15 



man, near the upper end of the valley, is -^,754 feet and at Lof^an, 

 a small town located near the lower end of the valley and distant 24 

 miles, it is 4,032 feet. There is consequently a difference of 722 feet 

 in elevation in 24 miles. 



Gallatin Valley is for the most part surrounded by mountain ranges. 

 To the south are to be found the sharp-pointed, snow-covered peaks 

 of the (Talliitin Mountains; on the east the steep incline from the East 

 Gallatin River terminates in the Bridger Range, while a low range 

 separates it from the valley of the upper Missouri River on the 

 northwest and a plateau forms the divide between it and the Madison 

 Valle}^ on the west. 



The people of Gallatin County paid taxes in 1902 on over half a mil- 

 lion acres. This area was divided as follows: 



Private land in Gallatin County, 1902. 



Acres. 

 First-class grain and hay land, most of which was irrigated — 98, 115 



Second-class grain and hay land 112, 910 



Fenced grazing lands 205, 130 



Unfenced grazing lands 73, 160 



Railroad lands 58, 831 



Total 548,146 



There were about 100,000 acres irrigated and about 110,000 acres 

 cultivated dry in 1903. On an average 1 acre of irrigated land is as 

 protitable as 3 or 4 acres of the same quality of nonirrigated land, for the 

 reason that the former, under a proper rotation, will produce a crop 

 every 3'ear while the latter has to be rested alternate years, the irri- 

 gated land producing also a greater diversity of crops. 



In a general way the soils of the Gallatin Valley may be classed 

 under two heads, viz, those derived directlv from the disintegration 

 of the materials of the Bozeman Lake beds and remaining in place 

 and those formed by the sorting over of the above materials by the 

 various streams of the valley. The lirst of these two classes consti- 

 tutes the higher " bench" lands, while the other comprises the bottom 

 lands bordering the streams or occupying the lower levels of the 

 valle3\ These have much in common, yet there are also marked 

 differences. Gravel is rarely found in the bench-land soil, while it is 

 common in the bottom lands. 



The thickness of the soil varies very greatly, averaging perhaps 12 

 inches, the subsoil averaging 2 feet, with usually gravel below. This 

 is more particularly true of the bottom-land class. The soils are 

 deeper and richer in humus in the upper end of the valley, whereas 

 about the middle of the valley the gravel forms an extensive bar, 

 reaching practically to the surface. 

 33281— No. 172—06 2 



