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THE POSSIBILITIES OF DRY LAND FARMING Address Delivered by Dr. Sudduth Before the Farmers' Institute. Among the interesting and valuable addresses delivered at the recent farmers' institute in this city was one by Dr. W. X. Sudduth, who spoke on "Dry Farming," a subject he is pe culiarly well qualified to handle be cause of his practical experience in that kind of agriculture. At the re quest of The Gazette, the doctor kindly filled out the notes from which he spoke and through his courtesy its pub lication complete is made possible. Dr. Sudduth's Address. The subject is one of so much im portance to the people of tihe state, and especially to our own city, that it cannot be too forcibly brought 'to the attention of our citizens. When we stop to think that for every acre of land now under ditch or that ever can be brought under irrigation in this state, there are 25 acres that will al ways lie above the ditch, we are im pressed with the need of investigating any and all methods that promise suc cess in tilling these lands. Within a radius of 100 miles of Bill irns there are over one million acres of good farming lands, all of which vast territory will in a very few years be settled and look to Billings for its supplies. I say this cautiously, after having spent almost the entire year of 1906 in investigating so-called "dry farming methods in the Trans-Mis souri states. Experimenting for Past Five Years I have been watching the efforts beings made in this direction very caretLlly for the past 25 years ani have done quite a little experiment ing myself during the past five years at Fairview. The results of my own labcrs during this time have con vinced me that with suitable imple ments and the employment of the latest scientific methods, looking to the conservation of moisture, that many props could be successfully grown in the Lake Basin country, ly ing to the north of Billings. I have successfully raised both fall and spring wheat, barley, speltz, oats. flax and alfalfa, and last season had a good garden in which too had nice, succulent vegetables for our table, consisting of peas, beets, onions, rad ishes and summer squash. Our pota toes were of excellent quality, a. though not making a very large yield; still they turned out better than po tatoes we had under the ditch on the Musselshell river; last year for some reason did not prove to b-I a good potato year in this section of the country. Sugar Beets a Surprise to Everyone. A half acre of sugar beets were a complete surprise to everyone. The yield was estimated at 15 tons per acre and analysis showed 18.22 per cent sugar, with 79 per cent purity. We had beets that weighed from five to six pounds. The land wa broken the fall before and left 11 until March, when it was thoroughly disked and harrowed. Then in April it was subsoiled 14 inches deep ano worked down with the Acme harrow into a fine tilth. 'Then the beets were sown by hand and thinned with the hoe and frequently surface culti vated with a walking cultivator. Had Only One-Half Inch Rain. Although we only had three days of rain during the entire growing season, the beets never showed the least sign of wilting, nor did any of the other garden truck. In the fall the ground was moist down for over three feet and post holes could be dug without the use of the crow-bar, while on the adjoining wild grass sod the ground was hard and dry and the bar had to be used in digging holes for fencing the garden. The yields of grain on the summer fallowed land last year were very satisfactory, despite the fact that there was only one rain that fell during the growing season, as above stated. We attribute this to the fact that we drilled these grains in the previous fall, during the first week of November. They were put in late, in order that they might come up with the first moisture from melting snows in the spring, and thus get from two to three weeks the start of spring sown grains. We have follow ed this practice for several years, with marked success. The only fail ure we have had was with some Gal 'latin valley soft wheat that failed to germinate in the spring, although the. land was in fine condition, as was proven by the fact that we put in alfalfa on this same plat and got a fine stand, much better in fact than that 'we got under the ditch on tht Musselshell river the same season. Dry Land Good for Alfalfa, We have several plats of alfalfa at the Broadview experiment station that have been in one, two, three and' four years, and all are doing very, nicely Las: year one plat cut a tonI of hay and the second crop was left stand for seed. The seed pods were well filled and the seed fully matured. The first c.n cu another plat was left for seed, and I never saw pods better filled. They were not thresh ed, so that no data as to yield can be given. The land above the ditch is now producing the bulk of the alfalfa seed grown in this country. Vast stretches of land in western Kansas are produ ing the finest quality of alfalfa seed, and netting the farmers in that sec tion from $25 to $30 per acre an nually for seed alone, besides giving them the straw for roughness for livestock. The valleys of Utah are also pro ducing the very finest seed without irrigation, and now Colorado is en tering the