71 



Alaska, with shorter warmer summers (frost sometimes in Au- 

 gust) and colder winters (sometimes 70° below zero) boasts of 

 fruits and grains that are impossible at Sitka. Grains often fail 

 to mature, because the wet soil prevents timely planting ; the 

 stalks do not harden sufficiently to allow easy cutting, and the 

 limp sodden growth is good for forage only. Potatoes never ma- 

 ture so the skin will not slip, and good results require that they 

 be sprouted indoors and " set by hand with extra care." Apples 

 ripen slowly (our fall apples do not mature at all there) and the 

 native crab with cherry-like fruit is considered a necessary stock 

 for grafting our less hardy varieties. The grafts " winter-kill", 

 because the buds and the woody twig substances do not com- 

 plete their development in the slow growth of the summer. To 

 initiate the usual winter preparations the twigs are sometimes 

 stripped of their leaves, a method which often proves successful. 

 The native strawberries, which grow down to tide water, are 

 being successfully crossed with cultivated varieties ; and the red 

 raspberry is forced indoors in the endeavor to secure successful 

 hybrids with the large native salmon berry. Small plums, tiny 

 cherries, little cranberries (chiefly Vacciniwri), and currants are 

 wild there. The introduced vegetables which are fairly successful 

 are Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, lettuce, parsley, onion, 

 rhubarb, and peas. Beans do not do very well. 



Kenai and Kadiak, two other government stations, are devoted 

 chiefly to cattle-breeding and the improvement of cattle foods. 

 Rampart and Copper Center are farther north, but farther inland ; 

 the winters are much more severe, but the shorter, warmer sum- 

 mers allow better results with grains and vegetables. Hay here 

 is quoted at ^200 a ton and retails at ;^o.20 a pound at the road- 

 houses. 



The problems in Alaska are not the simplest in the world, and 

 the workers there do not hope to make of it a garden spot or an 

 agricultural center. If the investigators can add variety to the 

 present limited food supply, or enable Alaska to become more 

 nearly self-productive of the food required for man and his 

 domesticated animals, they will more than justify the moderate 

 government assistance now given them. 



