Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-12-14

well grassed and where there is q loan
I soil.
"In the older farming sections con
| petition is always at work." said Gir
| Wilson. Farmers who cannot meet
the competition go into other oecupa
/ lions until only the better farmers
are left. In this north central Montana
| section we had a sudden settlement
by a mixed class of people, many OF
whom had no farming experience of
any kind. 1t could not have been eX-
pected that more than a percentage
of these would survive to the point OF
success. Many Of the foreclosures and
abandonments noted in this territory
have been due to speculative people
without the necessary farming capacity,
who have taken up the land in the hope
Of a paradox of cheap land, easy and
big yields and high prices.
| I'VE have made exhaustive weather
| studies in this section. In a summary
1t may be said that 1t is highly i'm
probable that another series of
drouth, as serious as the last four or
five years, will be experienced again.
Diversifieation Key
ITO make a success in this country
we believe, from the findings upon
the successful farms of there, that the
farmer must plan upon making a per-
manent home, and that this must be
upon the basis of diversified farming.
Diversified farming, to the extent of
assuring the family living each year,
is necessary.
Where there is cheap pasture land
available the tendency gradually will
be toward an increased amount of live
! EtOrk TInnn fhoaa forrno tNhapn tburn
is little or no pasture land the farmers
are forced into a cash crop, and this
crop will be wheat.
All farming in this section should
be built around control of the Russian
thistle. Our summary would show that
the ideal way probably will be one
third of the land in summer fallew,
one-third in wheat on fallowed land
and the other land in winter rye and
IN wheat 'stubbled in. On the unfallow-
ed land crops should be planted only
If it be free from thistle. The diversifi-
cation base will assure the farm living:
the fallowed land will more nearly
assure a crop yield each year and the
crop on unfallowed land will provide
tor the year when conditions favor q
big yield, with yields nearly as good
as summer fallow and without the ex-
pense of fallow.
ITO provide for the bountifuI wears
when returns should be as large as
possible, the farmer should practice
the highest economy Of man. labor. By
this l mean the using of large teams
by a single man. On many of the most
successful farms we studied we found
the farmer using eight to 12-horse
teams and handling a large amount of
ground. In the good years the re-
turns will warrant this being made
the usual farm practice for every crop
year.
irrigation Stressed
Another great possibility for this
section is dry land irrigation. Our ir-
rigation specialist estimates that so
per cent of north Montana farms NAV
irr1gate from one to 100 acres each.
either by use Of spring flood waters
Or through dams in c~oulees that pro
vide for distribution through bitches.
Crops raised under these conditions
are comparable to the crops in the
best irrigated sections of the state.
The cost of providing either flood ir-
rigation or irrigation from a reservoir
in the north central section is small.
almost q proposition of labor.
For the control of the Russian
thistle OF summer fallow our survey
would point to the double rod weeder
and the duck foot cultivator as the
two best types of tools. The duck
foot c1ltivator is the ideal type for
summer following without blowing.
I'm soil blowing we find another
problem that must be more carefully
handled each year in this section as
the soil loses its fibrous growths and
tends to break up. Fallowing without