HISTOEICAL SKETCH OF AGKICULTUEE 7 



The The number of farms increased from 851 in 1870 to 1,519 in 1880, to 



Non-Irrigated ^'^^^ "^ ^^^ ^"^ ^^ 13 370 in 1909. In the next decade tne number of 

 farms nearly doubled, and from 1910 to 1920 they more than doubled, 

 armer omes ^^^ federal census for 1920 showing 57,677 farms. In 1880 there were 

 262,611 acres of improved farm land in the state which had increased to 915,517 acres 

 in 1890, of which two-fifths were irrigated. In 1900 there were 1,736,701 acres of improved 

 farm land, more than one-half of which was irrigated. During the course of the next 

 ten years the non-irrigated farmer made his appearance, and of 3,640,309 acres of im- 

 proved farm land, a trifle less than one-half was irrigated. By 1920 the federal census 

 reported 11,007,278 acres of improved farm land in the state of which only fifteen per 

 cent was under irrigation ditches. 



In 1900 there was little farming done in Montana east of Yellowstone county, ex- 

 cept for a narrow strip in the lower Yellowstone valley. There was practically no 

 farming in northern Montana except in the Milk River valley. By 1910 the non-irri- 

 gated table lands back of the main valleys were being farmed. In the next ten years 

 every county in the state, east of Flathead, Lewis and Clark, Broadwater and Park, 

 with the exception of Cascade, showed an increase in rural population of 50 per cent 

 or over. That year 37.5 per cent of the state's total area was devoted to farms, com- 

 pared with one-tenth of one per cent in 1870. 



Original homestead entries made in Montana reflect the development of agri- 

 culture. The number of entries by years and the total acreage covered by them are 

 shown in tabular form in the section devoted to "Lands." It will be noted that filings 

 increased following each new railroad built into or through the state, but the lands 

 taken up were not confined to territory close to the rails. The year 1910 holds the 

 record for homestead filings in the state, when 21,982 filings were recorded, covering 

 4,732,806 acres. Filings for the next seven years continued to be very large, but be- 

 ginning with 1918, the number of filings markedly decreased. 



Land Nearly all of the total acreage filed upon in the state for agricultural 



Filines in Purposes has been taken up under the general homestead laws, and 

 but little under the desert land act and the stockraising homestead 

 Montana ^^^ ^^^ March 3, 1877 to June 30, 1922 only 14,495 final entries 



were allowed under the desert land act, covering 2,731,937 acres. From the passage of 

 the stockraising homestead act to June 30, 1922, 10,835 original entries were made, cover- 

 ing 3,666,836 acres. Under the Homestead Act, 221,259 entries covering 47,882,838 acres 

 have been made, all told, in Montana. 



^ The earliest estimate available on agricultural production in Montana was made 

 by the United States Surveyor General for the year 1869, and included the following: 

 wheat, $900,000; barley and oats, $500,000; potatoes, $1,000,000; hay, $200,000; vege- 

 tables, $75,000; poultry and eggs, $100,000; dairy products, $400,000; total, $3,175,000. 



The estimates of acreage and production made by the United States Department 

 of Agriculture are available back as far as 1882. The acreage, average yield, total pro- 

 duction, and farm value of the important crops for each year are given in the tables 

 in the following i>ages. A brief study of them will show the expansion of the acreages 

 of the various crops. 



MM X- This increase has accompanied a gradual shaping of men and methods 



to fit conditions that attend farming in Montana. The agricultural 

 history of the state is a record of advance out of successive periods of 

 Learned trial. Experience must be gained to make new land yield a safe 



living to families who farm the soil. Sometimes the evolution toward stable agriculture 

 is a costly process, but the men and women who achieve success by proving their adapt- 

 ability to their environment have all contributed toward the store of experience that 

 makes farming less hazardous to those who join them or come after. Montana is 

 better off in 1923 than in 1913, because of the lessons learned after the vast expansion 

 that took place early in the decade. 



