Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1885-07-16

resented. The article in question
was truthful, and proveda revelation
to many Of the residents Of the Terri
tory, who, even IN the face Of practical
experiments. obstinately refuse to be
convinced Of their agricultural worth,
and consider them worthless except
for grazing purposes. Thisis a wong
view, aud a decidedly bad stand for a
man to take. All men should be open
to conviction. And upon q subject
which is Of such vital importance to
the Territory as this, they should hail
it with delight and offer every en-
couragementf for its development. The
| bench lands Of Montana are valuable.
They will produce more grain TO the
acre, under more favorable clrcam-
stances, than the valley or bottom
lands will. All that is required is a
trial, ard where now roams countless
herds of stock, will be the wheat fields
Of the northwest. It is heard on ev-
cry hand that If these bench lands are
tarned over for agricultural purposes,
that the stock interests will suffer
particularly cattle and that it will
practically be the means Of destroy
ing this industry. This is al bosh.
The cattle inaustry will continue to
lhliye, but VIII be conducted on al
entirely d;@e.enS basis, and one which
will be Of far greater wor'h TO the
Territory. It will be the mean of
competing Ia sc owners-who as a
1ule maEetheismoneyh here and spend
It IN The S.aies-to dispense with a
large per cent. Of their stock TO small
owne S. and viii thereby be the means
o. dividing The wealth in catt]e amo3g
a multitude, instead OF remaining
among a chosen few. Take, for illus-
tattoo, the wealth invested IN stock
ia Texas and Illinois. The former IS
considered a p3ce'y sock growing
State, while the latter is purely al
agricultural State. The following
figures from the report Of The Cen
| missioner of Agriculture foc 1884, are
that Illinois had 900,9t5 dairy cayile,
valued at sos each, and 1,442,33 44 stock
cattle, worth S2S each. In cont as
with this Texas, with 667,301 dairy
cattle, worth $3.50 each, and A,277,-
700 stock cattle, wotih Sl7.51. When
ibe totals ere corside,e ed we find iii
no;s has 100000 ca.tle valued at
| s72, 000, 900, While he 100000 cattle
o; Texas are wos h oniy 500 900, 900.
TEXAS shows eighteen cav,,e % the
| square nile, and illinois fot,y-tWo.
It vii be Q that the settlement
and cul-yatioa OF a region does not
nece5se ,ly DISPOSE of lis stock inter
esis. Then another matter Of con
sideration is, which industry is OF
more worth to the Territory? It is a
question which vii admit Of no argu-
me11t. When Montana has her wealth
Of stock divided among numerous
small owners, who cultivate the soil
aud produce sufficient -four, pork.
butter, eggs, &c, TO supply her de
mands, then we WI enter upon a sea
son Of prosperity, BAT as long as the
wealth remains where it is now, Mon
tana can never hope to fully recover
from the depression in which she is
at present onthralled. The settlement
and cultivation Of the rich bench
lands of northern Montana should be
encouraged by every true Montanian
We do not wish to be regarded as
antagonistic to the great stock inter
ests Of Montana, but we do wish te
be understood as working for the best
interests Of the Territory, and we con.
scienciously believe that the bench
lands will be of far greater worth t.
the Territory Whepunder cultivation
than they are at the present time
when utilized almost unreseryedly FOL
grazing purposes. Any fair-mindee
man, after giving this subject any
consideration, cannot help admitting
the truth Of it.