field and will :n the near future be producing. alfalfa seed by the ton. There is no reason why the bench lands of Montana may not do the same. It is a well known fact that alfalfa in order to produce seed does not want to be irrigated. Flax was sown on some spring plowing at Fairview and while the straw was short the yield of seed was satisfactory. The same was true of a plat of maccaroni wheat, the estimated yield of which was 35 bush els per acre. The fall sown Russian red wheat was fully 25 bushels a.ad the spring rye 15 bushels. Quite extensive operations are planned for the season of 1907 and are now well under way. Disks ant harrows are running this week pre paring the summer tilled land: of last year and lat s mmer's bro.lking for tlje season's -,op The extentc of the work this year can be seen by the a:ccompanyi.,, :able. 10 ACRES 8 ACRES 20 ACRES 20 ACRES U) Russian 0 O0 Red Speltz Oats U) - = Z Wheat " Alfalfa - Cr T 20 Acres Beets O Blue Stemn Wheat 0 0 40 Acres Fall Plowed RHulless Barley Millet ? Spelt R T PT a GR A I X RM A S N GRAINS -I p EXPERIMENT PLAT SPRING GRAINS The Broadview experiment station has been in existence since 1900, that is, we have been carrying on the work (personally. IThe expense is considerable and has deterred me from entering into it on any very extended scale. This year, however, we have the promise of assistance from the Bill ings chamber of commerce, which is a step in the right direction. If the business men of Billings will turn in and help settle the country, the country will make the city and no fear. It is proposed to run auto mobile excursions out to Fairview the coming summer, in order to show what can be done in the Lake Basin country. Next year the Burlington road will run excursions into the very heart of what promises to be the wheat belt of Montana. One rea son why we have not gone into farm ing on a more extensive scale has been the lack of transportation fa cili'ies, but with the completion of I hel Billings & Northern and the Chi cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul through our country, we believe that the time has come for the transformation of our crazing lands into farm lands and are fully convinced that it will show excellent commercial results. Maccaroni Wheat Sheet Anchor of the Dry Farm. iWhile we have known for y.,nr. that, these lands would raise profit able crops under the so-called "Camp bell system," we have hesitated go ing into it because of the lack of transportation facilities. but more es pecially because of lack of assurance that our local mills would handle our grains, especially maccaroni wheat, which is the sheet anchor of the dry farm. We are, however, now assur ed that our local mills will take care of all we can raise, and no excuse exists for not going into it on a large scale. Even if our own mills cannot handle the crop, there is a growing export demand, and one of the duties of the new chamber of comnmerce will be to see that freight rates are secured that will enable us to get our grains to the seaboard. It is now less than 10 years since the department of agriculture im ported 1,000 bushels of durum oi mac caroni wheat, as it is more commonly called. Durum wheat has come to the front as one of the future great crops for semi-arid lands. It is estimated that the crop for 1906 approximates 55, 000,000 bushels. The future is so brilliant that a company of experi .nced farmers has purchased a trar; of 60,000 acres in Texas and w Ioin? the entire crea to duru; wi:rat. The department of agriculture has found a market for all the durum wheat our country can produce. It goes to Europe for the manufacture of macaroni and for flour to make different food products. The deal ers in all sections are anxious to get the grain to handle. It brings good returns to the farmer and supplies a new shipping product for the buyer. Every district where dry farming can be practiced offers a field for the production of durum. It makes possi ble the cultivation of acreage once regarded as worthless. Large tracts of land in Colorado and Utah have been purchased, in order to go into the raising of this latest of cereals which has been ad. dod to the list of mortgage lifters in this country. My object at this time is not so much to tell of what we are going to do as to show what others havd 'tone. Montana is fully 25 years be hind the times in the matter of dry farming in this country, and un less an active effort is made to in terest settlers in this line of agricul ture the other trans-Missouri states will reap the immigration crop and Montana will be left to hold the bag. For the past 25 years the very best class of settlers has been going right through Billings and on to the coast and we have done nothing to stop the tide of immigration when had we but known it our country offers far better conditions for successful dry farming than eastern Washington or Oregon. We have a better climate, more rain fall and what is better our precipita tion is during the growing season, while theirs is during the winter months. We are free from the hot winds which prevail in the ereat wheat belts of Washington and Ore gon and our lands at the close of the harvest season, if properly handled, can be fall plowed and got into 'shape for next season's crop; while theirs are so