ALASKA EXPEKIMENT STATIONS. 319 



William Sound gardcnini^ and berry throwing are undoubtedly the 

 industries best suited to the conditions. Grain can be matured in all 

 of this section, ))ut there are three drawbacks to its culture: In the 

 first place the amount of land suited to grain growing on a scale com- 

 mensurable with the ideas of American farmers is too limited. Except 

 in a few places, farms of moderately level land l)et\veen 5() and l(»(» 

 acres in extent arc hard to find. In the second place much of this land 

 is overgrown with spruce and it would be too expensive to clear it for 

 ordinary farm purposes. In the third place the excessive rainfall in 

 the early autunm renders it difiicult to secure grain crops in good 

 condition except now and then when the rains hold ort' later than usual. 



In the coast region west of Prince William Sound there is but little 

 or no timber; instead the countiy is covered with a wealth of grass, 

 which affords natural pasturage for live stock. The rainfall is rather 

 less than in the wooded districts; ha}' making is possible, and, of course, 

 winter forage can always be preserved in silos. Grain can be grown 

 successfully there some years, in others not. At Wood Island, for 

 instance, grain was not a success the present A^ear, although it usually 

 matures well and can be saved in good condition; an}- amount of forage 

 can be produced. In short, the western coast region, including the 

 Kenai Peninsula, is preeminently a stock country. 



The vast interior of Alaska will be the farming country in the sense 

 that it is adapted to mixed husbandry. The samples of grain which 

 have been produced at the Kampart Station in about latitude OS*^ 30' N., 

 for the past two 3'ears, and the samples obtained from this our first 

 year's work in the Copper River Valley, leave little doul)t that grain 

 can be grown in these two widely separated regions, and, by inference, 

 elsewhere in the interior. Attention is called to the photographs of 

 grains from these two regions given under their respective headings. 



Such being the fact, what is the outlook for farming in Alaska and 

 what are the chances of success for those who come here to take up 

 homesteads? The primar}' notion of a farm is that it is a factory of 

 food supplies; first, for those engaged in the work, and the surplus for 

 those engaged in other lines of industry. INIeasured b}- this standard, 

 the conditions in all sections of Alaska south of the Yukon arc such 

 that a good living can be made in one or the other lines of work usu- 

 ally classified as farming. That is, the products of the soil and animal 

 industry will provide an abundant livelihood for all intelligent workers. 



The lumierous mining camps and the growing cities afiord most 

 desirable markets for the surplus al>ove family needs. For confirma- 

 tion of this I refer to the data published in letters from settlers. Of 

 coui'se markets are not always easily accessible, and a probable market 

 should always b(> had in mind in selecting a homestead, licef, mutton, 

 dairy products, chickens, eggs, and uai'den ])r()(luce will find a ready 

 market in every settlement and mining camp at prices that leave a 

 large margin of profit under proper management. 



