MINOE FUR INDUSTRIES. 101 



which rises between the Kuskokwim and the Novi drainage systems. 

 The stream until the junction with the McEanley Fork is clear and 

 very sluggish and winding. The McKinley Foik is a swift glacier 

 stream carrying much mud in suspension, and from this point on the 

 Kuskokwim is muddy. With the union of the East and South Forks 

 the river becomes of large size and moves with increasing velocity 

 toward the sea. Many small lakes occur in the broad valley of the 

 river and these are especially abundant on the upper part of the 

 river. No hills of any size are touched by the river till the neigh- 

 borhood of Georgetown is reached. The valley is forested with the 

 same forest typical of the Yukon Valley — that is, black spruce 

 forest with white spruce and birch along streams and on favorable 

 hillsides. Below Akiak the valley spreads out to join with the 

 Yukon in forming the Kuskokwim- Yukon delta. 



The region along the Yukon and Kuskokwim Rivers and their 

 tributaries is m general rather heavily forested. The larger un- 

 forested areas are the tundra along Bering Sea and the portions of 

 the hills above timber line in the interior. Along the rivers there is 

 commonly a mixed forest of white spruce, white birch cottonwood, 

 alder, and willow. This forest forms a narrow strip along the rivers 

 and small streams, and often extends for a considerable distance up 

 the ravines. On favorable south slopes it may extend over the 

 lower hiUs, even up to timber line. 



The vast forests which cover the low hills and the greater part of 

 the valleys of the interior are composed mainly of black spruce. The 

 trees are mostly a stunted form growing from 6 to 20 feet high and 

 with trunks from 1 to 4 inches in diameter. The forest is not, as a 

 rule, very dense, so that a person can easily walk between the trees. 

 The ground is usually heavUy covered with moss, and shrubs of vari- 

 ous kinds grow in the available space. These shrubs are principally 

 Labrador tea, dwarf birch and wiUow, raspberries, blueberries, and 

 currants. A species of larch recently described as new, under the 

 name Larix alaskensis Wight, occurs frequently and seems to grow 

 between the black spruce and stream forest or mixed in the black 

 spruce forest m damp situations. It does not flourish, nowever, 

 and appears to be soon crowded out by the spruce. The trunk reaches 

 a maximum diameter of 10 inches at 2 feet above the ground. In 

 favorable situations the black spruce may reach a diameter of 12 

 inches, while white spruce are often found with a diameter of 24 

 inches. 



On the Big Chena and upper Tanana there were formerly a great 

 many large white spruce, but on the former especially they have 

 been much cut for sawmiUs. 



The hills above timber line are covered, except in very rocky 

 situations, with moss, grass, and low shrubs. Moss in which is 



