Judith Gap journal. [volume] (Judith Gap, Mont.) 1908-19??, 1910-12-02
GREATEST WHEAT
STATE IN UNION
Such is thu Opinion Of Prof. Shaw--The Treasure State
Can Produce lOO 900 Bushels Per Annum.

IL believe tire day will come when
Montana lands will be producing lOO,-
OOO, 900 bushels of wheat per aunum; +;
and that is more than any state is
producing ut the present time"
Such was the statement of Professor
Thomas Shaw near the close Of his
lecture at Conrad hall in Great Falls
Monday evening. These words were
the climax OF \ talk in which he en-
the growing Of wheat and some other
crops in Montana under the dry farm
method was an established success.
The present dry year. Mr.. Shaw said,
had demonstrated to him that under
the proper methods Of cultivation
Montana was destined to become the
greatest Of wheat producing states.
The substance the address is as
follows:
The speaker began by referring to
the great Importance relatively Of the
dry farming interest in the United
States. lie stated that it was his con-
viction that more than half of the
area of the republic was affected d.
rectly or indirectly by dry farm meth
ods. This did not mean, however.
that more than half OF the arabic
land would have to be farmed, il far
med at all, OH the dry farming plan,
but it did mean that the dry farming
propaganda referred to the cultiva-
tion of many millions Of acres of land
in every state one hundred miles west
OF the Mississippi river.
He then referred to the extreme
character of the drouth Of the past
summer in many sections of the west.
The severity of this drouth would ul-
timately result in great gain, as it
made absolutely clear what was some
what obscure before. namely, that
crops could he grown successfully
under the driest conditions, provid-
ing the land was properly prepared
the previous year. 1t has also demon
strated the greatness of the mistake
made by nearly all farmers in trust
ing so largely to spring plOwed land
to produce the crops that they were
seeking to grow.
III his own experience, in conduct
ing the demonstration farms for the
Great Northern railway, he had found
that in almost every instance where
the land had been plowed in the
spring that the crops failed. When
the plOwing was done somewhat late
in the season the failure was virtu-
ally complete, the grain in many in
stances did not even germinate. Be
cause Of this experience and because
of extensive observation in the same
line. it was his conclusion that farm
ers should try to avoid to the greatest
extent possible that system Of farm
ing. There was in it an element Of
uncertainty that made 1t extremely
haZa r(louS. He was aware Of the fact
that many hOmeseekers would cOm.,
into Montana to take possession of
their lands the coming spring, and
many of these doubtless would not be
possessed of much means, hence it
was generally important to them that
they should get some crop from their
lands that they could turn into money
in order to establish themselves on
their new homes. II they must do
this, he believed that two crops that
could he grown We're far more safe
than other crops grown under the
same conditions.
The first OF these is flax, the second
is fodder corn. The iiaN would fur
nish the money crop and the fodder
corn would produce the food crol, for
such livestock as might he kept upon
the farm: growing this crop would
also prepare the land in good form
for grain crop the following year.
The farmer, however, who is estal,-
lished Oh his farm, should try to ar
range that all his crops virtually will
be grown on land in Which the muis-
ture has been conserved the previou,
wear.
The moisture may be conserved in
the following two methods: these.
however. are in sense virtually the
same. The first refers to summer
failOWing the land. the second refers
to growing some kind of IL cultivated
crop, which is equivalent to summer
following the land. Hy summer fall
lowing Prof. Shaw meant that the
ground would he deeply plowed at
that season When il had the iarceS.