368 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 192 8 



criticism, not invariably by men who know the Arctic. It may be 

 well to examine his arguments in some detail, since this matter 

 touches the future of the Arctic and its possible contribution to the 

 material welfare of man. 



Experiments in reindeer breeding in Alaska were begun in 1891 

 with the introduction of a small herd of 16 deer from Siberia. Next 

 year 167 more were introduced. This was an attempt by the United 

 States Government to give a new means of livelihood to the Alaskan 

 Eskimo, who were in dire straits because game was exhausted. The 

 experiment was entirely successful. The herds have been doubling 

 themselves every three years, and the 1,280 deer introduced before 

 1902 have now increased to about 500,000. The United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture calculate that the grazing grounds of 

 Alaska can support over 3,000,000 reindeer at a low estimate. At 

 present the deer are a small variety, but it is hoped to increase their 

 size by interbreeding with wild caribou. This, however, must be 

 done carefully lest the herds become unmanageable. 



There can be no doubt of the success of the experiment in Alaska, 

 and the forecast of an Alaskan production for the market, in less 

 than 20 years, of over a million carcasses of reindeer a year is prob- 

 ably no exaggeration. This is the equivalent of nearly 3,000,000 

 sheep, and so would be no small accession to the meat resources of 

 the United States. 



It has been suggested that the Alaskan success shows what can 

 be done in Arctic Canada, the barren lands and islands, and possibly 

 also in parts of Greenland. Undoubtedly there are wide grazing 

 grounds that are now practically unoccupied, but it is easy to ex- 

 aggerate their potentiality. Estimates of productivity based on 

 the number of species of plants here and there or per square yard 

 have little value. Many of the plants are of no use to grazing ani- 

 mals and others are rare. It must never be forgotten that most 

 Arctic plants grow slowly and have poor means of reproduction, so 

 that Arctic prairies can easily suffer from overgrazing. One rea- 

 son for the wandering of the caribou and musk ox is their liability 

 to exhaust any but the richest grazing grounds to such an extent 

 that a year or two, or even more, are required for their recovery. 



Siberian reindeer in a wild state commonly migrate southward 

 to the forest edge in winter, and even on the rich pastures of Lap- 

 land nomadism is essential. The Lapps know well that the sites of 

 the winter villages must be frequently changed in order to insure 

 enough lichen for the herds. Intensive pasturage on confined areas 

 is impossible. 



Six years ago the Hudson's Bay Co. acquired from the Canadian 

 Government a lease of 100,000 square miles of tundra in southern 

 BafSn Island and imported 500 reindeer from Norway to Amadjuak 



