728 SHEEP INDUSTRY OF THE UNITED STATES 



market — ii liglit iiicfUnni wool, wbicli, ^vLen scoured, lias a soft, glossy texture tliat 

 is much sought after by maunfacturera. If we will put some of this energy and in- 

 telligence into concerted action, I will boldly assert that in ten or fifteen years we 

 shall find our wools quoted at figures abreast with the best Australian, and far ahead 

 of other domestic wools produced from large herds, either upon the Eooky Mountain 

 slopes or the Pacific coast. 



Eev. F. D. Kelsey, Sc. D., Helena: 



Montana is no dry and dreary waste of desert. Few lands can show such a variety 

 in grasses or greater value in her species. From three to five acres of our native 

 grasses are suflficient to support a horse or ox for a year; one acre supports a 

 sheep. Some people tell us our grazing industry has reached its limit, whereas the 

 fact is we have but began. It would be a grand help to Montana if she could do 

 for the State what the United States Government is now doing for the grasses of the 

 Southwest, nniiicly, issue volumes containing accurate drawings of each of our 

 grasses, together with a scientific description of them. Botany has too often been 

 looked upon as a school-girl's play, instead of the noble and profitable and necessary 

 science it really is. Botany is growing daily more and more into prominence as an 

 economical science affecting the wealth of the country. One of the most valuable 

 exhibits Montana could possibly make at the great Columbian Fair in C hicago would 

 be a large collection of her native grasses on which once fed the fat hosts of buffalo, 

 and which now support the herds and flocks that annually bring many millions of 

 dollars into our rising and noble State. Other States may boast of their oranges, 

 plums, and cherries, but few fruit-growers gather in profits at a larger per cent than 

 men who deal in hay, grain and grass. Montana mines are justly our pride and 

 boaflt; but let it not be forgotten that, to the average wuge-earner, Montana grasses 

 are surer and more safe returns than stocks and dividends in the mines and smelters. 

 The tendency of men in all professions, trades, and industries is to follow in the 

 beaten track. Happy the man of brains who experiments and introduces new proc- 

 esses or new values. A rich field for easy investigation lies open to an intelligent 

 and progressive ranchman or farmer to try experiments upon our native grasses. 

 As cotton, corn, wheat, oats, barley, flax, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, peas, pump- 

 kins and all sorts of cultivated grasses were once wild, insignificant weeds until some 

 progressive and aggressive cultivator experimented upon them and discovered their 

 worth, so many Montana plants await the right man to bring them into notice and 

 vantage ground of blessing. 



NORTH DAKOTA. 



The young State of Iforfh Dakota, -with a population of a little less 

 than 200,000 people, and one of the last of the Western States to be- 

 come interested in sheep husbandry, has recently attained great prom- 

 inence because of the rapid development of this industry, and promises 

 to soon rank among the mutton and wool producing States of the 

 Iforthwest. Next to wheat-raising live-stock husbandry has been the 

 chief pursuit of the farmers. Sheep-raising, however, has taken tre- 

 mendous strides in comparison with other branches of the animal 

 industry, and within three years has advanced from the least in num- 

 ber to the greatest. In fact, at the present time, sheep equal in num- 

 ber the total of all other classes of live stock. 



The basis of all wealth and prosperity in North Dakota is agricul- 

 ture, diversified as much as possible, and sustained by its abundant 

 grasses for live stock. Its farmers now recognize the importance of 



