300 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



barley will also do so. And it is almost certain that spring wheat and 

 spring rye can be grown there with equal success. In other words, 

 these oats practically proclaim that it is possible to grow all the com- 

 mon hardy grains in that region, at least in the valleys and on the 

 southerly slopes of the hills. The Fortymile at the mouth of Steele 

 Greek is a respectable stream, even when not swollen by freshets. It 

 is about 260 feet wide, and very swift. 



From this point to Franklin Gulch, a distance of 22 miles, as already 

 noted, and for 10 miles the other side of Franklin Gulch, the trail 

 runs through a rugged and almost worthless region from the stand- 

 point of the farmer. Franklin Gulch has no valley land, but about 10 

 miles from the creek to the southward the northern boundary of 

 an extensive region which may prove to be some of the best country 

 in the interior is reached. This tract comprises the " Ketchumstock 

 Flats," which Mr. Jones describes quite fully. He estimates that 

 there are 750,000 acres, half of which could be brought under culture 

 with ease. In reality the area of good range country is much greater. 



Beginning about 10 miles south of Franklin Gulch, or about 90 

 miles from Eagle, the trail runs through this rolling, grassy country 

 for 60 miles, or to within 20 miles of the Tanana River. It is in large 

 measure a rolling country with gradual slopes. Much of it is wet, 

 owing to an impervious subsoil; but it is a good grazing countr} r , and 

 "the timber is of good size and of dense growth." In the center of 

 this area is a grass-covered level plain about 8 miles across and 

 increasing in width upstream. A portion of it is what the prospector 

 calls " nigger-head land." These nigger-heads are bunches of sedges 

 which grow in wet places, usually where seepage water from higher 

 ground comes to the surface. The bunches or heads usually stand 

 from a foot to a yard or more apart, and in the course of years each 

 becomes a compact mass of roots which gradually rises from the sur- 

 face to the height of a foot or more, and it may measure as much in 

 diameter. When the dry tops are burned off it leaves the scorched 

 and blackened heads, which may have suggested the name. 



Nigger-head land is of no value for cultivation, or even for pasture, 

 until thoroughly drained, and drainage would be too costly an opera- 

 tion for settlers to undertake until the country is peopled to such an 

 extent as to cause a rise in land values. However, these nigger-head 

 lands do not occupy any considerable portion of this vast tract. 

 Good pasture can be found over nearly the whole area, and the Ketch- 

 umstock Flats, the boundaries of which are not fully known, can be 

 brought under culture with as much ease as the prairie land in the 

 west. It is in this grass country that horses have wintered success- 

 fully several times. Mr. Jones mentions two instances which are well 

 authenticated. In one case two horses had gone through two winters 

 and still roamed about there in a semiwild condition. Another in- 

 stance was told me by a miner, Mr. Mark E. Bray, whom I met on 



