Rocky Mountain husbandman. [volume] (Diamond City, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1876-06-29

ment and assistance to the prospector, and
more certain will be the success of all. Our
Meagher county people now have an oppor-
tunity to satisfy themselves as to whether
they have quartz that will pay for working,
and they should not let the opportunity pass
without improving it. All are well aware
that the owners of quartz cannot expect to
receive any dividend after taking it out and
hauling it twenty miles, and paying for mill
ing it. And since there is a fair prospect
that the test about to be made will attract
the attention Of mill men in this direction,
and lead to the erection of mills and the
development of mines in Our vicinity, assist
ance should be given the projectors. Help
them to build roads, and to test their quartz
and YOU will have done a deed which it will
ever be a pleasure to recall to memory.
Develop these leads, and the population
and wealth of Meagher county will be treb-
led within thenext four or five years. Other
sections of the Territory are moving in the
development of quartz mines. win Meagher
county languish for want of energy, or will
it fall into line? @.A..f@. .aar
Gun Montana farmers can scarcely be said
to haye commenced to learn the science of
tilling their soil. We believe there can be
more skill exercised in irrigating the land
than in any other one thing that pertains to
Montana farming. 1t IS necessary to know
when to water, how to water, and how much
and how often. We believe the yield can be
greatly increased by careful attention to the
watering of the land.
Not long since, we passed a wheat field
upon one corner of which the growth was
a great deal thicker, thriftier and of better
color than that upon the other portion. Up
Oh inqniring as to the cause of it, we learned
that a ditch had broken the fall previous,
after the land had been plowed, and thor
oughly soaked that portion Of it. The line
of the water was as clearly traceable as If
the land had received extraordinary care,
and a thorough manuring. The thorough
soaking of a field in the fall also Injuries the
grasshopper eggs to a great extent.
1t is evident that most farmers pay too
little attention to irrigating. There are some
farmers who are short-sighted enough to
claim that this necessity Of our country is
one of its greatest drawbacks, when in truth
it should be regarded as one OF its chief mer-
its. How willingly would the farmers of
the western States, if they had the facilities,
turn the water upon their parched and
dying crops to rescue them from the calami-
ties of a long continued drought. The con-
yenience of being able to throw water upon
your crops whenever they require it should
be esteemed as a great advantage.
Some crops require more water than
others, and land requires more or less in
proportion to its quality and the different
properties it contains. Now, to be able to
regulate this by simply turning the water
on and off, is an advantage not to. be lightly
estimated. Yet, in this, as in most other
things connected with farming, it requires
intelligence. skill, and careful study to be
able to produce the best results. Anybody
can turn water onto . field, but it requires
careful observation and sometimes many
costly experiments, to learn how often this
should be done, or how long it should run.
There is also much art in laying off bitches,
so as to prevent the soil from washing away.
Farmers in the States think irrigatlng is
very expensive, but it is not. 1t far eNcels
the old plan of depending upon the rainfall
for a supply of water. There is III contro-
yerting the fact men can. make a season
that exccls the tickle, uncertain skies In
all countries where irrigating is relied upon,
the yield to the acre, and quality of grain is
hntAnr tho ~ In nthar nol1nfriac which nrayoc