ereals, and grasses of the temperate
zone, and, in the extreme southern portions, the more delicate
products of the semi-tropics, such as figs, olives, pomegranates,
almonds, Madeira walnuts, and, in sheltered places, even oranges.
When we add that Nevada, like all parts of the arid plateau, is
distinguished for pure dry air, an extraordinary amount of
sunshine, and consequently a very high degree of healthfulness, it
can be scarcely maintained that the state is destitute of
attractions.

What is true in regard to the possibilities of Nevada is true of large
areas of land in other Western States and Territories. It must be
remembered that irrigated land can be relied upon to yield bountiful
crops with practical regularity, as the water-supply is ever present,
while for most persons the fine pure air in these high regions is
peculiarly healthful and invigorating. Thus the great West still offers
millions of acres of exceedingly productive land which can be
transformed into gardens and made to increase the national wealth by
untold millions if the government will treat these tracts as any wise or
thrifty private owner would treat them. If the government or the various
commonwealths would take all the available land which can be irrigated
and give to the unemployed work at fair wages until the great desert
tracts become fertile areas, the national or state domain would be
enormously increased in wealth at a relatively small cost through the
wise employment of the now paralyzed hand of industry.

Returning to the question of the Mississippi river, let our national
government build a permanent levee, which, like the great highways of
ancient Rome, should be built to endure for generations.

"There are," says ex-Governor Lionel Sheldon, "over twenty-three
million acres exposed to overflow from the mouth of the Ohio to the
Gulf of Mexico. The productive power of these lands is not excelled
in any part of the world, and by proper cultivation they would
annually add many hundreds of millions of dollars to the national
wealth and afford profitable employment for several hundreds of
thousands of people."

Eminent engineers who have examined the levees under the auspices of the
Mississippi river commissioners, agree that the problem is one which can
be successfully solved if a sufficient amount is appropriated for so
gigantic an undertaking, which would