dry and hard that they cannot plow until after the winter rains set in. They, consequently, lose a large percentage of the residual moisture that we can retain to help out suc ceeding crops. By disking our stub ble lands right after harvest and then plowing and harrowing them during August the land can be turn ed over as mellow as an onion bed and fully 25 per cent of the moisture otherwise lost retained for next year's crop, which should be an intertilled one. Intertillage Crops Save One Year's Labor in Three. It has been found that by intro ducing tilled crops like beets, corn, peas or soy beans that two good crops out of three years can be har vested. This mode of culture has been in vogue in Russia for over a hundred years and even three fals crops out of four years can some times be obtained. Undoubtedly much is to be learned in the future in regard to scientific f-irming which will be of interest not only to the man who farms above the ditch. bu~ to the farmer on Irri gated lands for as time gocr by and the demand for water increases the farmer under the ditch will look to the dry farmer for methods to sup plement his failing water supply and thus good will come to all. While right here at Billings we have been slow in adopting dry farming meth ods our neighbors to the north and west have made considerable pro gress in this direction. One had only to go to our own state fair to see most excellent exhibits made by modern methods of farming so-called dry lands. Fergus County. Fergus county's exhibit was solely an exhibit of what is to be accom. plished through "dry land" farming, and in all fairness.it should be stated that the showing was little short of remarkable. The exhibit was in charge of N. J. Little and consisted of such handsome speciments of grasses and grains, such as red top, timothy, clovers, blue joint, alfalfa, wheat, oats, rye, barley and' the like, that It seemed incredible they could be raised without moisture other than that of nature. Cascade County. Cascade county had one of the most attractive, diversified and largest ex hibits in the main hall. Contained therein was the dry land exhibit of P. Curlin, consisting of all manner of root crops, grains and grasses, grown on bench lands without the aid of water. Among the articles ex hibited by Cascade county were flax, wheat, oats, barley, hays, alfalfa, sugar beets, turnips, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, pumpkins, squashes, corn, black walnuts, apples, musk melons, and in fact, everything contained in Burbridge's catalogue. Among the more notable contributors to b"e Cascade exhibit was W. V. Talbott of Armington. -S. S. Hawkins was in general charge of the exhibit, which from its point of vantage, to. gether with its splendid array, at tracted not a little attention from visitors . Oregon. Twenty-five years ago I visited eastern Oregon .looking for' a cattle range and took a 500-mile trip, going south from Pendleton to the Camas prairie and over the Blue mountains to the Grand Round valley and into the Snake river country, thence up through the Palouse coutnry to Spo kane and thence to Lake Coeur d' Alene. At that time very little farm ing was being done, and what was, was not a success. I turned the country down as a range proposition and would not have given 25 cents for the whole country. Last summer I went over the same territory and found it one waving grain field and the lands I could have had for the taking 25 years ago selling readily at from $50 to $75 per acre. Improved methods of harvesting, greater care of land in plowing and cultivation and more intelligent methods in farm ing in general, especially in the selec tion of seeds suitable to this dry re gion have made a properous country. The town of Pendleton, with not more than half the population of Billings had on June 30, before the season's crop had been harvested, two and one-half million dollars wheat money on deposit in its three banks. 'Ah,' I said, when told these facts, 'some of that must belong to stock men.' 'No,' they said, 'the livestock interest are not depositors, they are all borrowers.' Are Saying Nothing About It. One of the peculiar things about the situation is that they are saying nothing about their prosperity. If a farmer wants to sell his farm, all he has to do is to let it be known locally and his neighbor has tha money in the bank and stands ready to take his land at from $50 to $73 per acre, depending upon its location and a, cessibility to the railroad. Im prov.ements do not count, as they gen erally consist of a two barbed wire around the land. The land owners live in small towns along the streams .nd liha, water as far as 10 or 15 uile fotr teams and engines, whi'e plowing, cultivating and harvesting the wheat crop. When asked ab::t the possibility of irrigating these lands they invariably said, "I do not want anything to do with irrigated crops, there is too much hard work connected with that kind of farming," and on this point I might say right here that the bench lands in the Gallatin valley above the ditch find readier sale and bring more money than do the lands under the ditch, when improvements are taken into consideration, and the same will be the case in this country. I cannot close without calling at tention to the recent "Dry Farming Congress," which