12 



inatnre as completely as could be desired. The following varieties 

 matured in part : Kharkov winter wheat and Ladoga spring wheat ; 

 Excelsior winter rye; Champion, Lapland, and Manshury barleys, 

 and, to a less extent. Chevalier, Odessa, Black Hulless, Hanna, and 

 Primus barleys. The following varieties of oats matured in part: 

 Finnish Black, Banner, Kussian Xo. 2800, Tartar King, Sixty-Day, 

 the Improved Ligowo, and Burt Extra Early. 



Attempts are being made to develop varieties which wall mature 

 by the middle of August, and there is scarcely any doubt but that we 

 shall succeed in this. The earliest maturing heads will be selected 

 and saved for seed, and this selection will be continued year by year 

 until the result sought is obtained. 



It is a rather remarkable fact that killing frost did not occur at 

 the Eampart Station in the Yukon Valley, S^ degrees farther north 

 than the Copper Center Station, until September. AAliile there were 

 six light frosts at Rampart in the latter part of August none of these 

 injured the grain seriously, and the crops therefore matured. For 

 some reason, as yet unexplained, the Copper River Valley appears to 

 have killing frosts earlier than the Yukon Valley. 



Rapid-growing vegetables did fairly well. Peas were especially 

 successful, and the varieties known as "Alaska " and " Prolific Early 

 Market " matured seed before the killing frost of August 14. Tur- 

 nips and ruta-bagas succeeded nearly everywhere. The Broad 

 AVindsor bean, it is Avorthy of notice, produced edible pods, but it 

 failed to mature seed before the frost. All the clovers were winter- 

 killed. There is therefore but little hope that the perennial clovers 

 can be grown as ingredients of the pastures. 



In the interior grain hay will always be an important crop. In 

 this connection attention is called to the fact that rye gave a better 

 yield than oats or other grain. 



IRRICATION MAY BE NECESSARY, 



One point whicli has developed since work began in the Copper 

 River Valley is that the rainfall there is very light, and it is feared 

 it will be insufficient for the normal development of grain crops, at 

 least in some seasons. The rainfall from October 1, 1904, to Sep- 

 tember 13, 1905, at the Copper Center Experiment Station, was but 

 9.8 inches. Of this only 3.05 inches fell during the months of Ma}'^, 

 June. July, and August. The remainder represents mostly snow, 

 which fell during the winter. This looks as though irrigation would 

 be necessary to insure normal development of crops. Owing to the 

 drought in the early part of the summer, much of the grain was too 

 short to cut. 



