HORTICULTURAL MONTANA. 



ARID AMERICA as a whole is a sealed book to 

 the American people. A few of the more im- 

 portant valleys, such as the San Joaquin, and 

 San Bernardino in California, the Salt Lake in Utah, 

 and the San Luis in Colorado, are vaguely known in 

 the populous East, but these 'are only a few among 

 hundreds of valleys and it would be a rash man in- 

 deed who would dare to predict that they will be 

 more important in the end than many that have 

 scarcely been mentioned beyond the boundaries of 

 the States in which they lie. 



Montana agriculture has attracted little attention. 

 Montana horticulture is utterly unknown. Montana 

 is one of the Western States which enjoys a rather 

 pleasing reputation so far as it goes. Its fame rests 

 on its mines and its cattle. These are naturally the 

 earliest industries in a remote mountain common- 

 wealth. In the last few years, however, a new era 

 has begun to dawn. It has come so gradually as to 

 be almost imperceptible, even to the residents of the 

 State itself. It is only on the occasion of an ambi- 

 tious county fair that the agricultural and horticul- 

 tural possibilities of a new country stand revealed. 

 The exhibit of the Western Montana Fruit Growers 

 Association at Stevensville last autumn was a com- 

 plete revelation of the capabilities of the Montana 

 soil and climate. It was a surprise to those who are 

 familiar with the arid region, and would certainly be 

 amazing to the great public which thinks of Montana 

 as only fit for mining and cattle raising. 



A TYPICAL MONTANA VALLEY. 



The Bitter Root River is one of the many clear 

 mountain streams which constitute the headwaters of 

 the great Columbia River system. The Bitter Root 

 Valley is a comparatively narrow strip of fertile soil, 

 framed by rugged mountains. It is on the Western 

 slope and for that reason has been considered more 

 favorable for horticulture than the larger valleys on 

 the East, drained by the Missouri River system. The 

 town of Stevensville is situated near the centre of the 

 valley, between Missoula, on the main line of the 

 Northern Pacific, and Hamilton, the terminus of the 

 branch line which penetrates the Bitter Root Valley. 

 Probably no locality in the arid region shows more 

 indications of thrifty development at this time. The 

 valley ranges in altitude from 3,000 to 4,000 feet. 

 The climate, of course, is that of the northern part of 

 the temperate zone. The winter is long and cold, 

 but the cold is of that peculiar quality so familiar to 

 winter visitors to Colorado and other high altitudes 

 of the arid region. The air is dry and crisp and the 

 winter decidedly enjoyable. The fact that the cold 

 is not of sufficient severity to do any injury to vegeta- 

 tion, or to impose discomfort upon man, is amply 

 attested by the horticultural results exhibited on every 

 hand. The Bitter Root Valley may be accepted as 

 fairly typical of this portion of the West. 



A MAGNIFICENT DISPLAY. 



The fair at Stevensville was attended by crowds of 

 people drawn from all parts of the State, and coming 

 in special cars and all sorts of private conveyances. 

 To tell the truth, Montanans were themselves amazed 

 at what had been accomplished by those who had 

 undertaken, in the face of much scepticism, to prove 

 the possibilities of horticulture in this locality. Not 

 until the products had been brought together in one 

 exhibit was it possible for them to realize the facts. 



One of the largest exhibits came from Pine Grove 



farm, of which the Bass Brothers are proprietors. 

 Their collection showed 36 varieties of winter apples, 

 six of fall apples, 7 of pears, 16 of plums, 12 of crab- 

 apples, two of grapes, with blackberries, currants and 

 peanuts. W. B. Harlan's Como orchard displayed 

 56 varieties of apples, 34 varieties of plums, with 

 crabapples and grapes. There were large exhibits 

 also by A. Cave, Amos Buck, Thos. Burroughs, Robert 

 Nicol, Roe Fulkerson, W. H. Franks, Henry Buck, 

 John Hauf, and very many others. Mr. Hauf's ex- 

 hibit of grapes was especially notable. He shipped 

 4,000 pounds of this product last year, realizing very 

 good returns. Nothing short of a complete list of the 

 exhibitors would really do justice to the occasion. 

 The exhibit covered the whole range of hardy fruits 

 and vegetables, and all were of the finest quality. 

 Prof. - S. M. Emery of the State Experiment Station 

 declared that he would stake his reputation upon the 

 statement that the showing had never been equaled 

 at any county fair in the United States. The state 

 ment sounds extravagant, but the professor did not 

 mean to say that the exhibit surpassed all others in 

 variety, but in quality. And no one who has actually 

 inspected the fruits and vegetables produced in Mon- 

 tana under a proper system of irrigation will chal- 

 lenge this statement. It is of no use to attempt to en- 

 force the opinion by mere words. Such an exhibit 

 must be actually seen to be understood and ap- 

 preciated. 



WHAT IT MEANS TO MONTANA. 



The men of Montana, whose enterprise and labor 

 made the Stevensville fair possible, have done far 

 more for their State than those who discovered the 

 mines, inaugurated the cattle industry, or built the 

 railroads. This sounds, perhaps, like a radical state- 

 ment now, but within five years it will be understood 

 and appreciated. The Stevensville fair proves that 

 Montana can support a great population upon the 

 soil. Mining and railroad building will take care of 

 themselves. The agricultural possibilities of a new 

 country must first be demonstrated before the public 

 will believe in them. This requires both pluck and 

 patience. These qualities have been supplied and 

 the results of their application prove the whole case 

 for those who have had faith in agricultural Montana. 

 There is no question but what forty acres of irrigated 

 soil in the Bitter Root Valley, diversely planted and 

 intensively cultivated, will supply all the needs of an 

 average family, beside furnishing a surplus to sell. 

 It is equally certain that the home markets, supplied 

 by mining camps and railroad towns, will readily ab- 

 sorb the surplus. In these conditions lie the hopes of 

 a large population for Montana. Outside of the State 

 scarcely anybody believes in these possibilities. 

 Within the State they are scarcely credited. But 

 there is no room for doubt after such an exhibition as 

 that at Stevensville last fall. This furnished the 

 proof of all that has been claimed by the most enthu- 

 siastic friends of the new industrial life in Arid 

 America. It is in just such valleys as the Bitter Root 

 that the coming century will expend its genius and 

 enthusiasm. It is here that, new forms of society 

 and industry wil) be developed. If everybody in 

 the United States had been permitted to see the 

 fair at Stevensville there would not be cars enough 

 on the Northern Pacific and the Great Northern 

 together to carry the people into Montana in eager 

 search for a chance to win independence through 

 industry. 



