28 BULLETIN 50, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



The timber growth, which occurs on practically all the land suit- 

 able for tillage, must, of course, be cleared from the land. 



All this work — building houses and barns, draining, clearing land 

 of moss and timber — is very slowly accomplished in the short outdoor 

 working season if done single handed by the homesteader, and costly, 

 almost prohibitively so if hired labor is used, because of the high 

 wages and living expenses. 



Lack of general transportation which would open up the country, 

 of local wagon roads, schools, churches, and other features of present- 

 day life, and of the markets in which to sell farm products and from 

 which to obtain home supplies and farm equipment are deterrent 

 features at present, but they will disappear in time. 



Another serious obstacle to homesteaders is the lack of Government 

 land surveys. Under the law a man may locate a homestead on 

 unsurveyed land and fix boundaries by metes and bounds ; but he can 

 not get a title to the land until he has had the tract surveyed at his 

 personal expense by an authorized surveyor and has had the survey 

 approved. This means an outlay of several hundred dollars in cash, 

 which few homesteaders in Alaska have available. Happily, this is 

 now being remedied by the General Land Office. Surveying par- 

 ties have been at work in the Fairbanks and Cook Inlet regions, near 

 Seward, and in the Copper Eiver Valley sectionizing the land, and 

 this work will be continued until all the areas where farming is 

 feasible have been covered. 



SUMMARY. 



Alaska lies between latitude 51° 20' and 71° 20' N., and longitude 

 130° W. and 175° E. 



Seattle is 400 miles nearer to Eastport, Me., the easternmost point 

 of the United States, than to Attu, the extreme western point of 

 Alaska. The meridian of longitude passing through Attu also passes 

 through New Zealand. 



The coast line is 26,000 miles long. On the south coast there are 

 numerous deep, land-locked, ice-free harbors. 



The total length of the navigable rivers is 6,000 miles. The Yukon 

 is 1,500 miles from the mouth to the Canadian boundary and is 

 navigable by large steamers for 500 miles above that point. It drains 

 an area of 200,000 square miles. 



Alaska has an area of 586,400 square miles, of which 100,000 square 

 miles are susceptible of agricultural use — tillage and grazing. Prob- 

 ably 30,000 square miles, or 5 per cent of the total area, can be made 

 available for tillage. 



Four-fifths of the possible tillage area is in the Central Plateau, 

 of which the Tanana Valley offers the largest opportunities for farm- 



