OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 203 



At Circle we took a boat for Fort Yukon. There being vast stretches of level 

 land in this region, I made a reservation of 106 acres for an experiment station. 

 This occupied us some days, and while waiting for a boat we broke up a small 

 piece of sod with a view to having it in readiness for seeding this year, should we 

 find it practicable to begin experimental work there. 



Continuing down the river, we examined the conditions wherever the boat 

 stopped. At Rampart the conditions seemed favorable for an agricultural experi- 

 ment station. A tract of land on the north side of the river, directly opposite the 

 town of Rampart, seemed well adapted to the purpose. It was more or less densely 

 covered with spruce forest, but some clearings had been made by wood choppers, 

 and it was thought that by judicious handling of fire a portion of the tract could 

 be cleared and put under culture without incurring too great expense. I there- 

 fore made a reservation at this place, having a mile frontage on the river and run- 

 ning back half a mile. Some cabins which had been built by Indians and others 

 near the river bank were cut out by offsets, so the reservation proper comprises 

 about 313 acres. When this work was completed we again dropped down the 

 river as far as Weare, some 80 miles below Rampart. At this point we had an 

 opportunity to examine the Tanana country by taking advantage of the opportu- 

 nity afforded to go up the river in a little" Government boat belonging to Fort 

 Gibbon. There appeared to be much available farming land in this region, but, as 

 was the case on the Yukon, the best land was rather heavily timbered, chiefly with 

 spruce and also with birch and balsam poplar. We ascended the Tanana for about 

 100 miles, but I made no reservation in this region. 



On returning to Weare, Mr. Jones went up to Rampart and began work on the 

 reservation made there. I continued down the river to St. Michael, stopping at 

 the usual landing places. 



The most successful gardening which came to my notice on the trip was at Holy 

 Cross Mission, some 350 miles from the mouth of the Yukon. At this mission 

 there is about 4 acres under culture, and the missionaries are very successful in 

 growing potatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, turnips, carrots, parsnips, lettuce, radishes, 

 and, in fact, the entire list of hardy vegetables. I was there on the 7th of August, 

 but little over two months after the gardens were planted, and they had fine 

 cabbage and vegetables of many kinds. 



The superintendent of the mission, Father R. J. Crimont, agreed to undertake 

 some experiments in gram growing during the present year. Seed grain was 

 accordingly furnished him and the general plan of experiment agreed upon. I 

 also provided him with a set of soil thermometers, and he promised to keep a 

 record of the soil temperature at that place during the present season. 



At St. Michael General Randall, commanding the Department of Alaska, kindly 

 provided me with transportation on the transport Lawton to Seattle. The Lawton 

 was at Nome discharging freight, and I had to go over there to catch her. 



At Dutch Harbor and Unalaska I saw fine gardens and an abundance of culti- 

 vated flowers, and quite a number of cattle, sheep, hogs, and poultry, indicating 

 that stock raising and gardening could be carriecl on in that region with marked 

 success. There is an abundance of pasture on the Alaska Peninsula and adjoining 

 islands, grass having taken the place of spruce forest so universal in southeast 

 Alaska. 



During the present summer Professor Georgeson has gone again 

 into the interior, and under date of August 15, 1901, reports that 

 while at the Holy Cross Mission, on the Yukon River, during the 

 second week in August, the mission was supplied from its own garden 

 with new potatoes, cauliflower, cabbage, and other vegetables, and 

 that on the station reservation at Rampart ' ' rye seeded last fall 

 wintered perfectly, and it was ripe early this month. Barley, spring 

 seeded of course, is now ripe enough to grow. Oats and spring wheat 

 are somewhat later, but they are filling out and may ripen. Mr. Jones 

 also planted a long list of vegetables, but they have been nearly 

 totally destroyed by rabbits, and what is left of the lot have not 

 grown well in the new soil, again confirming our oft-repeated experi- 

 ence that it requires some two or three years to get new soil in proper 

 tilth for vegetables. Mr. Jones has agreed to go out over the trail 

 from Eagle to Valdez, and we shall thus have an authentic descrip- 

 tion of that interior country." 



Mr. Jones is unwilling to remain longer in the Department service; 



