Mat 20, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



779 



time? The western part of the state is 

 fast developing into a fruit region that will 

 soon head off the great import of these 

 products from Washington, Oregon and 

 California. Of course the semi-tropical 

 fruits will never be grown, but apples, 

 pears, plums, small fruits and the like 

 find here a climate suitable for growth. 

 Nor is the region confined to the growth 

 of fruits. Through irrigation great 

 stretches of land grow waving grain, never 

 failing the diligent farmer who but watches 

 his fields. 



On the eastern side the agricultural de- 

 velopment has been beyond the most 

 sanguine expectations. The valley of the 

 Yellowstone has not only proved to be well 

 adapted to fruit raising, but is now a great 

 agricultural region. The climatic condi- 

 tions are not as severe as were at first 

 thought, and the outlook is as bright there 

 as on the western side. The fame of the 

 Gallatin valley is already widespread. 



In the north is a large and unoccupied 

 territory. Great stretches of tillable land 

 await but the addition of water, which will 

 make the country as rich and as prosper- 

 ous as other sections of the state and coun- 

 try. The work of reclaiming the land is 

 too great an undertaking for individual or 

 corporate enterprise. But the beneficent 

 effects of congressional legislation for the 

 reclamation of arid lands through irriga- 

 tion will soon be seen. In that northern 

 section alone millions of inhabitants can 

 find homes and occupations when the land 

 is tilled. Abundant harvests will be gath- 

 ered from the land, and cities will be found 

 where now are trading posts and virgin 

 soil. 



During the past year it has been my 

 pleasure to visit several parts of the state 

 in connection with the work of the farmers' 

 institutes. The gentlemen who have made 

 up the companies of these institute instruct- 

 ors have given the closest attention to the 



possibilities of the regions of the state 

 visited. Mr. "W. B. Harlan, the veteran 

 fruit grower of the Bitter Root vaUey, ex- 

 presses the opinion that apples and small 

 fruits can be grown successfully in the 

 northern section of the state, although in 

 the spring of 1903 there was not an 

 orchard east of Chinook, and but one there. 

 Professor F. B. Linfield, of the Agricul- 

 tural College, believes that dry land farm- 

 ing, without irrigation, will in a few years 

 be an important factor in the state's agri- 

 cultural development. Professor Fisher, 

 horticulturist in the Agricultural College 

 at Bozeman, like Mr. Harlan, is also of the 

 opinion that fruits may be grown where 

 now it seems impossible to grow them. 



What of the mines? The future for 

 agriculture is no brighter than that for 

 mining. 'New districts of magnitude and 

 splendid values are constantly being de- 

 veloped,' says the State Commissioner of 

 Agriculture. While the early history of 

 the state is really the history of the devel- 

 opment of some of its mines, mining now 

 is not confined to a few sections of the 

 state. In 1900 mining was carried on for 

 gold and silver in the following counties: 

 Beaverhead, Broadwater, Cascade, Chou- 

 teaou, Custer, Deer Lodge, Fergus, Flat- 

 head, Granite, Jefferson, Lewis and Clarke, 

 Madison, Meagher, Missoula, Park, Ravalli 

 and Silver-Bow. Lewis and Clarke was 

 the greatest producer, with 70,000 fine 

 ounces of gold and 172,531 fine ounces of 

 silver. Custer County was the smallest 

 producer, with 14.5 ounces of gold and 4 

 ounces of silver. The total product of 

 gold and sUver in the state in 1900 was 

 229,114.882 ounces of the former and 14,- 

 294,835.11 of the latter. In 1901 there 

 were 232,331.454 ounces of gold and 14,- 

 180,545.19 ounces of silver. Since the 

 discovery of gold in the state forty years 

 ago more than one billion dollars in value 

 of gold, silver, copper and lead have been 



