leading by the small margin of 0.03 inch more moisture in the state average 

 precipitation. 



Following the July heat and drought, August set out to complete the job by 

 drying out pastures and ranges and water holes that furnish considerable stock 

 water. In western Montana the worst forest fires since 1919 burned over an area 

 estimated at 76,000 acres. 



September was a normal month in precipitation and cooler than normal in 

 mean temperature. The first week in September terminated both the drought and 

 heat which were rampant when August closed. Although showery weather pre- 

 vailed through most of September it was not until the 20th that rainfall was 

 heavy enough to interfere greatly with out-door farm work. By that date, due to 

 the early start of the 1929 harvest, most of the small grain had been harvested 

 and a considerable proportion threshed. Combines operating in the areas of low 

 yields in northern, eastern and central Montana met with ideal conditions in latter 

 August and early September, doing much to help shorten the 1929 harvest period. 

 At the same time, through the combines, many fields of grain of low acre yield 

 were secured where the acreage would have been abandond if dependent upon the 

 binder. 



SIGNIFICANCE OF THE 1929 GROWING SEASON 



More significant than the unfavorable climatic records that were equalled or 

 exceeded by the 1929 growing season is the comparison that the final 1929 crop 

 yields were not only better than expected but also appreciably better than those 

 following similar seasons in the past. 



In this comparison it was found that the combined yield of 1929 crops as 

 computed in October was 77.5 per cent of the 10-year average. Following similar 

 damaging growing seasons the year and combined yields have been as follows: 

 1921, 82.6 per cent of average; 1919, 29.2 per cent of average; 1918, 80.5 per 

 cent of average and 1917, 55.5 per cent of average. 



While two crop seasons are not found alike in enough respects to constitute 

 a basis for measuring actually the improvement in yields that has taken place in 

 Montana as a result of improved methods and farm practices, a comparison of 

 final yields in 1929 and 1919 is justified as indicating at least the presence of this 

 factor of improved methods. 



Montana's limiting factor in the production of non-irrigated crops is mois- 

 ture. Temperature to a large extent has shown an inverse correlation with mois- 

 ture, dry years tending to be unfavorable not only for reason of lack of summer 

 moisture but also for the reason of the high drying temperatures that usually 

 characterize such dryness. On the other hand favorable moisture conditions are 

 usually found associated with favorable temperature conditions. 



Montana's normal summer rainfall and normal temperatures are sufficient 

 for average crop needs and most of these years show favorable crop yields. The 

 continental type of climate in Montana results in wide climatic variations out of 

 which come not only drought seasons such as 1919 and 1929, but also seasons 

 of optimum crop conditions like those of 1916 and 1927, as well as many seasons 

 of an intermediate type which show very satisfactory crop yields. 



The adverse seasons and the very favorable seasons must therefore be con- 

 sidered together. In such a set-up we find on one hand 1927, a year of optimum 

 climatic conditions resulting in a combined crop yield of 149.4 per cent of the 10- 

 year average, and on the other hand a year like 1929 with a combined crop yield 

 of 77.5 per cent of the 10-year average. 



Too often the tendency is to advertise the big crop year and to relegate to 

 oblivion the results of the poor crop year with the result that the year of big 

 crop yields is naturally discounted and the poor crop year gets a whispered pub- 

 licity that paints a picture much worse than the blunt facts warrant. 



Taken together the bumper crop years and the years of drought and failure 

 are extremes that cancel out in the long run. The true picture of what Montana 

 returns to her tillers is written in the long-time averages of crop yields. Com- 

 parisons showing Montana's 10-year average crop yields compared with compar- 

 able states and the United States averages have been given in these reviews from 

 time to time. It was on such basic facts that Montana has found her place among 

 leading states of the nation in crop and livestock production. 



