The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1902-03-11
MADE TALKS TO FARMERS
Attended Institutes and Explained Re-
suits Accomplished In Vel
lowstone Valley.

~SNS li Mini IL "1lll q
number of the faculty of the state
agricultural college he assisted in
conducting farmers Institutes in Val
ley, Choteau and Cascade counties.
Mr.. O'Donnell lectured on alfalfa
growing at all the meetings. It is a
subject with which the stockmen and
farmers in that part Of the state are
not at all familiar and consequent
ly the speaker from the alfalfa sec
ton of the Yellowstone was question
ed in detail. concerning the hay crop
which has made the Yellowstone val
ley famous as a stock feeding cen
ter.
Speaking of his visit Mr.. O'Donnell
said:
Several Of the leading farmers of
the northern part of the state had but
recently visited Billings and vicinity
and looked into the subject of alfalfa
feeding. They returned to their homes
with glowing reports for their neigh
bors as a result of their tour of in
vestigation. The reports that had pre-
ceded us resulted in enthusiastic and
attentive meetings. Standing room
was at a premium and everybody was
anxious to gain knowledge pertaining
to the cultivation, etc, of alfalfa.
"The people up in the Milk river
country, and other tributaries to the
upper Missouri, have the best oppor-
tunity in the world to make their sec
ton of the state great as a stock feed
ing region" continued Mr.. O'Donnell.
"The soil there is well adapted for
raising alfalfa and the thousands of
acres now lying almost as a waste
will O o become one of the garden
spots of the northwest, by means of
the big irrigation projects now under
consideration.
81 was much impressed with a
scheme Great Falls has to beautify it's
streets. There the city owns a nrrs-
cry and when a park or boulevard is
laid out the city supplies the shade
trees and conducts the planting. 7
have thought the city of Billings
might follow the Great Falls example
with profit"
Of the trip to the northern part of
the state a correspondent writing to
the Great Falls Tribune y
"This whole valley seems to- be al
falfa crazy Every one talks of alfal-
ia and everyone wants to learn more
about alfalfa. I. D! O'Donnell of Bill
lngs, the alfalfa king of Montana, lee
tured On alfalfa for Is minutes today
and for an hour he was the target of
a rapid-fire volley Of questions of all
kinds about alfalfa under all condi-
lions. He answered the questions as
fast as they were fred at him and
his talk alone we'll repaid those in at
tendance.
"E1e will lecture along the same lines
at Great Falls tomorrow. He said
that the yield of alfalfa in Yellow
stone valley is from five to six IONS
per acre and it is of a value of So to
IS per ton on the ranch. The condi-
tio11o LII IS III IlFCi Valley are DGl-
ter than those existing along the Vel
lowstone. 1t will grow on all varieties
of soil if irrigated and is of immense
value in feeding live stock. Along the
Yellowstone the acreage in alfalfa has
been increased yearly, but the de-
mand has likewise increased and now
men from Oregon, Idaho and Wash
.ington are at Billings seeking to buy
hundreds of tons each year to be fed
to sheep that are shipped to Billings
from those states. Free range has
almost disappeared in that section and
it is well so, for a free range is ex-
pensive in the long run.
zone acre of alfalfa will maintain
n steer 400 days, on an acre of fenc-
ed pasture for 20 days, on IN acre of
open range for 10 days. In other
words, an acre of alfalfa is worth 40
times as much as one acre of free
range. An acre of alfalfa will yield
five tons of hay, an acre of free range
will yield $50 pounds. Alfalfa should
be seeded just as early as possible and
frost will not hurt it in the least.
Twenty pounds to an acre should be
seeded with an ordinary grain drill,
and there should not be any nurse
crop. It should be irrigated after the
first and second cuttings. The best
yields are secured from gravelly soil,
but any soil where there is water will
yield good crops o. hay and is one of
the greatest crops for land that can
not be irrigated is alfalfa, grown only
for the seed, for which there is a great
demand at good prices. Seed may be
sown either in the fall or spring and