. At present the population is too deeply absorbed in mining and kindred pursuits to adopt any system for the planting of the much-needed trees. IRRIGATION. The extreme aridity of the State renders the irrigation of the land essential. An efficient and cheap system-embracing the ditch, artesian well, and reservoir-could be easily adopted by means of which a large area of the land in the State might be profitably devoted to farming and grazing. Numerous ditches for the purpose of irrigation have been constructed in different parts of the State, and in every instance they have been entirely successful. The most extensive of these works are in Washoe Valley. Of the number the most important is the Truckee ditch, which receives its water from the Truckee River and distributes it along a course of eighteen miles. The estimated capacity of this ditch is 1,500 inches, miner's measurement, and cost about $1,000 per mile. Besides this ditch, there are eighteen other ditches for irrigation in the same county. There are many others for a similar purpose in the different counties of the State. RAILROADS. The Central Pacific Railroad, which traverses the State from west to east, has tended to the settlement of an extensive scope of country which was formerly almost in its normal condition. The great advantages of this line of communication are already felt materially. Towns and settlements dot its course; the mining districts which lie on either side are furnished with additional and cheaper facilities; and the path of the immigrant is clearer and more inviting. It enables the stock-raiser to speedily meet the demands of a distant market, and the miner to carry his ores to reduction works, or to sell them for foreign markets. And although the sanguine expectations of greatlycheapened rates of transportation have not been realized, there is still a palpable improvement on the former condition of things. Our adjuvant local railroads are of not less importance. The first section of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad-which will, when completed, connect the site of the great Comstock silver vein with the trans-continental highway-was commenced March 1, 1869, and finished November 15th, the same year. Its length, from Virginia City to Carson, the capital of the State, is twenty-one miles; its cost, $1,626,000. The section from Carson to Reno-a prominent town on the Central Pacific Railroad-will be twenty-eight miles long, extending mainly through a fine valley; it will be completed early in 1872, at the estimated cost of $1,000,000 The road from Virginia City to Reno will be forty-nine miles long, and its cost $2,626,000. The road will be of immense importance to the mining and milling industry of the western part of the State. Since the completion of the first section between Virginia City and Carson, there have been carried over the road monthly an average of: Passengers, 2,000; cords of wood, 5,000; feet of lumber, 1,000,000; tons of ore, 12,000. At present, all the supplies from San Francisco for this busy region are hauled in wagons from Reno to Virginia City, at great expense of time and money; but when the connection is made with the Central Pacific the entire carrying and passenger trade will be done by this local railroad, at a reduction of 333 per cent. in the rates of freight. A narrow-gauge road, to be known as the Eastern Nevada Railroad, has been projected between Elko, on the Central Pacific Railroad, and Hamilton, the chief town in the rich mining county of White Pine. The length of the road will be one hundred and twenty-four and a half miles; gauge, 3 feet; width of road-bed, 6 feet. The minimum grade of the road is 20 feet to the mile; the maximum, 120 feet. The road was surveyed March 1, 1871, and the grading was begun August 7, following. It will be completed in 1872. The projectors of the road estimate that passengers can be carried over it for $10 per head; that freight from Elko to Hamilton will not exceed $15 per ton, and the return freight from $5 to $8 per ton--a reduction of 200 per cent. on the present rates, to say nothing of the great gain in time. This local road will be of incalculable benefit not only to the mines of White Pine County, but to the important mining district of Eureka, adjoining, as well as to the valuable mineral region lying to the southward, in which is embraced the productive district of Ely. Hoping that this report will meet your approbation, I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, E. S. DAVIS, Hon. WILLIS DRUMMOND, Commissioner General Land Office, Washington, D..C. Surveyor General. A.-Statement of contracts entered into by the United States surveyor general for Nevada with the number of miles surveyed during the fiscal years 1870 and 1871. north, ranges 61 and 62 east, and township 10 north, ranges 57 and 58 east; Mount Diablo meridian. *40 Oct. 22 A. J. Hatch and J. H. Eaton Seventh standard parallel line north, *41 Nov. 25 A. J. Hatch and J. H. Eaton Ruby Valley guide meridian; *42 Jan. 20 E. B. Monroe. *43 Feb. 16 A. J. Hatch and J. H. Eaton Exterior and subdivision lines of * Closed. + Convergency. + Special deposit. |