Judith Gap journal. [volume] (Judith Gap, Mont.) 1908-19??, 1911-01-27

quality of the livestock of Montana.
Montana gained great wealth and
fame from it's mines and cattle and
sheep: ii was not regarded as an ag-
rlc"ltural country; was remote from
the frontiers of the western extern
sion of settlements: and homeseek-
ers passed through this wonderland
OF fertile farm lands and filled up
vacant lands to the west. some even
leaving their land and pushing far
north into Canadian provinces. By
the delay in the development M its
agricultural resources Montana has
paid for it's reputation as pre,uipr
mining state and premier stock conn-
try. for who could be expected t" be-
lieve that nature has made her also
the premier farming region Of the
United States? Yet to these there
gifts, lavisIly bestowed. are Others
scarcely inferior. In wealth Of tim
Der Montana is surpassed by few
states and III water power for gener-
atlng electricity probably by none.
Possibility Of Agriculture.
Here are all the natural resources
for the building up of Il rich and
mighty commonwealth, and Il climate
bracing. healthy and energy-inspir-
ing. Montana has ?3.OO0. 900 acres Of
land. "a. .ooO. 900 Of which are arabic,
and The whole state has Il population
Of only 376. 1000. one-third OF whom
live in cities and towns. Less than
1900. 900 acres Of land are in cultiva:
tiOn, leaving - ,OOO, 900 acres of farm
lands waiting for the plow and prom
Using the most abundant yields to
those who will cultivate them.
The ignorance ot the farming possi-
bilities OF the western country which
has been referred to has disappeared
md il is disappearing with regard to
Montana, though. for the particular
reasons stated, it has fingered longer
than it would have done had the min
ing and stock industries not been so
famous. 1t has been dispelled not by
word Of explorer or scientist or
booster, but by cold, hard facts of
crops produced, reports of which are
collected for every state by the De-
partmant of Agriculture and publish
ed in the Year Book and the Crop
Reporter These statistics are i'm
partial and conclusive. Let us see
what they show:
Montana farms will be devoted
mainly to raising grains. For the
ten year period. 1898 to 1907, in the
principal wheat producing states. the
average farm value per acre OF wheat
was: In Minnesota, SS.74: in Kan
sas, $3.50: in North Dakota. S7.7l; in
Nebraska, S9.S3: in Illinois, s1O.62;
in Montana, sl7.s3. In barley, oats,
rye, corn, potatoes and hay, Montana
likewise led. A siatician has shown
that the average Of Montana exceeds
the average for Minnesota, Illinois,
Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska in val
ne OF crop ut farm per acre rs fol-
lows: Eight dollars and three cents
per acre on wheat, or s3 per cent: $40
per acre in barley. or lO5 per cent;
sS.3O per acre in oats, or los per cent;
s'..7s per acre in POTATOES, or 81 per
cent. Other crops show like percen-
tages.
In 1909 there We're returns from
many farms which had been cnltiyat-
ed for the first lime.
Increase in Acreage.
\ large increase in the acreage in
crops is shown for 1910 over 1909,
which promises to be doubled next
year or the year following as settlers
have been pouring into the state by
thousands in the past two years. In
the fiscal year ending June 30, 1910.
all records for the disposition of ag-