xlviii 
BOTANY. 
perennial streams, especially in the East and West Hnmboldt Monntains or 
more frequently in the Wahsatch and Uintas, and in the cold springs of Ruby 
Valley. Of the 97 species 82 are common to Europe, 32 have been found 
in Arctic America or Greenland, and four are subarctic. Forty -three extend 
from the Atlantic to the Pacific and sixteen others occur in the Eastern 
States. Of the 15 species not European 8 are considered new, 2 are found 
in California, 2 in the Rocky Mountains, 2 both in the Rocky Mountains and 
westward, and one from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Three of the European 
species had not been before identified as American. 
The few Hepaticce collected were found only in the higher mountains, 
mostly in the Wahsatch and Uintas. Lichens are sometimes abundant in the 
the lower ranges of the Basin, but confined to a few well known genera and 
species. The JLecanorm are most conspicuous, covering large surfaces of the 
rocks and clifts with their bright colors. In other mountains all kinds are 
rare. Fungi were very seldom met with in any part of the territory. 
Ageicultueal Resources. It is evident from what has already been 
said that the agricultural resources of the Basin are not great. The actual 
limit is fixed by the deficiency of water. With a moderate supply for 
irrigation during the growing season there is no difficulty in securing good 
crops of cereals and vegetables in any of the valleys and lower canons of the 
territory. The most fertile localities fie at the base of the Sierras, but as a 
rule there is an apparent absence everywhere of a true soil or mould result- 
ing from the decomposition of vegetable matter. It is well known, however, 
that the Artemisia tridentata is always evidence of a considerable degree of 
fertility, and as also the presence of a moderate amount of alkalies is by no 
means detrimental it follows that a very large extent of surface must be 
adapted to agricultural purposes. But with the present actually available 
supply of water from the rivers and mountain streams, even were the whole 
of it employed in the most economical manner, it is estimated that out of 
the 34,000 square miles in Northern Nevada withhi the limits of the maps 
of the survey not over 1,000 square miles could ever be brought under culti- 
vation. The relative amount in Western Utah and in the more southern 
portions of the Basin must be less. The labor and expense of making canals 
and ditches, the limited markets for produce, and the competion in those 
markets of the overflow of California's abundance will probably long prevent 
more than a very partial development of the real capabifities of the region. 
