10 



veyed. These two items comprise nearl}- 65 per cent of the total land 

 area. The area included in the forest reserves amounts to about 

 7,500,000 acres, and the six Indian reservations prior to the opening of 

 a part of the Crow Reservation ao-oregated about 9,500,000 acres. In 

 addition to the subdivisions named, there is the area appropriated, 

 which has increased of late years by more than a million acres a year. 

 In 1899 it was 13,000,000 and in 1905 it was 19,279,000 acres. A more 

 exact statement, taken from the Report of the Commissioner of the 

 General Land Office regarding the status of land in Montana on July 

 1, 1905, is herewith given: 



Acrei<. 



Area surveyed and open for settlement 19, 241, 26-4 



Area unsurveyed 36, 507, 106 



Area reserved 18, 566, \88 



Area appropriated 19, 279, 012 



A considerable portion of the area appropriated has been purchased 

 from the Northern Pacitic Railroad Company. The grant to this 

 company comprised about 15,000,000 acres, of which nearly one-half 

 has been patented and sold to private parties. According to the 

 Congressional Record of March 25, 1901, the public lands of Montana 

 disposed of from July 1, 1881, to June 30, 1902, are as shown in the 

 following statement: 



Acres. 



Timber and stone lands 171, 977 



Final desert entries 1, 284, 431 



Commuted homesteads 383, 121 



Final homesteads 1, 573, 777 



State lands selected 961, 621 



Railroad grants patented. 6, 611, 083 



Total in twenty-one years 10, 986, 010 



Only about 10 per cent of the land that has been appropriated is 

 farmed, and of this portion about two-thirds is irrigated. The total 

 area irrigated in 1901 was probably 1,250,000 to 1,500,000 acres. It 

 is from this comparatively small area that the greater part of the agri- 

 cultural wealth, exclusive of stock interests, is derived, and from 

 which a large part of the total revenues are raised. In 1902 the State 

 board of equalization assessed 10,512,536 acres at $25,300,972, or $2.10 

 per acre. This average rate is low for the reason that unfenced graz- 

 ing lands in that year were assessed at only 75 cents and railroad lands 

 at 85 cents per acre. On the other hand, tirst-class grain lands under 

 irrigation were occasionally assessed as high as ^30 i)or acre. On an 

 average, 1 acre of grain laud is assessed as high as 10 acres of grazing 

 land. 



According to the census of 1902, 1,140,694 acres were irrigated in 

 Montana. This was an increase of 18.1 per cent over the area irri- 

 gated in 1899. More land has ])een reclaimed during the two j^ears 

 that have followed than in the two that preceded that date, so that it 



