Judith Gap journal. [volume] (Judith Gap, Mont.) 1908-19??, 1909-07-23
DURUM WHEAT IDEAL
FOR MONTANA FARMS
This Hardy Cereal will Thrive oa n to
l3 Inches Of Rainfall.


stay. With due respect to the CON-
servative Chicago Tribune and the
more conservative VIM. +. Curtis,
who but few months ago decried
and belittled the methods of scientific
farming-commonly known rs dry
farming"-the fact is that today the
dry land farmers are being looked to
as the salvation of the future wheat
supply. The difference between dry
land farming and irrigated commune
ties is that the dry land farmer must
farm more Orethoroughly-mus conserve
the moisture.
Montana is classed as dry farming
state. Some portions of this grand
state are more favored than others by
the amount of rainfall received-we
note especially the Judith Gap and
the Judith Basin districts. 1t has
been proven time and again that these
districts can and are raising some of
the greatest crops ever recorded not
by dry farming, but by merely farm
ing. However, little larger yield is
obtained some years, and occasionally
a much greater yield is obtained by
scientific methods. Therefore it is
wise to follow the scientific methods.
These methods were not devised for
the lazy husbandman-in fact, they
require some eXertiOn-sOme extra
wOrk-in the proper fultillment so as
to secure Il bountiful harvest. But
is pays.
A bulletin comes from the Dry
Farming Congress which tells Of the
beneficial results to be obtained from
the raising of Durum wheat The
article is:
"The hand that rocks the cradle
rules the world" but the hand that
tills the soil. ''the man with the
hoe" supports the world. The farm
er is in practice the Atlas of old
redivivus, for he carries the earth
upon his shoulders, feeding as well
with the fruits of his labor the ill-
habitants thereof. He does not know
|
the fact, but the farmer is the most
important man upon this earth. Stop,
for a single month, the influx of the
products from the farm into any large
city, and what would happen? The
great nations of the earth before con-
templating a war seriously, first
figure with the bankers to raise the
money to buy-what? Food from
the farmers for the army and navy,
In other words, the farmer becomes
the greatest factor in the proposition
of peace or war. He may not know
it, but the destinies of the nations on
the globe are controlled by the farm
er.
If the farmers all went on strike
for thirty days, and no community Of
men could afford to do so better and
easier than the farmers, the world at
large would be ON the verge of starva-
ton and the farmer would be yet liv-
ing and yet able to live for months
yes, indetinitely-on the fat of the
land, the result of his industry.
The farmer is the most indepen-
dent man OH this earth, yet because
of a lack Of knowledge Of his inherent
strength, is prey only too often to
the first weakling of a sharper who
comes along.
The independence and strength of
a farmer are manifested best when !,
stress of hard, very hard. times come
along. The fluctuations of Wall
street stocks never induce a potato
more or a potato less to grow in a
hill. The same sun shown upon the
farmers crop and the warm rain fell
and the earth was glad, even if all
Wall street was sad and gone to the
bad.
In the commercial world even in
dustry and the hardest kind of work
the willingness to work avail little
when really 'hard times'' and "no
work" are on.
The banker then, with his money
and credit, actually stands between
the man in the city and starvation.
If the banker were not at hand to
ease up the situation and made good
to the farmer it would be simple
starvation, pure and simple.
So in Il measure the farmer is like
the elephant tethered by rope that
if he but knew his strength, he could
snap in minute. He is led around
here and there and made do things
by men far weaker than himself.
To better the conditions of life
along varying lines for the farmer
the President months ago appointed Il
Country Life Commission to investi.
gate and report and recommend ways
and means of betterment for the
farmers. | quote just few lines
from the report of that Commission: