Omaha daily bee., 1911-07-24
PROFITS IN MONTANA LANDS
Conclusive Figures Presented by
Agricultural Commissioner.
IRRIGATION NOT COMPLICATED
On Lands In GaIIatin County Record
Crops of 1000 Were Grown, ASS
Bushels Having Been Taken
from 41-2 Acres.
(BY ]. II. HALL1

BOHEMIAN, Mont, July 3.-(special)-
Gallatin county has population Of H,OOO
people, more than half of whom live In
cities and towns, leaving a farming popu-
lation of less than G,OO0. The crops have
reached stage that the yield may be
closely approximated and here are the
figures grain buyers and good judges Of
local conditions estimate as the production
for 1911: Wheat 100000 bushels; oats,
2,OOO,O0O bushels; barley. 100000 bushels;
and enough flaxseed, bald barley and rye to
bring the total up to 100000 bushels. The
value at the farm of these products Will
not be less than $6,000,O00, and II there are
short crops in other states II will be con-
sideraby more The value OF the hay
crop-timothy, clover and alfalfa, of which
there is a large acreage-and Of the 1900
acres planted to peas will raise the total
value of farm products to at least $1,000,
600. Divide this among the 5000 men,
women and children who live on farms
and the product is about 1920 a head.
Can you beat II?
Half of the acres in cultivation in Gal
latin county are valley lands irrigated
from the Gallatin river and it's tributaries.
On such land was grown the worlds rec
ord crop OF oats in 1909 by Rudolph Vogel
jr.. who harvested ass bushels from two
and one-hah acres OF ground Prof.
Alfred Atkinson Of the Montana Agricul-
tural college makes the following state
ment as to irrigated lands in the Gallatin
valley and the products of one farm:
1t In Not Complicated.
ITO the uninitiated, farming under the
system of irrigation appears complicated
and expensive. He may appreciate the
fact that returns are high, but he is afraid
that the worry and expense connected with
the irrigation is such that II would be an
undesirable branch Of agriculture to take
up. The returns on irrigated farms are
such as to make the bare statements OF
facts concerning them appear like an ex-
aggeration to the unfamiliar ones. II a
western man tells his eastern friends about
the crop yields he has gained he is usually
made an object of pity because he has so
far forgotten his early training that he
makes what appears to his friends wholly
unwarranted statements. Presentation of
a few figures showing the returns from
one farm in Montana may serve to show
something of the possibilities OF an irri-
gated farm. These returns are gained I'M
der the ordinary methods and while they
are good, yet they are not extraordinary
ana many Otnef instances could De cited
which show returns equally as good The
farm in question contained 160 acres and
was divided follows: Thirty acres in
wheat, thirty acres in oats. eighty acres
in clover and twenty acres in pasture po-
tatoes, etc. The thirty acres in wheat
gave yield of eighty-three bushels to the
acre, which, figured at 70 cents a bushel,
shows a gross return of s1.s75. The thirty
acres of oats yielded 100 bushels to the
acre which. when figured at 40 cents a
bushel. shows a return Of $1,000. The cut
ting of clover gave a yield of two tons
to the acre, or 100 tons, which sold at 50
ton, making $3.50. The second crop of
clover was sold on the ground for pasture
for $500 From the twenty acres devoted
to pasture, potatoes, etc. 500 was gained.
These different returns taken together
make a total of A.S75 from 100 acres of
average Montana land under irrigation.
MY reader from the humid sections will
be asking concerning the cost of irrigation.