The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1938-08-11

CracCeQ, n remainder is piled
and burned. The SrumpS are
then pulled and piled in long
Wlnd-roWS by means of a bull
dozer. The cost ranges from
$500 to $250.00 per acre. Prob
ably $4,000 is a fair average.
I would judge that it would be
a good idea to allow the wind
row of StumpS to remain in Or
der to prevent the soil bio wing
IN the heavy winds that prevail
in the spring. The rains begin IN
late August or early September
and in order to cure, hay must
be piled on vertical stakes with
cross pieces at the bottom 10
keep the hay off the ground.
The hay is spitted on these
stakes to a height of five or
six feet in cone like shocks. Al
ter curing it is stored in the
big barn lofts against the long
period of hand feeding. A large
turnip called the bortfield is
chopped up and fed to the cat
tie to supplement the hay. The
bortfield grows to a length of
Is or 20 inches and is about SIX
inches in diameter. During the
grazing season, many cattle die
from larkspur poisoning. The
larkSpur here grows shoulder
high and is very abundant and
correspondingly hazardous. This
may account for the fact that
we saw very few cattle. Butter
fat is now selling at AZ cents
and milk is 20 cents per quart,
but like the truck-gardening, if
dairying is entered into to any
great extent there would be no
market.
I asked Mr.. Pippel how often
small grain would ripen here.
He replied, "One year in ten
Other farmers gave estimates as
high as two years in five. If
we strike an average of one year
in four, it will be plain that
Alaska will never be a serious
competitor in the world wheat
market. I did not see a single
threSher in our drive and there
is not a flour mill in the whole
territory of Alaska. Flour is
shipped in from the outside and
retails at from six fifty to
seven dollars per hundred.
Spring winds are high and fire.
quent, filling the house with
dust so that spring is continual
cleaning time. Mr.. Pippel said
that he re-planted some of his
garden three times and although
this spring was earlier than us
ual. his crops are now about a
month late. He lost about six
inches of his top-soil this spring.
His ground is river deposit and
is from ten to eighteen feet in
depth. The higher ground or
knobs in the valley are glacial
gravel covered to a depth of
eight to twelve inches with
leaf mould.
Potatoes produce abundantly
but do not ripen here. They are
dug in August and stored in
cellars at a temperature of 10
degrees to cure. The cellars are
ventilated with air-spaces at
top, bottom and between lay
ers. After being conditioned for
two or three weeks, the pota-
toes are then stored in cool
cellars where they keep remark
ably well. We saw Spuds nearly
a year old that were as firm as
new potatoes. They are now SELL
ing for $3.50 per cwt. The price,
I was told does not go below
$500 for first grade article.
About sixty per cent of the
original coloniSts still remain.
The other forty per cent, either
were not farmers, or did not
like the hard work-and it is
hard-or did not have sufficient
iron in their composition to
Withstand the hardships of pio-
neering. Many colonists work
for the government at the COM
munity center and others work
their farms only when. they
cannot find remunerative work
elsewhere, such as road building.
AS an evidence of what some
people can accomplish under adj
verse circumstances, our guide
showed us several farms, the
owners of which were here prior
to the colonists. They are re-
puted to be making Roadway
and the appearance of their
farms would indicate a degree
of prosperity.