602 EXPERIMENT STATION' RECORD. [Vol. 38 



These stations and their environment, therefore, present many 

 unusual features, which with the character of their special problems 

 and the relatively pioneer conditions under which they are operat- 

 ing, lend special interest to them and to their success in developing 

 and improving the agriculture of these outlying possessions. 



The primary purpose of the stations in Alaska has been to work 

 out the possibilities for agriculture in that northern region, and to 

 develop types of farming suited to the country. The first station 

 was located at Sitka, then the capital of the Territory, which has 

 remained the headquarters of the agricultural work; but climatic, 

 soil, and other features differ so widely in Alaska that it was 

 planned from the first to locate branches in various other sections 

 typical of conditions or the prospective opportunity for agricultural 

 development. This plan has been followed, and there are now in 

 operation additional stations at Kampart and Fairbanks in the 

 interior some 400 miles back from the coast, on the Island of Kodiak 

 near the entrance to Cook Inlet, and at Matanuska on the line of 

 the Government railroad which is being constructed into the interior. 



Plant breeding and the introduction and testing of varieties have 

 occupied a large amount of attention in the Alaska work, and some 

 very successful results have been secured through the introduction of 

 economic plants from other countries of high latitude or elevation. 

 Varieties of oats, barley, rye, and spring wheat have been secured 

 from other countries that ripen during the average season, and the 

 necessary period of growth has been reduced through selection and 

 the development of hybrids. Varieties of barley have been produced 

 that breed fairly true to type and that ripen from ten days to two 

 weeks earlier than the parent plants. At the Sitka station, hybrid 

 strawberries of excellent quality have been developed which have 

 proved hardy not only for the coast region but also in the interior 

 valleys. Much attention has naturally been given to vegetable 

 growing, with such success that it has become widespread and the 

 local needs for a wide range of vegetable foods are now being met. 

 The stations have also introduced and established hardy alfalfas for 

 the great interior valleys, and have added other valuable forage crops 

 to the indigenous species. 



For about ten years experiments with sheep and cattle have been in 

 progress on Kodiak Island, and except for the interruption in 1912, 

 due to the eruption of Mt. Katmai, sheep and Galloway cattle have 

 been maintained almost wholly on locally produced forage and pas- 

 ture. The Galloways have proved perfectly hard3\ but as there is 

 a demand for milch cows an attempt was begun in 1917 to produce a 

 dual-purpose animal by making reciprocal crosses between the Gallo- 

 way and the Holstein breeds. 



