AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN" ALASKA. 27 



proximity to individual farms, has not been investigated with suffi- 

 cient care to warrant more than an intimation of its possibilities. 

 The long winters with very low temperatures at all points behind 

 the mountains that front the south coast, the boggy and moss- 

 covered condition of the greater portion of the land, the prevalence 

 of mosquitoes and other insects that are very trying to cattle and 

 horses, and numerous carnivorous animals are serious obstacles to the 

 development »of a larger grazing industry, other than with reindeer 

 and (except as has been noted) in southwestern Alaska. 



. DIFFICULTIES THAT CONFRONT THE HOMESTEADER. 



Over against the optimistic facts pertaining to this great north- 

 western portion of the North American Continent are others that 

 should be remembered by those who contemplate going to Alaska for 

 the purpose of home making, particularly farm home making. 



On the south coast, where the climate is mild, tillable land is 

 scarce, because of the proximity of the mountains to the shore line; 

 elsewhere in Alaska the winters are long and very cold and frost- 

 proof buildings must be provided for shelter of family and stock. 



The ground freezes to a great depth and there is but a short period 

 during which this can thaw, and the surface is covered with ah accu- 

 mulation of undecayed moss and other vegetable material serving as 

 a protection to the frost and a reservoir for moisture. The frost 

 line under natural conditions sinks but a few feet during a season, 

 and the thawed layer is usually a morass of muck in all portions of 

 Alaska where tillage is possible. This condition makes land travel 

 almost out of the question during the summer until wagon roads 

 shall have been built, and these must be largely of the corduroy 

 type. Meantime the farm home must generally be located close to 

 navigable water. 



The swampy character of much of the surface of Alaska makes it 

 a great breeding ground for mosquitoes and gnats, which are almost 

 intolerable pests to both man and beast. It also makes drainage 

 a prerequisite in order to remove the surplus water so that the land 

 can be worked, raise the temperature of the surface soil, lower the 

 frost line, facilitate the decay of the accumulated organic matter, and 

 bring about chemical changes which will transform the soil from a 

 •very acid condition to one much less so. Nature requires much time 

 for this last process. 



Where the vegetable accumulations are largely moss, this must be 

 destroyed, either by burning or by carting it from the land, for if 

 plowed under it decays very slowly and seems to have an injurious 

 effect on most crop plants. 



