Number of times temperatures of 32° F. or lower occurred in April, May, June, and July, 1901 to 1911, inclusive, arranged in groups to represent thermal belts. From the preceding table and other data from a few of the stations are derived the following facts: The geographical divisions of the State correspond roughly te the topographical and thermal divisions. The central and eastern portion represents the back-bone or mountain mass of the State, and lies above the elevation of 6000 feet. In the northern and western portions are included the basins of the Humboldt, Truckee, Carson, and Walker Rivers, which lie mainly between 4000 and 6000 feet. The stations of the southern portion, except a few on its northern edge, have an elevation of approximately 2000 feet. In the central and eastern portion of the State, temperatures below freezing occur frequently during the season of blooming, and at a majority of the stations temperatures of 17° F. or lower sometimes occur. In the districts represented by Austin and Ely orchard heating seems to be possible, though expensive. In northern Nevada, the Humboldt Basin is for the most part free from temperatures below 18° F. during the months of May and June, when blossoms are most subject to injury. The exceptions to this rule are Quinn River Ranch, Beowawe, Carlin, Halleck, and Wells; however, at the last two such low temperatures occur only once in three or four years. Temperatures of 18° -23° F. during the season of blossoming occur at Quinn River Ranch twice in one year, at Battle Mountain once, Beowawe and Carlin three times, Elko three times, Halleck and Wells twice, and Clover Valley once. Winnemucca and Lovelock are subject to these temperatures once in nine and once in two years respectively. Although temperatures of 24°-32° F. are relatively frequent, yet comparison with the records at Lewers' Ranch and Provo, where commercial orcharding is established, indicates the possibility of saving fruit by orchard heating. That there are bench lands in the Humboldt Basin well adapted thermally for fruit growing is shown by the presence of productive orchards in Starr, Clover, and Lamoille Valleys, situated at the foot of the Ruby Mountains, and in the foot-hills surrounding Paradise Valley in the northern part of Humboldt County. Of these orchards, at least those in Paradise Valley bore fruit the past season, when frosts were extremely frequent and severe in Nevada; and the peach trees as well as the apple trees were loaded with fruit. While no systematic records of temperature ever have been obtained in this valley, the production of peaches as well as apples there without orchard heating suggests that this district may be as favorable for fruit as Grand Junction, Colorado. In western Nevada, the basins of the Truckee and Carson Rivers, being, in general, somewhat lower than the Humboldt Basin, have a milder climate. Here temperatures of 17° F. and lower in May are unknown, and frosts are almost wholly absent in June and July. At Verdi and Gardnerville, however, the highest stations in these basins, frosts are frequent and late. Yet on some of the bench lands near Verdi are orchards that have yielded fruit when the crop in the Truckee Meadows has been destroyed. Although the orchards at Gardnerville have borne fruit occasionally, they require heating to assure a crop. In the Truckee Meadows, conditions vary according to the situation of the orchard. At Church's Orchard, in the second thermal belt, a full crop was borne once in seven years without the aid of heating. However, it is the owner's opinion that, with the exception of the past. season, two heatings each would have saved practically every crop. The region about Wadsworth and Fernley is almost a duplicate of the district at Provo, Utah, one of the two leading fruit districts of that state, the only exception being the infrequent occurrence of temperatures of 18°-23° F. in the former. The district around Fallon is but little inferior to that around Wadsworth and Fernley. The thermal conditions in both districts, as at Provo, should be much better in the adjacent foot-hills. In Washoe Valley at an elevation of 5500 feet is the orchard of Ross Lewers, which contains 5,000 trees and probably is the largest and most productive in the State. This orchard is situated close to the steep eastern face of the Sierra Nevada Range, so that the air drainage is good and protection from high winds is assured. Adjoining, on the north is the orchard of B. F. Howard, containing 3,000 trees and similarly situated, except that its general elevation is somewhat less. Owing to the low mean temperature of this elevated valley, the season of blooming begins as late as April 23 to May 1. These two orchards sometimes escape frosts entirely, and rarely are the crops. completely destroyed. More often a partial crop is produced, which is large in the aggregate because of the number of trees in bearing. For example, during the past season, although this district was heavily struck by late and severe frosts, the Lewers Orchard bore 3000 boxes of fruit of all kinds, while the Howard Orchard produced 340 boxes of No. 1 graded fruit and 37 fifty-gallon barrels of cider, a small yield proportionately but somewhat larger than that at Snare's Orchard in the first thermal belt in the Truckee Meadows. The value of elevation above the valley floor is evident here. A young orchard, situated high up the slope on the Lewers Ranch, seemed to have escaped frosts entirely, for the fruit there was evenly distributed over the entire orchard, while the orchard below it bore fruit only on its upper rows and was barren on its lower. The Howard Orchard suffered yet more severely, apparently only the late second blossoms producing any fruit. The orchards still lower and farther from the mountain wall suffered most severely. One orchard, situated near the Lewers Orchard but directly exposed to high winds down the canyon, suffers complete loss of its fruit every year. The basin of Galena Creek, in which Mount Rose Ranch is situated, appears to be favorable for orchards, if sufficient protection. can be provided against the strong winds that prevail there. The thermal conditions at Wabuska indicate that in Mason Valley there should be some districts adapted to fruit growing. The low valleys forming the chief agricultural sections of southern Nevada are in a thermal belt quite distinct from the remainder of the State. At Las Vegas temperatures of 28°-32° F. occur in April and occasionally in May, while Jean, a few miles farther south, seems to be entirely frostless. Logan, in the Moapa Valley, is almost entirely free from temperatures of 32° F. or lower after April 1, and an average of only two such temperatures occurs in March. The season of blossoms, however, has not been recorded. While for citrus fruits the winters possibly are too cold, almonds, peaches, pears, apples, grapes, and raisins can be regularly grown without heating. ADVANTAGE TO THE STATE It is highly desirable that the survey of the thermal belts in the individual valleys should be hastened, for letters of inquiry regarding the possibility of obtaining fruit land are constantly arriving, and the lowering of freight rates is turning much attention to the economic possibilities of the inter-mountain states. Stations in the Humboldt, Truckee, Carson, Walker, and Vegas Basins should yield information of immediate and large value to the State. Competition from California need never be feared. Apples acquire greater delicacy and flavor in the high lands, where the climate is cold, than in the low lands, and also an unusually vivid coloring, which makes them especially attractive to the retail trade. The intermountain states, therefore, should acquire a reputation for high grade fruit, which would naturally be sought at higher prices. The Grand Junction fruit belt of Colorado has already acquired such a reputation, and several years ago, before the fruit growers had become thoroughly discouraged by frost, so highly prized were the Nevada apples that they were shipped to the far e st and to Europe for the fancy trade. Even at times of over abundance selected fruit has brought $1.50 a box, or a profit of $1.20 after the expenses of picking, boxing, and hauling have been paid. The turning of the culls into |