3
VOL. XXIV.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., JANUARY 5,1889.
NO.l
GBEAT OPENING IN MONTANA
FARMERS.
I0E
The 21,000,000 Acres of Indian Reserve
Held by the Government for Free
Homes, Under the Homestead Law.
Splendid   Lands,   Productions,   Olimate,
Etc.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
I was reading your articles which you
published last summer abont your trip
out into Montana Territory, and was interested in them enough to start out here
on the first of December to see what kind
of a conntry it was. After a pleasant trip
I got to Dawes, in the Milk river valley,
Djcember 4th.
I made up my mind to come ont in the
winter because I conld then tell what the
olimate was, and find ont abont the
Chinooks which yon told about in your
description of this conntry. I came to
stay long enough to find out what it offers to people who want to settle in a new
conntry, and I have been ranging around
this section np to the present time looking
at its general features. I want to say right
here that it is the finest conntry I ever
aiw, and it is a shame that renters and
people will stay down in Indiana, where
they, are so crowded when they can get
land right here wit_»'.t costing anything,
that is the finest yon ever saw in yonr
life.
I-will tell yon something about the
Milk river valley. It is about 180 miles
long, that is the part where the railroad
rnns along. The Milk river rnns into the
Missouri river about 125 miles west of
Fort Bnford and it rises in the Bocky
mountains, the whole length of the river
is about 400 miles. The bottom lands are
as fine as ever the sun shone [on; they
range in width all the way from three
miles to ten miles. The land is very
smooth and covered with tall grass, which
makes very fine^hay. The people do not
. pnt up mnch hay here as the climate is so
fine that they do not have to feed their
stock in the winter. The railroad follows
the valley, all the way from Glasgow except in one place where it'; makes a big
bow to the north, there the railroad cuts
across and passes throngh a conntry
which has much of the finest kind of land,
The nearest station to this location is
called Bowdoin, and it is near; the place
where the railroad crosses the Milk river,
This is not a dry country at all. ""The
streams carry a great deal-of "water in
them and do not get low and Jmnddy like
they do in Eastern Indiana.^The bottom
lands of the Milk valley are the widest
and the land ls finest from a station called
Yantic, east to North Forks. The bends
in the river are lined with |heavy, timber
consisting of ash,'and box elder; and cot-
tonwood. Dawes, a station laid ont, and
which is a promising point, is next
reached; some settlers have already^gone
in here.
The railroad runs^through the" middle
of the valley and about eight miles west
cresses the Milk river to the sonth side of
that stream. About three miles west of
the Milk river crossing is Yantic, which, I
believe, is the finest fplace for a town I
ever saw. It is here that a stream, called
Clear creek, comes down from the Little
Bockies, thirty miles to the sonth. The
water in this creek is clear as crystal, and
at this time of the year, when it should be
low, is a clear, rushing stream about sixty
feet wide and from two to three feet deep.
The valley of Clear creek is getting very
well settled by people who have come
from Washington Territory and Idaho to
get into a better country. The people in
this valley .are going into stock .raising,
because the stock are raised so easily that
it is hardly any. expense at all, and when
they are two or three years old they can
be sent to market and bring between $45
and $(30 per head, without costing over $2
or ?3 a head to raise them; All along Clear
creek are nice groves of cottonwood and
box elder, but as it gets nearer the mountains the pine sets in. This (pine is very
thick, and saw mills are now making it
into lumber. The lumber is a first-class
building material, and costs about $25 a
thousand feet at the railroad, 25 miles
away. In the mountains there is so mnch
of this timber that it can never be exhausted, as when it is once cut off it
springs np again of the same kind. The.e
mountains are heavily timbered, bnt there
are some places where the trees do not
grow; these are called parks, and are covered with heavy grass. At the bases of
the mountains are very many large
springs which burst forth, making the
heavy volume of waters in the many
creeks which run'out on the plains. On
all sides, at the foot of the mountains, are
what people call here, the "bench lands."
They are superior to the bottom lands
along the river in fertility, and are just as
sure fer crop raising. The grass on these
bench lands is heavy and grows thick
enongh to cut for hay. They are splendidly watered by the heavy showers which
fall over the mountains nearly every day
during the summer. Stock raising is
bound to grow into a great business in
, this partof the ronntrj*. /Mthoiighi this
land was opened for settlement only six
months ago a great many cattle have been
brought in; still,not one acre inahun
dred is occupied, and there will be' plenty
of room for all who wish to go there.
