Great Falls weekly tribune., 1896-02-21
THEY PREFER WHEAT TO OATS
Demand for Wheat ut Cash, Oats
Paid for i'm Merchandise
The Outlook.

About this time of year, when the
farmer in the east is sitting close to a
good hardwood fire and wondering
whether his vegetables in the cellar will
freeze or not. the Montana rancher is
turning his attention to the matter OF
getting his wheat in the ground and
making up his mind as to the number of
acres he will plant and the kind of crops
he will ra,se. However it may be else
where, 1t is particularly true OF this sec
tion that the early bird fares best il the
matter Of wheat raising Where the
rancher depends on natural I'll isture to
ripen his crop of wheat ii is necessary to
get the Grain III just as soon as the
grouCd ie in condition 10 work, and 1t IL
probable that good deal Of wheat has
| already been sovn on the bench lands in
! this yiCul'y.
In conversation with a member of the
| Great Falls Implement company ycster-
| day, 4 TRIBUNE reporter WAS informed
| that there was every indication that the
area planted to wheat this season would
| be vastly larger than the acreage OF last
season. Several causes go to produce
/ this effect. Heretofore the favorite
grain crop in this section has been oats.
| When the area of land under cultivation
in this vicinity was very limited and the
production was not sufficient to supply
/ |,
in raising oats than in raising any other
grain, and the farmer could depend on
ready sale for any surplus grain he held
at hi Il prices in Great Falls. The price
never dropped below 81 hundred, and
generally was considerably higher thau
| that figure. Wheat, ON the other hand,
was drug on the market and could
scarcely be said to have had ca-h
market value. Within the last
few years this condition Of
affairs has been practically re-
versed. Oats today are going a-beggiug
for purchasers at a price which nets The
| farmer, after deducting cost of sacks
and hauling, little over 60 cents hum
! dred While it is almost impossibe TO
! tind cash purchaser for them at any
price. Generally the raLcher turns them
over to some store for trade, or spzLd5
time enough in the city hunting for cash
purchasers. go that when he has disposed
OF hls load and PAID his bDtel aud livery
bills, he has not very large balance OF
cash left.
On the other hand, the rancher who
! has wheat TO dispose Of mas only to dr,ve
to the Roya! Milling company's elevator
and unload and come away glth check
il hIs pocket Hughes is SAID 10 have
raised about 900 bushels Of wheat on his
ranch between here and Belt. lC was
raised on th. bench land without irriga-
ton. and averaged 81 bushels to the acre,
| He sold 1t the E0yal Milling company
for 50 Centa Il burhel, or 81 huuQieu,
. No expense for sucks, which hre returned
with each load There is no question
that he did much better than Re could
. have possibly dODe by raising oats
Q the same gr0uUd, II Is facts Ike
lhese that are deciding Il great many
aruers that wheat is the best paying
grain crop tbey can put ia the ground
this year, and those who are Interested
~ the matter look for very notable In
crease in toe wheat p oductlun OF this
county during the cOMlng season.
Another circumstance which will tend
TO the same result is the fact that tha'e
has been a remarkable increase in the
number of ranches upder cultivation
during the last year. The remarkable
growth of Belt from hamlet Of dozen
l.; -, ilfl ~
of 1900 people, which has taken place
mainly within the last year, has stimu
lated agriculture all through the Belt
valley region, as it furnishes the ranch
ers in that vicinity with a new and ia
vorable market for their produce right
at their doors, as 1T were. 1t will as
tonish anyone who was familiar with
the Belt valley district couple
Of years ago and has not beer
, through it since to ride through tha
district and see the way it has settled
up and the increase in the amount o.
land under cultivation. The evidence
of this is seen in the increased de
mand for agricultural implements o
every kind. There is scarcely day tina
inquiries are not received from some
rancher in the Relt valley, who, for the
first time, is makit g prepara' ions to pu
: in crop of some size and desires IN
] formation as to machinery or seeds.
Altogether, the evidence on every sld'
points to q boom in the agricultural pro
ducti0n of Cascade county. Tho farm
crs' institutes and the county agricul
G tural society have done much to arous
r interest in farming and the people arr
y now just awakening to the fact tina
! there is no better soil or climate o
market in the world, all things consid
cred, or more encouragement for agri
cultural production than right here il
the rich valleys aud bench lands Of Gas
Z cade county aud Eastern Montana.