30 



MONTANA FARM REVIEW 



Apples. 



A heavy June freeze in the important Bitter Root producing district was princi- 

 pally the reason for the drastic cut in apple production in 1924 compared with 1923. 

 Total Crop in 1924 was placed at 574,000 bushels compared with 980,000 in 1923, while 

 the commercial crop was placed at 70,000 barrels compared with the 1923 estimate 

 of 130,000. Carlot shipments from the 1924 crop to January 31, 1925, were but 142 

 cars compared with a movement of 420 cars to February 2, a year ago. The amount 

 of fancy and high grade apples in 1924 was relatively less than the preceding year. 



MONTANA COMMERCIAL APPLE PRODUCTION. 



Crop Year: 



Total Crop 

 Bushels 



Commercial 



Crop 



(Barrels) 



Cars Shipped 

 of This Crop 



♦Shipping season from Aug. 20th to May 31. Up to Jan. 31, 1925 — 142 cars had moved, in- 

 dicating on basis of percentage usually shipped by this date that only about S to 10 cars 

 remain to be shipped. 



Other Fruits and Miscellaneous Prodncts. 



Pears, plums and prunes are also grown in varying small quantities west of the 

 Continental Divide, but the principal commercial fruit crop other than apples is 

 cherries. The large sweet cherries of the Flathead region and the canning cherries 

 of the Bitter Root valley are increasing as additional sources of farm income in 

 those sections. There is also a small amount of berry fruits produced here, chief 

 among which are strawberries. In southeastern Montana, watermelons are grown 

 in small commercial quantities in recent years, principally in Rosebud county. 



Beans. 



Bean production has shown a large expansion in recent years with the intro- 

 duction of the Great Northern variety which in 1924 is estimated to have comprised 

 about 95 per cent of the total crop. Yellowstone, Carbon, Big Horn, and Stillwater 

 counties have the bulk of the bean acreage, but many other localities have come 

 into production in the past two years. Beans are grown on both irrigated and dry 

 lands, and average yields have been relatively good. 



Canning and Seed Peas. 



Seed peas grown on contract, mostly in irrigated valleys in the south-central, 

 central, southwestern and western districts, have been a growing contributor to farm 

 income in these sections in recent years. Peas for canning are grown in Ravalli 

 and Gallatin counties. Both crops were fair producers this year. 



. Sugnr Beets. 



Continued expansion in the acreage of sugar beets and new localities growing the 

 crop, marked the 1924 season compared with 1923. Farm income from beet produc- 

 tion in 1924 was estimated at $3,969,000 compared with $2,725,000 in 1923. Yellowstone, 

 Carbon, Stillwater, Big Horn, Treasure and Richland counties are the principal pro- 

 ducing areas. In the Billings district winter feeding of cattle and sheep with beet 

 pulp as the basis of the fattening ration has been developing on a considerable scale 

 with the beet sugar industry. 



