VOL. XXIV.
INDIANAPOLIS, IND., AUG. 24,1889.
NO.34
OUB lUTUBE WHEAT.
Where Will It Oome From?-Shall We Export or Consume Our Grain at Home?
A Study in Physical Geography  Whioh
Indicates the Next Possible Bread Producing Area,
Tha Elevations, the Courses of the Eiver*-,
and Th ir Belation to ihe Soil
ana Olimate.
The past ten yeara there has been an increase of population in the United States
ot 20 per cent, and daring the Bame period
only 3 per cent increase in the area devoted to the cultivation of the cereal. In a
few years, at this rate, the exportation of
■wheat from our country .will cease altogether, and the home consumption will
exceed the production. It was this consideration that prompted me to make a
Uttle study of physical geography to discover what bear Id g It might have on the
development of new wheat fields.
"COOK AT THK MAP.
If one will place Defore him one of the
large new government maps of the United
States and scan it olosely, he will observe
(and no donbt to the surprise of most who
try it) that the true inland source of the
Cdlumtoia «•!▼«* is the ftouth Fork of the
Snake river, whioh takes its rise ln the
Gros Ventres ranges of mountains at
about the 110 ih meridian in Wyoming, or
in nearly the longitude of the eastern
•boundary of Utah. From there it flows
-northward through Idaho, and merges
<into the Columbia in Southeastern Washington. The Missouri takes its rise away
-west at Uw Big Hole in the Bitter Root
jccuntry, meridian 114, or about the longitude of the western boundary of Utah.
Tae Big Hole baeomes swallowed up ln
ihe Jeff.rson river, whioh joins the Madi
son and Gallatin at a place called Gallatin
or Three Forks, to form tha great Missouri.
From there the river moves northward,
making that magnlfioent out through the
mountains called the Grand Canyon of the
Missouri, and, reaching latitude 48 deg.
•north, it flows east nearly 400 miles before
■Moving south through Dakota in the be-
grinning of its final journey. Bat tiie main
poi-U, to be remembered is that the Missouri, whose waters empty into the G all
■of Mexico, takes its rise about 180 miles
west of Uw source of the Colombia, which
•empties into the Pacific ocean. Lst us
ta&e a look at some of the smaller rivers
and .streams. OF the Musselshell and
Judith it may be said that they are both of
very great importance, both from a dram-
age and a fertilising point of view. One
takes its rise in the Crazy mountains, the
other in the Big Snowy range, and both
-flaw north and empty into the Missouri,
Nearly all of the streams of any oonse-
•quenee taking their rise in Middle Montana, even almost as far north as the valley of the Yellowstone river, flow north
*ndemptyinto the Missouri. Thlsinoludes
*be<Otter, the Bolt, the Big Dry and the
•Rsd Water.
COUBSK OP THK RIVERS.
I traveled through a considerable portion of the Belt and Otter valleys and
found them rich and beautiful, almost be-
•yond description. The Yellowstone river
-takes its rise in Yellowstone lake in
Northwestern Wyoming and flows northward and eastward until It empties into
She Missouri near the dividing Une of
Montana and Dakota. We observe that
the Yellowstone has no tributaries of consequence from the north flowing southward to it, but on the southside flowing
northward to it there are many of importance, including the Little Big Horn, the
Tongue and the Powder rivers,these three
taking their rise in Wyoming and emptying into the Yellowstone in Montana.
The Little Missouri rises in Northeastern
Wyoming, rnns almost due north till it
reaches in Northwestern Dakota, about
the latitude of Great Falls, 47° 20', and
then flows eastward and empties Into the
Missouri on the Fort Bsrthold Indian reservation. A scrutiny of the map further
south Bhows that the heights and depths
In the physical configuration of the
country change their relation to each
other. Both f irks of the Cannon Ball
river, both forks of the Grand, and the
Owl river, all rising in the western part
of South Dakota, flow almost due eastward to their confluence with the Missouri. The Cheyenne, the White, the
Niobrara and the Platte rivers have a general trend almost due east, or slightly
north of east. The courses of the rivers
farther sonth than those last named have
no particular bearing on what I wish to illustrate.
WHAT IT ALL MEANJ.
