Great Falls weekly tribune., 1895-01-18
FARMING WITHOUT IKRIGATION.
"A Paper Read Before the Farmers In
stitute by X. n. SutberIin.

The following paper was read before
the farmers institute by Il. n. Sutherlin
of White Sulphur Springs, editor of the
Rocky Mountain Ilusbaudman:
Our position IN regard to farming in
northern Montana without irrigation
has by many been misunderstood. What
we have sald upon this subject was not
for the purpose of retarding settlement
in thisgreat empire of agricultural lands,
but to make whatever settlement that
was attempted permanent and secure.
We have not been an advocate Of irriga-
ton in Montanas beautiful valleys and
sloping plateaus because we believed it
impossible to produce crops many sea-
sons that occur without irrigation, but
because with the aid of irrigation pro-
duction is often doubled and crop is
made absolutely certain every year. In
the nineteen years we have devoted our
selves to the agricultural industry Of
this state in the publication of the Rocky
Mountain Husbandman we have seen
good crops grown in every valley in the
state without irrigation, but in the
twenty-nine years we have lived in Mon
tana we have never known single crop
failure when there has been sufficient
water supply and proper irrigation.
The writer grew up on farm in the
Mississippi valley and has seen untold
losses to the farmers from continuous
rains, also from protracted drouths, and
when we found this country hid away in
these northwestern mountains, although
we were lured thither in search OF gold
where the farmer need not depend upon
the tickle and uncertain skies for a crop,
but could go up the head of his ditch
and turn on the water when his lands
we're dry and his crop needed moisture,
| and return and shut it off when it was
watered sufficiently without interfering
with his neighbors work, without enter
| ing into his closet to send up to the
Great Architect of nature a petition
for rain upon the parched earth,
or without the slightest interference
with the progress of events and the con-
venience of his fellow man, compelling
success one year with another, we felt
that we had found rural paradise.
Such indeed a Montana home is, that is
supplied with sufficient water supply
for irrigation. And we feel today that
the endeavor we have put fourth in the
past two decades to people Montana's
valleys, blessed as they are with the ad-
yantages OF irrigation has been we'll di-
rected and that thousands of Montana's
farmers today bless the time they turned
their backs upon the happy scenes of
their childhood and built home in a
land possessed of these advantages. So
great are the advantages of irrigation
that the experiment stations of the
older states are devoting much time to
experimenting in this direction, and the
successful gardeners OF those old regions
no longer rely with absolute dependence
upon the rain fall but are prepared to
irrigate in small way. Fully assured
Of the advantages of irrigation over the
more uncertain system of depending up
on the skies to furnish the moisture we
have ventured to urge the settlers Of
Northern Montana to provide artificial
water for their lands. * In the re-
gion OF the Saskatchewan and its tribu-
taries crops are grown quite as success
fully without irrigation as in the great
states OF Iowa and Wisconsin, and North
ern Montana partakes largely of the
samo nature of soil and climite, and we
have never doubted but that crops could
be grown as successfully here without
irrigation as in the Dakotae, Kansas and
Nebraska, and Northern Montana can
attain great prominence as an agricul,
tural region by iudicious bench land
tu' iAiAhE' II IiH Pio'HIt'oi VI htAlA
fife wheat there is no question but that
these lands are superior and that unirri-
gated fields produce harder tintier
grain. We would be glad to see these
soping lands stretching away in every
direction from this magnificent city
brought under the yoke or husbandry,
| But while it iE a fact that much of the
finest grain produced in the far famed
| Gal latin valley ls grown unOn lands not
susceptible ot irrigation 1T is true, never
theless, that The great yields OF which
we hear so much, the blg crops that made
Montana famous at the World S far, were
grown IN irrigated heJds. ana mat the
most prosperous farmers are those that
are provided with water for lrrIgatIon'
H"cogn.H'ng tins nnc"n1ToNrFuhl"t truth,
Northern Montana, while a't;pll'eG to he
the finest section IN thn star" ,o: GROW
/ joE crops without irrigation ais" bNast7
90! ti'" most extensive and valued Hl@a-