EXPERIMENTS TN DRY FARMING IN THE GREAT BASIN. 11 



ino; mesas the dark ^con of the rabbit brush (Chrysothamiius) 

 makes a pleasing contrast in the hindscape. Among this shrul)by 

 growth various grasses naturally occur, Agropyron, Bouteloua, Stipa, 

 and Bromus being the genera more commonly represented. In a few 

 localities where conditions are favorable these grasses sometimes form 

 a compact sod, but usually they occur in scattered tufts. On exposed 

 situations and along the foothills, cedars of various species occur in 

 scattering groups, usually nuirking rock outcrops or stony soil. In the 

 lower valleys, particularly in the heavier and salty lands, the grease- 

 wood {Sarcolxitus cermiculdtus) replaces the sagebrush as the char- 

 acteristic shrub, with intermingling grasses or sedges where enough 

 moisture is available and with various saltbushes and saltworts, 

 species of Atriplex and Dondia, where moisture is scant or alkali 

 abundant. 



In the southern part of the Great Basin area the sagebrush is 

 replaced on the better lands by the creosote bush {Covillea triden- 

 tata), while the lower and more alkaline lands are occupied almost 

 exclusively by the greasewood and the saltworts mentioned above. 

 Along the water courses willoAvs and cottonwoods are common, but 

 aside from these the arable lands are treeless and easily brought 

 under cultivation. 



EXPERIMENTS IN DRY FARMING IN THE GREAT BASIN. 



The first agricultural settlements in the Great Basin were made 

 along the courses of streams, where water could be diverted for irri- 

 gation, and apparently for a long time no one thought farming with- 

 out irrigation possible. As a coiTsequence the early agriculture of 

 the region was confined to relatively intensive irrigation farming and 

 to ranging cattle and sheep on the higher lands. Irrigation farming 

 included the production of most of the staple crops common to Amer- 

 ican agriculture, but with considerabh^ more emphasis on wheat and 

 alfalfa than on any other crops. According to the census of 1900 

 the State of Utah had somewhat more than 686,000 acres in speci- 

 fied crops. Of these, about 190,000 acres were devoted to wheat, 

 about 270,000 acres to alfalfa, and nearly 115,000 acres to hay and 

 other forage crops; in other words, nearly 85 per cent of the total 

 acreage w-as devoted to these crops. Unlike the other irrigated sec- 

 tions of the AVest, the Great Basin area produces a considerable acre- 

 age of oats under irrigation. The area devoted to this crop in the 

 Great Basin in 1899 was slightly more than 43,000 acres, while barley, 

 which is the most important cereal besides wheat usually grown 

 under irrigation in the West, was grown on less than 9,000 acres of 

 Utah land. Corn is grown only to a limited extent, there being 

 reported for 1899 only 11,000 acres, while 10,000 acres were devoted 

 to potatoes and 5,000 acres to miscellaneous vegetables. Sugar beets 



103 



