Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1922-06-15
FIRST ARTICLE

I1nCA ADIlALE
There never was, in the history o
Montana, such rapid extension of thl
dairy industry as is taking place at tn,
present time, and many farmers whC
/ never did SO before. are hauling cream
to town. This indicates that there
are more COWS being MIXED than evel
before, and the increase comes from
many farmers beginning to milk a few
cows, rather than the establishment of
a few big dairy herds. The reason for
this increase IN dairying is not hard TO
give, as il is evident that many farm
ers are finding that they need a ron
slant and certain income to meet the
running expenses of the farmland
that there is nothing more certain
than growing feed and milking a few
cows.
There are two outstanding advan
tages in dairy farming, The immed-
late and steady cash return to be Sc
cured from milking COWS will appeal
to more farmers than the other inn
portant advantage, which is, that on
a well managed dairy farm practically
all the feed grown is marketed in a
more concentrated and valuable form,
and that such a system admits Of ro-
tatinR crops, so as to control weeds,
conserve moisture, and keep the soil in
the best possible condition for grow
ing crops.
Montana farmers are experiencing
the bad effects of depending on a
crop-wheat-which otter fails,
and from now on a more diversified
safe system" of farming with be
practiced. Every farm should have a
feHRe4rs, hegs chickens and a garden 4
TO insure a good living This need not
interfere with growing all the small
grain that should be gambled on.
Grain Farming Not Safe
When only grain crops are grown.
there is a big risk, as there are many
that a happen to the crop.
The soil becomes loose, dries out. and
is drifted by the winds. No soil can
grow crops year after year, without
or later reaching point where
production viii cease to be profitable.
Bad years, rust, smut, hoppers, hail
low prices and other calamities, may
overtake the wheat crop at any time.
When feed fer stock is grown on
the farm, a rotation of crops is pos
and the soil can be kept in bet
ter condition. A part of the elements
Of plant food and humus may be re-
turned to the soil in the shape Of barn
yard manure to be used again, hold
moisture and prevent blowing. More
and is kept in q pasture, there isl
..s..L - NF.-tur- f,,I 4L.s b t..,~L
iarmed wrong side up
Stock raising and dairying alse calls
'or growing a variety of feed, which
means rotation of crops, including
'orn, alfalfa, clover and sweet clover,
20 that zone need be bought. The ro-
alton of crops means distribution of
work, cleaning the land and storing
moisture by a cultivated crop. Dairy :
soon become highly productive, ]
md the farmers prosperous. !
The Dairy Cow an Economical Pro- ,
ducer of Food :
No other animal on the farm. for I
given amount of feed, will produce $
he same quantity of digestible food
S the dairy COW. 1t has been shown i
v careful experiments that a dairy U
will produce nearly five times as s
auch food from a given amount of |
eed, as viii be produced by the grow i
ng of beef cattle. In other words. 2
he keeping and feeding of ore good c
ow on the farm would mean the pro- i
uction of almost as much human food r
5 would be secured by growing five c
wo-year old steers, and the COW viii il
till be- left to go on producing. while
he steers are butchered, eaten, and a
production eases v
A great any have feared tbereld
be an over production of dairy D
r0duetsA Snch seems to be very im.l b
robable, as the consumption win in "
very rapidly, especially If the
rice of milk and butter should be low c.
red to any extent. sDairying viii %
suHify show a greater profit than anytti
line Of farming. Condensed milk d
nd other dairy products are being Il
into Montana in very large Il
uantities, because not enough is pro- d
1ced for home demand. ko1
II is true that dairying is adapted TO NJ
ign priced land, but that does not a
lean that II is not possible to make n
GOD profits on cheap land. Land in m