Judith Gap journal. [volume] (Judith Gap, Mont.) 1908-19??, 1909-10-08

technical names and figures mean but
little. Told in plain English, the soil
on the bench lands is rich, dark
loan, the depth of which varies from
one to four feet, with an average of
two feet. The subsoil is gravelly
clay, is rich in phOsphOric acid, and
when the ground is worked the lime
Stacks and acts as a fertilizer. The
stranger is not unnaturally surprised
at the amount of gravel, some of it
good-s,zed pebbles, to be found mixed
in with the soil. However. it does
not seem to interfere with the wonder
fully rank grain growth.
Told in strictly technical terms the
soil consists of the following: Insolu-
BILE matter, 95.T per cent: ALP, O-3,
APO per cent; Fe-2, O-3, 3.57 per cent;
K-2, q, .l94 per cent; Nap, o, .O35
per cent; Ca, q, 1.2l per cent; Mig,
q, .347 per cent; $, O-3, 900 per
cent; Pig, O-5, IA per cent; n, .6s
per cent. This analysis not only
shows that the soil is very rich in all
the elements, but upon comparison it
will be found that it is one of the
richest of any ever analysed in the
United States.
Winters Are Mild.
The uninitiated and uninformed
have conceived the idea that Fergus
county and other points of Montana
are subject to severe winters of the
Canadian type, but such is not the
case. The growing season is four
and one-half mOnths-from May to
the middle Of September. The alti-
tude Of Lewistown, the county seat.
is 1000 feet above sea level, and for
this reason is high and dry. The
mountains round about the basin act
as windbreak to great extent.
The summer days are warm and
balmy and the nights are cool and
sleep-inducing.
One remarkable feature is the aver
age annual rainfall of 10 plus inches,
which, fortunately, is distributed to
the best advantage of the grower
two-thirds of it fall in the growing
season. 1t seems to be a matter of
common observation that increase of
rain in new country follows tillage
of the soil. Prof. F. n. Meyer Of the
United States department of agri-
culture, in lecture delivered before
the third dry farming congress at
Cheyenne in February, stated that the
scientific reason why trees and cult
Walton caused increased precipitation
is that these agents cool the air at the
earth's surface, attracting the rain
clouds, whereas, where there is no
cultivation, trees or shrubs, the sur
face becomes baked and the heated
air repels and dissipates the clouds.
An explanation of the sparsely set
tied conditions of so fertile a country
is the former lack of railroad facilities
and the poor marketing conditions.
II farmer raised bumper crop, he
was unable to market it at the proper
time and the expense of haulage was
so great that the margin of profit was
small. In the early days freight was
hauled to Lewistown from Great Falls
and Billings, each more than loo
miles distant. The Montana railroad
was extended to Lombard in 1899, de.
creasing the distance to 60 miles
The first railroad was built into Lew
istown in the spring of 1904, from
which time the population of the
country has steadily increased. Now
the grower has excellent shipping
facilities over three transcontinenta
railroads. The Billings 4 Northern
connects with the Great Northern Al
Great Falls and with the Northern