inferior soils in northern and central Nevada to seven and eight tons on better soils and 

 as high as twelve tons in southern Nevada. In the higher altitudes, 4,000 feet and over, 

 two crops are grown, with the third crop left for fall pasturing; at lower altitudes, approxi- 

 mately 3,800 feet elevation, three full crops are harvested; while five and six crops 

 mature in southern Nevada. For stock feeding, the hay is fed on the ranch and sells 

 uniformly at about $7 per ton. The finer grade, mixed with timothy and bluegrass, is 

 hauled or shipped to the towns and mining camps where it brings from $12 to $20 per ton. 

 SORGHUM: The recent introduction of several varieties of the sorghums in a few sec- 

 tions of Nevada, including broom corn, sweet sorghum, Kaffir corn, and milo, with the most 

 satisfactory results, indicates that the soil and climate are all that could be desired for 

 the growth of these valuable staples. Milo, especially, is a drought resisting crop and 

 may yet be successfully cultivated here by dry-farming methods in certain localities. 

 Under irrigation, however, the sorghums do extremely well and seem to grow as thriftily 

 as anywhere in the Middle West. 



CHAPTER VI 



Conditions in Nevada Exceptional for Raising Hogs for Export and to Supply the Local Markets Most 



of the Pork, Bacon and Ham Consumed Is Imported from the Middle 



West Poultry Business Apiaries 



The hog, for no reason other than the farmer has slept on a money-making oppor- 

 tunity, has been grossly neglected in Nevada. Recently, however, there has been some- 

 what of an awakening. A number of farmers in different sections of the State have 

 discovered that the humble porker is full of money-making possibilities, and have turned 

 their attention to swine-raising. They have discovered that there is large and certain 

 profit in the enterprise and with no danger that the market will be affected by any excess 

 supply. Moreover it is found that one acre of alfalfa will support and fatten from 

 eight to twenty hogs. 



PROFIT IN THE HOG 



The best practice is to have the alfalfa acreage divided into fenced lots, permitting 

 the hogs to forage on one lot at a time so that the land may be irrigated and have a 

 chance to partially dry out before the pasture rotation brings the hogs again on the 

 field. Where the hog has plenty of room, his inclination to root is very much abated. 

 Moreover his general healthfulness and freedom from contagious disease such as hog cholera 

 is materially improved. At the Nevada Experimental Station, at Reno, hog 

 cholera serum is prepared, and the Nevada farmer, discovering a case of supposed 

 cholera in his drove, can isolate the suspect, innoculate him with the serum and the 

 whole drove if necessary. The day is past when the hog grower, if he is informed, need 

 fear any considerable loss from this formerly disastrous contagion. Alfalfa hay as a 

 winter ration is almost as satisfactory as when grazed in the field. The farmer, however, 

 to get the best results should grow wheat, oats, barley, corn, cow peas, sugar-beets, 

 pumpkins, potatoes or pie melons, depending on the climatic conditions and character of 

 his soil, as a side crop, to be fed with the alfalfa for a month or two at fattening time. 

 Every crop best suited to producing pork seems to be specially adapted to growth in 

 this State, added to which as an advantage is the moderate winter climate. Under 

 good handling, alfalfa, turned on the farm into pork, is equivalent to selling the hay 

 crop for $25 or more per ton, instead of $7 per ton. A forty-acre Nevada farm, with 

 thirty acres in alfalfa and ten acres in a side crop, will grow everything required to produce 

 annually from 50,000 pounds to 100,000 pounds of pork, which at five and one-half 

 cents per pound, the minimum price, will bring in an income of from $2,750 to $5,500 

 per annum. Thus the farmer on a forty-acre tract, if he is wide-awake, can make more 

 money than the back-number farmer on a quarter-section of the same kind of land. 



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