ALASKA EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 309 



the mountains being capped, as they are, with monster glaciers, cause daily precipita- 

 tion from the 1st of July until freezing weather in October. While vegetation and 

 fodder grow luxuriantly in the coast range district, forage must be treated as silage, 

 as, owing to the constant rain, it can not be otherwise cured. 



Following the South Fork of the Tonsena will be found thousands of acres of avail- 

 able land for cultivation, which, having been burnt over years ago and divested of 

 its covering of moss, needs only now to be cleared of the dead spruce timber that 

 encumbers it, when it is ready for the plow. Five miles north of the Tonsena bridge 

 are tracts of land well timbered and drained that are likewise available for agricul- 

 tural purposes. A few miles north of the mouth of the Tazlena is a stretch of sandy, 

 loamy soil with a southern exposure that looks attractive. At the mouth of the Ton- 

 sena River is a large hay meadow many hundreds of acres in extent on which quan- 

 tities of hay could be cured. I desire to point out in this connection that a few 

 experimental stations, with competent persons to test the soil and collect such evi- 

 dence as would enable the settler to intelligently locate his homestead, could not be 

 established at any point to better advantage by the Government than at one of the 

 points mentioned above. * * * In my opinion the backbone of the settlement of 

 this mighty valley is its agricultural resources. 



NOTES ON THE TANANA VALLEY, BY MR. J. L. GREEN. 



Having learned that Mr. J. L. Green, an attorney at Rampart, had 

 made a somewhat extended tour through the valley of the Tanana 

 River, I asked him to write me a statement of his views concerning the 

 agricultural features of that region. This he kindly complied with 

 in the following letter: 



Rampart, Alaska, April 22, 1901. 



Dear Sir: Your letter of March 17 received to-day. In reply would state that I 

 will most cheerfully furnish you all the information I can in regard to the agricul- 

 tural possibilities in the Tanana country; but owing to the fact that I have not been 

 able to experiment any in growing cereals there, my opinion would not be worth as 

 much to you as a statement of the facts regarding that country. However, I will state 

 both, and the opinion you can take for what it is worth. 



I had heard a great deal of the country before I made my trip through it, but was 

 pleased to find a better country than I anticipated. The country has a great many 

 large valleys ranging from 5 to 20 miles in width and from 10 to 50 miles in length. 

 The timber is far superior to any I have seen, either in the Yukon or in the North- 

 west Territory. 



I also found very extensive prairies, dotted with lakes. The lakes and swamp lands 

 would perhaps occupy one-half and sometimes probably more than half of the surface 

 of the prairie lands; the higher ground I found dry and of a dark-brown color, and 

 consisting of a sandy loam and very fertile. 



This soil was covered with a rank growth of grass (this grass is perhaps the same 

 as the redtop grass or herd grass we have in the States), although the same variety 

 is found in every part of Alaska. I have not been able to find anything in any other 

 part of the country to equal it either in quantity or quality. This grass grows to the 

 height of from 4 to 4^ feet, and will produce from 2 to 3 tons of hay per acre. There 

 are places where a mowing machine can be driven for 5 miles in one direction without 

 lifting the sickle bar. 



The surface of the soil thaws from 4 to 10 feet during the summer season. I was 

 in that country during the months of August and September of last year. When I 

 left the last of September there had not been sufficient frost to kill the leaves on the 

 trees, although it would have killed potato vines and all the more tender vegetables. 



