178 AGRICULTURE IN ALASKA 



rights and privileges as are given to Americans in British Columbia and 

 the Northwest Territory. 



Nothing in the act shall be construed to put in force the general land 

 laws of the United States. 



The general laws of the State of Oregon in force January 1, 1894, are 

 declared to be the law in the Territory. 



SOME OF THE CONDITIONS AND POSSIBILITIES OF 

 AGRICULTURE IN ALASKA 



By Walter H. Evans, Ph.D., 



Botanist, Office of Experiment Stations, U. S. Department of Agriculture 



During the summer of 1897 the Secretary of Agriculture, 

 acting under authority from Congress, commissioned Dr Shel- 

 don Jackson, of the U. S. Bureau of Education; Mr Benton 

 Killin, one of the regents of the Oregon Agricultural College, 

 and the writer to investigate the agricultural conditions and 

 possibilities of Alaska. The report of this commission has been 

 made to Congress, and it has been issued as Bulletin 48 of the 

 Office of Experiment Stations of the Department of Agriculture. 

 Dr Jackson made a preliminary report on the Yukon valley, 

 while the other commissioners reported their observations along 

 the coast from Dixon entrance to Unalaska. The following- 

 account consists in the main of an abstract of the fuller report. 



From the information gained it appears that successful at- 

 tempts have been made at a number of places along the Yukon 

 river to raise hardy vegetables. Potatoes, turnips, cabbage, 

 cauliflower, radishes, lettuce, peas, etc., have been cultivated to 

 considerable extent, some of them having been grown as far 

 north as Circle City and Dawson. Berries abound in the inte- 

 rior, as they do along the coast, and grasses suitable for grazing 

 and hay were met with nearly everywhere. Specimens of good 

 hay grasses more than six feet tall were secured from the vicinity 

 of Circle City. 



Mr William Ogilvie, who is connected with the Land Survey 

 of the Dominion of Canada, estimates the agricultural area of 

 the upper Yukon at about 460,000 acres. It is possible that 

 the growing of vegetables could be considerably extended in this 

 region. 



As the observations of the writer were confined to the coast 

 region, that portion of Alaska will be considered more in detail. 



