The Ronan pioneer., 1917-08-17


as Any Normal Year.
There is a decidedly optimistic
tone to the reports that came
from various sections of the state
regarding the crop outlook.
Three weeks ago the situation
was most discouraging. From
nearly every section Of the state
came stories of grain burned out
by the long dry season. This
This rain was almost too late to
do grain much good, because the
season for watering was over,
and the period of ripening had
commenced. But it brought on
cool weather, blocked rust, and
checked burning.
The crop is of course spotted.
There are places where it is gone.
There are other places where it is
fair. On an average 1t should run
between 40 and SO per cent of nor
NAL. This has been the dryest sea-
son ever occurring in Montana with
ia SAAC l1CIIOlJ VI Lnc OIucSL lulldUl-
tant. There are sections up along
the "high line" where the precipita-
ton has been less than one and one
half inches. And with this small
amount of rain, in many instances, a
40 per cent crop is being harvested.
II % per cent crop can be raised on
one and one-half inches of rain, what
can be accomplished with the normal
amount of moisture. These remark
able results should stiffen the faith
of the dry farmer in the glorious fu-
ture of his guild.
The Dry Farmers.
The dry farmer is the man to
whom the future of the state is hitch
ed. AS compared with the irrigated
farmer he is what 20 is to one. Some
day soon he will be as 100 to 1. He
is the man who is making the big
gamble with the dry places, and his
stake, in the aggregate, is the devel-
opment of one of the most magnifi-
cent agricultural states in the west
His success means that Montana will
some day support in comfort popu-
lation of 100000 people. Because
of his success cities that have
| 10000 people will some day
support $4,000, with the larger and
the smaller centers increased in peo-
pie proportionately.
Too little attention has been paid
to the proper preparation of the soil.
This was particularly true this sea-
son. Last year happened to be a sea-
son Of abnormal moisture. There are
any number of instances of big crops
OF wheat being grown on the raw sod,
the sheerest sort of a gamble. There
was an urgent need of more grain
Representatives of the government
urged farmers to plant every acre
possible. The farmers allowed their
patriotism to get the better of their
judgment and they planted every
where hurriedly, without preparing
the soil as it should have been pre-
pared. They plowed up thousands
of acres of sod and seeded it to
wheat. They scratched in more thou
sands with the disk, farm imple-
ment that should be prohibited by
law. They could only have expected
a crop if there had been an abund-
ance of rain. The rain did not come
and wherever these chances were
taken by the farmers they have lost
Means Better Methods.
One result of the future will be
soil preparation. There will be less
sod planted to wheat, and more tc
flax or some crop that flourishes in
sod. There will be less disking and
more ground lying fallow. And with
these better methods, and norma
precipitation, the soil of Montana viii
do it's part
Let us say that the grain crop Of
Montana averages 40 per cent of nor
NAL, which is low. 1t is nearer Sc
per cent of normal. The govern
wheat of 81 at terminal markets
This means price of not less tfa1
$3.50 in Chicago, and also means {
price of about 1925 to the man who
grows the grain. That is about three
times the average price of grain be
fore the war. In other words Mon
tana farmers will receive more money
for what grain they have grown this
year than they would have for {
bumper crop any year before the war
A Soldering Effect.
At any rate the results of this sea
sons harvest will have a SOLDERING
effect. Men, checked in the knocking
on the door of fortune, will be more
conservative. Homesteaders who
settled in the north country few
years ago spent last winter under the
orange trees of California, when the.
should have been expending thei1
money in improving their places. AL
the Montana farmer has to do is tt
farm, and to farm properly.
Hayre Bankers Good Spirit.
} "Your crop may be poor. You ma.
owe this hank mnnev which vnu can