190 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



It is not expected that field operations will be conducted on an 

 extensive scale at Sitka. A few acres only of the experiment station 

 reservation here will he cleared for plat experiments. Other portions 

 of this land will be used for experiments in different methods of 

 removing the stumps of trees and moss, a matter which is obviously 

 of great relative importance to the development of agi'iculture in this 

 region, and experiments in drainage and the imi^rovement of the soil 

 by culture, the use of lime, etc., and larger field operations may be 

 proi^erly carried on in the region for which the station at Kenai is 

 Intended to be a center of investigations. There also will be efforts 

 made to develop the growing of live stock. 



It is hoped that much maj^ be accomplished b}" cooperation with 

 individuals and organizations working in the Territory for benevolent 

 or commercial purposes. For a considerable period our operations 

 will largely ijartake of the natiire of an agricultural survey to deter- 

 mine wliere agricultural operations may best be carried on by incom- 

 ing settlers. By active work along the lines already marked out, it 

 is believed that the experiment station in Alaska will prove an efficient 

 aid in the development of the Territory, and will thus justify the 

 expenditures for its maintenance. Considering the fact that the 

 mining and other industries of Alaska are already producing millions 

 of dollars annually, it seems as if the National Government might 

 very properly expend a reasonable sum in aiding the establishment 

 of agriculture for the sake of the greater permanence and more 

 satisfactory development of these largely productive industries. 



That Alaska will ultimately have a considerable permanent popula- 

 tion there can be but little doubt. As we have shown in previous 

 reports, Finland is the country which, on the whole, furnishes the 

 best basis of comparison with Alaska as regards natural conditions. 

 Finland supports a population of two and one-half millions, and its 

 agriculture has reached a high state of development. In 1895 there 

 were produced in Fiiiland 38,174,083 bushels of barley, oats, and rye, 

 of which 1,390,200 bushels of oats were exported. At the same time 

 there were 300,650 horses, 2,398,183 cattle, 1,067,384 sheep, and 197,356 

 hogs. During the jjeriod from 1891-1895 there were annual exporta- 

 tions of about 22,750,000 pounds of butter, 400,000 pounds of cheese, 

 and 400,000 gallons of milk, or a value of $6,750,000 from dairy products 

 alone. Very conservative estimates of the agricultural possibilities of 

 Alaska indicate that agriculture may be regularly and successfully 

 carried on over an area fully as large as that of Finland. 



In the development of the experiment stations in Alaska account 

 must always be taken of the vast area of the Territory and the diffi- 

 culties and exj^ense of transportation under present conditions. The 

 cost of living and of all materials used in the work of the stations is 

 abnormally high. It is absolutely essential to the success of our work 

 that the headquarters building at Sitka should be completed and that 

 the modest structures required for the housing of our employees and 

 live stock at Sitka, Kenai, and wherever headquarters are established 

 in the interior, should be erected without dela3^ When we are once 

 well established at these three points we can develop definite investi- 

 gations in different parts of the Territorj^ as rapidly as the means put 

 at our disposal will permit. It must not be expected, however, that 

 an3'thing more than simiile cooperative experiments can be under- 

 taken in many places unless the annual income of the stations is 

 much greater than at present. These stations do not have the back- 

 ing of educational institutions or a large population interested in 



