ALASKA EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 343 



harrow, a smoothing harrow, a grain drill, and hand tools of the usual 

 kinds. To lay these things down in Rampart will cost about five times 

 their original value on Puget Sound. In addition, a house and barn 

 should be built, both of logs. There is plenty of timber on the reser- 

 vation for this purpose. Besides these, the salary of a competent 

 superintendent and at least two laborers during the summer season 

 must be provided for. This meager equipment, including labor foi a 

 year, will cost about $5,000. The work which should occupy these 

 stations will, to begin with, consist mainly in the growing of vegeta- 

 bles and grains in order to establish by actual tests what can be grown 

 there, and the best methods of culture. 



At the Sitka and Kenai stations the work already under way should 

 be continued. More land must be cleared in both places and the work 

 extended. As mentioned in the foregoing, a nursery should be estab- 

 lished at Sitka, so that we may propagate and distribute hardy fruits 

 to settlers for tests in various parts of the Territory. 



It is also of much importance to begin work with the propagation 

 and improvement of several of the native fruits. There are five species 

 of huckleberries, two or three species of cranberries, a crabapple, 

 strawberries, currants, and raspberries, all indigenous to Alaska, and 

 all of which have merits which recommend them for domestication. 

 The native grasses and forage plants also deserve attention, and if the 

 funds permit, work should be undertaken with a view to establish the 

 relative merits of the several species. Grasses of all kinds grow 

 luxuriantly in the coast region wherever they are not driven out by 

 the spruce. The treeless region of western Alaska has an abundant 

 supply of grass, and stock raising is destined to become an important 

 industry in that part of Alaska. And, as shown in this report, there 

 are also large areas of grass land in the interior, where stock can be 

 raised in summer and hay can be made for winter feed. 



The improvements which should be made during the coming }^ear 

 include the following: 



SITKA STATION. 



1. Finishing the headquarters building in accordance with plans. 



2. Furnishing a laboratory with the necessary apparatus. 



3. Building of two more cottages. 



4. Building a small propagating house. 



5. The purchase of another yoke of oxen. 



6. The purchase of three cows and a bull, as a foundation for a herd. 



7. The purchase of additional implements. 



8. The establishment of a nursery. 



9. Extending the clearing. 



KENAI STATION. 



1. Extending the clearing. 



2. The purchase of additional implements. 



