INSULAR EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 21 



failed to mature. Frosts that injured potato tops and other tender 

 veo;etables did not appear to appreciably hurt the cereals. It is 

 gratifying to be able to report the practicability of growing hardy, 

 early maturing varieties of barley, oats, winter wheat, and winter 

 lye in the interior valleys of that Ten-itory. Systematic work is 

 being conducted on cereal breeding at the Rampart station, and by 

 cross-fertilization new varieties of barley and oats have been pro- 

 duced that from their first season's growth appear very promising. 

 This work will be continued to provide varieties of the important 

 cereals that are especially adapted to local conditions. Some addi- 

 tional land was prepared for cultivation at Rampart, so that about 

 25 acres are now available for experimental purposes. 



At the Fairbanks station results similar to those described for the 

 Rampart station were secured. This is very gratifying, as the work 

 there was only recently begun and immediate success was not ex- 

 pected. The work is chiefly that of maintaining a general farm. 

 Sixty-five acres are under plow and some 40 or 50 acres cleared for 

 meadow. The princijDal work during the past year was the growing 

 of oats for feed and grain, the object of the experiments being to 

 determine whether hay and grain can be profitably grown in the 

 interior of Alaska. In order to more efficiently care for the crop a 

 self-binder reaper was added to the equipment of the Fairbanks 

 station during the year. It is believed that this was the first machine 

 of the kind taken to Alaska. An experiment on growing potatoes 

 on a commercial scale was undertaken, 11 acres being planted to that 

 crop. Frost caused considerable injuiy to the plants on the lower 

 flat lands, but the potatoes planted on the slopes suffered but little 

 injury. After providing seed for future planting there remained 

 of the crop over 300 bushels to be sold. Ten acres additional land 

 were cleared and plowed during the summer, and progress was made 

 toward the erection of some much-needed buildings. The superin- 

 tendent of the Fairbanks station devoted some time during the sum- 

 mer to a reconnoissance of the Tanana River Valley with a view to 

 determining roughly the agricultural capabilities of that region 

 preliminary to a detailed regional survey by the Department of the 

 Interior. 



The stock-breeding work is all done at the Kodiak station. The 

 Galloway cattle brought there three years ago are doing well and are 

 proving adapted to the climate and the country. The station suf- 

 fered no material losses in cattle during the past year, and although 

 the snowfall was the heaviest on record, the stock kept in excellent 

 condition throughout the winter on native hay and silage put up 

 on the ranch. The object of this experiment is to test the adapta- 

 bility of these cattle to Alaskan conditions, to develop their milk- 

 ing qualities if possible, in order to make them an all-purpose breed, 



