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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



places in the coast region and also at 

 some points in the interior. The sum- 

 mer and fall in the coast region in 

 Alaska are at times very rainy and there 

 is some difficulty in curing hay, never- 

 theless, with proper precaution we have 

 never failed to make hay wherever we 

 have kept live stock. Silage can, however, 

 be made with success every year regard- 

 less of the rain. In that case the grass 

 is packed in the silo (which is to say a 

 building constructed for the purpose) wet 

 and green as soon as it is cut. This 

 green material undergoes a fermenta- 

 tion which then gives off a smell and has 

 an appearance not unlike sauer-kraut. In 

 this condition it will keep for a year or 

 more and make excellent feed. Cattle 

 are fond of it. One of the best grasses 

 for this purpose is beach rye (Elynuis 

 mollis). It is a coarse, luxuriant grass, 

 which grows more paricularly on the flat 

 lands along the beach just beyond high 

 tide. At the Sitka station we used work 

 oxen for several years, which were fed 

 during the winter exclusively on silage 

 made chiefly from this grass. One year 

 some was left over, and in August, be- 

 fore the silo was again filled, a portion 

 of this old silage was analyzed and it was 

 found that it had a nutritive value almost 

 equal to good clover hay. 



AREA OF AGRICULTURAL LANDS 



Alaska has not been surveyed. We 

 have therefore no definite data as to the 

 actual area which can be utilized for ag- 

 ricultural purposes, but I believe that 

 the following estimated figures are ap- 

 proximately correct : The Yukon A^al- 

 ley and the valleys tributary thereto, ex- 

 cept the Tanana, 30,000 square miles ; 

 the Tanana Valley and its tributaries, 

 15,000 square miles; The Copper River 

 Valley and its tributaries, 15,000 square 

 miles ; the Susitna and the Matanuska 

 valleys, 15,000 square miles; the valleys 

 of the Kuskokwim and the Nushagak 

 rivers, 15,000 square miles, and the coast 

 region 10,000 square miles; total 100,000 

 square miles, or in round numbers about 

 one-sixth of the area of the entire terri- 

 tory. I do not mean to say all of this is 



good plow land, but I mean that there 

 is at least 100,000 square miles in Alaska 

 which can be utilized for culture and for 

 pasture, and as a matter of fact the area 

 is probably very much larger since a con- 

 siderable of the mountain territory will 

 afford pasture. Perhaps these data can 

 be realized more fully if we compare 

 them with similar data of better known 

 areas. The states of New York and 

 Pennsylvania have together an aggre- 

 gate area of 94,000 square miles, which 

 is less than the agricultural area in 

 Alaska. The combined areas of Maine, 

 Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachu- 

 setts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Dela- 

 ware, Connecticut, and Maryland do not 

 equal the agricultural area of Alaska. 



WHAT POPULATION CAN THE TERRITORY 

 SUPPORT? 



In the face of these facts it is fair to 

 infer that Alaska can support a perma- 

 nent population. It would, of course, be 

 too much to assume that Alaska can sup- 

 port a population equal to that of the 

 states mentioned. In 1900, for instance, 

 Massachusetts had a population of 348 

 persons to the square mile, New Jersey 

 had 252 persons per square mile, New 

 York had 152 per square mile, and Penn- 

 sylvania had 140 per square mile. It 

 must not be forgotten, however, that 

 these two large states have extensive 

 mountain and lake areas which are not 

 populated at all, but which are neverthe- 

 less counted in these density figures. But 

 is it too much to say that the agricultural 

 area of Alaska can support, and will 

 eventually support, a population of 30 

 persons per square mile? This is but 

 little more than the average density of the 

 population in the United States exclusive 

 of Alaska and Hawaii in 1900, but in- 

 cluding our mountains, deserts, and 

 forest areas, which are now uninhabited. 

 The country which affords the best par- 

 allel to Alaska in point of latitude and 

 climate is Finland. It is bounded on the 

 south by latitude 60 and on the north by 

 latitude 70. The main body of Alaska 

 lies within these latitudes, though the 

 two lona; arms of southeastern and south- 



