Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1922-11-23
PURE BRED STOCK.

AOnG DHND
One of the chief assets of this community is stockraisng.
The nature of the terrain is such that it makes unrlvalet
pasture and shelter for stock while the native grasses, buffalo
blue joint, and bunch grass, afford the most nutritious feed found
in this section used to attempt to keep the territory between the
city of Belt and the Missouri as free from stock as possible ssh eu unit
and turn them loose for finishing before they were shipped 10 the
Years ago sixtycen wheat taught our farmers that raising
wheat alone was Improbable and each ranch began to accumu-
late = bunch of beef stock. Diversified farming has been the rule
since that day and many a debt on a ranch has been lifted by the
returns from the white faces. AS the old range stock disap-
peared and cattle must needs be kept in Enclosures, it became evil
dent that something must be done to improve the breed in order
that the owner might get the maximum return for his labor and
investment.
ing in some instances as much as 1000 while to thus Is was . added
as soon as a farmer found he was getting 1000 pound steers while
his neighbor with the pure bred sires was beating his weight for
same age by 200 to 800 pounds.
Men at times sent a buyer to the extreme east valny look
ing for a carload of choice bulls.
Then some pioneers in this business in the state began to in
vest in pure bred stock of various breeds and to raise bulls for
About this time other ranchazs discovered that the range
COW was not successful as a mixer, even though some of them
Welded twelve quarts of two per cent milk in two mikings. We
f fms nr ~ O. This fact to us. The writer Could tell a tale Of early
in the memory of many of you but as kphng says That Is an
other story"
Soon one rancher proudly exhibited a mixer on whose hide
glimmered a faint trace of Jersey blood, or another showed a
Holstein with a white face. which denoted a cross between a range
Hereford and the Hoktein. These were better mixers. Then a
few brought in pure breds but at first these were not a success
We had been brought up to believe that in Montana a COW could
look after herself in any kind of weather, without shelter and
without feed, but we soon learned that If We expected q Jersey TO
give milk she had to be fed and sheltered.
The most of us Observation-Disclosures went back to the range
COW but a few who had been trained in the east persisted, built
shelters and even fed roots and ground feed. Others, seeing their
success, followed suit and now we have herds of pure bred Hol
stems and Jerseys with a sprinkling of Guernseys and Brown
Swiss.
AS a side issue these men are able to sell pure bred bulls as
they are discarded or raised in their own herds.
The result is that in this section we have breeders of pure
bred stock, both beef and milk strains. This Is one OF the most
valuable assets a country may have. 1t influences others to grade
up their stock. 1t makes the owner of a scrub bunch ashamed
to continue breeding that kind of stock. 1t makes the country
look more anprO for who can pass q bunch of straight
backed, shortIegged, blocky Shorthorns without stopping to ad-
mire their beautiful proportions or their symmetrical lines! Who
can drive away from q high-class bunch of Herefords without
commenting on their uniform color. their wellfed appearance,
their conformation to lines of utility and their air of blue-blooded
aristocracy. /
On the other hand who can help noticing q herd of placid
Jerseys feeding near the road and the notified black and white of
side.
To the lover of milk stock their very meager flesh, their
distended veins and angular frames look more beautiful than any
sleek, fatlooking boarder.
That thinness of flesh betokens the pink of condition for the
mnk-manufacturing machine, and while it may not appeal to the
unsophisticated, yet to the wise it is the height of beauty.
And so as one of the diversified interests of the Belt Valley
we have that Of producing pure bred snes for the market.
During the past few years the market for this kind of stock
creased demand because for three years stockmen have bought
only what they could not do without
This year the stern necessity of changing bulls faces the
stockman, which fact will operate to the advantage of him who
has pure bred stock for sale.
This locality is fortunate in having a number of breeders of
pure bred stock, principally among whom you will find the fol-
lowing: