THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



to the possibilities of the section. In Billings, the trad- 

 ing center of a section half as big as Missouri, 

 new hotels have sprung up, new stores with eastern 

 ideas are winning trade, new industrial enterprises 

 that a few years ago would have been laughed down 

 as the vagaries of a scheming promoter, are gain- 

 ing ready support. Everywhere is the spirit of prog- 

 ress and the homeseeker will come from the quiet East 

 into a country bristling with enterprise and eager 

 to get ahead. While the ceded strip is only a small part 

 of the great reservation, the influx of settlers is hound 

 to have an effect on legislation and the rest of the land 

 will not long be withheld from settlement. 



MORE ABOUT MONTANA. 



In response to a letter of inquiry the following let- 

 ter was received recently from a well known rancher. 

 This is a fair illustration of what is being accomplished 

 under irrigation near Billings. 



BILLINGS, Mont., Nov. 1st. 

 DEAR SIR: 



In the falj of 1904 I purchased forty acres of the 

 Billings Land & Irrigation Company, paying $35 per 

 acre therefor. 



At the time that I purchased the land it was cov- 

 ered with buffalo grass and cactus and had never been 

 broken. In March and April of the present year I 

 fenced the tract with 47-inch "American Field Fence," 

 posts one rod apart. I hired the work done, and the 

 fence and labor cost me about $100. I had the ground 

 plowed and harrowed a number of times, drilled to oats 

 and the ditches for the irrigation of the tract, con- 

 structed from the lateral of the company ; this cost $200. 

 In addition the seed cost me $55. The expense of har- 

 vesting and threshing amounted to $100. 



doubtedly have increased my crop by 50 or 75 per cent. 

 Ne>xt year the ground should do much better, on ac- 

 count of the newness being worked out. 



Yours trulv. 



View on Crow Indian Reservation, Montana, Showing Some of Land 

 Ceded. 



From the tract I harvested a- little more than 40,000 

 pounds of oats, part of which I sold at the machine at 

 $1.20 per hundred, the purchaser furnishing the sacks. 

 The balance I have stored and expect to receive $1.50 

 for them next spring. In addition I have the pasture 

 and straw. As stated, I hired all the work done. If I 

 had been able to attend to it myself, and thus get the 

 water on the crop when it was needed, I would un- 





Alfalfa Cutting on Hesper Ranch, owned by I. D. O'Donnell, Billings, 



Mont 



I. D. O'DONNELL. 



Among the many interesting men to be found in 

 Billings, Mont., is I. D. O'Donnell, who is credited with 

 originating the five and ten-acre plan for irrigation 

 farming near that city. In a recent conversation with 

 this gentleman he stated that the small tract for the 

 man with small means has been his idea and after many 

 years' effort in this direction has proved successful. Mr. 

 O'Donnell states that many of the successful small tract 

 farmers near Billings are men who work in town and 

 look after their landholdings at odd times and in many 

 instances they make as much clear money from their 

 farming operations as they make at good wages in town, 

 thereby doubling the income. Many of these small farm- 

 ers are engaged in dairying and raising celery, both of 

 which bring good returns. In another column will be 

 found further mention of Mr. O'Donnell. 



WILL BUILD A NEW TOWN. 



Word comes from Belle Fourche that the contract 

 for constructing the big dam, one of the factors in the 

 government irrigation ' project under way, was let to 

 a Denver contracting firm. This will be a cement wall 

 6,500 feet across and eighty feet deep, and will take 

 four years' time to complete it. A new town will be 

 started about twelve miles below Belle Fourche on Owl 

 creek, where a large sugar beet factory will be estab- 

 lished, and the government will operate a large experi- 

 mental farm to be conducted under the supervision of 

 the agricultural department. Mining Review. 



Send $2.50 for The Irrigation Age 

 1 yea r, and the Primer of Irrigation 



