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Show 12. farmed, In many places near Ihe base of the mountains, tho soil ia quite thin and is underin-id either "by impervious hard-pan or a cobble atone formation, -the lack of horaua content in the soil, as in all desert land, is almost universal. It is claimed that the superior fortuity of tho first few-inches of the top Boil,, over that below, is so mutrfcad that the location of the ss&ll hunaaochs removed in leveling a field, for irrigation are distinctly revealed in a grain field ay the poor stand of grain growing on tha spots. Some alkali occurs, aepecially along tha rivar bottoms, •where waste water has accumulated snd brought the salts to the surface. Climate:- Owing to its elevation and location the Basin is subject to cold winters and lot dry summers, tha temperature varying from 20 degrees 3?. below aero in winter to 98 degrees above during the s*oamar. The difference in alsvation between the different sections of the Basin indueea a slight variation in the seasons, as they are shorter at tho higher altitudes. V-hils the frost ia usually oat of th© ground by April fifteenth, the last killing frost occur a about iiny fourth, in aom a Gootiona the first killing frost s»y occur about Beptombcr fifteenth, but in tho lower lands it does not usually occur until October fourth. This, gives rise to a growing season of about 150 days. ,. The humidity Is lew, while the evaporation Is high,, it 12 |