helds its first ses sion in Denver in January of this year. It was the biggest thing of its kind ever held in this country. Over 800 delegates were in attend ance, representing the entire trans Missouri country. Methods by which the so-called arid regions of the west are to be trans formed from worthless stretches to productive and valuable acquisitions in the agricultural world underwent scientific discussion and practical demonstration at the meetin. Intense interest was aroused among the farmers and agriculturista throughout the west in the first gath ering of the kind in the history of ,he United States and believed to be :he first one of its kind in the history of the world. Delegates from practical iv '!l portions of the west were thenre. The attendance was much larger than was anticipated by those in chiarge of the preliminary arrang: ments for the congress, and as a re Sult the seating capacity of the as sembly hall at the Albany was found to be inadequate to accommodate the crowd. It is estimated that over 800 delegates and others interested in the dry farming question crowded into the hall. Hundreds of them were compelled to stand. The attendance at the afternoon session was so large that it was found necessary to secure more commo dious quarters, and the. night meet ing was held at the First Baptist church, on Stout street, between Six teenth and Seventeenth streets. It was the most enthusiastic con. vention I ever attehded and the con servative members had to throw cold water on it from time to time to keep if from taking fire from auto-cimbus tion. Need of Model Farms. Said the Hon. J. M. Carey of Chey enne, Wyo.: "If dry farming is going to be a success we want to know it. "If all these quarter sections in the west are crowded. with farmers most of them will be failures. I can think of no greater calamity to Colorado and Wyoming than for 4,000 or 5,000 settlers to take up places in the semi arid tracts in these states during the next year. The failures would have such an effect that the two states would not recover for five or ten years. "All those who wish to try the dry farming methods should be taught to do so. They must be shown how to do the work, with which they are unfamiliar." Prof. H. W. Campbell of Bethany, Neb., who has been experimenting with soil culture for the last 18 years, and who is looked upon as an au thority, followed Mr. Carey. "I want to indorse what Mr. Carey says," said Mr. Campbell. "We should have model farms in every county for the purpose of instructing the farmers how to cultivate the soil. "Thousands of acres of land in th; sami-arid areas of New Mexico are being taken up. This is being done on the strength of results obtained in eastern Colorado during the past year. The conditions in eastern Col orado, Kansas and Nebraska during the season were ideal. Much moist ure fell during the fall of 1905. This moisture soaked into the soil. The. farmers sowed their crops, and be fore the dry, hot season of the follow ing year occurred, the plants had, oi course, risen above the surface. The rain during the season fell just when it was needed by the plants, and to these facts the excellent crops are mainly due. "I think that a plan by which bet ter average crops than they have in Illinois can be grown has been for mulated. If this plan can be followed out eastern Colorado will have better crops than Illinois, because there is too much rain there. "The weather bureaus are predict ing a dry summer this year and I tremble' for it, for the farmers are not prepared for it. It may mean the failure of many crops. "I think a revolution in the handl ing our level prairie soils is coming." Prof. Campbell went into details about tilling, fallowing, etc., and when and how they should be done. Dry Farmers Do Not Decry Irrigation. 'The dry land farmer propaganda should be, use all the water you can get, but do not give up because the ditch goes dry. Supplement. irriga tion with scientific methods of culti vation and conservation of natural precipitation and residual moisture. What Mead Had to Say About Dry Farming. "Believing that irrigation is one of the essential factors in making tne most of these lands, in making them support the largest number of people, and giving to settlers the greatest measure of home comfort, I wish to explain the work which the United States office of experiment stations is now carrying on to show how the limited water supplies, found in the dry-farming region, can be utilized in irrigation, and the methods by which these water supplies can be of a more substantial cvharacter. The dry-farm area has moved westward in this slate, until there is now no line which seuarates the irrigated and the dry farm territory. 