32 MONTANA : INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES 



he wrote, "Montana stands at the head of the western states in ahnost perfect 

 balance that nature has provided for its range stockmen, as between the dif- 

 ferent ranges, spring, fall, summer and winter, together with the forage cover 



One might well oxolude winter range, for today no wise stockman in 



Montana thinks of depending on winter range exclusively Winter pastures, 



however, close to the feedyards, into which stock can be turned while the weather 

 holds good, are a vital part of their grazing plans. 



"The state also is singularly well provided with natural resources which 

 fit into stockraising. Except in a few sections in the eastern part of the state, 

 they have everywhere an abundant supply of water, from clear, pure mountain 

 streams, for irrigation purposes. Natiu'al meadows are plentiful, furnishing as 

 much as two tons to the acre, the wheat, grama, and Itlue-joint grasses making 

 excellent hay. Apart from these meadows, supplemented in many cases by 

 fine fields of alfalfa, we find rolling prairies and charming foothills, where the 

 same grasses, together with the native biuich grass, furnish fine grazing in the 

 early spring and again in the fall. Back of these are the moiuitain ranges, 

 rough and rugged, but famous grazing areas, mostly in the various national 

 forests. 



"The seasons in the mountains are short — not over four months, on an 

 average — but in that time stocks puts on a wonderful coat of flesh, with the 

 firmest, whitest of fat 



"The hazards of the western range stock business are never entirely oblit- 

 erated, but I believe that stockraisers in Montana have about the lowest risks 

 of any western range state." 



While asserting that "invariably the livestock of Montana is of high qual- 

 ity," Mr. Barnes doubts the wisdom of holding steers luitil they are fours, and. 

 looking to the future, he says, "I have an idea that this aged steer business 

 will give way to a shorter season of grazing, perhaps dropping clear out the 

 idea of producing fat beef. and. instead, sending on feeders that will catch 

 the eye of corn-belt farmers". 



In districts that primarily are only adapted to stockraising the present 

 tendency is toward a consolidation of small holdings into one under a single 

 ownership. This is especially evident in southwestern Montana- In other 

 districts where general farming is done, the tendenc.v is the other wa.v and for 

 the farmer who has been selling his surplus hay to the range men to ac<iuire 

 sheep or cattle of his own. A most successful farmer on irrigated land explains 

 his prosperity upon the grounds that if he can only break even on crop produc- 

 tion he is siu'e of a good profit through the utilization by livestock of by- 

 I)roducts that otherwise would go to wiiste. 



While the ranges of eastern Montana are not turning off the livestock of 

 former years, that region will come back when diversified farming supplants 

 the one-crop system on the non-irrigated farm. The change is foreshadowed al- 



Sheep Predominate in Livestock 



