The Bozeman courier., 1927-09-30

tana, coming with little or no farm
equipment and with virtually no farm
experience, and today he is a well-to-dol |
man. His money was made raising Seed
potatoes-in adapting himself to Mon
tana conditions and developing a farm
program that was puncture-proof. Even
in the driest years he made enough
money to feed and clothe himself and
family, to buy new equipment, TO pulld
himself a comfortable home and keep /
all his capital and current depts pala up.
In another section of the sttae, know
a school teacher who today is rated a |
rich man. His money was made In Mon |
| tana in the last eight years, and mucn |
/ of it during the very period that nun
dreds were fleeing from here as though
harrassed by pestilence. This man ap-
piled common sense to ttlling his soil
and harvesting and marketing his wheat
| So if any criticism is to be made OF
| the conditions which brought failure TO
so many Montana hOmesteaders 1T
should not be aimed altogether at our
SOIL at our climate, or at our people
| Instead, we should understand that 1t
was an unfortunate combination OF cir
cumstances where in our people had not
vet been adjusted to our conditions. Con-
| sidering the progress now in evidence on
every hand, it is safe to say that though
| the rainfall should again be below nor
NAL during a growing season and not
| winds should come to reduce our crop,
the heartaches and the losses that we
4 did a few years ago. We're building a
1 new foundation for our agricultural
structure, and it is not built of sand.
God Made Soil Different
The reason you can't operate a farm
in Montana as you would in Iowa or
II Illinois is because God made the soil
; and climate different. And there's some
thing about Gods work that's compenSa-
tory The air in Montana may be lighter
than in the east, but it is easier to work
in; it doesn't suffocate you in summer
time; it doesn't penetrate to your mar
. row-bones in winter. But best of all, it
gives the crops just what they need to
/ make them of a higher quality than
+ grown elsewhere. We may not get the
rain that eastern states do, but our soil
can be made to store up moisture and
produce sturdier plant. Our growing
season is shorter, too, which has its
: cOmpensations.
Now that we have developed our hind
sight, we should have keener foresight.
] And it is the foresighted farmer who is
. going to make substance for himself and
/ at the same time develop a great COM
monwealth.
. One Of the most interesting current
> events in Montana life is the series of
; district eco ionic" conferences which
; have been held during the past year
throughout the state and which will be
n winter on a county-unit basis. These
conferences, which are nothing more or
- less than reviewing the mistakes Of our
farmers and finding out their strong
y points, are sponsored by the State Agri-
o cultural college and conducted by the
2 specialists of the extension department
r 1t should be said, however, that one
r secret of their success is the fact that
o the specialists keep in the background
g and let the farmers themselves shape
fI1ofTs rum TNTn on 11n hoC Of
n systematized knowledge that the special
Il lists have compiled from the experiences
v Of the farmersthemselves.
;e Conditions Within State Vary
q Montana is such a huge state-its sol
e varies its climate varies, its rainfall
q varies its altitude varies, its topograph!
u varies-that it is not possible to work ou
Is a single scheme Of farming methods tina
% will serve each locality exactly. This 4
lie one thing we didn't know back in 1913
Then we believed that if a farmer IL
e the Gallatin valley could do a certain
q thing, it could be done with equal sue
~ cess in Custer county or Hill county
~ which, Of course, we have learned is i'm
er possible.
~ We have learned that we have bi
~ sections of land that never will be goo'
e for anything except stock grazing; tina
~ is it won't be possible to crop that Ian,
rs at profit until there is a greater de
10 mand for food and more efficient way
m of producing it than we now know o1
There are other sections of land that 70
IN the next quarter of a century could no
r be put to better production than whea
70 growing; while still other big areas tina
as must be utilized as combination farm
grains and livestock. Then we have Ger
tain valleys where dairying is the in
es evitable industry; others where frui
no growing can be engaged in at the great
o. est profit
nd So our Job of making Montana a trul
nd greatstate consists principally Of know
n ing our local conditions and ad1ustin