Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 211, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 September 1919 — 200,000 ACRE WHEAT FARM WITHOUT a HORSE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

200,000 ACRE WHEAT FARM WITHOUT a HORSE

By Robert H. Moulton

ARMING 200,000 acres is certainly a man’s-size job. But doing it without the use of a single horse is something else again. Yet, preposterous as it may sound, this feat is actually being performed by a Montana man, Thomas D. Campbell.

This huge farm, probably the largest in the world, is a direct result of the government’s efforts to stimulate the growing of wheat during the last two years. The farm is devoted entirely to wheat, and if it produces somewhere around the country’s average of 28 bushels per acre, which is practically certain, it will add approximately 5,656,000 bushels to the 1919 wheat crop. At the government’s guaranteed price of $2.26 cents a bushel, this represents the tidy sura, of $12,656,00°. Of course all this will not be net profit. But there should be enough left, after all expenses are paid, to make the venture worth while. Thomas D. Campbell is the man who conceived the idea of the world’s largest wheat farm, or any other sort of farm, for that matter. Originally of Grand Forks, more recently of Los Angeles, Cal., and now a resident of the Crow Indian reservation in Montana, where he stands an excellent chance of being elected chief of the Crows, Mr. Campbell has astonished the wheat growers of the country, as well as a lot of other people, by the vastness of the enterprise under his management. It was during the summer of 1917

that Campbell first thought of raising wheat on a large scale on unused .Indian lands, and wrote to the Indian bureau at Washington, outlining his plans and asking how to proceed to lease some of the tracts. He was courteously informed by sundry obscure clerks in the department that it couldn’t be done. They cited certain rules, and regulations and laws to prove their assertions. This had the same effect on Mr. Campbell that a red rag does on a bull. The word “impossible” only makes him the more determined to do what he sets out to do. So he decided to try the men higher, up and the result was a long telegram to President JWilson. Almost Immediately came back a reply saying that the president was much Interested in the project and had referred It to Secretary Lane of the Interior department, who would give the matter his personal attention.

The upshot of the matter was that a week or two later Mr. Campbell was in the presence of the secretary of the interior. The first thing the secretary asked him was what kind of a contract he wanted. “Any kind,” was the reply, “just so I get a chance to raise a lot of wheat. “What do you want for yourself?” asked the secretary. “Nothing,” Campbell replied. “I am willing to enroll with the dollar-a-year men if the government finances the project, and if I finance it myself all I want is a chance to break even.” That /lertainly made a hit with the secretary. He saw that he was dealing with a real man, so he asked him why he didn’t make it 200,000 acres instead of the 20,000 he had asked for and added: “Could you handle that many acres?” “Certainly,” replied Mr. Campbell, “only it will require more capital than I had figured on.” Secretary Lane said he thought that could be arranged and told Mr. Campbell to go ahead and draw a contract The contract was drawn and In due time bore the signature of Secretary Lane, all the bureau chiefs and Mr. Campbell. The Indians, of course, were well taken care of under the terms of the contract. They will receive one-tenth of the crop during the first five years and one-fifth of the crop during the second five-year period at the end of which time the lease expires. The next step was to finance the project, so Mr. Campbell hurried to New York, presented himself at the offices of J. P. Morgan & Co. and sent in word that Secretary Lane had asked him to call, on a matter of business. Whether Mr. Morgan had received advance' information of Mr. Campbell’s coming or not is unimportant. The fact remains that he was immediately invited in. Mr. Morgan listened while Mr. Campbell told his story. At the end of the story Mr. Morgan asked how much money would be required. “Five million dollars,” replied Mr. Campbell without batting an eye. "Very well,” said Mr. Morgan, “you may have it. And if that Isn’t enough, a°s much more will be available.” And so the 200,000-acre wheat farm came Into existence, with Mr. Campbell as president of the Montana Wheat Farming corporation and general manager of the whole project. But about the absence of horses from the farm. All of the work is being done with

tractors. Last fall, when the first ground was broken, there were fifty monster machines at work tearing up the prairie sod. This spring others were at work. They plowed on the average one acre a minute for the working time. A record was made on one day of 1,880 acres turned and broken. All the seeding, harvesting, etc., was also done by tractors, and then, of course, there are the thrashing machines. _ Hence the absolute uselessness of horses about this place. One of the first problems Mr. Campbell had to solve was the number of various kinds of machines that would be required to do the work on the entire farm. He solved this by dividing the farm into units of 5,000 acres and then allowing a certain period tor each operation—such as plowing, barrowing, seeding, cutting, thrashing—on each unit. ‘ The 5,000-acre unit also has another use. Mr. Campbell, as active as he is, couldn’t reasonably be expected to personally oversee work on 200,000 acres of land throughout the season. So each unit is put in charge of a competent farm manager, with a general foreman and a crew of men. Each unit also has its group of permanent and modernly-equipped buildings. It is a gigantic proposition any way you take It.