

points south will rival those produced anywhere else in the country. The crop is very 

 profitable, bringing in a gross income of from $100 to $350 per acre. While cantaloupes 

 and watermelons are raised generally throughout the other agricultural sections, it is more 

 for household and local consumption. 



Market Gardening Crops. 



POTATOES: This is the principal export crop of the State. Not every section of 

 America is adapted to growing this great staple. The Nevada potato has taken the 

 first award at several fairs, international expositions and produce shows, and if equaled in 

 points of good qualities by those grown in any other favored sections of the country for 

 the tuber, it is unsurpassed, to say the least. It grows evenly, when properly cultivated, 

 of uniform size, clear and healthy skin, firm texture, free from disease, is not watery and 

 when cooked is dry, mealy and white as a snowdrift. In every market where the Nevada 

 potato is known it commands a premium. It is no mean agricultural art to get the 

 best results in potato-growing. It requires experience and intelligence to know when 

 and how to plant the crop, how deep the irrigation furrows should be and the precise 

 quantity of water required. But where the art is mastered the profits from potato- 

 growing one year with another are very great. The average yield is about six tons to the 

 acre, or 200 bushels, under any reasonably skilful handling, but the leading potato 

 growers of the State grow from eight to fifteen tons per acre. The average selling price 

 is about twenty dollars per ton or sixty cents per bushel. A net profit of $200 per 

 acre on the crop is not unusual in seasons of good prices. 



ONIONS: This is likewise a very profitable crop, but for the best results requires a 

 black silt soil, usually found only along the river-bottoms. From fifteen to thirty tons 

 per acre are harvested from such lands. The market varies between wide extremes, some 

 years hardly paying the cost of the crop and another year giving an enormous profit. 

 This is an important export crop. 



SUGAR-BEETS: To supply the new sugar-beet factory at Fallen with 65,000 tons 

 of sugar-beets per annum, a large opening is created for the growing of sugar-beets 

 throughout the tributary territory. As stated in a previous chapter, the local farmers are 

 as yet unfamiliar with beet culture. For the homeseeker who is, there is a great opening 

 to lease land of the farmers on shares, to acquire lands by purchase or to homestead on 

 the Truckee-Carson Reclamation Project. Tests of beets grown in the vicinity for a 

 number of years gave a general average of seventeen per cent, sugar; purity 89.95. The 

 price paid for the beets is based on sugar content: five dollars per ton on a base rate of 

 fifteen per cent, sugar, and thirty cents per ton for each per cent, above. In addition there 

 is a compensating additional allowance for varying distances of transportation from the 

 field to the factory. 



CELERY: This is a crop which seems to be particularly adapted to the soil and 

 climatic conditions in the State. There is a strong demand both from local sources and 

 for export. Nevada celery is tender, brittle, grows thriftily and is free from rust and 

 disease. It requires a sandy loam or silt soil, and its growth is extremely profitable. 



ASPARAGUS: Like celery, asparagus is a crop now attracting attention in many 

 places where tests have proved it to be specially adapted. About 200 acres are grown 

 in the Muddy Valley, maturing in March, and commands a high price in the Chicago 

 and New York markets. Profits as high as $400 per acre have been made. 



OTHER VEGETABLE CROPS: All ordinary garden vegetables, such as corn, tomatoes, 

 lettuce, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, egg-plants, turnips, carrots, etc., may be grown 

 generally throughout the State. 



FORAGE CROPS. 



ALFALFA: This is the State's most important agricultural crop. All soils, excepting 

 those containing an excess of alkali or having a water-table nearer than six feet below 

 the surface, are adapted to its growth. The yield will vary from two tons per acre on 



