The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1923-03-29
READING THE SIGNS WITH AN
HONEST EYE

Three railroads IN the state nav
opened up a national advertising cam
paign of the Pacific Northwest wit
full page advertisements in leading
magazines. These advertisement
are headed "And So the West Wa
Won" and refer to the Pacific North
west at "The Land of Opportunity.
Opportunity, according to Web
ster's definition, is a ''time or plac,
favorable for executing a purpose.
Permit us to add that if farming il
the purpose, then now is the tim'
and Montana is the place for success
full farming.
Our farming experience of recen-
years has not been discouraging. i
has been most encouraging. 1t ha:
demonstrated that sound business
methods in farming are as necessary
as in any other business.
One Year Lost
If a clothing merchant, for in
stance, put in a stock of nothing but
raincoats you and I and all the rest
of us wouldn't hesitate to predict
certain failure for him. He would
have only one seasons business a
year and that would be in the spring.
The rest of the time he would have
to live on the profits of that one sea
son. If n spring failed to bring
forth much rain then there would be
a whole year gone and nine chances
out of ten the raincoat merchant
would be gone pretty shortly after
ward.
Naturally the raincoat merchant
blames the weather for his business
failure and, of course, he did fail
because there wasn't enough rain to
make a demand for ~raincoats. But
why should he blame the weather?
Doesn't the blame finally fall upon
him for engaging in a business not
adapted to our climatic conditions?
Wouldn't a little reasoning before
hand have proved to him that the
raincoat business in a country with
little rain is a poor business, or should
he have expected the good Lord to
have provided more than the usual
a~In0e1t IF rain in order to make the
raincoat business profitable in that
particular section.
Other Lines of Goods
The one crop farmer al expect
no more than the raincoat merchant,
SO good business demands that he in
clude other lines of goods in his en-
terprise.
Bear with us a moment while we
count some of our blessings and emu
merate a few of u opportunities:
In Montana there are about 49,
900, 900 acres of land suitable for
some variety of corn growing.
In 1915 there were only 10000
acres of corn or less than four tenths
of one per cent of the available corn
land devoted to that crop. Last year
there were $4,000 acres planted to
corn or but a little more than one
per cent of the corn land devoted to
corn.
The Difference
Montana has long been recognized
as a cattle raising state, but we have
shipped u cattle from the ranges
back to the central west where Iowa,
Illinois and Missouri farmers have
made a handsome profit by f~attenlng
them on corn and selling them at a
top price. Some stockmen in Mon
5ana have found that it pays to fat
Ten them here on Montana corn. Last
fall one man shipped a a of cat
lie he had fattened himself on Mon
tana corn and he received 1920
per hundredweight for his cattle in
Chicago. Another a of the same
of cattle, but hay and grass fed,
was shipped from the same place the
same day and went to the same mark
ct where they brought $500 per hum
dredweight. The man who shipped
the hay fed stuff wasn't satisfied, of
but who was to blame for
the low price?
A special train loaded entirely with
hogs enters Montana from the east
every day. These hogs are bound for
Montana points and western markets.
Montana people are closer to these
western markets than the shippers
who are loading these hogs. Mon
tana people can grow the corn and
hogs as cheaply and yet each day we
see act1a1 dollars naSSinp hack and
forth through our state that could
easily be ours.
The land Of opportunity-place,
Montana-time, now.-Development
Bulletin.