40 ALASKA. 



Peninsula are basalt and lava. There is on the northeast shore of 

 Norton Sound an abundance of sandstone and clay beds containing 

 lignite. Sandstone is also abundant on the Yukon, alternating w ith 

 the Azoic rocks. The superincumbent soil differs in different 

 places. In some localities, it is clayey, and in such situations is quite 

 frequently covered with sphagnum, which always impoverishes the 

 soil immediately beneath it. In others, it is light and sandy, and 

 over a large extent of country it is the richest alluvial, composed of 

 very fine sand, mud, and vegetable matter, brought down by the 

 river and forming deposits of indefinite depth. * * * y^g 

 soil is usually frozen at a depth of 3 or 4 feet in ordinary situa- 

 tions. In colder ones, it remains icy to within 18 inches of the 

 surface. This layer of frozen soil is 6 or 8 feet thick. Below that 

 depth, the soil is destitute of ice, except in very unusual situations. 

 Lieutenant Allen (Report on Expedition to Alaska, 1885) 

 says: 



I believe that lettuce, radishes, turnips, beans, peas, potatoes, carrots, and 

 possibly buckwheat and barley, can be raised in favored localities on the middle 

 and upper Yukon and Tanana. The climatic conditions of the coast do not 

 prevail here; there is not as much humidity. . . . The summers, though short, 

 are very hot. The sun is almost continually above the horizon, and the ther- 

 mometer has been known to read 112° and 115° F. Although the soil usually 

 remains frozen the year round at a depth of 1 or 2 feet below the surface, 

 this would not necessarily interfere with agricultural pursuits. By cultivation 

 and proper drainage, the distance of the ice bed below the surface would be 

 considerably increased. 



CATTLE. 



With reference to cattle and other live stock, Mr. Petroff says: 



There have been repeated attempts to raise stock cattje, sheep, and hogs m 

 large herds within the borders of Alaska. The subject is one in which the 

 Russians first naturally took a deep interest, for they were fond of good living 

 and were as desirous as any people could be to have the best of beef or mutton 

 and the sweetest pork on their tables. They brought over hardy selections 

 from the Siberian stock, placing the cattle at almost every point of importance 

 for trial. The result, after years of patient and persistent attention, was that 



