NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 2289 



berries, and grapes have thus far resulted m failure. 

 The wild salmon berry is widely distributed through- 

 out Alaska, especial!}- in the southeastern part. 

 Crosses liave been made between tliis iind the culti- 

 vated raspberry, but the fruits thus far produced 

 have been of very ordinary character. Strawberries 

 arc grown to some extent and at the Sitka Station 

 hybrids have been made between a cultivated fruit 

 (if unknown origin and the native coast species of 

 Fragaria, with the result that about thirty varieties 

 exceeding the parent jjlants in all desirable qualities 

 have been produced and are being propagated. The 

 |)lants have proved absolutely hardy and the fruit is of 

 large size and good quality. 



More attempts have been made to grow vegetables 

 than fruits, and some definite data have been obtained, 

 showing what varieties are known to be adapted to 

 Aliiskan conditions. Most of the earher data have been 

 .secured from Sitka and Wrangell, in the southeastern 

 part of the country, and from the Holy Cro.ss Mission, 

 near Koserefski, on the lower Yukon. A report from 

 the latter place states that potatoes of fine quality, 

 weighing one and one-foiu-th pounds, and turnijis 

 weighing five and one-half pounds, were gro\ni during 

 the summer of 1898. In adchtion, notes were given of 

 some of the varieties of vegetables adapted to the 

 region, as follows: cabbage — Early Jersey Wakefield, 

 Flat Dutch, and Drumhead; cauliflower — Early Snow- 

 ball, Early Dwarf Erfurt; turnips — Early Flat Dutch, 

 Yellow Cllobe, and Extra Early Milan; rutabagas — 

 Improved American; radish — French Breakfast and 

 Chartier; onions — Extra Early Red and Yellow Dan- 

 vers; lettuce — Golden Heart; peas — American Won- 

 der and Early Ala.ska; beets — Eclipse and Edmand's 

 Blood Turnip; carrot — Oxheart; parsley — Extra Early 

 Double Curled; celery — White Plume, Giant Pascal; 

 rhubarb — Victoria. 



The same varieties, with numerous additions, have 

 succeeded in the coast region as well as at interior 

 points. Snap beans, Challenge Black Wax, and Golden 

 Wax have done fairly well at Sitka, wiiere experiments 

 were begun by the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture in 1898, and the English Windsor is quite in its 

 element. At this place the Pliiladelphia Butter and 

 San Francisco Market lettuce made fine heads of a 

 most superior quality. Parsnips and carrots grow well, 

 and salsify and spinach were .successfully grown at 

 Sitka, in 1898, for perhaps the first time. Peas were 

 found to grow and yield well, and, in addition to the 

 varieties above given, some of the dwarfs and the 

 Norwegian sugar peas continued to jiroduce their crop 

 until cut off by the frost. The blood beets. Extra 

 Blood Turnip and Extra Early Egyptian, grew well at 

 Sitka, but in many places beets are a failure on account 

 of their tendency to run to .seed. This undesirable 

 trait on the part of biennial plants is shared by other 

 vegetables, jirincipally turnips, although cabb.age and 

 cauliflower have been reported as doing likewise. It is 

 lielieved by some growers that the flat type of turnip is 

 more subject to run to seed than the globe type. 

 Celery of exceedingly fine quality is growni at a number 

 of places, although at Kodiak specimens have been 

 seen in which the central axis was greatly liongated. 

 The leafstalks were also lengthened in about the same 

 proportion, and this trait was not considered unde- 

 sirable. 



Potatoes are more extensively grown in .\laska than 

 any other crop, and the quality varies with the variety, 

 locality, season, and culture. Usually little choice is 

 exercised in the matter of varieties, but Eureka, Free- 

 man, Early Ohio, Gold Coin, and Irish Cobbler appear 

 well adapted to the conditions existing in this region. 

