ALASKA EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



345 



vation, a condition which the introduction of deer would probably 

 ameliorate. 



WANTON SLAUGHTER OF GAME. 



In this connection I am constrained to mention that in certain parts 

 of Alaska game is destro} r ed wantonly and in great number. This is 

 the case, for instance, on the Kenai Peninsula. Hunters, not only 

 from this country, but from foreign countries, go there and kill ani- 

 mals, particularly moose and mountain sheep, for the sake of the 

 antlers and heads. I have myself met hunters of this class there every 

 time I have been in the peninsula. 



And in southeastern Alaska the Indians kill thousands of deer for 

 the sake of the skins, which they sometimes sell as low as 20 cents 

 apiece, though the average price is more than that. The number of 

 deer skins bought up and exported from nearly every Indian settle- 

 ment in southeastern Alaska is an index to this kind of wanton 

 slaughter. The remedy would seem to be to prohibit the exportation 

 of the skins and antlers of moose, caribou, mountain sheep, and deer. 



WORK AS SPECIAL DISBURSING AGENT. 



In order to facilitate the Alaska work, I was appointed a special 

 disbursing agent of the Treasury Department in the summer of 1900. 

 I have in this capacity disbursed the sums which the Treasurer of the 

 United States has from time to time deposited to my credit in Seattle. 



SOIL TEMPERATURES 



The tables submitted herewith give the detailed soil temperatures 

 for the places and periods named. The readings are taken from two 

 thermometers, one planted 6 inches deep and the other 24 inches. At 

 stations which are equipped with radiation thermometers the readings 

 of this instrument are also given. It is suspended about 6 inches above 

 the surface of the earth and is not covered. It gives the minimum 

 daily temperature as the vegetation feels it. There appears to be much 

 similarity in the readings for corresponding months at each station, 

 but the period of observation is yet too short to make generalizations. 



Soil temperatures. 



SITKA EXPERIMENT STATION. 



