266 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



and frequently also with cabbage, cauliflower, beets, and turnips. 

 What it is possible to do there would also be possible anywhere else 

 on the lower Yukon. In the garden of the Sisters of St. Ann were 

 also a great variety of flowers of the class known as hardy annuals. 

 I found upwards of thirty varieties in bloom in the early part of 

 August. The success of these gardens is, of course, largely due to 

 the great care that is bestowed upon them. Thus there has been 

 introduced a system of irrigation which is found of great service 

 during periods of dry weather. A stream coming down from the 

 hills has been dammed, a flume built, and sluices put in, so that it is 

 possible to irrigate a considerable area of the cultivated ground. 

 Hardly a weed could be found in the garden, and the tillage was well 

 nigh perfect. One of the potato fields of the mission is reproduced 

 in PI. XIII, fig. 1, and shows a general view of the mission build- 

 ings. I have referred to the work at this mission in former reports. 

 It may well be taken as a model in gardening. 



In the summer of 1900 I entered into an agreement with Rev. Father 

 R. J. Crimont, whereby he agreed to grow some wheat, barley, oats, 

 buckwheat, and clovers during the past summer in an experimental 

 way, and it was chiefly to note the outlook of these crops that I visited 

 the mission. Owing to a rather injudicious selection of ground, the 

 experiments were not a success. The ground was very wet naturally, 

 and, therefore, cold, and could not be worked until late in the spring. 

 Moreover, when the snow melted on the mountains in the latter part 

 of Ma} r , it flooded this ground and made it all the worse. It was, 

 therefore, not in good condition when the grain was seeded, on June 4. 

 The growth was rapid in some places and slow in others, owing to the 

 condition of the soil, and because of the wet ground the growth was 

 prolonged more than it would have been on drier soil. When I was 

 there in early August, the barley and oats had lodged in several 

 places, grain was formed, but there was but little prospect of its 

 maturing. A report on the experiment by Mr. V. O'Hare is submit- 

 ted herewith: 



Holy Cross Mission, 

 Koserefsky P. 0., Alaska, September 4, 1901. 



Dear Sir: I have the honor to report to you on the result of the grain-growing 

 experiments instituted by you at this mission with R. J. Crimont. 



Although the grains did not mature this summer, the result of the trial has shown 

 that grain growing need not be entirely despaired of in this part of Alaska. 



All chances seemed to combine against it this particular summer. The season was 

 unusually short from June 4, when the seed was put in, until August 31, when a 

 frost destroyed the potato tops. The seed was sown too thick, and during the second 

 half of the season, just when the grain needed heat, the weather was uncompromis- 

 ingly w r et and cold. 



In our more favorable seasons, provided the seeds were sown in good ground, the 

 grain would probably mature. These favorable seasons occur every two or three 



