86 Muhlenbergia, Volume 6 



as New river, on account of its once being an irrigation ditch, 

 but washed out by floods into a large channel, slowly winds its 

 way through dense sloughs of cat tails and sedges through Still- 

 water and toward the sink. 



The elevation of the valley is about 4000 feet, varying a few 

 hundred feet onlv throughout the entire area. Occasionally 

 there may be a summer rainstorm, but usually the only precipi- 

 tation is during the winter months, and then only two or three 

 inches. 



Soda lake, evidently a crater, much below the general level 

 of the valley, contains alkali water which when evaporated is 

 used commercially for soda. 



Carson lake, on the southern border, seems to be gradually 

 receding, as the shore line keeps changing. It was over two 

 miles farther out in 1881 than it is to-day. Surrounding this 

 lake there is about three feet of peaty soil, composed of decayed 

 cat tails, tules, grasses and sedges, and beneath a pure silver 

 sand, abundantly supplied with broken shells and fossils. 



The soils are varied in character, and intermix to a great 

 extent, partly on account of their subjection to floods in some 

 areas and the winds blowing up one type of soil partly over 

 another one. In general, however, the soils along the rivers are 

 rich in humus and were originally covered largely with the com- 

 mon sage brush, Artemisia tridentata, and the big rabbit brush, 

 ( 'krysothamnus graveolens and Greenei. Artemisia ludoviciana 

 and / erbena prostrata are not infrequent on the low lands along 

 the rivers. It is to be noted here that considering the size of 

 the valley, there is very little tnu- sage brush in it, as compared 

 with otlu-r valleys in the northern and central parts of Nevada. 



The native trees along the rivers are Fremont's cottonwood, 

 Populus Fremontii, the balsam cottonwood, Populus trichocarpa, 

 and occasionally the aspen, Populus tremuloides. Among the 

 willows that attain the height of trees are Salix Seoul eriana and 

 Salt* amygdaloides. On certain low Hats the buffalo berry, 

 Lepargyraea argentea, is plentiful. In these low and partly 

 flooded lands along the rivers are numerous species of Carex, 

 /uncus, Eleocharis, as well as the common cat tail, Typha an. 



