The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1902-12-09
Commissioner Ferguson Makes an
Elaborate Report.
ON THIS SOURCE OF WEALTH
Head of State Bureau of Agriculture,
Labor and Industry Advocates the
Establishment of Creameries All
Over the State.

try, there will be a chapter devoted
to the dairying industry of Montana
The commissioner calls attention to
| the scarcity of creameries and dairy
| COWS in the state and says that
| per cent of the butter is imported.
ally all shipped in. The report states
that recently two creameries near
Missoula were destroyed by fire and
deplores the fact that they have not
| been rebuilt. Commissioner Fergu-
son says this industry should be one
of the principal profit yielding COM
mercial branches in this state. The
report will say:
"Of all the industries now lying
dormant in Montana, probably the
one that offers the greatest POSSIBLE
tiles of success is that of dairying.
This business, which has been so
highly developed and is SO great a
been almost wholly neglected in what
is undoubtedly one of the most fav-
orable localities in the United States
for it's successful prosecution.
There are not one-half dozen
creaeries in the state, and the capa-
city of thse is very limited. Two
that were in successful operation in
Missoula county have been recently
destroyed by fire, and were not re-
| built. AS is the case in all commune
| ties where il is proposed to start a
creamery, the chief difficulty is to get
sufficient number of milk cows to
keep the plant running at it's full
capacity, but this will be gradually
overcome as the farmers begin to
realize that large profits are to be
made for milk COWS and that the
creamery relieves them from a vast
amount of labor that is necessary I'M
der the old regime Of home butter
making.
with Montana grass lands, which
are unexcelled in the world, at their
present comparatively low values,
and butter selling at 35 cents a
pound, or more, there are no reasons
why the expensive system of import
ing dairy products should be con-
tinued.
This is another case as in irrigation,
where cooperation can be called into
service. Let farmers and business
men in different localities form CO.
| operative associations under the very
| favorable laws of this state, for the
purpose of carrying on the business,
and it will be lat a very short time
until we will have the pleasure of
publishing figures to show that in
stead of importing IS per cent of the
butter and practically 100 per cent
of the cheese consumed in the state,
we are producing not alone what we
consume in the state, but are able to
sell to other and less favored locali-
ties a Montana product that will have
matchless qualities derived from the
nutritious grasses and superb climate
of the treasure state"
In speaking of the conditions which
at present exist in Montana as re-
CARDS dairyig, Commissioner Fergu-
says:
1T is a burning shame that more
/
which experiment has shown results
in enormous profits, and for which
different parts of the state are pecu-
liarly adapted. In fattening one steer
the product of about 20 acres of good
pasture land is used for a period of
three years. The steer is then sold
for $40 or $50. The same amount of
land will yield, if used for dairy
COW, much larger profit than the
market value of the steer, including
his keep for the three years.
"There are only five creameries
operating in this state. All the but
ter has been taken off their hands by
large mercantile concerns who are
extremely anxious to get hold of the
| Montana product. 1t is satisfactory
in every way, brings as much money
as the eastern product, and they are
/ saved the expense, time and trouble
| of shipping it into the state from
points which are, as rule, hundreds
| of miles distant"
/ In connection with the subject of
dairying the report will devote consid-
cradle space to farmers Institutes
throughout the different states, and
to the excellent progress and results
derived from them, and from the diff
ferent farmers organizations, agricul
tural colleges and experiment sta
tions, and the boards and commits
sions of agriculture, to say nothing
I of the individual leadership in agri
cultural lines.
The report will state that thirty
years ago farmers institutes were
started in various states, and so
great have been the benefits derived
from them that at the present time
they are held annually in the greater
number of agricultural states or 10
calities. In many instances these in
L.