FARMING 



71 



Now suppose that but i.ooo.ooo acres of the arable l)ench lands of Mon- 

 tana were devoted to the growing of flax. Suppose that 8 bu. per acre only 

 were grown. The yield would be 8,000,000 bushels. This would put ]^Ion- 

 tana at the head of the flax-growing states of the Union. That Montana 

 will soon be at the head of the wheat and flax-producing states of the 

 Union is the confident expectation of the writer This would still leave 

 more than half the entire area of the non-irrigable lands to the production 

 of crops other than wheat and flax. 



1913 Flax on Field Near Glasgow. 



The lands that may be irrigated and that probably will be within the 

 next few years, are not fewer than, say, 6,000,000 acres. These lands can 

 produce on the average not fewer than four tons of alfalfa to the acre. 

 They will also produce pasture per acre that should give not 

 Lands less than 450 pounds of beef in one season. The four tons of 



That May alfalfa turned into dairy products should be worth not less tnai» 

 Be Irri- $48.00 at the present prices for these. The area of pasture 



gated. should give returns at the present prices of meat of not less 



than $36.00 per acre. Think of the amazing possibilities that 

 are in store for Montana on her irrigated lands! What is there to hinder 

 Montana from becoming the foremost dairy-producing state in the Union, 

 and where the production of meat on its 30.000,000 acres of rugged pasture 



— IVs cheaper to buy Montana land than to pay rent elsewhere. 



