Semi-weekly herald., 1915-10-21
LAND OF
BOOSTERS
Read This Letter and
Quit Your GrumbIing
About Your Home

Blow your own horn seems TO be
The slogan here in Montana, as well
IS otner parts OF the west. Every
body sings the praises of the wonder
fuI state. Even before leaving the
northern entrance of Yellowstone park
you hear of the bumper crops and
The marvellous yields in this far north
state. The stage drivers, the hotel
folk. the old timers on the traia all
speak piece-just off hand so yod are
sure they have been going To school
cogethcr "F'ifty-seven bushels of
wheat on dry farms, tney all tell you,
assuring you il Is straight goods.
You nod wisely but forthwith deter
mine to keep weather eye out for
further developments in the case.
From Livingston we pushed through
The Galatin valley, which is an old
settled country and crops are rais-
ed by irrigation. Here harvesting is in
full swing and some grain is being
threshed out of the shocks, which are
in most places very thick on the
ground. In the several hours ride
through the valley, we were favor
ably impressed with the section. The
lay of the land is rolling yet smooth.
The improvements on he ranches are
in general neat and substantial.
Butte, the largest city in the state,
claims puopulation Of $4,000. ft is
solely maintained by the vast copper'
mining industry. Some forty miles
10 he norm i, Hctna the state
capital. l reached there while the
state fair was in progress and had
an excellent oportunity to inspect
the exhibits. There were fine dis
plays of grain, artistically arranged.
Fruit and vegetables were also shown.
The sheep and cattle exhibit was par
ticularly fine, but barring the latter
only, | would say the San Juan basin
could easily beat them on quality for
anything else.
What Montana is especially trying
to accomplish at present is the settl-
ing of the states vacant lands. These
are great rolling prairie tracts, in
townships located here and there from
the middle to the western boundaries
from the outside. There is much
trading in relinquishments as these
lands are all in the arid belt and can
not be watered and the past season
been very favorable to dry farming.
Many of the homeseekers from the
east are made to believe that this is
in average year and they can regu-
larly succeed along these lines. Moth
ing, however, is further from the
truth.
To an old time. westerner these
things are not so hard to see through.
Montana has a very rigorous climate
and is not well adapted to all around
farming. There are late freezes in
the spring and early ones in the
fall, and dry seasons are the rule.
In Great Falls, on the IL of Septem-
ber there occurred hard freeze which
badly damaged the foliage of the
shade trees and entirely killed some
of the younger ones.
We CLEAN from the old settlers. and
these are the ones who have the best
locations, that they have made their
money out of sheep and cattle. They
admit if they farm at all they must
summer fallow their ground, and some
years they don't even harvest their
crop at all. Alfalfa is out Of the
! question, and even in the sections
where irrigation is practiced one sees
very little Of it. Ranchers feed their
stock straw and grain.
Following is the average prices for
REIMBURSEMENT on homesteads: For
one-half section with scant improve
ments, such as one wire fence and
one room claim shack, from 5000 to
$500 each. Decided dry lands with or
dinary improvements in tracts of 500
to 5000 acres are held at from 81
to $4,000 per acre. In the irrigated
sections, where land is well improved
the prices range from $50 to 800 ar
acre.
These are about the relative con.
ditions pertaining To lands and thu