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houses have recently been built at Laurel at a cost of $3,000,000 and the railroad 

 pay roll is a large one. 



Billings, the county seat, is the center of an irrigated area of approximately 

 500,00 acres and of a non-irrigated farming country of 1,000,000 acres, ships great 

 quantities of livestock, wool, hides and grain, is the headquarters of hundreds 

 of traveling salesmen and of numerous branch houses of large firms, has many 

 jobbing houses, numerous churches, good public schools, a polytechnic institute 

 representing an investment of $200,000, costly society buildings, two daily news- 

 papers, and all the conveniences and improvements of an up-to-date city. Billings 

 has numerous manufacturing establishments, the most important being the beet 

 sugar factory which pays out annually about $1,500,000 in payment of beets. 

 Hydro-electric power is abundant and 50,000 horse power is available. The 

 population was 3,221 in 1900 and 10,031 in 1910, an increase of 211 per cent. 

 The people of Billings are noted for their public spirit and enterprise. 



The population of Yellowstone county is estimated at 34,960 and the assessed 

 valuation is $20,531,859. 



LAND AREA — Yellowstone county, which is in the Billings land district, em- 

 braces an area of 2,708 square miles, including 90,665 acres of unreserved and 

 unappropriated public land available for entry under the homestead law, and 

 67,454 acres of state land. Of the total area of the county, 767,535 acres are 

 privately owned. 



CROP PRODUCTION— The following gives the estimated crop production for 

 1915: wheat, 1,050,000 bushels; oats, 950,000 bushels; barley, 56,000 bushels; corn, 

 75,000 bushels; flax, 25,000 bushels; potatoes, 240,000 bushels; hay, 74,000 tons; 

 apples, 20,000 bushels; strawberries, 28,000 quarts; currants, 17,557 quarts. 



In 1915, the assessor's rolls showed the following livestock, horses, 9,613 

 head; milch cows, 4,004 head; other cattle, 15,071 head; sheep, 88,708 head; swine, 

 6,384 head. 



