Gardening in Northern Alaska 



357 



The mean daily temperature, from 

 hourh' readings, ranged from 32°.4i 

 "to 38°. 94, the general average mean 

 for the entire time being 35°. 08. The 

 total precipitation was 0.41 inches. 

 The state of the weather was cloudy or 

 foggy, excepting one day, when it was 

 clear. Flurries of snow were not in- 

 frequent. 



On July 10, twenty-seven days after 

 seeding and nineteen days after germi- 

 nation, harvesting began. The lettuce 

 leaves were from 1 to 2 inches in width 

 and from 3 to 4 inches in length. The 

 radishes, spherical in form, were from* 

 ^ to 1 inch in diameter. The condi- 

 tion of these vegetables at the time of 

 harvest was perfect. The quality could 

 not be excelled by any grown anywhere 

 in lower latitudes, Antarctica, by infer- 

 ence, excepted. 



Table Showing Temperature, Precipitation, 

 and Weather from Date of Germination to 

 Harvest. 





Temperature. 



Precipi- 

 tation. 



State 



Month. 







of 

 weather. 



Max. 



Min. 



Mean 



June 22 



°F. 



°F. 



°F. 



Inches. 





34-3 



26.8 



30.92 



O.OI 



Cloudy. 



23 



33-2 



29.0 



31-85 





Fair. 



24 



37-3 



30.1 



31-54 





Clear. 



25 



53-5 



34- 



43.00 



0.00 



Fair. 



26 



38.S 



32.0 



33-92 





Cloudy. 



27 



33-7 



29.6 



32.27 



0.03 



Cloudy. 



2S 



34-9 



29-3 



32.29 





Cloudy. 



29 



37-5 



29.S 



34.20 



0.00 



Cloudy. 



3° 



40.6 



32.0 



35 14 



0.00 



Foggy. 



July 1 



43-4 



32.2 



39.10 



0.02 



Cloudy. 



2 



48.7 



34-° 



42.18 



0.00 



Fair. 



3 



39-8 



316 



35-37 



: 0.03 



Cloudy. 



4 



41.2 



32.2 



37-72 



0.00 



Cloudy. 



5 



47 4 



33-2 



41-50 



0.00 



Fair. 



6 



46.7 



39- S 



43-97 



0.00 



Fair. 



7 



60.6 



42.2 



5335 



0.00 



Clear. 



S 



490 



36.2 



44.28 



0.00 



Clear. 



9 



43-4 



29.8 



35-98 



0.04 



Foggy. 



10 



55-2 



37-3 



4651 



0.00 



Clear. 



During the nineteen days required for 

 the crops to mature the minimum tem- 



perature was 32 ° or below for nine days. 

 The maximum temperature was 50 or 

 above for three days only. The mean 

 daily temperature, from hourly observa- 

 tions, ranged from 32°.92 to 53 . 35, the 

 general average mean for the entire time 

 being 38°.i6. The total precipitation 

 was 0.13 inches. There were 4 clear, 

 5 fair, and 10 cloudy or foggy days. 



A study of the conditions under which 

 the plants germinated and matured is 

 not only curiously interesting, but sug- 

 gests that there was some stimulating 

 force — perhaps the large amount of at- 

 mospherical electricity — which caused 

 them to arrive at maturity in a much 

 shorter period than those grown in tem- 

 perate zones. Whatever the agency, 

 inasmuch as the summer season is so 

 very brief, it is absolutely necessary that 

 plant life in the north should arrive at 

 maturity very quickly in order to per- 

 petuate the species. 



The vast tundras of northern Alaska 

 are nature's gardens — the most exten- 

 sive, the least cultivated, the most pro- 

 ductive of any on the American conti- 

 nent. Every summer continuous beds 

 of flowers on these level treeless areas 

 extend north from the Arctic Circle to 

 the shores of the ocean. True, the 

 flowering plants are lowly in stature, 

 but they are not pitiful or frost pinched 

 as might be supposed. True, they keep 

 close to the frozen ground, as if in love 

 with mother earth, but they display 

 masses of color — yellow, purple, and 

 blue — so bright as to make them visible 

 at great distances ; and in the fall of the 

 year their ripe foliage and the golden 

 sunshine cause the tundras to fairly glow 

 in rich colors — red, purple, and yellow — 

 still further intensified by the varied 

 colors of the ripening berries growing 

 almost everywhere, all blending har- 

 moniously with the neutral tints of the 

 ground lichens and mosses, on which 

 the}- seem to be painted. 



