298 BEPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



the Canadian boundary to Bering Sea is more than 600 miles. It 

 therefore contains twenty times the area covered by this description, 

 and presumably the same ratio also holds good for land which may 

 have value for farming and pasturage. 



There are in this region besides the Copper and Tanana rivers the 

 Sushitna and Kuskokwim, both of which are known to have extensive 

 valleys. Captain Glenn, of the United States Army, explored the 

 Sushitna in 1899, and he reported that the valley was 50 miles wide, 

 and that some of its tributaries had also ver} r broad valleys. 



The Kuskokwim we know comparatively little about beyond the 

 general facts that it drains a region even larger than that drained b} r 

 the Copper and that its valley is in places very broad. These facts, 

 taken together, scarcely admit of a doubt but that there are many 

 very extensive areas of land which may have value for the farmer and 

 grazier in the region south of the Yukon. Nor is it to be doubted that 

 the best land from an agricultural standpoint, and the best climatic 

 conditions which the interior affords, are to be found here. 



The leading characteristics of the strip covered by Mr. Jones's 

 report may be conveniently grouped under three heads, correspond- 

 ing to the three natural divisions outlined by the drainage systems; 

 namely, the Fortymile country, the Tanana Valley, and the Copper 

 River region. And as each has some features which are in a measure 

 peculiar to itself, it may be well to review them briefly. 



THE FORTYMILE COUNTRY. 



The Fortymile River is a considerable stream which empties into 

 the Yukon some 50 miles below Dawson, and almost equally distant 

 from Eagle, the first town in American territory. At its mouth is a 

 small settlement called "Fortymile." From this point trails lead up 

 toward its source, and to many of its tributaries, which are among the 

 first gold-bearing creeks discovered in Alaska. Only a short distance 

 of the lower portion is in British territory. Its entire drainage sys- 

 tem lies in Alaska. Its general course is in a northeasterly direction, 

 though the north and south forks, its two leading tributaries, run 

 almost directly east, and the latter even runs southeast in a portion of 

 its course. 



The Fortymile makes but an inconspicuous stream on the map, but 

 it nevertheless drains a large area, many small creeks radiating from 

 it, not unlike the venation of some leaves. For a distance of about 25 

 miles from Eagle these small tributaries cut up the country into a series 

 of narrow ridges, which can have but little value for agriculture. 

 Their sides are for the most part too steep and rocky to admit of any- 

 thing more than garden patches for cultivation, and they are also quite 

 generally rocky and barren, so as to produce but little pasturage. 



