The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-05-22
PROSPEROUS SEASON
Crops Starting Well and Far
mers Are Pleased.
ARE IN BLOOM
Remarkable Beauty OF h Mountains
and Valleys at This Season of the
Year-An Immense Acreage OF
Grain S~prineing Up.

Missoula, May 2i.-The farmers all
forward to a prosperous year. The
rains and the entire range of conditions
this spring are favorable to a produc-
tive summer and unless there Is a de-
cided change In the state of affairs
Western Montana's contribution TO the
large. William Sturgeon. who is one of
the oldest farmers in the valley, said
in the Standard office the other lay:
There has been but one other year
since l have been farming here that the
crop prospects have been so good at
this time OF year as they are this spring.
That one year was 1855 and the yield in
the valley that summer was the biggest
that have ever seen. This year starts
out just like that" II Is certain that the
rains have given everything such a start
as ID seldom gets 50 early in the year
and the sunshine has been warm enough
to keep the good work going. The
ranges. the grain fields. the hay mead
ows. the orchards and the gardens are
all i'm their very best form now and the
country looks bright and clear.
n a man can get away from Butte,
Anaconda and the other towns up the
river from here. where there are no
orchards. and come down to the valleys
Of Missoula and the Bitter Root this
next week. he win never regret the
tourney. Ii will be a revelation to him
and he win think more of Montana thar
he ever did before. All of the orchards
in the valleys are full of blossoms and
are as fragrant as vast greenhouses. To
ride past them and TO walk through one
OF them is a delightful experience. In
another week the blossoms Will have
disappeared and the trees Will be full or
tiny fruit. Already the winds are scat
terlng the white petals In miniature
snow nurries across the fields, but the
beauties of the s%pringtime picture OF the
orchards will remain for a week longer.
The sight of them will do the people
i'm the big towns above here much good
and they can do nothing pl~eassnter
than to AXE a run down To these val
leys and get a breath of the clear, fresh
air and sniff the fragrance of the or
chards and the green fields.
Even those who have been in this
country for years cannot fail TO note
the remarkable beauty OF the mountains
and the valleys this season. To those
who have looked upon the panorama
around Missoula for the past 20 years
or more IL Is still beautiful. II Is a pic
lure tina Is never tiresome. WITHIN the
past week or two there have been many
OF the older residents who have called
the attention of the Standards reporters
here 10 the remarkable attractiveness OF
the view this year. II Il is beautiful 10
these. how much more so must IL be
10 those who see il for the first time.
Standing on the platform at the railway
station these days one can hear eKcla-
nations of delight from scores OF traN-
elers as they step out for a bit or fresh
air. A well-known business man or the
! city came in on the train from the West
Friday night, and In speaking OF ms
trip. later. he said that the Pullman car
was we'll filled and that the passengers
were all intent upon the country
through which they were passing as
they rode down the mountain from Ar
lee. one of the passengers was an old
army captain, who had seen much serN'
ice and had been in all parts OF the
world. As the train crossed heeie
canyon on the airy steel trestle the ole
gentleman looked of across the valley
10 the Bitter Root mountains on tn
other side. His exclamation Of delight
brought all OF the rest of the passen
gers TO the windows and all enthuse
over the scene that was presented u
them. The old captain said: Il haN'
Travelled in many lands. but | neNe'
saw a landscape more beautiful thaI
that. 1t is grand"
But there Is something more than tn
aesthetic side of the prospect ina
strikes the raveler as he looks G TN
part OF the country. He sees the OF
chards with their promise of large crop
of fruit: he cannot fail to be impresse'
by the immense acreage of grain that I
springing up fresh and green. nor can n
overlook the vast hay ranges n IN
fertile gardens. II is these that max
this country over here a profitable h
well as "A beautiful one. Missotla an
Ravalli counties, with F1atheai on IN
north. are looking forward, win reason
"a a WELD that will break all their pre-
vious records. There ~ eveiv indica
ton Of it and the people here ex2Act