38o 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



September^ 



J FLATHEAD 



', T E ^T N 





M I g* S U L A ~ -^O-l ^C^ S C A 



DE|R LMXEV .S-' 



SKETCH MAP' \ ^^'^ LT^ "^ 



\/' % r i'madis'on 



MONTANA. 



KOWINO THE 



IRRIGATED AREAS 



AOOOHDINO TO THE CBNUU OV 



1900. 



I Of 



^ . l 'O I 



Total TrrioaltdJlrea 



951/54 Acres. 



irrigated farms number 5,822,995 ; in 

 the unirrigated, 2,468,091. The value 

 of all land in the irrigated farms, not in- 

 cluding buildings, is $36,057,373, and 

 of the unirrigated, $2,241,354. Live 

 stock on the irrigated farms has a value 

 of $32,384,654 ; on unirrigated, $19,- 

 777! 179- ^^^ irrigated farms are 61.6 

 per cent of the total number, and the 

 corresponding percentage of acreage is 

 70.2 ; that of the value of land and im- 

 provements, exclusive of buildings, 79.7; 

 buildings, 75.6 ; implements and ma- 

 chinery, 71.2; live stock, 62.1, and 

 that of the total of all these forms of 

 farm wealth is 67.9. 



The average size of all farms, exclu- 

 sive of the holdings of the Indians, is 

 635 acres. The average size of irri- 

 gated farms is 724 acres, and the aver- 

 age amount of irrigated land on each 

 irrigated farm is 118 acres. On the 

 farms making use of irrigation the aver- 

 age value of products not fed to live 

 stock is $5.55 per acre. In the counties, 

 omitting Indian reservations, the aver- 

 age value per acre of land, exclusive of 

 buildings, is, for all farms, $5.45 ; for 

 unirrigated farms, $3.71, and for irri- 

 gated farms, $6. 19. The average value 

 of irrigated land per acre is $19.66, 

 while that of the best irrigated land, 



suitable for the growing of alfalfa, is- 

 from $25 to $100 ; irrigated fruit land 

 is even more valuable. 



The total amount invested in irriga- 

 tion ditches in Montana to June i , 1900, 

 is approximately $4,683,073. The total 

 value of irrigation products in 1899 was 

 $7,230,042. The number of acres of 

 land irrigated for each mile of ditch 

 reported is 140. The number of acres 

 under ditch for each mile is 267. The 

 average cost of^construction per mile is 

 $687.47, and per acre $4.92, for land 

 actually irrigated in 1899. Most of the 

 investments in irrigation ditches have 

 been highly profitable, few disappoint- 

 ments following the efforts of irrigators 

 to reclaim the arid lands. 



While it is known that Montana pos- 

 sesses considerable quantities of ground 

 water, or so-called underflow, but few 

 attempts have been made to utilize it for 

 irrigation. The ample supply furnished 

 by the streams, and the comparativeh' 

 inexpensive s^^stems required to divert 

 it upon the land account for the fact 

 that there are no reports of farms irri- 

 gated from wells. 



The total number of acres of irrigated 

 crops in 1900 was 755,865, while the 

 total number of acres of land irrigated 

 was 951,154, the difference, 195,289 