'There is no neutral zone now separating the arid and the semi-arid regions. Granting that in years of well-distributed or abundant rainfall crops can be grown on the western border of the semi-arid re gion without irrigation, there will be years when even with the best meth ods of tillage the failure of the dry farm will be almost complete. Fur thermore, on the western border of the semi-arid region, irrigation is as yet a necessity for the growing of many crops. Summer fallowing ana thorough tillage will serve to grow wheat and drouth resistant crops, but it will not always answer for trees, and on much land it will ont answer for alfalfa. The dry farm provides no method of protecting the orchard or perennial crops from the season when a dry winter is followed by a dry spring, during which the per centage of soil moisture falls below the needs of plant life. Two Phases Being Gone Into as an Experiment. "The office of experiment stations is now studying two phases of this question: First, cost and methods of providing a water supply, and, sec ond, the tools and methods for the distribution of the watef and the cul tivation of the soil to secure its eco nomical use.' Bulletins giving prac tical advice along these lines will. be published from time to time as ex- I periments and investigations bring definite results. "The foregoing fully emphasizes r the reason which led to the location t of demonstration farms throughout z the central district. "In order to prosecute these studies e three farms have been established s throughout the central district, one r at Newcastle, Wyo., in the northeast ern corner of that state; one at Chey enne, Wyo., in the southeastern sec tion, and one fit Eads, in the eastern central portion of Colorado. These stations will be under practically sim ilar- conditions and crops as well as general studies will be the same." Mr. Chilcott followed Elmer Mead and with the aid of a collection of charts and maps on the wall vack of the speakers' platform, explained ¶is portion of the government's agricul tural experiments. "I have been 25 years in the west, experimenting with all kinds of drought-resisting grains," he said, "and while my residence is, Washington, D. C., I want to say that the agricul tural experts there are in sympathy with the west and that the only reason they live there is that they are given the facilities to work for the west's greater benefit." Mr. Chilcott proceeded from this point to describe the great plains area, which is 1,100 miles long and about 300 wide, where his experi ments had been carried on. He stat ed that he had charted every show er that had taken place at a number of different stations located in the area for the past 20 years, and told how a number of young men raised in the west and familiar with the ag ricultural conditions, had been select ed to take charge of the stations and carry out the work which he himself and his associates had started. The farmers present listened with the most careful attention while he told of the different systems of ro tation in crops which are being tried, and of the precautions taken to see that the experiments are carried on under all sorts of conditions, in order that the final deductions will strike an average that will be cor rect. He explained the charts which showed the three-year rotation of wheat, corn and oats; the four-year rotation, in which brome grass or alfalfa are introduced for one sea son, and a number of other systems which are being tried on parallel plots of ground in order to observe the effects of the same conditions on different systems. Mr. Carletpn in his address dwelt to a large extent on the various kinds of cereals and soils and said that all soil; cannot be treated alike any more than all people con be treated alike. In speaking of the different kinds of wheat that are raised he said that much of the flour produced in Amer ica is shipped abroad, but that Japan, which depends largely on America for its breadstuffs, has found that wheat raised in California, Utah and other western states is not as rich in food products as wheat raised further east, and it is therefore up to the shippers for the Pacific coast to find some other outlet for the western raised wheat. Mr. Carleton spoke to some extent on raising cereals plant ed in the fall as much as possible. He closed his address by showing several stereopticon views which he has collected throughout the United States in his experiments and re searches. e I Harry B. Henderson of Cheyenne, n spoke of the dry farming experiments in that section of the country and t closed his instructive paper by saying a that the granaries of the world are at d the westerner's very doors if they s will only take advantage of them. e The idea, to. some extent exists, e that the government officials are op n posed to dry farming, but when it h is known that the government has e 15 dry farm stations in North and n South Dakota, eastern Colorado, west 3 ern Kansas, Oklahoma and the Pan i handle of Texas, it will be seen that such is not the case. The following l list of government and college men e who were actually in attendance at a the Denver convention is proof of the above assertion. e Some of the officials and promi nent agronomists who are playing e prominent parts in Trans-Missouri dry farming: C. C. Williams, Chairman publicity committee. Fisher Harris, secretary Salt Lake City Commercial club. J. L. Donahue, president Campbell dry farming system. t W. F. R. Mill, chairman executive committee. Dr. J. L. Briggs, physicist United Staets bureau of soils. Prof. W. P. Snyder, director Nebras ka experiment station. E. G. Montgomery, agronomist Ne braska Agricultural college. E. A. Burnett, dean Nebraska Ag ricultural college. A. Atkinson, agronomist University of Montana. Arthur A. Briggs, secretary Cali fronia state board of trade. Mark A. Carleton, cerealist