I supposed when I started out here that
it would be a good deal of trouble to get
hold of this government land, but all yon
have to do when you get here is to pick
out the land yon like best, make your im
provements, and it belongs to you, just
as mnch as the best farm in the White
water valley in Indiana, leaving out the
mortgages whioh are likely on the White
water valley farms, as all these lands are
reserved for homesteads by the Government.
Stock raising cannot help but pay, and
pay big here, as I said before. The win.
ters are the most surprising thing abont
this country. There had been a little cold
weather before I got here in November,
enough to make a skim of ice on the
streams in the still places, but about the
fifth of this month the Chinook winds
started in and the weather has been very
fine. Itis these Chinook winds which
make the conntry so fine for stock raising,
as they keep the snow melted off the
ground.what little falls, and the stock can
get at the grass all through the winter,
If any of you people come out herein the
spring you had better fix to go into the
stock raising business; breeding cows are
pretty high here; they are sold at high
profits, as everybody wants to get more
stock to breed from. It would be a good
idea for those who come ont to pick up a
carload of young yearling heifers and
bring them along. The bulls should be
Shorthorns and Herefords. The experience of the ranchmen is that scrubs do
not pay as well as the better breeds of
stock; in fact, so far as I can see the stock
here is better bred and grafted up higher
than the farmers at home. There are lots
of nice shelter places, well watered, which
make splendid places for stock farms.
Because I have said so much about
stock, I do not want you who read this, to
think that this conntry is not good also
for farming. Of course the country is
thinly settled and there are not many
farms nnder cultivation, but what there
are, turn of! crops which you would not
believe oould be raised, but which I know
have been raised.
All grains have yielded immensly.   The
potatoes will average right along from
two to six pounds apiece in weight, and
wheat has yielded as high as 60 bnshels
per acre, weighing 65 pounds per bushel.
The best place for people to go, in my
opinion, although it is all good, is Dawes,
or one of the stations near by, or go on to
the beneh lands sonth of the Milk river,
toward the Bear Paw Mountains, from
what I have seen I think I will take my
farm near the Bear Paws.
Fine mines of gold, silver and lead have
been discovered which will make a big
demand on the surrounding farmers for
all kinds of produce.
I forgot to tell you about what awful big
coal veins there are in this conntry. They
range from eight to 12 feet thick, and are
fonnd along the banks of the streams,
This coal will make good coke, at least so
I am told by the people who are getting it
out. ,
The hunting here is very good. Prairie
chickens are fonnd all throngh the open
lands; in the woods there are elk still left
in the mountains and a good many deer,
All of the mountain streams are plentifully supplied with trout, but the fishing is
not good in the Milk river, as it gets rily
in the spring.
Maybe I will'{write you 'another letter
after I get my ranch buildings under way,
but I expect to be busy for the next two
months getting my things in shape.
, W. B. Perkins
Dt.wes, Montoia, Do.';,, 25 18.SS.
THE MONTANA COAL.
We alluded recently to tbe fine sample
of coal sent to ns from the MUk river
valley, of Montana, by a settler there. It
came from an outcropping vein of 8 to 12
feet in thickness. We handed a piece of
It to Prof. R. T. Brown, who was some
years ago the chemist of the National Department of Agriculture, and who anal,
yzed the Puget Sound and other northern
coals, and he has kindly made analysis
and test of this Montana coal, and gives us
the result, as seen below. He says it is
like the Nova Scotia coal, so mnch es-
teemed in Boston and in New England
for fnel and manufacturing purposes, and
tbat it ls a rich gas coal, and will make a
very superior quality of gas, greatly exceeding the quality and quantity per ton
produced by the flne Pittsburg, Pa. coals.
We saw these thick veins of coal in
many places in the Milk river valley on
our trip to Montana last summer, and al
luded to the fact in our letters in the
Farmer, it will be remembered. But we
did not then know the coal was so valuable in quality. This coal is in immense
quantities in that region, cropping ont
from the hills and easily mined. Our
friend in Montana can rest'assured that
he lives in a region of splendidgooals, for'
gas, ore smelting and fuel purposes.
