Imperial press and farmer., 1902-03-21
lrrIoatlea fer Alfalfa.

mn California.
 We find an object lesson at Billings. Montana. which business men and statesmen should study
 .t umines. COCO acres of ahso- lutel' arid land has becn brought raacr ditch. Mr I. n o'nonnel. ono a. ,hc leading c,usens ot that place. furnished the following remarkable asurcs and facts In an address before the Mississippi Commercial Congress ai Cripple Greek last July;
 "t can In no better way explain the results of irrt gation than rec3ung my own experience in feeding and hand linz stock both on the Irrigated farm and inc range The particular part of fhc Yellowstone Valley io which ! will refer IS about an average ot our great state lt consists of e0.Cslo acres of land which. before .a was irrigated. only supported the buffalo and the antelope. Alter about eighteen years of ioil and the usual experience of pioneer life we have the following results io submit. Sixty thousand acres of land. so per acre. N.Seo.0oo. 2s0 ea9 sheep wintcred on farms SS per head. s7so 600; 10000 head ot cattle on farms. so per head. eo.o9o. LOGO head of horses on farms, SSo per head. slso es0. machinery. tools. etc sl1seoo main line canal. $50 GOO. total SS.SsS.eoo-
 In addition. this same land pro luces annually 100. .o00 tons Of alfalfa ai & per ton. s4eo o0o. 10000 tons of timothy and blue joint al SIC per ton. slo0 oeo. 4o0. eu0 bushels of gran at 50 cents per bushel. s@eoooo vege- tables and other truck S500Q0, total. s-s0 0so produced annually. This does not include increase and sales from stock. which. for the year Is 5000" showing B grand total ot over ss.oeo.- ooo of available assets. not counting the city. ot nearly s@ a'1 .0D0 asses sed valuation. supported mainly 6y ihss valley. and all this whsre but eish teen years ago there was only au alkah fiat Putting this in a smaller way. irrigation will show as follows One acre irrigated alfalfa wiII produce l0oe0 pounds one acre in inclosf pasture will produce 560 pounds. one acre range will average production of 25G pounds. or grain. one acre of irrigated alfalfa will feed one sreer scs9 days. one acre Of inclpsed pasture will feed one steer twenty days. one acre Of average range will feed one steer len days
 Putting k in the form of sheep. it will show as fellows. One hundred and sixty acres irrigated alfalfa will run l690 sheep one year, Is9 acres Of in- closed pasture will run eighty sheep one year: l50 acres Of range will run forty sheep one year. This 5000 acres Of irrigation supports a popula- ton Of l500 people. and the valley !s not nearly half populated as yet II has nine school districts and school houses. and pays out annually $2I5.- GOO in wages Now. few pointers as to what Montana has and can do IL has more Government land and more water 10 Irrlgate it with than any other state Montana takes a Texas or Mexico steer. feeds IL a year or two on a pasture and then ships it 10 market. when it welghs ll to 300 pounds more than the same steel shipped from its original home. II has more sheep and ships more woo than any other state or territory ir the Union lt has the two largest wool-shipping plants in the United states-Great Falls an Billin II has the greatest copper camp on earl D Montana has the greatest water power in the United States outside o Ast..,-... E,atga. that fE fhe great fall