Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-07-18
AMERICAS BIGGEST FARM.
100000 Acres in Wheat and not Sim
ole Horse Used.


100000 Acres in Wheat and not a Sim
gle Horse Used.
Farming two hundred thousand
acres is certainly regular job. But
doing it without the use Of single
horse is something else again. Yet,
preposterous as it may sound, this feat
is actually being performed by Mon
tana man, Thomas y. Campbell This
huge farm, probably the largest in the
world, is a direct result Of the gov
ernment's efforts to stimulate the
growing Of wheat during the past two
years. The farm is devoted entirely to
wheat, and if it produces somewhere
around the country's average Of twen-
ty-eight bushels per acre, which is
practically certain, it will add approx
mately five million six hundred and
fifty thousand bushels to the 1918
wheat crop. At the governments guar
anteed price Of two dollars and twenty
six cents per bushel, this represents
the tidy sum of twelve million six
thousand dollars. OF course all this
won't be net profit. But there should
be enough left, after all expenses are
paid, to make the venture worth while.
Thomas d. Campbell is the man who
conceived the idea Of the worlds
largest wheat farm, or any other sort
of farm for that matter. Originally
of Grand Folks, North Dakota more
recently Of Los Angeles, California,
and now a resident Of the Crow In
dian reservation in Montana, where he
stands an excellent chance Of being
elected chief of the Crows, Mr.. Camp
bell has astonished the wheat growers
of the country, as we'll as lot of other
people, by the vastness of the enter
prise under his management.
1t was during the summer Of 1917
that Mr.. Campbell first thought of
raising wheat on a large scale on un-
used Indian lands, and wrote to the
Indian Bureau at Washington outlining
his plans and asking how to proceed
to lease some of the tracts. He was
courteously informed by the sundry
obscure clerks in the depart tment that
it couldn't be done. They cited certain
rules and regulations and laws to
prove their assertions.
But some thirty years ago Tom
Campbell took them seriously when
they told him there was no such word
as cant" in the dictionary. 1t is
that he doesn't even believe
much in cantaloup or cantatas. So,
he tried again, the men higher up this
time, and the result was long tele-
gram to President Wilson. Almost i'm
came back a reply saying
that the president was much interested
in the project and had referred it to
Secretary Lane, who would give the
matter his personal attention.
The upshot Of the matter was that a
week or two later found Mr.. Campbell
in the presence Of the Secretary of the
Interior. The fret thing the Secretary
asked him was what kind Of contract
he wanted. ANY kind" was the re-
ply, "just 80 get chance to raise a
lot Of wheat"
What do you want for yourself?"
asked the Secretary.
Nothing" Campbell replied. Il am
willing to enroll with the dollar-a-year
men II the Government finances the
project, and If finance it myself, all
1 want is q chance to break even."
The Secetary saw that he was deal
ing with man and patriot as well as
an extra-size farmer, so he asked him
why he didn't make it two hundred
thousand acres instead Of twenty thou
sand.
Gould you handle that many acres"
asked Mr.. Lane.
Certainly" replied Mr.. Campbell,
"only 1t will require more capital than
I had figured on"
Secretary Lane said he thought that
could be arranged and told Mr.. Camp
bell to go ahead and draw up a con-
tract. The contract was drawn and in
due time bore the signatures Of Secre-
tary Lane, all the bureau chiefs and
Mr.. Campbell. The Indians, Of course,
were we'll taken care Of under the
terms Of the contract. They will re-
ceive one-tenth Of the crop during the
first five years, and one-fifth of the
crop during the second five-year per-
iod, at the end Of which the lease ex-
pires.
The next step was to finance the
project, so Mr.. Campbell hurried to
New York, presented himself at the
offices Of j. P. Morgan and sent in
word that Secretary Lane had asked
him to call on a matter Of business.
Whether Mr.. Morgan had received ad-
vance information Of Mr.. Campbelps
coming or not Is unimportant. The
fact remains that he was Immediately
invited in for conference.
Mr.. Morgan listened while Mr..
Campbell told his story. At the end OF
the story Mr.. Morgan asked how much
would be required.
Five million dollars" replied Mr.
Campbell calmly, as one might say,
"rll take another bag Of peanuts"
VERY WELL" said Mr.. Morgan, you
may have It, And II that isn't enough
as much more will be available"
And so the ACCOMPLISHMENTS
acre wheat farm came into existence,
with Mr.. Campbell as president Of the
Montana Farming Corporation and
general manager Of the whole project.