The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1881-11-02
THE STOCK INTERESTS.
The Outlook for aHaas Important BRAN ch
of Industry fm Northern Montana.

Meeting prominent stock man of the
Territory day or two since We asked him
what was The outlook for the stock interests
of this section.
''The outlook is BRIGHT he replied, ''lnose
promising I think than ever before"
'sAfter the heavy loses Of last winter how
do you figure that out SO easily?" we en-
quired.
| t'Is is not a difficult problem To begin
with, take it that it is beyond all reason to
expect SO severe q winter as the last one,
| which will be ever memorable TO stock men,
For twenty years before and perhaps q hun
dred 40 such weather'Was ever experienced
here and is not likely to be again for the
same number Of years. With mild winter,
and We will have it, the stockmen will pros
per and next year you will find an abund-
ance of capital seeking investments in stock.
Il is bound to work out this way as soon as
people are convinc d that last winter was the
exception Of a c,nnry md not the rule
And let me tell s''3 further that northern
Montana is deslluca to become one Of the
richest stock growing regions in America"
Eyes, but suppose your weather predic-
tions are not correct; suppose, for instance,
that the coming winter should be as severe as
last, what then p
''Well, even in that improbable event the
losses would not be one-tenth as great as last
year. Take the sheep interests, for instance.
With scarcely single exception the wool
grower is prepared to meet successfully any
kind Of weather. They have commodious
sheds built and are supplied with hay enough
to feed through several months if necessary
Last year no such pr operations were made,
even heavier have several bands of sheep
and wouldn't actually give man $10O to
insure me against losses on account of cold
weather. am not certain but the lesson of
last winter was good one. It has intro
duced the element Of security into the busi-
ness; has shown the sheep men that they
must always be prepared to meet such emer-
gencies. When the returns are in from next
seasons wool crop you will find they will
give an impetus to the business in this coun-
try"
tsAnd how about the cattle z
s.Until men will reduce the number of their
cattle 50 that they can give them personal at
tention, the element Of security in this branch
Of the business il not so great. Eventually
II will work out III this way. But it looks as
if the rascally reds kins would take no hand
in deeimating the herds this year, q good
point gained Then If the winter is in any
respect favorable the cattle men may reason
ably expect a successful season. [ have it
fixed in my mind that our losses will be very
slight
It will be seen that the gentleman inter
viewed has an abundance Of confidence in
tile future Of the stock business il Montana.
He is largely interested, both in cattle and ia
sheep, and instead of being discouraged BY
the losses Of last winter imaglnes that the
lesson has been valuable one to him. Few
men could play the philosopher 30 well under
the circumstan But We think the reader
will agree with rs In the opinion that there IS
q good dealof sound aense In what he has to
say Of the stock interestsof Northern Mon
fana.