United 1 States department of agriculture. W. H. Olin, agronomist Colorado Agricultural college. E. C. Chilcott, United States de partment of agriculture, in charge of dry land agriculture. Prof. E. E. Elliott, Washington Ag ticultural college. Secretary Arthur Williams. Many others sent in papers to be read and the tone of the whole body of scientific men present was opti mistic but not too enthusiastic. This Is the general attitude of train ed minds in all lines of research and should not be taken to be antago nistic. Dr. Riesland, the optical specialit, who comes here regularly, grinding all glasses, will be at Hotel Northern again March 7 to 11. (First Pub. Jan. 22,-S. W. 6T) Notice of Meeting of Stockholders of Basin Cattle Co. A special meeting of the stoekhold ers.of the Basin Cattle company, is by the undersigned directors of said com pany called to meet at the office of said company, at First National bank in the city of Billings, State of Mont-' ana, on the 7th day of March, 1907, at the hour of ten o'clock a. m. for the object and purpose of increasing the capital stock of said company to the sum of sixty thousand dollars, ($60,. 000). Dated at Billings, Montana, Jan. 19 1907. M. A. ARNOLD, T. A. SNIDOW, JOHN H. BOOZ, Directors Basin Cattle Co. (First Pub. Feb. 22, 1907.-9weeks-ei) (-357.) Timber Land, Act June 3, 1878. Notice for Publication. United States Commissioner's Office, Musselshell, Montana, Feb. 11, 1907. Notice is hereby given that in com pliance with the provisions of the act of congress of June 3,1878, entitled "An act for the sale of timber lands in the states of California, Oregon, Nevada and Washington territory," as extended to all the public land states by act of August 4, 1892, Wil liam S. Thompson, of Roundup, county of Yellowstone, state of Montana, has this day filed in this office his sworn statement No. 246, for the purchase of the E1/ NW%/ NW} NE/4 of section No. 20, township 7 north, range 25 E., M. M., and will offer proof to show that the land sought is more valuable for its timber or stone than for agri cultural purposes, and to establish his claim to said land before Fred H. Foster, clerk of the district court at Billings, Mont., on Friday, the 10th day of May, 1907. He has as witnesses: Cliff L. Roots of Roundup, Montana; Thomas Hurley of ?ecundup, Montana; Gus Rehder of Fattig, Montana; Jacob Keller of Fattig, Montana. Any and all persons claiming ad versely the above described lands are requested to file their claims in this office on or before said 10th day of May, 1907. C. E. McKOIN, Register. (First Publication Jan. 29, 1907) NOTICE FOR PUBLICATION. Department of the Interior, Land Office at Lewistown, Montana, January 25, 1907.-Notice is hereby given that , the following-named settler has filed r notice of his intention to make final Lt commutation proof in support of his r claim, and that said proof will be d made before Fred W. Handel, U. S. r commissioner, at Musselshell, Mont., e on Friday, March 8, 1907, viz., d ELLA LYKE, n who made H. E. 3807 March 20, 1905, 0 for the N?% NWW{4, W~/ NE'1/, section t- 20, township 9 north, range 29 E., He names the following witnesses to g prove his continuous residence upon e and cultivation of said land, viz: M. d Willard Stockwell, Charles W. Mc Lean, George A. Davis, Charles M. Jacobs, all of Musselshell, Montana. C. E. McKOIN, Register. (First Pub. Tuesday, Feb. 19, 1907.-4) CONTEST NOTICE. Department of the Interior, United States Land Office, Billings, Montatia, Feb. 14, 1907.-A sufficient contest affidavit having been filed in this of fice by Ernest F. Kruger, of Billings, iontana, contestant, against home s stead entry No. 3858, made February 19, 1901, at Bozeman, Montana, for NE'E4 SE'/,: section 21, W/2 SW'a: section 22, and NW/4 NW'/: section 27, township 1 north, range 27 E., M. P. M., by Alma M. Hammond, con 1 testee, in which it is alleged that the t said Alma M. Hammond has aband 3 oned said land; that he never estab lished his residence thereon; that he has not been residing thereon for more than six months last past; that said land is not cultivated as provided by law; that the abandonment afore said has continued for more than six months last past; and that said al leged absence from the said land was not due to his employment in the army, navy or marine corps of the United States during time of war: said parties are hereby notified to ap pear, respond and offer evidence touching said allegations at 10 o'clock a. m. on March 20, 1907, before Reg ister and receiver and that final hear. ing will be held at 10 o'clock a. m. on March 30, 1907, before the Register and Receiver at the United States Land office in Billings, Montana. The said contestant having, in a proper affidavit, filed February 7, 1907, set forth facts which show that after due diligence personal service of this notice cannot be made, it is hereby ordered and directed that such notice be given by due and proper publication. E. E. ESSELSTYN, Register. hzavestood the test for over en years, and are still in the lead. Thler absolute certainty of growth, their uncommonly large yields of delicous vegetables and beautiful flowers, make them t:e most reliable aRid the most popular every where. Sold by all delers, lgfl Seed Anaaal free on request ' D. M. FERRY & CO.. Oatroit, Much.