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THE IRRIGATION AGE, 



MONTANA. 



BT C. .H. BOYNTON, SECRETARY HELENA BUSINESS MEN'S 

 ASSOCIATION. 



No State in the great Northwest will be more bene- 

 fited by the results of irrigation than Montana. It is 

 already sui generis, producing one hundred million dol- 

 lars per year in minerals, live stock, wool and miscel- 

 laneous products, which is a record unequalled by any 

 commonwealth containing only about three hundred 

 thousand people. Yet with this immense and unique 

 production our scanty population is annually sending 

 out of the State from seven to nine million dollars for 

 food stuffs, poultry, hog and dairy products and fruit 

 which can be better produced within our own borders. 



streams of Montana to reclaim and continuously irri- 

 gate ten millions acres of land, and from the present 

 outlook it will not be many years before all this water is 

 utilized' and the arid wastes and semi-arid areas, now 

 only fit for grazing, will be made to blossom as the rose 

 and become the homes of thousands of prosperous and 

 happy families. 



That these reclaimed lands in Montana are the 

 most productive in the country, is shown by the official 

 report of the United States Bureau of Agriculture, fig- 

 ures from that report being as follows : 



These lands will produce anything that can be 

 grown in the temperate zone, and there are within the 

 State fine markets for all farm and horticultural 

 products, guaranteeing high prices and good profits. 



It may be urged by those not familiar with the 



A Montana Scene. 



That these conditions are abnormal is coming to 

 be appreciated by our people, and steps are being taken 

 to co-operate with the general government in reclaim- 

 ing the arid and semi-arid lands; private enterprise is 

 being organized to work in the same direction, so that 

 within the next few years it is safe to say that over 

 two million acres will be added to the highly productive 

 agricultural area of the State, and the people of Mon- 

 tana can retain at home the money received from their 

 copper, gold, silver and lead ores, their cattle, horses, 

 sheep and wool, besides exporting some of the products 

 which they now import. 



The Government has now under consideration nine 

 great projects for the reclamation of within a few 

 acres of a million in this State, which, when the water 

 is turned on, will be the most productive and profitable 

 of any in the Union. Through private enterprise, al- 

 ready a million acres have been reclaimed by irrigation, 

 and other private and co-operative enterprises are under 

 way which will swell the total as before stated. There 

 is water enough running to waste from the mountain 



conditions in Montana that this progress in the devel- 

 opment of the agricultural resources of the State will 

 tend to reduce the stock-growing industries. On the 

 contrary, it is susceptible of proof that the output of 

 stock, sheep and wool (in dollars and cents) will be 

 increased, rather than diminished. There has been a 

 great change in this direction from the early days, 

 when stockmen believed that it was better to let their 

 stock run on the range the year around, and that they 

 could better stand a loss of a considerable percentage 

 than to "feed." Now thousands of cattle are fed, regu- 

 larly, during the winter and shipped as "finished" cat- 

 tle, bringing top prices, as against the range stock of 

 other years. The same conditions obtain in the sheep 

 industry, and hundreds of thousands of sheep are now 

 given winter feeding, thus making a profitable market 

 for the hay and alfalfa of the ranchers, as well as added 

 profit for the stockmen. In one county in this State, 

 famed for its hay and alfalfa, fifty thousand head of 

 stock are purchased by the farmers to feed and fatten 

 for market, with immense profits. 



