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Show B UPPER AND LOWER STAR B VALLEYS. B (As Seen by the Way.) B J. A. W. Bl A. modern, thriving tovym, with clcc- trie lights and other conycmcnccs, ly- H ing fifty miles from the nearest rail- H road point, is something to put many B f our older Utah towns to open B shame. Yet this description. fits only B m Part beautiful Afton, the chief town B f Upper Star Valley, Wyoming. Star B valley is commonly reached through Hj Montpclicr, along a. road which can- Hj not honestly be described as being Hj good. However, so far as certain Hj physical reminders make it passible, Hj the road is forgotten, when .at last the Hj view of Star valley is o- uned. Over H against the cast side of the valley, H near the middle of its length lies, like I a. fairy town in the gold of the after- I; noon, tjhvc tov$i of Afton Nprth and I south and east of it lie a half -dozen other" towns, smaller, but in degree equally beautiful. , Filling the valley, frbm end to end, is a. succession of ' gfacn fields. "Scattered over the land mrc WmtlessT dotsof cattle and 'nor-, 'nor-, sq.k, Looking down on this scene oft 'prosperous beauty it is as if a mo'd-crn mo'd-crn Fair Aubun liad conic to view, and a modern Goldsmith might render a more immortal verse under is inspiration. in-spiration. It is more than a generation ago that the first settlers entered Star valley, and founded the first ranches. It was the fashion less than twenty years ago for the Utnli business man to own a ranch in Star valley. It is only during the last ten years, however, how-ever, that the new growth of Star valley val-ley has occurred which has converted it into one of the most promising -ag- ricultural sections in western Wyoming. Wyom-ing. Hay is the chief crop of the valley. Timothy grows there as perhaps nowhere no-where else in the west. Luccrn makes two crops, but is not very much in evidence. The farmers have made the mistake of sojvjng timotliy and.hu m corn together, and the timothy has usually crowded out thejucern. The luccrn fields, observed, were mostly in need of vigorous soil treatment. A thorough discing would do wonders for many of the luccrn fields. Other tame grasses arc also grown in considerable con-siderable quantities, but timothy stands out as the predominating crop. As the dairy business grows, it will probabjy be found advisable to grow more luccrn. Owing to the great distance of the Star valley towns from the railroad points, little hay is shipped out. The dairy business has secured a strong foothold in the vicinity of Afton. Upwards Up-wards of $15,000 arc paid out monthly to the pah ons of the creamery, who arc paid 22 cents per pound of butter fat, The butter and cheese find a ready market in Montpclicr, fifty inMos distant, and the- creamery in Afton flourishes in spite of this long haulage. haul-age. The success of the dairy business busi-ness in Star valley should be a lesson les-son to the grumbling towns right on the railroad and in equally good agricultural ag-ricultural sections that claim that they "can't make dairying pay." It may be suggested that any section located so far from a railroad as is Afton and Other Star valley points, should try to offjsct fhjs disadvantage by producing some things unusually desirable and valuable. Since there can be obct- tcr activity than dairying for this val- f " -t ' ley, the farmers should attempt to produce butter- of the very highest qplitf, and to that "end ''send awy sBmc of tiicl young men to'loarn Chfc' w $ " A most modern methods of butter makg ing. Likewise the cheese branch of the business, which must be maintained main-tained in the summer, when the long haul is a handicap to the butter branch, could be improved by beginning begin-ning the manufacture of Swiss and fancy cheeses which command higher high-er prices than the ordinary American cheese. There is no reason why train-loads train-loads of Swiss cheese should be ilrrought from Wisconsin to our western west-ern states, wh'cn splendid districts like Star valley arc giving themselves over to dairying. A few ambitious Star valley boys encouraged by the leading men could learn, in a comparatively com-paratively short time, the processes in the making of fancy cheeses. Don't send for experts; educate your own boys to become experts. Upper Star valley, as far as could bc "-tetvicd- has -3- sWlP& SOT-fcllX , soil. On such land water should be applied rather frequently, but not too much at a time. If heavy irrigations arc applied to such lands, much of the fertility is washed away into the county coun-ty drainage into Snake river. In fact, the greatest danger to the Upper valley val-ley appeared to be the diminution of soil fertility by the injudicious use of irrigation water. The valley is so -extremely well watered that farmers arc likely to become careless in the use of it. The absence of trees in both upper and lower Star valleys was a rather remarkable phenomenon. It is high time to begin a campaign of tree planting in the valleys, both for the improvement to looks and for the comfort of man and 'beast. An almost al-most equally remarkable phenomenon was the presence of large numbers oi the most modern labor-saving fnrm machinery. Especially abundart was haymaking and haystacking machinery. machin-ery. Lower Star yalky, has deeper and apparently more fertile sqils than the up er valley, The climate is mpre temperate, and permits the growing Qf njcat'jr variety of crops. Ex-oellf Ex-oellf nt sti;svDerries were served there in early Aygust, The upper valley was settled first and is th-;cfore more thickly populated. The lower valley is yet in pioneer ranch conditions, but undoubtedly the resources of the lov-cV lov-cV valley arc such as td'nfakc it in - tunc the greater pqduccr. , GopcKiivcstock is 'found through- dut Star vallcyV btuX there is yet much rp be done in stock improvements. 1 Some good purebred horses and cat-tic cat-tic arc found, but they arc in a great minority. Mr. Schwab of Thaync, the representative in the State Lcgis- La-turc, has imported two pure brd C Pcrchcron marcs, and also other pure m bred horses, for the purpose of going M into the breeding of high grade hor- J scs. This certainly could become a 1 profitable lljjanch of f agriculture in w Star valley.- ' ' , Splendid fields of grain were seen m throughout the whole valley. Most of them wene. virtually drenched with K- water. As more people come into lower Star valley, unless water be used more sparingly, the alkali problem, prob-lem, with .all its terrors, will confront ( the people. Already under almost primeval conditions, large areas of 'i fertile land arc vatcrloggcd, and vir-t tttally unproductive. Ten years of in- correct irrigation will mean fifty j years of reclamation. It goes with- I out saying that on the deep soils of the lower valley, with a. deep covering of snow during nearly four months of the year, farming without irrigation will be successful. For the same reason, rea-son, it may be said that less irrigation 1 is necessary thaq in Utah. Fall plow- 1 ing should be adapted throughout the j valley. Fall sown wheat, oats, barley si and rye, should replace the spring J planted crops. These practices add- m cd to the moderate use of water Jl would tend to make grain crops sure The future of- Star valley is secure. $ It has great opportunities for success. Ilomcscekcrs would better familiar- A ha themselves with it. Its present high development is proof of what intelligent, progressive citizenship will do tor a district under comparatively . it unfavorable conditions, As an indi- cation of the temper of the people , who live there, it may be observed f that several representatives of the beet families arc out studying the 5 science of agriculture. They will be 1 worthy successors of the exceptionally exceptional-ly fine people who settled and developed de-veloped Star valley. The history of the development of Star valley represents the bet methods meth-ods and motiyes in the conquest of Western America. Much is yet to be WM WWM WWWW DlWWWiWII I in done in the valley for it is justfbe-Vond justfbe-Vond pioneer conditions, but judging from the past, it will ibe done, 'ah'd done quickly -and well, and in accordance ac-cordance with the directions of modern mod-ern science. n |
