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: THE TREASURE STATE 157 • 



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CROP PRODUCTION— The following gives the estimated crop production for 

 1915: Wheat 300,000 bushels; oats, 1,200,000 bushels; barley, 65,000 bushels; potatoes, 

 450,000 bushels; hay, 95,000 tons. 



In 1915, the assessor's rolls showed the following livestock: Horses, 9,811 head; 

 milch cows, 1,280 head; other cattle, 26,878 head; sheep, 131,728 head; swine, 2,836 

 head. 



MEAGHER COUNTY. 



Meagher county was one of the sixteen counties existing when Montana was 

 admitted into the Union as a state in 1889. It was named for General Thomas F. 

 Meagher, some time acting governor of the territory of Montana, whose statue adorns 

 rhe grounds of the capital at Helena. Of great size when created, much of its 

 original territory has been taken for new counties. There is now pending a proposal 

 to form a county, to be known as Wheatland, out of the eastern part of Meagher 

 county and adjacent parts of Sweet Grass county and Fergus county. Harlowton 

 and Judith Gap will be in the new county if it is created. 



Meagher county is situated in the central part of the state. It is separated from 

 Che Missouri valley by the Big Belt range. The two ranges and outlying spurs 

 bound it on the north and in the southeastern part are the Crazy mountains. The 

 Musselshell rises in this county and flows east. Smith river also rises in this 

 county and flows north, entering the Missouri river near Great Palls. A large 

 stream is Sixteen Mile creek which heads in the Castle mountains, flows west 

 through a canyon of remarkable scenic beauty, and joins the Missouri at Lombard. 



The principal railroad is the Milwaukee, which crosses the southern part of the 

 county from east to west. A railroad was built in 1910 to connect White Sulphur 

 Springs with the main line. The Billings & Northern division of the Great Northern 

 crosses through the eastern corner of the county. 



The chief farming districts are the Smith river valley in the northern, the 

 Musselshell valley in the southern part, and the country around Judith Gap. The 

 county has long been and is still a great stock country. Large tracts of land were 

 acquired by stockmen who ranged cattle and sheep on the open range and raised 

 hay and grain for their own use to be fed during the winter. Lands in the valley 

 were irrigated, and it is only within a few years that farming has been carried on 

 to any extent on unirrigated land. Irrigated lands in the Smith river and Mussel- 

 shell valleys produce large crops of wheat, oats, barley, timothy, alfalfa and vege- 

 tables. 



The Smith river valley is about 50 miles long by 10 or 12 miles wide. Stock 

 growing is the chief industry, but many acres of the valley and bench lands that 

 formerly were devoted to raising hay and to pasture are being planted to grain, 

 and a very extensive area will be put in crops when a railroad is built through 

 the valley. The soil is very fertile; yields of 50 to 75 bushels of oats, 35 bushels of 

 winter and 53 bushels of spring wheat, and 2 to 4 tons of hay are reported. On the 

 Catlin ranch it is said that 30 bushels of flax to the acre have been raised. Oats 

 often weigh 45 to 48 pounds a bushel. Many prizes have been won by Meagher 

 county exhibits at the State Fairs. Another very productive section is the Mussel- 

 shell valley, where are some of the largest and finest ranches in the state. Around 

 Martinsdale, Two Dot and Harlowton are many productive farms both irrigated and 

 unirrigated. The benches between the valleys are being farmed with success, the 

 soil being fertile and the annual rainfall 19 inches. 



Great development has taken place in the country near Harlowton, and around 

 Judith Gap and Hedgesville. Average yields of grain are high and some remark- 

 able ones are reported. 



