268 DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS. 



number of foreign publications of all kinds have been received as 

 exchanges. Many duplicates of station and other publications were 

 received, a considerable number of which were distributed to college 

 and station libraries and officers. The number of requests from col- 

 lege and station officers for the loan of books from the Department 

 Library increases from year to year. The service thus rendered by 

 the Department is greatlj^ appreciated by these officers, many of whom 

 do not have access to large libraries, and it is hoped that hereafter 

 such privileges may be further extended. 



Sets of Department and experiment station publications were fur- 

 nished to the Alaska, Hawaii, and Porto Rico stations. In addition 

 to the large number of Department and experiment station publica- 

 tions reviewed by the editorial staff of the Experiment Station Record, 

 1,028 new books on subjects relating to agricultural science and prac- 

 tice and several thousand numbers of i^eriodicals from all parts of the 

 world have been received and examined. 



Experiment Stations in Alaska. 



Agricultural experiment stations were maintained during the fiscal 

 year 1902 at Sitka, Kenai, and Rampart. The experimental work has 

 included the growing of cereals and vegetables, methods of reclama- 

 tion, drainage, and fertilization of land, and the curing and ensiling 

 of forage crops. In all these lines successful results were obtained, 

 and much information which will be of use to persons attempting 

 agriculture in Alaska was acquired. The survey of different portions 

 of Alaska with reference to their agricultural possibilities was con- 

 tinued. The special agent in charge made a journey through a large 

 portion of the Yukon River Valley. A reconnoissance of the Copper 

 River region and portions of the Fortymile country and the Tanana 

 River Valley was made during September, 1901, by Mr. Isaac Jones, 

 who had been the assistant in charge of the station work at Rampart. 

 Mr. Jones estimated that in the region covered by his journey there 

 was some 2,000,000 acres of land suitable for farming and pasture. 

 Grass grew abundantly and luxuriantly in large regions. 



The distribution of seed of hardy varieties of vegetables, cereals, 

 and grasses has been continued and extended, seed for use the pres- 

 ent season having been sent to some 750 addresses. Many reports of 

 trials of seed previously sent have been received, and in this way 

 much useful information has been secured. It is evident that the 

 efforts made by the Department to aid the residents of Alaska in their 

 agricultural work by distributing improved varieties of seeds have 

 produced beneficial results. Not only has this been of advantage to the 

 white population, but the natives also are learning to cultivate gar- 

 dens, and it is reliably reported that there is a large increase in the 

 number of natives who attempt to cultivate small patches of ground. 



The supervision of the voluntary observers of the Weather Bureau 

 in Alaska has, by arrangement of the chief of that Bureau, been con- 

 tinued as in former years. This entails considerable correspondence, 

 but gives valuable data in return. There are now 18 meteorological 

 stations in Alaska supplied with instruments by the Weather Bureau 

 which report monthly to the experiment station at Sitka. 



A detailed report of the operations of the Alaska experiment sta- 

 tions during 1901 was prepared by the special agent in charge and 

 published as a part of the annual report of this Office (House Doc, 

 No. 334, Plfty-seventh Congress, first session). A bulletin, giving 

 directions for the preparation of the soil and the planting of a nam- 



