ALASKA. 



9 



The route would lie at the very foot of Mount Mc- 

 Kinley, would pass through one of the grandest 

 ranges on the North American continent, and in 

 the valley on either side of the divide would afford 

 ever-changing views, equal to those along the 

 most attractive routes in the United States. 

 Many routes have been found into the interior 

 available for pack-trails or wagon roads, but for 

 a railroad none seems to be so desirable as the 

 Sushitna valley." 



Agriculture. With Norway, Scotland, and 

 Ireland to prove the contrary, it often has been 

 asserted that grain and vegetables can not be 

 grown in Alaska. Baranof cleared 15 kitchen 

 gardens in 1805 and ripened barley and potatoes, 

 and common vegetables, as has been done every 

 year since. Fine grasses spring naturally on any 

 clearing; wild timothy and coarser grasses grow 

 three and four feet high, and clover thrives well. 

 Vancouver found the na- 

 tives cultivating potatoes 

 and a kind of tobacco, and 

 each family had its planta- 

 tions in sheltered nooks 

 where they sowed their 

 tubers like grain, and gath- 

 ered them the next winter 

 or spring. There were gar- 

 dens on either side of the 

 stockades at Sitka that 

 provided fresh vegetables, 

 and hothouse frames se- 

 cured the Russians many 

 delicacies. In United States 

 days the residents have 

 successfully raised rad- 

 ishes, lettuce, carrots, on- 

 ions, cauliflower, cabbage, 

 peas, turnips, beets, par- 

 snips, and celery; and sin- 

 fle potatoes have weighed 

 pound 5 ounces. Vege- 

 tables are raised every year 

 at the Yukon missions and 

 trading posts, and the city 

 of Dawson, British Colum- 

 bia, is abundantly supplied 

 with fresh vegetables from 

 its own gardens. Small 

 quantities of hay have been 

 cured in southeastern Alas- 

 ka since 1805, and recent 

 experiments have success- 

 fully demonstrated the 

 value of the native grasses 

 as ensilage. 



It has been shown that 

 the vegetables raised in 

 Alaska are an important 

 factor in maintaining the 

 health of the mining com- 

 munities. With these con- 

 siderations in view the 

 United States Department 

 of Agriculture has estab- 

 lished experiment stations 

 at Sitka (headquarters) 

 and Kenai, on Cook Inlet, 

 and has surveyed and set 

 apart for experimental pur- 

 poses large tracts of land at 

 Fort Yukon and Rampart 



in the Yukon valley The work is carried on 

 in the same manner as in the experiment sta- 

 tions in the States, where it is the usual prac- 

 tise to test the different varieties of plants first 

 on small plots. The experiments so far made 



have consisted largely in growing different va- 

 rieties of cereals, forage plants, ilax, and vege- 

 tables. Experiments in storing ensilage and in 

 making hay from native grasses have been tried 

 with success. Much information regarding agri- 

 cultural conditions in different parts of Alaska 

 has been obtained through circulars of inquiry 

 and the visits of agents to the different localities. 

 Seeds have been distributed, and in many in- 

 stances reports have been received upon the re- 

 sults obtained from them; and the correction of 

 the acidity of new land with lime has been suc- 

 cessfully accomplished. Sufficient evidence has 

 been obtained to show definitely that a consider- 

 able variety of vegetables can be successfully 

 grown in different parts of Alaska. It has also 

 been shown that in southeastern Alaska and in 

 Cook Inlet oats, barley, buckwheat, and spring 

 wheat will mature with careful culture; and that 



CUTTING GRADE FOB RAILROAD IN THE WHITE PASS. 



the failure of former attempts to grow crops has 

 been due to the natural acidity of the soil and im- 

 proper drainage. When these difficulties have 

 been removed by proper treatment the land is fer- 

 tile and productive. Of the practical conclusions- 



