Rosebud County news. [volume] (Forsyth, Mont.) 1901-1906, 1902-12-11
FEEDING ALFALFA:
Yellowstone Ranchers Getting Rich Win.
terin1 Many Sheep on Alfalfa.

teron3 Many Sneep on Alfalfa.
Alfalfa raising is making the farm
ers of the Yellowstone valley rich. The
little valley of which Billings is the
business center, contains about 20. 900
acres of farming land, and settlement
began about 20 years ago. During the
first ten years very little progress was
made by the farmers, who raised
little grain and vegetables, and the
land Increased very slightly in value.
Gradually the profit made by growing
alfalfa and feeding it to stock began to
attract attention, and about seven
years ago feeding sheep for the mutton
became regular business with the
farmers. So profitable was this busi-
ness shown to be that now about $50, 900
sheep and great number of cattle are
at the present time being wintered in
that valley. About half this number
will be shipped east to be slaughtered
for mutton, and the other moiety will
be turned on the range in the spring
for stock sheep.
The farmer makes on an average
ST. a head on the sheep he feeds, each
sheep consuming from two to five
pounds of alfalfa a day, the amoun+
required depending on the age of the
animal, condition of the weather, etc.
If the farmer has the capital and is
inclined to speculate he buys the sheep
IN the fall and sells them in the spring,
sometimes contracting to sell to an
eastern feeder at an advanced price.
One of the leading feeders who follows
this plan is I. D. O'Dopnell, of the
famous Hesper farm, who has probably
done more than any one else to exploit
the benefits of alfalfa. Mr.. O'Donnell
feeds every year about $4,000 sheep in
this way. More frequently the farmer
feeds the sheep Of some flockmaster,
who possesses more sheep than he can
safely range, agreeing to deliver them
in the spring to their owner. The
average profit in the seven years that
feeding has been going on in the val
ley, according to either system, has
been the same.
The gross returns from alfalfa alone
will not be less than $500, 900, divided
among SO farmers, besides those who
are feeding small herds of their own.
This system pays much better than
growing, although high prices prevail
in the Yellowstone for all sorts of farm
produce. The system of feeding
mixed ration of grain and alfalfa,
thus making the sheep fat and ready
to go at once on the market, has been
tried on comparatively small scale,
and found to be very satisfactory, even
when the high price of grain is taken
into consideration. Wheatis generally
used, but of late years corn has proven
a profitable crop there, notably this
season when the yield has been from
40 to SO bushels of ears per acre.
Many farmers are also feeding large
numbers of hogs, pasturing them on
alfalfa in summer, and fattening them
on cor for pork. ' III
Eastern feeders greatly prize sheep
that have been wintered on alfalfa, as
they are in better condition to be put
ON grain rations for mutton than are
sheep taken Immediately off the range.
AS the ranges are becoming more and
more restricted every year, and except
in the extreme eastern portion of the
state range grass has failed this sea-
son, owing to lack of rains, alfalfa
feeding has solved the difficulty for
many flockmasters and cattleman.
The danger of winter losses is reduced