'672 KKl'OKT OF OFFICE OF EXPKKIMPINT STATIONS. 



tiKv ilirt. .My lliiwcrs (lid vrry wrll, ami J liavtu'iijoyi'd an aluindanctMif thcin. Of 

 foursi', yi)u will uiidi'i"staiid that my IIowit and vi'>:i'tal)le jiank-ii is on a foiiii)ara- 

 tively ^^lnall nailc; ncvcrtheU'ss tho vejji'UdiU' ganU'ii waw ()uite a help in household 

 affairs, and, l)c'iiig always frcsli, tlu' vfj,'L>(ahk'H were relished. 



ir. JI. Miirrdt, JfaincK. — In the s]iriii;,' tif 1002 I sowed several aeres of jrrain, 

 ehielly oats, hut owing to the almost constant rain after the 1st of July they 

 amounted to nothing, and I saved no hay worth mentioning. My potatijes were 

 good, though not at all remarUalilt'. Last s]iring I had too little eonfidence t<j bow 

 much grain again, but a small amount of wheat, barley, and oats near the stable di<l 

 mature all right. .Such garden seed as 1 I'ould get grew (piite well. The radishe.s, 

 I think, were fully as good a.s any I have ever seen. My i>otixtoe8 were excellent 

 and yielded well. I used a 2-horse mowing machine and harvested a good crop of 

 hay, but not m-arly so nmch as I should have done had T anticipated such a fine 

 season as it proved to be. 



I did, however, make one crop so superior that I will give quite full particulars. 

 From a email patch of ground near my building I mowed off the grass and fed it out 

 to my horses during the month of June. The last day of tlu' month I i)lowed and 

 harrowed about half an acre and, without fertilizing at all, soweil turnip seed broadcast 

 July 1. I was away then for a few weeks, and on my return found they were quite 

 large, and so thick that it was difiicult to step on any i)art of the ground without 

 treading on turnij)s. August oO I took off 25 sacks, what I could conveniently handle 

 at once. Some of them weighed from '^ to '3\ pounds each, and all who tried them 

 pronounced them the finest and best flavored they had ever seen. On September 10 

 I marketed as many more and the same amount on Septem})er 21. During the 

 next few days I harvested enough to bring the total up to 110 sacks, and still it 

 looked like a good crop. During the first days of Octolter I harvested the balance 

 and to my surprise found that the total was 180 sacks, averaging about 75 i)Ounds. 

 Tliere was not a hollow or woody one in the whole lot. I never ate such delicious 

 turnips before, and though I have traveled extensively in nearly every State and 

 Territory, and considerably in Canada, Mexico, and Europe, I have never before seen 

 any such quantity produced with so little labor or on so little ground. They were 

 chiefly the Early PHri)le Top. One small package of the seeds was the Golden Ball, 

 and there was ab(jut the same amount of the Pomeranian White Globe. These three 

 varieties did about equally well. 



H. F. Emmoiis, Porcupine. — Most of the seeds received were successfully grown. 

 The sample of large beans only blossomed, though I i^lanted them in a warm place. 

 The vines grew 4 feet high and blossomed profusely, ))ut did not produce edible 

 pods. Lettuce, radishes, carrots, and onions grew well. The early cabbage went 

 to seed. The asparagus came up all right. The turnips were very good. The 

 white ruta-l)agas ran to small roots. I sent to Bowen's seed house and obtained 

 some yellow ruta-bagas, and they do better here. 



I am more and more impressed with the superiority of hill soil for potatoes. My 

 neighbor, Mr. Clark, had a good yield of potatoes, but they are nearly worthless, 

 being full of water and tasteless. I planted the same kind of seed, as we both 

 obtained 2U0 pounds each of Early Rose from Bowen's seed house, in Seattle, and in 

 the spring my crop raised on Side Hill, slate loam, are mealy, crack open when 

 cooked, and are pronounced the best, while Mr. Clark's go begging, and are per- 

 fectly worthless. I owned a good farm in Berkshire County, Mass., but never raised 

 finer potatoes, turnips, cabbage, and, in fact, all kinds of vegetables, than right here 

 in Alaska. The soil is rich everywhere. An old, gravelly side hill that one would 

 think would not grow anything is the place potatoes grow and thrive. 



ir. P. Benn, Skagvay. — As to my success in agriculture, my soil is a very sandy 

 loam, composed of decomposed granite and river silt and fertilized with stable 

 manure in moderate proportions, and this is my second year's cultivation. Time of 



