A man in Beach, in the Golden Valley of Montana {sp}, cleared a profit of over $30,000 for his season's planting in flax. His crop was 30,000 bushels, which he sold at an average of $1.50 a bushel, making a gross return of $45,000. Out of that came $11,000 for breaking, sowing, harvesting, thrashing {sp}, and hauling to market. The man started in with a $10,000 outfit of gasoline engines, gang plows, 12-foot sod crushers, 12-foot disk drills, binders, wagons, and separator.

He broke in 3,000 acres in the first year of his flax experiment. The flax yielded sixteen bushels to the acre, so the gross return was $24 an acre. This coming season he plans for 5,000 acres of flax.

In his experiment he took less chance than the average real estate investor in the Eastern States, and far less than an "outsider" in a stock deal.

Collier's, 4/16/1910

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The story of J. R. Smith and his prodigious flax crop is still going the rounds, the latest publication to give it space being Collier's Weekly of April 16. Of course, Beach and the famous Golden Valley come in for a fair share of the advertising, which is the kind not to be despised by any region on earth. Mr. Smith and his accomplishment is probably as well and favorably known as the late Wm. Jennings Bryan.

Golden Valley Chronicle, 4/22/1910