DR. BROWN'S REPORT.
Mr. J. B. Conner, Indiana Farmer:
The c<ial you gave me for examination
from MUk river valley, Northern Montana, belongs to the Northern Coal Series,
represented by the Picton coal of Nova
Scotia, and the Puget So and coal of Washington Territory. It bnrns with a bright
flame, nearly white; softens scarcely perceptibly, gives ont an intense heat, and
leaves a small per cent of white ash. It
cokes imperfectly, but my opinion is that
it will smelt iron without coking. It is
entirely free from sulphur.
R. T. Brown.
P0BE AIB IN WINTEB.
. It is supposed by many that bnt for the
green vegetation which takes np the
gases and absorbs impurities in the air
that there could be no pure air. Bnt in
winter the cold temperature destroys organic germs and precipitates moisture,
which is the great vehicle for holding injurious gases and deadly germs in suspension. In winter, too, the air contains
more ozone, whioh is a peculiarly active
form of oxygen.   Thus, by a lessening of
deleteriousjelements, and an increase of
oxygen, the great agent that wars on these
elements, the work accomplished by
other agents during the summer months
is achieved.
AUSTRALIAN ELECTION LAW.
All are urging the passage of a new election law. The Australian is most commonly mentioned. Several States have
already adopted it:
Its principle is simple enongh. The
ballots are not printed by the parties, but
by the State. Eich ballot contains tbe
names of all the candidates of all the parties for all the offices to be filled, and these
names are arranged in alphabetical order.'
In voting for any candidate, the voter indicates his choice by making a check or
cross on the margin, as follows:
for governor.   (Vote  for one.)
Henry SI. Brown,
Republican	
George R. Jones,
Democratic	
Johu H. Robinson,
Prohibition.	
Josiah Wilkin.
 Independent..
The ballot is thus printed, having the
names of all candidates on it, on the inside pages of a folded sheet. At the time
of voting the electors are admitted to a
room a few at a time, and each one is given a single ballot which he takes into a
side compartment, there marks it and
presents it folded for insertion into the
ballot box. This plan makes it possible
for tno' voting tobe entaely _njcret.' It
has been adopted in Massachusetts and in
Wisconsin, and will na doubt be taken in
other States. Its many advantages are
obvious.
Working Power of Nations.
In a very instructive paper, read recently by Mr. M. Mulhall, before tne British
Association, in session at Bath, England,
it was shown that in every one of the
three principal sources of power—man,
horse and steam—the United States exceeds the leading nations of Europe. Mr.
Mulhall presented the following table,
showing the aggregate energy of the principal nations in millions of foot tons
daily:
Countries. Hand.    Horse.    Steam.     Tota
United States 8,150        33,600       43,100        89,«0
United Klngdom...t,,290 8,700      38,1*60        52,950
France _ J.B90 8.500       16,150 30,810
Germany 6,930 10,500       19,800 87,230
In round numbers the working power
of the United States is three times as great
as that of France, two and one-halt times
as great as that of Germany, one and two-
thirds times as great as that of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
and equal to that of the two greatest of
the older nations combined. Mr. Mulhall
thinks the unparalleled growth of the
United States has only begun, as he says
at present theinoreaseof industry, energy
and wealth goes on unabated. The next
census in 1890 will probably show a population of 66,000,000, with an aggregate energy of almost 100,000 millions of foot
tons daily, and an accumulated wealth of
£14,000,000,000, figures never before applicable to any nation in the world.
 S     »      S	
The Pure Food Bill.
The pnre food kill introduced in the
House of Representatives during the last
session has recently been proposed ln the
Senate. It alms at the establishment of a
pure food division of the Department of
Agriculture, to provide for inspection of
live stock about to be slaughtered at
slaughterhouses, canning, salting, packing and rendering establishments, the
carcasses and products of which are intended for human consumption in any
State or Territory other than where
slaughtered for exportation to foreign
countries, and to prohibit the introduction
of adulterated or misbranded foods or
drugs into any State or Territory, or the
District of Columbia from any other State
or Territory or foreign oountry.