1902. 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



379 



reservoir in actual practice will be emp- 

 tied by the first of June, after which date 

 the usual spring floods begin. At the 

 time of these spring floods there is al- 

 ways a great deal more water than all 

 the appropriators on the river can pos- 

 sibly use, and so it will be the plan of 

 the North Poudre Irrigation Company 

 to at once begin to fill Fossil Creek 

 Reservoir for the second time in the 

 year, and then go through the above 

 process again. 



Summarizing, the Fossil Creek Res- 

 r\'oir, added to the areas and capacities 

 above given, makes a total of 4,200 

 acres covered by this company's reser- 

 voirs. These have a total capacity of 

 3,000,000,000 cubic feet. Figuring on 

 a basis of the present price of reservoir 



water, $150 per million cubic feet, the 

 Fossil Creek Reservoir twice filled and 

 emptied will 3'ield to its owners and 

 water-consumers an annual servdce in 

 water the amount of $165,000. But for 

 various reasons the price of $150 per 

 million cubic feet is much above the 

 average value of stored water, and if 

 we cut this price in two to allow for the 

 years when, owing to rainfall, water 

 will not be in such demand we yet have 

 over $80,000 in annual dividends from 

 this investment. And those who are 

 yet more conservative may still further 

 reduce the price, and reduce it again, 

 and even they will be able to see that 

 the Fossil Creek Reservoir is destined to 

 make four blades of grass grow where 

 one grew before. 



IRRIGATION IN MONTANA. 



REMARKABLE INCREASE IN FARM VAEUES IN THE LAST THIRTY 



YEARS. 



THE necessity for irrigation in Mon- 

 tana is not so imperative as in 

 states farther south. The table-lands 

 and cultivable areas of the state generally 

 are of low elevation, as the slope of the 

 Great Plains, which constitute a large 

 part of the state, is toward the north. 

 By reason of its diversified physical 

 character, comprising lofty and detached 

 mountain ranges, broad valleys, and 

 vast table-lands, the western end of the 

 state receives a larger precipitation than 

 the eastern plains. The accompanying 

 sketch map represents by areas in solid 

 "black the main regions in which irriga- 

 tion has been successfully applied to 

 any considerable extent. 



The period between 1870 and igoo 

 has witnessed a remarkable change in 

 agricultural values. The census of 1 870 

 reported live stock on farms in Montana 

 valued at $1,818,693, ^.nd farm lands, 

 including buildings and implements, 

 valued at $729,193. In that year no 

 report was secured of the value of live 

 stock on the range or public domain. 

 If account were taken of this fact, it 

 would be seen that in 1870 the value of 



live stock in Montana was at least three 

 times that of all farm land and build- 

 ings. In the thirty years succeeding 

 the live-stock interests gained enor- 

 mously, and in 1900 had a value nearly 

 forty times that in 1870 ; but the num- 

 ber and value of farms have increased 

 so much more rapidly that in 1900 they 

 were worth $62,026,090, while the live 

 stock had a value of $52,161,833, or* 

 15.9 per cent less. In 1870 farming 

 was but an incident to live-stock rais- 

 ing, while in 1900 the conditions were 

 reversed and the keeping of animals was 

 less important than other agricultural 

 operations. This tremendous increase 

 in agriculture is largely due to the suc- 

 cessful application of irrigation in the 

 cultivation of hay and forage, cereals, 

 fruits, and vegetables. 



The number of farms outside of In- 

 dian reser\-ations increased in ten 3^ears 

 132.9 percent, the number of irrigators 

 117 per cent, and the irrigated area 

 171. 3 percent. Of the 13,047 farms in 

 the state, excluding those in the Indian 

 reservations, 8,043 ^^^ irrigated and 

 5,004 are unirrigated. The acres in the 



