The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1902-09-05

ming his farm on business principles.
In the old days-the Flathead farmer
had a ready sale for all he could
raise the home market was hardly
supplied; prices were high. Yet ne
made less money than he is making
today, when better methods are APP
piled.
There are great yields of grain in
Flathead. Sixty to loo bushels of oats
per acre is not an uncommon stand
ard, and the rancher that gets less
than so bushels Will tell you his crop
is poor. Wheat raising has been a
source of profit in Flathead during
the past few years. There was com
petition in the milling and manufac-
ture of wheat until recently. Now
one concern controls the elevators of
the valley, and it is reported to be
quietly preparing the farmers for a
soc. price. But the farmers do not
seem to take kindly to the idea, and
may invite another milling enterprise.
Timothy grows bountifully in that
county an dthe quality is unexcelled.
county and the quality is uneXcelled.
summit of the mountains, may be
seen splendid patches of timothy,
waist high, spreading and thriving
since the graders camps were estab-
lished in 1900 for the construction of
the Great Northern railway to the
Pacific coast. Timothy thrives every
where, and field grown on the ranch
of Richard Brown, two miles west of
Columbia Falls, showed plainly the
marvellous possibilities of the valley
as a timothy producer. l was told
that hay was worth $40 on the ranch.
The great amount of numbering fur
nishes a splendid home market for
oats and hay crops of the valley.
On August %, I drove 1own the
east side of Flathead valley. Grain
was just ready to cut in many fields
and the harvesters were being start
ed. The yield is, | was told, not
quite up to the average, but numerous
fields of wheat warranted the est1-
mate of 40 bushels per acre or bet
ter, while the oats were heavy and
there are zane excellent stands.
saw several fields that will-just to
make a guess-go more than 70 bush
els per acre.
Some day-it will not be many
years-the farmers of the upper val
lev. toward Bad Rock canyon, will
divert the waters of the South Fork
into a great irrigating canal and carry
is to the gravelly lands of that sec
ton In years of abundant moisture
this sandy soil yields handsomely,
but it will always give better returns
under irrigation, and the increased
product will soon pay for the outlay
of a canal. Some farmers tell us that
thew hardly ever need irrigation in
Flathead They hardly ever need it
in Iowa or Nebraska, but we have
heard some brainy farmers say they
would irrigate their cornfields If they
had the water, and get a third more
corn. It's human nature not to value
highly those things that are handy
like the old fellow who never went
to church because he lived next door
to the meeting place.
Eight years has doubled the farm
ing population of Flathead county;
ten years has trebled the assessable
property of that county: ten years
has quadrupled the farmed area of
that county; five years has trebled
the number of orchards and today
Flathead county ranks next to the
highest in fruit production.
In but one thing do Flathead coun-
ty farmers seem less enterpr'sing
than they are in other lines, and that
is in their, cattle There does not
seem to have been any flXed purpose
in the breeding done hv many of the
owners of cattle. There are, OF
course, some nice herds, but the aver
age quality can be improved, espe
cially along the beef lines. Being es
sentially a farming country fewer
I cattle and better cattle than in the
range sections should be the rule, and
will be- But the running of a Jer
! sey sire at the head of a beef hero
) will hardly bring the results thai
could easily be obtained with select
ed blood and the splendid forage an(
: grain crops of the valley.
But that will come, of course ant
: soon, 1t seems that object lesson.
9 alone teach the value of breeding
l The range men are learning it here
and the farmers are going to see it
I not only in Flathead but in man!
: other parts of the northwest.
Not the least surprising in the ad
, vance of Flathead county during tn,
y past few years is the enhanced valu
of land, Recently ranch four mile
: north of Kalispell sold for $50 al
q acre, This is high for Montana, blu
= to the man from Iowa. Illinois or an,
y eastern state who comes out her
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