THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



261 



to Bull Mountain and the extension of the high line 

 canal to cover the lower Fly Creek valley has been es- 

 tablished by preliminary surveys. It is probable that 

 the extension work will be done by the farmers on a co- 

 operative plan. 



The farmer in this portion of the Yel- 

 lowstone Valley is exceptionally favored by 

 being on the main line of two transcontinen- 

 tal railroads, the Northern Pacific and the 

 1 Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. These give 

 direct access from the eastern, southeastern 

 and central states to the project, and from 

 the project direct to Minneapolis, St. Paul, 

 Duluth, Superior and Chicago, southeast to 

 Lincoln, Omaha, Kansas City, St. Louis and 

 also south to Denver. 



Another advantage of the Huntley lands 

 is their proximity to Billings, the most im- 

 portant town in eastern Montana. Billings 

 has a beet sugar factory costing $1,250,000, 

 which is now engaged in working up the sec- 

 ond season's crop of beets. The company pays 

 $5 per ton for beets on board cars, and puts 

 up a special loading stage wherever the acre- 

 age contracted will justify the expense. The 

 average yield is about 14 tons per acre, but 

 many farmers have obtained 15 to 20 tons 

 per acre. There is also at Billings a cream- 

 ery and a meat packing plant. 



The elevation of Huntley is about 3,000 

 feet above sea level. The days are long and 

 there is a preponderance of sunshine, the highest temper- 

 ature in summer being about 100 degrees F. During 

 the winter the mercury seldom drops below zero, .and 

 then only for a few days at a time, the cold spells being 

 dissipated by the chinook winds from the west. The fall 

 weather is particularly fine and is usually open until 



falfa, which is raised in the Yellowstone Valley in large 

 quantities for winter feeding of sheep and other stock. 

 Alfalfa produces from 5 to 7 tons per acre from three 

 cuttings, and on account of its forage value is one of 

 the most important and valuable crops known, and also 



Headgate of Huntley Reclamation Canal. 



about Christmas. During about two months when win- 

 ter weather is the rule, there is more or less snow on the 

 ground, but there is seldom deep snow for more than a 

 day or two. 



, The forage crops do especially well, particularly al- 



Hotel Huntley, Huntley, Montana. 



because it is used like clover and peas as a crop in rota- 

 tion with grain, sugar beets, etc., to restore the fertility 

 of the soil. Billings, Mont., is one of the greatest pri- 

 mary fat sheep and wool shipping points in the world. 

 There is at present an extensive free range on both sides 

 of the Yellowstone river, which is utilized by many 

 stockmen. Large yields of grain are com- 

 mon in this valley, where proper rotation 

 of crops is observed. After plowing up al- 

 falfa land, a yield of 90 to 100 bushels of 

 oats per acre, weighing 40 to 45 pounds per 

 bushel, is not uncommon. New oats bring 

 about 90 cents per hundred pounds, the 

 price often rising to $1.50 in the spring. 

 Good seed oats are now selling for about 

 $1.75 to $2 per hundred pounds. 



A rotation that is recommended is two 

 years in grain, three or four years in alfal- 

 fa, and three years in sugar beets, the sugar 

 beets' being manured the second and third: 

 years: ' ; 



Very fine vegetables are grown, in- ' 

 eluding tomatoes and sweet corn, and there 

 is -'a 'ready market in : the mining districts 

 for these products. In the year 1903 near- 

 ly ; every farm product was imported into 

 Montana in large quantities. According to 

 the 'state horticultural report, 1,475,600 

 pounds of onions, 1,645,039 pounds of cab- 

 bage, 10,374,387 pounds of potatoes, and 

 2,997,801 pounds of other vegetables were 

 shipped into the state. There were also imported over 

 10,000,000 pounds of bacon and ham, 4,350,956 pounds 

 of butter, 4,000,000 dozen eggs, 3,024,837 pounds of 

 poultry, and so on through the list. Since the above 

 statistics were gathered there has been an increase in 



