Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1904-09-26
'WONDERFU III al "a FLA FIELD

bOut Billings, n
D Alfalfa | Cir owl !,
VI What irri cation 8is doing for Nom
tana, and what Is possible orthe west
ernspart of North Dakota, is again we'll
set forth il q recent article IN the
Breede Gazette BY "a correspo lent,
who writes from Billings Of the way
that. alfalfa growing has taken hold OF
the country Some extracts from his
letter follow: IN
n Billings is on the II ellowstone. II;
is dry up here, usually dry on the
range. That does not matter to the
farmers along the Yellowstone,
magnificent river, a beautiful river.
sweeping d refreshing mass Of COOL
clear water toward Its ally the Mis-
souri, which It joins lin Dakota.
bitches come out of the Yellowstone,
bitches never to- be dried. All about
Billings the alfalfa fields come with.
their GOODNESS, their refreshing green
ness, their delicate perfumes Already.
men are cutting their third crops
}somD Of them, SO that they may get
four crops this year That is all we
can do in Ohio: E35i
Cattlemen here are not bringing up
many Texas steers this year. The
prices down there are foo high to
leave much Of any margin, They are
breeding more and more OF their own
cattle here 81 This is safer than it once
was for there Is 50 much alfalfa In
the country now Paul McC ormick, q
veteran cattleman, has q fine alfalfa
ranch here where he cuts thousands Of
lions OF alfalfa. He has barn, too
that is a model for any land, and there
he IS prepared to feed 1000 calves o1
whatever he finds needs attention.
There Isl a great new canal being
taken out that will cover an immense
body Of land on the north side Of the
river. A huge steam dredge is tax
ling out the earth and floating In the
channel it excaYates, keeps its breast
pushed always against the uncut earth
This canal will make many homes
where now not much but little short
desert grasses grow. drove out tt
see this new canal Men are toiling
in the depths of the mountain, tunnel
Ing from each side in Arm faith that
their holes will come together and the
water flow through lii a few more
weeks. Beyond the tunnel there Is q
long and high trestle, then rock cut
Of q half mile. then the dry bench is
reached. It is vast level plain, per.
haps a hundred feet above the. river
fats q barren, dusty plain, simmer.
ing with heat. There is not tree nor
4 shrub on 1t, but already there are
dotted few tiny new houses; some
settlers have come; they are getting
ready for the water. Next year this
barren plain will be green with waving
grain, and in two years alfalfa stacks
will dot it all over, and in four the
homes will be hidden by trees. Such
is the magic OF water in this land. r.
Montana is dry. It has never been
50 dry and hot before, so they tell us.
The water holes are dried up and
ranchers are putting in wells in some
places. This has not hurt the irrigat-
ed crops. that is the best thing about
an irrigated land And this heat is
good. A lands production is meas.
ured by the sum of it's water and the
sum of its heat. Soil counts. but
water and heat are the main things.
There is a man here at Billings
named I. D. O'Donnell. He came here
from Michigan q good many years ago.
Mr.. % Donnell began farming up the
river ON q bench above Billings. He
planted alfalfa. He watched alfalfa
grow. studied alfalfa. lay awake nights
thinking about alfalfa. worked day.
times sowing more alfalfa and making
alfalfa hay. Then he took up the mat
ter Of using alfalfa He built great
feeding plant, warm shed. an i'm
! mense yard surrounded by q high
fence for wind break He; used this
for 4 time, then outgrew It and moved
down into the brush and trees and
built larger feeding yards vii hout
sheds Sheds were not 3D. necessary
here where IT never rains IN winter
and SHOWS little. but shelter from
wind was good: Mr. o'DonnelI learn,
ed that on alfalfa alone older sheep
seemed ID thrive better than lambs. q
Ne began ID feel them. though not