6 MONTANA: INDUSTRIAL RKSOl'RCES 



Tho ultiiiiiiti' jireatness of Montana is as.siirc'il, but what the c-ost tn the inili- 



vidual will Ih- depends upon general eeonomic conditions and the fitness of the 



individual for the st ru,ir.iile. It has been more than some who 



Ultimate came in the past could pay. while others, better adapted b.v 



Greatness tempcu-anient and experience, have thrived. 



Assured rn ajiriculture. Montana's future importance depends largely 



upon non-irrigated farming. In proportion to the total tillable 

 area, the irrigable acreage is small. There are vast areas that will either be 

 farmed under non-irrigated methods, or will revert to pastoral uses. Wheat will 

 probably continue for many ,veai"s to be the state's chief cash crop, and it is not 

 unreasonable to believe that in a few .vears Montana will be the leading spring wheat 

 state of the country, ^^'ith less than a third of its tillalde area improved, it now 

 holds second place. But it is also likely that the crop will be produced under 

 a more permanent system of agriculture than the one-crop plan heretofore domi- 

 nant, and that areas better adapted to livestock grazing than crop production 

 eventually will re-seed themselves to native sod. Evidences exist of the emergence 

 of a more permanent system of agriculture in the non-irrigated as well as the 

 irrigated areas. Corn and cows and chickens and turkeys, beef and milk and eggs 

 are factors of safety that the non-irrigated areas are beginning to find will bal- 

 ance the cash crop of wheat. 



An empire is in the making here and Montana has every right to be proud of 



its attainments, achieved on the development and utilization of only a traction of 



its resources. With scarcely a third of its agricultural lands 



An Empire improved, it ranks with other states in total crop value, thirty- 



in the Making first : with a mineral production largely confined to Silver Buw 



county, except for coal, under normal conditions it has ranked 



with other states from seventh to eleventh. It is the nation's chief producer of 



manganese and precious stones, and in 1020 the second leading producer of copper. 



silver and zinc. It is the largest user per capita of electricity: the pos.sessor of 



the greatest national parks and the noblest mountain scenery ; the holder of ten 



per cent, of the total water power in the United States : the home of the second 



largest industrial corporaticm in America. 



Big and prodigal, Montana is scarcely aware of its own strength or of its innate 

 potential greatness. A sparsely-settled land of broad distances and towering moun- 

 tains, it has seized upon a resource here and there and passed by many another. 

 Its matchless scenery has not been capitalized to any extent in a tourist way. 

 Its irrigation possibilities have .iust been glimpsed. Even in the dryest year on 

 record, 1919, official stream flow records show enough water flowed out of the 

 state to irrigate ten million acres of land, or five times the area now irrigated. 

 The average flow out of the state is sufficient to cover its Oo.OOO.OOO acr(>s with 

 water to a depth of six inches. 



Slowl.v. but surely, not without cost to the individual. Montana is finding 

 itself. It has a place for men and women of pioneer spirit in the development of 

 its agricultural and stock raising opportiuiities. It has a place for capital in the 

 development of its raw manufacturing and process materials. It welcomes tourists 

 and himters and fishermen. To all who come it pledges a co-operative hand and 

 a square deal. 



The statistical summary appended gives some idea of the state, of its resources 

 and of their development. In all cases the latest official figures available have 

 been used. 



