ALASKA EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 299 



Having passed this region we come to the first considerable tract which 

 may be of value for the farmer. 



This is an extensive gentle slope facing toward the southwest, and 

 which Mr. Jones estimates contains not less than 30 square miles. 

 That amount of good land is in sight, but how much more there is 

 must for the present remain a matter of conjecture. As far as examined 

 the soil was found to be a sandy loam; that is, what is usually classed 

 as a " warm" soil, and the kind one would require for the rapid growth 

 of crops; and much of it is covered with a heav}^ growth of native 

 grass, which is in itself proof that the ground is productive. Nor is 

 timber wanted to supply the needs of the settler. 



Liberty Creek, which drains this slope, runs in a southeasterly direc- 

 tion, and flows into O'Brien Creek, which in turn empties into the 

 Fortymile. It carries considerable water. When Mr. Jones passed 

 the stream was about 30 feet wide, and would average a foot in depth, 

 and the creeks were not swollen at the time. 



About 10 miles farther on the base of "The Dome" is reached, the 

 trail passing to its left. From this landmark for a distance of 23 miles, 

 until the trail crosses the Fortymile at the mouth of Steele Creek, is 

 a region of rolling country, with low, round-topped hills. The whole 

 region would afford much pasturage. Grass was found everywhere 

 interspersed with wooded slopes, and here and there tracts from which 

 farms could be carved. Here, then, is a tract approximating 700 square 

 miles, or, in round numbers, 450,000 acres, which would have consider- 

 able value as a range for live stock during the summer months. How 

 much larger the area may be can not be stated at present, as we can 

 speak with certainty only of that portion which was in sight, and 

 which averages about 15 miles on each side of the trail. 



Steele Creek enters the Fortymile from the south at this place. 

 The latter stream, running due east and west, is for a portion, at least, 

 the boundary of the range country just described. 



For the next 22 miles, from the mouth of Steele Creek to Franklin 

 Gulch, the country is more rugged and broken, and has for the most 

 part very little value for either the farmer or the grazier. 



It was at the mouth of Steele Creek that Mr. Jones saw, on the 12th 

 of September, what he describes as a small patch of very good oats. 

 It stood 3 feet 6 inches high, and had good heads of fully matured 

 grain. This little patch of ripe oats speaks volumes for the possibil- 

 ities of the country. The seed was sown in June, he was informed, 

 and it had therefore grown to full maturity in a hundred days or less. 

 These oats were doubtless such as are brought into the country chiefly 

 from California and Oregon for horse feed. The chances are, there- 

 fore, that it was not an early variety, but such as is commonly grown 

 in California. If common oats will mature there, it is certain that 



