Range Steers That Top the Market. 



year was in Montana. At present there remain, open to entry. 11,828,414 acres of 

 public land, of which it is estimated somewhat less than one-half is suited to 

 farming. 



Free Lund Going Fast. 



But the opportunity to get a free homestead in Montana is not going to last 

 much longer. The land is being taken up so rapidly, that the best lands are nearly 

 all gone, those remaining being considerable distances from the railroad. The time 

 will soon be here when the man who wants land in Montana for growing crops will 

 have to buy it. Even today in some sections of the state this is the condition. But 

 this does not mean that the opportunity to get good farm land cheap has disappeared. 

 Taking into account the productivity of the soil, the good markets and other condi- 

 tions, farm lands in Montana are selling today at much less than in other states. 

 When one can buy winter wheat lands which will produce from 12 to 35 bushels an 

 acre at from $20 to $40 an acre, and irrigated lands at from $40 to $75 an acre, it 

 cannot be said that there is lacking the opportunity for the homemaker to make a 

 start with a comparatively small outlay. 



There are also cheap school lands that can be purchased. Of these lands there 

 remain 4,305,085 acres. Besides these there is much cheap land that can be obtained 

 from private owners. 



Large Crop Production. 



With the settlement of the state has come a great increase in the food produc- 

 tion, which is shown by the reports of the Department of Agriculture at Washington. 

 In the past ten years wheat has increased from a yield of 3,000,000 to an average 

 annual production of over 20,000,000 bushels, oats from 10,000,000 to 22,000,000 

 bushels, flax from 104,000 to 3,000,000 bushels, barley from 875,000 to over 2,000,000 



