The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-04-24
FEED THE STATE.
IN Outsiders View of the Agri-
cultural Possibilities of the
Tongue River
Valley.
The Question or How the Mining Center.
Are to bF Ted, l.
solved.
Helena Indcpcndenr.l

The question of how to build up the
agriculture sections uG Montana IS one
that is recclJiug 'uun attention from
the progressive mrU IF 'a@ s.g,n just
now. III q number 81 cases i4. Fla t;.t1-
nua se"f9ga eE ffEsEH thousands II
collars have bs5 H=rla~E58 construct
( iE- iTet'EatU@ Esrus nt-
trts IF " E@ A=s= ..@4nIa
+ l> tsz' c@ tfa 54 ta5@.
il h"s pPgn garJ a raU Uw state
AMY 4sGal #Er Il The
1 rga#.a Ess H atyn-
t#E4 holly
as &rge la5+. ga section
ra 4.Ga al st asa ta.>sag.
tA5t
H.t fe-
TI
t-e a.s-- H.sr aDt
received ii@ as tue those IN
mining ans, ,s'HaSgro~iH-. Auotuer rea-
soh is that, save III the raising Of hay
and grain and winter vegetables. farm
ing III other lines has been largely eS-
perincntal. and the outcome of these ex-
reriments is NOT generally known. But
the day of e; acriments is now past. SO
far as the ordinary products Of the farm
are concerned, and it has been proven
beyond all doubt that in many Of the
great valleys of Montana there can be
raised the same products that have made
Iowa. Illinois and the middle western
states great aud prosperous. Fruit
growing Is yet III the experimental stage:
that Is. 1t has been demonstrated that in
certain sections the harder fruits can
be raised. and now The growers are at
work endeavoriGg to lind out which are
the most profitable varieties.
One OF the best illustrations of the ag-
ricultural resources OF the state is fur
nished by that section of the Yellowstone
valley tributary to Miles City. The ele
walton IN that vicinity is only 2.sJO feet
and about five years ago the first at
tempts at farming on the eastern plan
were made. There was scarcity of
water. but this was atoned for to a
slight extent by the sinking of artesian
wells. All or nearly all. these wells re-
suited in good flow. sufficient to dem
onssrate that all the soil needed was
water to produce abundant crops. But
there were thousands OF acres OF land.
and it was soon discovered that to utilize
it irrigation canals were necessary. The
first ditch taken out was that OF the
Miles City lrrigating and Ditch CON-
pany. owned and controlled to a large
extent by settlers owning and occupying
land along II. 1t is located on the south
side Of the city, and the water for it is
taken out Of Tongue river. 1t follows
| crcuitous course. its total length being
thirty miles. The ditch is eight feet
| wide on the bottom. carries o5OOO inches
of water. and all the land under it. some
25.OOO acres. is in high state of cult
| walton: the crops raised being such as
are grown in the middle western states.
Corn. as fine as is seen in any country
yielding forty to forty-five bushels TO
the acre, is raised year after year with
out any failure of crops. while wheat
melons and other vegetables are produced
to perfection. The success of farming
operations under the Tongue river ditch
was sufficient incentive to enterprising
men in Miles City to form another com
pany. known as the Buffalo Rapids irri-
CATION and Ditch company. To construct
ditch on the north side of the Yellow
stone river, opposite the city II is ten