feasibility." In other words, the State recognizes the inherent uncertainties of the under- 

 taking and will not compel the fulfilment of a proposed project beyond what is reasonable 

 and just, but permits the contractor to relinquish all lands which he originally undertook 

 to reclaim, on proper showing that the progress of the undertaking has demonstrated that 

 such lands cannot be reclaimed except at greater expense than the profits of the under- 

 taking warrant. The field of opportunity for artesian Carey Act projects in Nevada is 

 very extensive and yet is only in small part covered. 



SUBDIVIDING THE GREAT RANCHES 



As previously stated, the second industry in importance in the State, after mining, 

 is stock-raising. Nearly all the early farmers, as distinguished from the stockmen, had 

 each a herd of cattle or a flock of sheep. The State land grants until they were 

 exhausted enabled land to be acquired at a low price and in large tracts. The result 

 was that big ranches became the rule, and tracts of thousands of acres passed into single 

 ownerships. The agriculturist was thus deprived of many opportunities for securing 

 arable lands which he would have been glad to have entered upon and reclaimed. 



Each succeeding year, now, more and more of the arable lands of these great ranches 

 is becoming too valuable for mere grazing purposes. In some instances there are vested 

 water rights sufficient to reclaim extensive areas, and in other cases the land is so situated 

 with reference to natural streams as to be entirely feasible of reclamation. In former 

 years the stockmen viewed with little favor the advent of the small farmer. That day is 

 past; more particularly since the Government adopted the policy of leasing and exercising 

 federal supervision over the public range lands. The stockman is thus protected from 

 trespass in what he leases, and the fear that the new settler may encroach upon his range, 

 after once getting a foothold as a farmer, is removed. 



A number of owners of arable tracts capable of reclamation and subdivision into 

 small farms, within the past year have signified willingness to put them on the market. 

 The ranch owner, as a rule, is not disposed to attempt the colonization of the tract him- 

 self, but prefers to sell outright for a lump sum, usually part cash and the balance in 

 annual payments with interest. The prices asked, as a rule, are reaonable, and afford 

 opportunity for the purchaser to make a very substantial profit by subdividing the tract 

 and reselling it in small holdings. 



These great ranches also offer special inducements for community colonization; that 

 is to say, where a number of homeseekers and their families desire to immigrate in a body 

 in order to settle in a new country with their kinspeople and neighbors. There are 

 instances where ranches of from ten to fifty thousand acres can be acquired, part arable 

 lands and part range lands, capable of a combination of both farming and stock-raising, 

 and which offer special opportunities for whole communities to settle upon and develop 

 into prosperous little commonwealths. 



Drainage of Swamps and Lowlands. 



There are several instances in the State of extensive areas of swamp-lands along the 

 course of the various rivers which could be drained at reasonable expense, and thus 

 reclaim in each case several thousand acres of rich silt bottom-lands. This land is now 

 covered with tules and natural grass and is used for pasture and the growing of wild 

 hay. The soil is likely to contain some alkali, but which may be readily leached out 

 when the land is drained. The high subsurface water-table causes the alkali to rise and 

 in many cases about all there is of it is immediately visible on the surface. The con- 

 struction of drainage ditches followed by the "washing" of the land flowing fresh 

 water over it for a few weeks during the fall or spring in the majority of instances will 

 remove the salts. The silt is frequently from ten to fifty feet deep, black from the humus 

 of decomposed vegetable material. Its fertility when drained is prodigious. Crops of 

 from fifty to seventy-five bushels of wheat, ten to fifteen tons of potatoes and from twenty 



29 



