17 



to the south, sonthonst, nnd oast, of excellent soil timbered chiefly 

 with spruce and birch. Throujjh the center of the tract from east 

 to west the ground is somewhat low. and there are two lakes, one 

 named Smiths Lake, about 25 acres in extent, and the other, which is 

 unnamed, about '5 acres in extent. Immediately surrounding these 

 lakes is some low-, swampy ground, but the waste ground of this 

 nature, and including the lakes, will not exceed 100 acres, all told. 

 The rest of the tract is comparatively level. It has been covered with 

 small timber, but this timber has been destroyed by a fire, which 

 apparently occurred some years ago, and only the dead, charred 

 tnmks now remain to tell of the former forest. ^lore than half of 

 these dead trunks have been overturned by the wind and lie scattered 

 in all directions. This timber is small, from 5 to 8 inches in diameter 

 in most cases, though there are st)me larger trunks. The ground is 

 covered with a scattered growth of low bushes, very prominent among 

 which is the black huckleberry. There are also scattered patches of 

 grass, but there is no general or dense luxuriant growth of grass, unless 

 the sedges on the swampy land and around the lakes be so considered. 

 The writer saw moose tracks in several places, but squirrels were the 

 only wild animals encountei'ed in the woods. A road, which leads 

 from Chena to the mines, runs through the tract, as indicated on the 

 map, and there is also another trail running from near station No. 1, 

 on the southwestern corner, to Smiths Lake and beyond. The shaded 

 hillsides are covered with green timber, the rest of the tract with 

 dead timber and bushes, as stated. The writer considers it an 

 admirable tract of land for an experiment station, and being located 

 on the railway, there wdll not be the trouble in the transportation of 

 supplies and equipment that was experienced at the Copper Center 

 Station. The top soil everywhere consists of a thin layer of muck, 

 which grows thicker, reaching a foot or more in depth on the lower 

 ground. Below^ this is a yellow, rather sandy loam. Portions of 

 the tract can be cleared and broken at slight expense. 



The Tanana Valley is undoubtedly well adapted to agriculture as 

 we now understand the term in connection with Alaska (PI. I, fig. 1). 

 The valley is wholly distinct from that of the Yukon, being separated 

 from it by high mountains. According to the reports of settlers and 

 prospectors who have lived in this valley for longer or shorter periods, 

 the climate is milder here than in the Yukon or in the Copper River 

 valleys, and all agree that the spring is at least three weeks earlier 

 in the Tanana Valley than it is in the Yukon Valley. Eighty-two 

 homesteads have been taken up and recorded in the Fairbanks record- 

 ing district. The proximity of the mines and the wide extent and 

 apparently rich gold deposits make it certain that there Avill be a 

 large population in this valley for many years to come, and as this 

 population will need grain, forage, and vegetables for its support and 



