Below is given a table of towns in various agricultural sections of Montana 

 with their heat units computed for the average of ten years. 



No. of heat units for 

 Town frost-free period. 



Miles City 3,971 



Forsyth 3,496 



Crow Agency ,, 3,336 



Glendive 3,319 



Great Falls 3,163 



Ekalaka 3,156 



Fort Benton 3.030 



Billings 2.979 



Missoula 2,878 



Helena 2.872 



Havre 2.S63 



Chinook 2.851 



Hamilton 2.844 



Kalispell 2.634 



Plains 2.496 



Lewistown 2,152 



Dillon 2,092 



Virginia City 2,053 



Bozeman 1,961 



Anaconda 1,788 



*Cit. Montana Experiment Bulletin. No. 107. 



Miles City Is Highest. 



It is evident from the above table that certain portions of the state have 

 more than twice the amount of heat than other sections. Miles City has the highest 

 number of heat units being 3,9*1, which ranks about the same as Minneapolis, 

 Minnesota which has 4,000. 



Following is the number of heat units required for the growing of the different 

 crops : 



Barley 1,700 to 2,200 



Corn (Maize) 2,370 to 3.000 



Oats 1,940 to 2.310 



Winter Rye 1,700 to 2,125 



Summer Rye 1,750 to 2.190 



Winter Wheat 1,960 to 2.250 



Summer Wheat 1,875 to 2,275 



The above tables show our limits in growing different crops. In the heart of 

 the corn belt, in Iowa, the records show about 5,000 heat units and a large variety 

 of corn can be grown. Possibly corn will be limited in Montana to regions having 

 3,000 heat units or more, although this may be somewhat modified by other factors. 

 No attempts should be made to grow sorghums or sudan grass where less than 3.500 

 heat units are to be had. There is practically no relationship between total number 

 of heat units and the length of frost free period. 



Favorable to Wheat. 



While Montana is limited to certain classes of grains, which more southern 

 states may produce abundantly, we have a decided advantage in the production of 

 small grains, due to the lower number of heat units during period of blooming and 

 filling. The manner in which grain ripens in conjunction with the proper soil 

 moisture content and temperature, vitally affects the quality of the grain. Dry 

 warm weather in the later stages of ripening gives quality to wheat. It is for this 

 reason that Montana is near the top in respect to the quality of small grain as well 

 as yield. 



Precipitation and Temperatures. 



A United States weather bureau has long been maintained in Helena and the 

 climatic conditions of the state have been well charted by the weather officials, who 

 have kindly furnished the tables and maps shown in this chapter. A prospective 

 settler may study these maps with interest. They show, for instance, that in the 

 section of the state where there is the least average annual precipitation, the 

 greater percentage of this precipitation falls in the crop-growing season, and that in 

 this section there is also the longest crop-growing period, as measured by days. 