That which is important to indicate is
the bearing of the faots stated on the possible extension of onr productive wheat
area. The question of bread making and
the obtalnment of the materials wherewith to make the bread, may become, as
time rolls on, of more vital significance to
as than it seems today, particularly in the
remote contlntfa-jv-y ot a war with some
foreign power. At all events tho development of a new wheat region In any part of
the Union as large say, for example, as the
State of Ohio, is certainly worthy; of consideration. For granted that it has the
conditions of soil, air and moisture .favorable to the cultivation of the perfeot cereal,
and that ordinary drouths would have but
little eflect upon it, suoh a region wonld
be large enough to prove the deciding
force between prosperity and disaster to
the nation in case ot mauy an emergency
whioh the mind might not H all unreasonably fotecast.
NORTH MONTANA AMD DAKOTA.
There ls j ast such a region awaiting development, a region of the size and character indicated, and it is easy to apprehend many of the physical causes which
must make of it one of the chief granaries
of the continent. Bearing in mind the
facts about the courses of the rivers already
stated, take another look at the map- If
you will follow the Ricky mountains
down you will observe that at the northern edge of Montana, or the southern line
of the British possessions, the ranga is on
the same meridian of longitude as the
west boundary of Utah. It extended
southeastward until, in the latitude of the
Shoshone Indian reservation in Wyoming,
It has the same longitude as the -eastern
extremity of Utah. In other words, while
the range is trending southward and
crossing six parallels of latitude, it diverge eastward enough to cross five meridians of longitude. Thus itis not dl/JJ-
cult to understand how the Mlsssouri
manages to rise 180 miles west of the
souroe of the Columbia. All streams of
consequence rising In Southern Montana
and Northern Wyoming o» the eastern
slopes ot the range ran northw»rd and
empty Into the Missouri.
Of the tributaries of the Great Muddy
oomlng in from the western and northern
side in Montana, the Sun and Teton
flow almost due east, the Marias and Milk
rivers, taking their rise up near the British
possessions, flow southeasterly, the Cottonwood and Poplar rivers and many
lesser streams flow nearly due south, and
this continues until the Missouri turns
Its own course south, and yon have gone
far enough east to reach that great water
shed running north and south through
the middle of Dakota, whioh divides the
valley of the Missouri from that of the
Bed river of the North.   By the physical
causes given there haa been formed between latitudes 47° and 49° and longitudes
103° and 112° a great basin more than 400
miles long and about 100 miles wide,
bounded on the north by the Cypress hills
and other ranges ln Canada; on the east
by the backbone ot Dikota or the Missouri
and Red river watershed; on the south by
the Bait range, the Big Snowy mountains
and that vast elevated region whioh lies
between the 46th and 47th parallels of latitude in Southern Montana and extreme
Western Dakota; onthe west by the main
range of the B icky mountains. Through
a large portion of this basin the Milk river
flows, carrying with it a rioh silt from the
region of its upper waters and depositing
it in the lower valleys.
The Milk river valley is wonderfully rich
and perfeotly drained; and has no need
for any but nature's own irrigation. The
valleys of most of the tributary streams
are equally rich. The Milk empties into
the Missouri on the Western edge of Fort
Peck Indian reservation. The elevations
above the sea of this great tract of country
range from about 1,900 feet at Its eastern
extremity to a little over 3,000 feet at Great
Falls, Mont., or, to speak comparatively,
these altitudes are from 2,000 to 8,000 feet
lower than those of the country extending
for hundreds of miles south In the same
logitndes. Tae mountain barriers to the
west, furnished by the Rocky and Bitter
Boot mountains, jre in most places several
thousand feet lower than th# range in
Wyon.jog and Colorado, 'jt'he soil *jnd
cllmatlo conditions here are suoh as would
naturally grow oat of the physical facts
narrated.
WARM WINTER WINDS.
There is no mistaking the influence of
the so-called ohinook winds which proceed
from the warm ocean currents of the Pacific, whioh flow near shore off Cape Flattery and the southern extremity of Vancouver Island. These winds blow landward, and finding the mountain barriers
comparitlvely low, pass them and lend
their mellowing influence to Northern
Montana and even to a portion of North
Pakota. f!ji$ region drained by the Milk
river was In the old days the home of the
Crow, Blackfeet, Piegan »i*d (Jros Ventres
Indians, and was a celebrated banting
ground among ail the tribes of the Northwest. The savages used to be able to dis
cover with unerring sagacity, those places
where the least labor had to be performed
in order to gain a livelihood, and often
times to wa^e very destructive warfare
among themaelye? to gain possession of
these places. This country was opened to
settlement by the white man nearly a
year ago last winter, but in the days of
^gwis and .Clarke, and for almost three-
quarters of jj century later, the Indians
congregated here ty the thousands, particularly to hunt and fish, and enjoy protection in the winter time.
