304 REPORT OF OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



the coast range and flows first northwest, then west, and finally south, 

 in the shape of a great sickle. It has numerous tributaries from both 

 sides, and some of these flow through more or less extensive valleys of 

 what appears to be good agricultural land. However, that portion of 

 the Copper River country embraced in Mr. Jones's report lies almost 

 wholly to the west of the main stream. The region to the east of the 

 main stream we know but little about, except the general report of 

 prospectors that there are extensive tracts of level or rolling land. 



For a distance of some 12 or 14 miles from Mantasta Pass the trail 

 leads down the divide, then a stretch of low rolling country is reached. 

 This stretch of between 30 and 35 miles may some day perhaps be set 

 tied by farmers; at present it appears to be too marshy. It is covered 

 with a deep coat of moss, and small lakes, meandering streams, and 

 nigger-head bogs are numerous. This stretch of country ends at the 

 Chestochena River. From that stream to the Tazlena there is a grad- 

 ual and marked improvement in the country. The ground is less 

 marshy, the moss not so deep, patches of grass are more extensive, 

 and the timber along the stream is larger. Between the Chestochena 

 and Tazlena is a stretch of about 45 miles which in general may be 

 described as a timbered country, with patches of grass land ranging in 

 size from a few acres to a hundred acres in extent. The cost of clear- 

 ing the timber off the ground would perhaps be the greatest bar to 

 settlement outside the patches of grass. 



Nearly midway between the Chestochena and Tazlena rivers a 

 stream called the Gakona comes in from the west. In the upper por- 

 tion of this river, prospectors informed Mr. Jones that there were 

 large stretches which had a luxuriant growth of grass, and I have 

 since had this statement confirmed by another prospector who had 

 passed through a portion of it. He said he walked over a stretch of 

 level ground with a heavy growth of grass at least 5 miles in width; 

 how long it was he did not know. This grass land is about 100 miles 

 west of the belt we are here discussing. 



From Tazlena to Copper Center there is a stretch of 12 miles of 

 most excellent agricultural land. The land lies in benches, one slightly 

 above the other, which will average from half a mile to a mile in 

 width. The soil is a dark sandy loam with a subsoil containing more 

 of clay than on the surface. 



There is no swamp land in this stretch or anything in the nature of 

 waste land. It is partly timbered with spruce, but the growth is 

 young and not dense. Fires have been through the whole region, 

 which have cleared the ground of moss and killed the young trees. 

 The land can therefore easily be cleared. The same kind of land, in 

 all respects, continues southward for another 12 miles, the differ- 

 ence being that the timber is larger, denser, and is all alive. It will 



