Judith Gap journal. [volume] (Judith Gap, Mont.) 1908-19??, 1910-09-02

""u ldlleu 10 make kOOu DV railing 10
follow the scientific methods, but he
cited Instances to prove that, even in
the dry season which Montana had
been experiencing, good crops had
been raised with minimum precipita-
tlon. Professor Shaw told of the
Great NOrthern's farm ut Chester, to
which place the Great Northern re-
Gently ran free excursion to show
other farmers what had been accom-
pushed. At Chester, Professor Shaw
said there had been, during the grow
ing season, but 80 inches of rainfall.
hut fair crop had been raised. In
the locality, farmers, who had sowed
spring grain Oh newly broken ground,
had no crops ut all. Professor Shaw
told of raising - bushels OF wheat to
the acre this year at Forsyth where
the rainfall during the growing
months had been but ;,.I0 inches, yet
farmer was cutting 20 bushels of
wheat and 30 bushels of oats to the
acre. At Moccasin. in the Judith
Basin, where there had been 5.O4 in
cles of rainfall during the growing
season, there were excellent crops.
AS great as the mining industry
is and has been in this said Prof.
Shaw, lit is not as great as the agri-
cultural industry is destined to be.
"The b, nch lands Of Montana can
be successfully farmed. let the season
be wet or dry. This has been II bad
season, | am told and statistics bear
.ont this assertion, that it has been
one OF the dryest seasons in - years
but where right methods have been
followed the farmer has been reward
ed with fair yield"
Professor Shaw said that ont Of tile
Thousand farms he had noted this
year where the farmer had sow n
spring wheat on newly broken land,
not one had raised fair crop, and he
strongly advocates the necessity of
summer following.
81 have come to the conclusion that
| must urge farmers against running
the hazard of plowing up land in the
spring and sowing it" continued the
expert. "Under those circumstances
they may get a good crop and they
may not. 1t is II gamble. Yet that
-is what ! am afraid the farmers Of
Montana will do several years to
come. Some will do it out Of what
they term necessity. The farmer who
has just broken his land in the spring
feels that he should have something
which he can soon convert INTO cash.
The temptation is almost irresistible.
But ! look upon it as Il hazardous
game. The farming of bench land i'm
Montana should be so managed that
the element Of uncertainty should be
eliminated. This can only be done by
summer fallowing or by rotation of
crops. | know Of no place where good
crops can be expected with such GER
tainty as in Montana if the farmer
will handle the land rs it ought to be
handled. Ii the bench farmer sum-
mer fallOws lns land right and sows
timely the following year, he may ex-
pect fair crop.
Professor Shaw spoke of winter
wheat as the great money making
crop of Montana and predicted that
within ten years Montana would mar
ket 100000, 200 bushels of winter
wheat.
Referring to the lands in the i'm
mediate vicinity at Helena, Professor
Shaw said that he had noticed that
between Townsend and Winston the
grass was very short and brown and
that he suspected that there was much
gravel III that land, although he
thought that there were some crops
which could be grown there. This
side of Winston, he said, the land
looked more promising and should
grow any kind of crop if properly
prepared although he thought it best
adapted to winter wheat.