STATES RELATIONS SERVICE. 585 



rainfall such as have prevailed here for the past three years. The 

 Hawaii station needs funds for sanitary sewers to connect with those 

 of the city of Honolulu, which has grown up to and is surrounding 

 it on two sides. 



A few changes in personnel took place during the year. The 

 vacancies reported last year have not been filled through a lack of 

 funds to pay adequate salaries. Not one of the stations is fully 

 manned at this time. 



ALASKA STATIONS. 



The climatic conditions in the interior of Alaska during the sum- 

 mer of 1922 were very unfavorable for crop production. An un- 

 precedented rainfall of 5.37 inches at Fairbanks in July, accompanied 

 by an unusual number of cloudy days, retarded normal development 

 of all crops, and frosts during the last week of August destroyed 

 all grain crops in the fields. About 200 acres had been seeded to 

 grain in the Tanana Valley, and after the frost the crops were cut 

 and made excellent hay. At the Fairbanks station some of the grains 

 seeded in small plats matured a portion of their seed. This enabled 

 the station to maintain seed of some of the valuable hybrids with 

 which it was experimenting. Through the Farmers' Cooperative 

 Association about 50 tons of seed grain was secured from the 

 Dakotas for seeding in 1923. Conditions were as unfavorable for 

 grain at the Rampart station as at Fairbanks. 



In the Matanuska Valley conditions were similar to those in the 

 Tanana Valley, but being considerably farther south the frost 

 damage was not so severe and some crops matured in the fi.elds at 

 the station and elsewhere. In the plat trials at the station, sufficient 

 grain matured to insure the continuation of most of the hybrids that 

 were under trial. 



Root crops did better than grains, though the potato crop was 

 lowered in quantity and quality by the unfavorable season at the 

 interior stations. 



Hardy alfalfas and grasses, especially Bromiis inermis, were 

 favored by the heavy rainfall and produced excellent crops, though 

 they matured less seed than usual. Several strains of alfalfa survived 

 the winter at the Matanuska station. Canada field peas made 

 vigorous growth in the Matanuska Valley, but did not mature and 

 were cut for hay. 



The work at the Sitka station was continued along horticultural 

 lines, the climate of southeastern Alaska not being suited to grain 

 farming. Experiments in producing hardy varieties of strawberries 

 by crossing commercial varieties with the hardy native species have 

 progressed to a stage where some of the hybrids are being given 

 wide trial, and although they were produced in the coast region 

 several have proved winter hardy at the stations in the interior of 

 the Territory and elsewhere. Considerable attention is given to the 

 production of new varieties of potatoes through the growing of 

 seedlings. Out of about 200 seedlings some very promising forms 

 have been secured that will be given a wide trial to determine their 

 adaptabilitv to Alaskan conditions. 



The livestock work at Kodiak has been reduced, as the income of 

 the station would not permit its continuance on the previous scale. 



