354 UKinnrr <»k mffick <»k kxtkhimknt stations. 



STOCK RAISING A SUCCESS. 



Hilt tlicro is IK) (louht in r('j,«-:ir<l to stofk niisino;, Tho station work 

 oxen have now boon k('|)t for live years, winter Jiiul sunnnei", wholly 

 on Mali\ ('-L;i()wn feed — <^ras< in summer and hay oi* sila<^(^ in winter — 

 and they ha\ e been kept in sulliciently j^^ood condition for work. We 

 have also made a start in kee[)ini( cows. 



Cattle have l)eon kept at Kcnai and Ninilchick for many years. The 

 native stock is a diminutive Siberian l)reed, but at Kenai they have 

 been im[)roved by the introduction of American cattle, and the two 

 cows owned by the station at this writin*;- are of average size. That 

 live stock can be grown there has been proved, and I therefore recom- 

 mend that hereafter speiial attention be given to animal industry at 

 this station. If the money is available 1 recommend the building u|) 

 of a small dairy herd and that a dairy eijuipment be provided. This, 

 however, should not be done if it will in any way retard the develop- 

 ment of the stations in the Copper Kiver Valley and at Rampart on 

 the Yukon, for 1 consider that these stations are of more inmiediate 

 importance than the Kenai Station. But provided that these stations 

 do not surt'er, the work of clearing and improving land at Kenai should 

 continue, and a small herd of general-pui-posc cattle should be collected 

 there with a view to inaugurate dairy work when the necessary ecjuip- 

 ment can be provided. Nowhere in Alaska has butter or cheese been 

 manufactured, and it will be an instructive and profitable experiment 

 to ascertain what cattle raised on native feed can produce in this line. 



A CHANGE IN SUPERINTENDENT. 



iMr. H. P. Nielsen, who has been superintendent of this station since 

 the breaking of the first sod in the s|)ring of 181H», has resigned, 

 and ]\lr. P. 11. Ross, a graduate of the Kansas State Agricultural Col- 

 lege, has taken his i)lace. Mr. Nielsen has been an energetic and 

 industrious worker, and most of the hard work of clearing the land 

 has been done by him. lie has erected all of the buildings and laid the 

 foundations of tlie station, from which nuich usefulness in the future 

 may be expected. Mr. Nielsen's report follows herewith: 



REPORT OF H. P. NIELSEN, SUPERINTENDENT OF KENAI 



STATION. 



Kenai, Alaska, Octohej' IJf, 1903. 

 Dear Sir: I herewith submit report on work for the season of 1903. 



CLEAR1^;G OF NEW LAND. 



In addition to work with experimental crops on the 15 acres previ- 

 ously cleared and broken we have cleared of trees, stumps, and brush, 