Many of the natives still living here
tell exciting stories of the killing of vast
numbers of buffalo in the valley, JJ is a
well authenticated fact that the bison did
come here some years ago in great droves,
to pass the winter, from points at least
100 miles north and from as many miles
south. Alas for the poor, almost extinct
buffalo! It proved a great charnel ground
fr,r tlw, First the Indian, then the white
man, alaughtej-ed him. Sometimes, it
would seem, lost to w^sfe the desire for
killing something- but, to t)8 more cjjar-
ltab. e, perhaps lt was for the hump on
his back and the robe that nature gave
him. Mr. i- A. Mayer, of Montana, tells
me that between 120 and JE0 tons of buffalo bones are now shipped dally to St.
Louis from points between Mlnot and
Great Falls. Mlnot and Great Falls are
about 600 miles apart. J,9t the buffalo
rest. I can give you, from a far Western
point of view, the moral bearing of hia extinction'in a future letter.
GROWTH OP VEGETATION.
In the valley of the Bait creek in the
slopes of the Belt mountains I fonnd wild
hops growing in extravagant luxuriance,
olimblng trees jast for sport, on the banks
of the stream; and jast beyond were hundreds of acres of wild roses and delightful
little patches of anemones and wild pansies. What a contrast of the bitter with
the sweet.
In the Milk river valley were wide
stretches of red top, blue joint, bunch and
blue grass, growing naturally; and large
fields of timothy had been cultivated.
Erery where flourished the wild pea vine,
whose presence and hardy growth are always evidences of great fertility In the
soil. According to many careful tests and
conservative estimates that have been
made, good marketable steers average 150
to 200 pounds heavier than those bred in
the Southwest whioh have received equal
care.
NEXT GREAT WHEAT FIELD.
Here is the basin, I believe, that will
prove to be the next great wheat field of
the Union. All the conditions are here to
make it such. The settlers are few and
scattered yet. It is to be hoped that when
they come in, they will farm economically; the natural abundance of everything
here, including space, is apt to breed
wastefulness even in very conservative
immigrants. I have referred to large
game: ducks a.nd geese, etc., chiefly to remind disciples bf Nirnrod and Izaak Wai- i
ton that here is a virginal li.ld for them.
If. W. M.
- —t * t—-rrr.™-
<Blg Fields of Wheat.
Editors Indiana Farmer:
I have been trying to find the man who
wai reported as having-used goo pounds
of bone meal to the aore aad threshed ■}<}
bashel of wheat to the acre this year. an4
I find that he does not exist. I found a
man named Harrett who claimed at our
Farmers' Institute last winter that last
year he had put at the rate of goo pounds
to the acre on a small plot and threshed
at the rate of 46 bashels to the acre off of
that small plot. Bat that was not extraordinary for last year. A man by the
name of,Beanblossom lathe southern part
of the county averaged 38 bnshels cff of
•50 aores. He used 200 pounds to the acre.
Levi pit-nan, Central, Ind., has the best
yield tbat I know of this yo^r. JJe told;
me that he averaged 30 bushels on ont»
field. He has not threshed his entire
crop yet, but he will average 27 bushels
on 100 acres. Bat the wheat In this county will not average over 10 bushels to the
acre. The drouth came near ruin iag the
orop. !as to using 800 pounds to the aore,
that Is all nonsense; 200 to 300 pounds
will produce as much wheat to tho aore as
800 pounds, that being all that is necessary to feed the crop. Had better put the
fertiL'z ar on your land oftener and not so
much at j» time; feed your crops as you
do your stock, so that thprg wjjl be nq
waste. ' J. <4  A.. S>eg.
Corydon.
WMGRTS OF "WHEAT.
Mr. Dodge, statistician of the Dopart-
ment of Agriculture, gives the result of
an investigation, through agents and correspondents, of the average weight of
wheat per bushel, by States. The average weight of six wheat crops, those of
1883-1888, is set down 57.7 lbs. per bushel.
The present average is still lower—5(15.
Tha eotlm&tes for the spring wheat region
are all very low, from 53.7 pounds In Dakota to 55 in Nebraska.
The New Monarch gives much better
weight than the avergge, according to all
the reports we have had of It. It ought to
be sown In preference to most other varieties op this account,
A letter can now be sent round
world in 6'J days, Vi"Vancouver,
the