15 



sold a cow iuul a calf, loaviiif; cloven to be wintered. Part of the milk 

 has been sold and i)art made into l)iitter, which fonnd a ready sale 

 at from :)•"> to 10 cents a pound. A daiiv e(|iii])ment suitctl for about 

 twelvi' cows has been ])urchased and sent to this station, and the numu 

 factnre of butter and cIuh'sc will hereafter be the main feature of the 

 work there, aside fi'om tlif i:rowin<x of feed and expenments with 

 forage plants. 



RESERVATION AT FAIRBANKS. 



The people of P'airbanks i)etitionod the Secretary of Agricnlture 

 last winter for the establishment of an agricultural experiment sta- 

 tion at some suital)le point in the Tanana River \'alK'y. As a 

 result, the special agent in charge was instructed to examine the 

 Tanana \'alley and, if a suitable location was found, to make a 

 reservation for possible future use as an experiment station. l*ui"- 

 suant to these instructions the writer left Sitka on July U and went 

 down ihe Yukon by way of Skagway and AA'hitehorse, arriving at 

 the Kampart P^xperiment Station on the evening of July 17. Two 

 days were spent at this station. Sii|)erintendent Kader, with one 

 hired man, was hard at work clearing land. The cro])s on the 

 cultivated ground looked well, but they appeared to be rather late. 

 This was due to cold, wet weather in the spring and early sum- 

 mer. Plans were perfected for the building of a small house for the 

 use of the station, and Mr. Kader and the writer left Rampart July 

 19 and arrived at Raker, SO miles from Tanana. July :i;l After 

 examining the region about the Baker Creek Hot Springs (con- 

 cerning which a statement will be made elsewhere in this report), 

 they returned to the river and arrived at Fairbanks July 28. Three 

 days were spent in exploring the country in various directions from 

 Fairbanks, with a view to finding a suitable location for the purpose 

 of an experiment station. The best situation Avas found to be a tract 

 of land which lies nearly midway between Fairbanks and Chena, and 

 which adjoins the Tanana Mines Railway, now completed between 

 these two towns, with a main line running to the mines. Accord- 

 ingly, a survey was made of this tract, field notes and map of which 

 are submitted herewith. On the return trip the station at Rampart 

 was again visited while the boat remained in port, and it was noted 

 that the crops had made good progress during the preceding three 

 weeks. 



Referring to the map submitted herewith (fig. 1) it will be seen 

 the tract selected lies in the angle formed by the Fairbanks branch 

 of the Tanana Mines Railway and the main line of this road, which 

 forms a junction with the line from Chena to Fairbanks, nearly 

 midway between the two towns, and runs out to the gold diggings 

 30420— No. 169—06 m 2 