 The two last are the best yielding varieties, and very 

 favorabli! reports have been received from tlicm wher- 

 ever tried. Season and method of planting undoubtedly 

 exert a strong influence on the crop. If the soil, which 



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usually contains a high proportion of organic matter 

 and moisture, is well drained or thrown up into beds, 

 as is the custom in many places, good jiotatoes can 

 be grown in the average season. Field trials of potatoes 

 at the Rampart Station in 1911 gave yields at the rate 

 of over 300 bushels an acre for Irish Cobbler, Gold 

 Coin, and Eureka. Sprouting the tubers in flats in 

 the hght for two or tliree weeks before planting has 

 been found advantageous in .securing better quality 

 and maturity of potatoes. In some parts of the country, 

 especially from Cook Inlet westward, the natives until 

 recently cultivated a small round ]5otato, called the 

 Russian, that .seemed to be well suited to the country. 

 It is said to have been brought from Siberia fifty or 

 more years ago. Close planting of potatoes, as well as 

 almost every other vegetable, is too often the rule, and 

 to tliis fact alone may be attributed many failures. 

 The object seems to be to grow a large crop by planting 

 an abundance of seed. The result is a large growth of 

 tops that completely shade the ground, thinning being 

 seldom or never practised, .\long the co.ost, where 

 cloudy weather is the rule, it is safe to say that the 

 sun's rays never strike the ground after the growing 

 season has become well advanced. Under such con- 

 ditions it is not an uncommon sight to see a crop of 

 small potatoes borne in the axils of the leaves above 

 ground, no tubers being formed below the surface. 



Enough is now known of Alaska to warrant the 

 claim that radish, mustard, turnips, kale, and lettuce 

 can be grown anj-where up to the Arctic Circle, and, 

 in favorable localities, even farther north than th.at. 

 Carrots, parsnips, parsley, peas, cress, cabbage, cauli- 

 flower, brussels sprouts, onions, spinach, beets, rhubarb, 

 potatoes, and mint, sage, thyme, and caraway among 

 the herbs, can be grown along the coast and in the 

 interior almost to the Arctic Circle if gardens are 

 selected with reference to soil and exposure to the sun. 

 Asparagus, beans, celery, cucumbers, squash, and 

 salsify can be grown if planted in warm spots .and given 

 proper care and attention. In favored localities, 

 especially about Hot Springs near Fairbanks, sweet 

 corn, melons, tomatoes, eggplants, and other tender 

 plants are successfully grown and on account of their 

 rarity command high prices. 



In general, considerable judgment is .shown in the 

 choice of garden sites. A southwestern slope is always 

 preferred, and, if well drained, the garden is usually a 

 thrifty one. In many places, the earth is thrown up 

 into beds 4 or .5 feet wide and the crojj planted crosswise 

 the beds. Where it can be easily obtained, sand is 

 added to warm and to lighten the soil. Kelp is exten- 

 sively employed as a fertilizer in some places near the 

 coast, but its value wiien added to a soil already largely 

 composed of vegetable debris is questionable. Market- 

 gardens have been successfully maintained for years 

 at Skagway, Dawson, Circle City, P^airb.anks, and 

 other of the great mining centers of the Yukon, and 

 the dirt roof of the miner's cabin is frequentlj- utilized 

 for early gardens, the heat from within suppljing the 

 necessary warmth required for growing early radishes, 

 onions, lettuce, turnips, and the like. 



The abundance of native fruits, especially of berries, 

 has already been mentioned, and an enumeration of 

 .some of them would seem not out of place. Of widest 

 distribution are the salmon berries (Rubus spectabilis), 

 two so-called cranberries {Viburnum paucijlorum and 

 Vacriiiium Vitis-Ithra), currants {Rihcs rubrum, R. 

 bmrk'osutn, and R. laxijlorum), crowberries (Empetrum 

 nUjrum), huckleberries (Vaccinium idiginoftum und its 

 var. mucronatum), blueberries (F. ovalifolium), red 

 huckleberries (V. parmfhrum), the molka or baked- 

 apple berrj- (Rubus Chamxmonis) imjiroperly called 

 salmon berry in the interior, and raspberries (Rubus 

 utrigosits). Of less general distribution, yet very abun- 

 ilant in places, may be mentioned strawberries (Fra- 

 gnria chiloeriftin), dewberries {Riibus stcllatus), thimble 



