The Carbon County chronicle. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1924-1924, 1924-09-10

vantage as Yellowstone.
Introduction Of beans on a large
scale on the Waller Project is ex-
pected to follow a recent investiga-
ton into results from that crop in
the Billings irrigated territory by
r. w. Spier and U. G. Shue of
Waller. Mr.. Spier and MFR. Shue
each win plant 40 acres of beans
next year. basing their expecta~
lions OF success on the similarity
Of growing conditions in the Waller
and Billings districts.
Observations of the local men In
the Billings bean district were given
in the following interview after their
return:
ave found that bean growing has
increased largely in the last few
years and. judging from the road OBJ
servation, the bean acreage seems to
be nearly as large as that devoted to
sugar beets. Beans are recognized
generally as clean up crop for foul
land. Summer falow 10 not prac-
ticed at all on the irrigated land. We
failed to see single acre in summer
faIlow, beans and sugar beets, gem
orally the former, being used as a
substitute. In addition to cleaning
up the land, the bean is legum-
inous plant and places nitrogen in
the soil, which sugar beets do not. 1t
was stated to us several times that
a grain crop after beans, other things
being equal, will yield more heavily
than on beet land.
1--WE called on Martin Curtis,
about eight miles west of Billings,
who had in lao acres of Great Nor
thern beans and 40 acres of alfalfa.
all OF which has been handled with
one hired man, with the exception OF
one additional man during haying,
and about $40 worth of land labor
on seven acres of his bean land
which was quite foul.
1900 Pounds An Acre.
"A good standard crop of beans
yields about Is sacks or 1900
pounds an acre. Anything les than
IL sacks is considered poor crop,
usually due to improper methods OF
cultivation, and some cases have
been known where the crop ran as
high as 5000 pounds to the acre.
"Mr Curtis showed us a charac-
teristic case of the use of beans as
a clean up crop. o n q piece Of rent
ed land adjoining him he had seven
acres which had been repeatedly
farmed to wheat and oats, and 1t
was described as being as foul with
wild oats as possible. He double
disced 1t early this spring, and fol-
lowed up by repeated civilizations
a good deal as we handle the foul
land on the Waller project for late
crop of barley. About the first OF
June he went over the tract with O
four-horse bean cultivator with the
difching shovels attached. This was
Immediately followed by the four-row
drill, planting the seed in shallow
burrows thereby made, and then fol-
lowed by harrow with the teeth
staggered. After that the land re-
ceived the usual cultivation and ir-
rigation for bean crop. In addition
to the above he expended $40 for
hand labor in hoeing and pulling out
the wild oats, amounting to about So
per acre. The crop on this seven
acres is estimated to be close to 1900
pounds per acre. This certainly
beats our present summer fallow, for
at "a cents per pound for beans
his crop on these seven acres would
amount to $54 per acre. Even II
both the yield and the price we're cut
@.x ha1 oft n
cash advantage over summer fallow
He estimated his whole 140 acres to
average 1900 pounds to the acre.
Has Little Labor.
Mr.. McCracken, east of Billings
has $50 acres of beans, which he has
handled entirely with one hired man
expanding only about like amount
sac for hand labor thereon.
I'VE had always supposed that
beans had to be intensively farmed
like sugar beets, In small acreages
and 1t was revelation to us to find
that these men handled as many
acres of beans as we do of wheat
with about a like amount of labor
and producing a great deal more OF
cash value per acre, at the same time
maintaining their land clean for the
next years crop.
From all the information that We
obtained, we see no reason why com
mercial beans of the Great North.
efn variety, which is the standard
could not be grown just as success
fully on our Waller and Conrad ir-
rigated land and elsewhere In irri-
gated Montana as at Billings. At all
events we are so convinced of this
point that we intend to put In at least