2 BULLETIN 50, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
glaciers, and illimitable fields of snow. The tourist has traveled 
nearly 2.000 miles from Seattle by this route, but he has seen only 
the narrow southeastern projection of the Territory and a small sec- 
tion of the south coast of the mainland. He has seen, however, what 
has given to the world the most commonly accepted opinion of 
Alaska. Erroneous as is the opinion thus developed of the Terri- 
tory as a whole, it is the more remarkable that it is quite as far 
wrong respecting the portion that comes under observation, for, 
notwithstanding the prevalence and close proximity of the snow 
and ice fields on the south coast, the fact remains that this portion 
of the Territory has a comparatively mild climate. To get a clear 
understanding of how this can be and of Alaskan climatic condi- 
tions in general, a brief description of the physical features of 
Alaska will be in order and necessary to a consideration of the 
agricultural possibilities. 
A glance at a map of Xorth America will show that Alaska com- 
prises the northwestern end of the continent. The Territory all lies 
west of longitude 141° W., excepting the narrow strip that extends 
from Mount St. Elias along the shore southeastward some GOO miles, 
the extreme southern point touching latitude 54 c 40' X. The long pro- 
jection extending out from the southwestern coast, forming the 
Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian, Islands, goes so far to the southwest 
that the farthermost island. Attn, is in the longitude of Xew Zealand. 
173° E. Exclusive of the southeastern and southwestern projections, 
Alaska lies between longitude Ml and 166 c W. and latitude 60° 
and 70° 30' X. The mainland is about 700 miles from north to south 
and 700 to 800 miles from east to west. The total area is about 
600.000 square miles. This area is thrust out from the main conti- 
nental land mass, so that it is surrounded on three sides by great 
bodies of salt water differing greatly in temperature. The Arctic 
Ocean is on the north, Bering Sea on the west, and the Pacific Ocean 
on the south. The waters of the first are very cold, of course, because 
of the drift from the polar region. This drift extending through the 
Bering Strait makes the Bering Sea also quite cold. The drift of 
warm water from the southern Pacific Ocean northeastward modifies 
quite markedly the temperatures along the south coast, just as it 
does all along the western coast of the United States. Quite different 
climatic effects are thus produced on their respective shores by these 
different bodies of water. How far these effects extend inland de- 
pends much upon the topography of the country. 
THE MOUNTAIN SYSTEMS OF ALASKA. 
Alaska is distinctively mountainous, with two well-defined sys- 
tems, one fronting the Arctic Ocean on the north and the other the 
Pacific Ocean on the south. Between these systems is a great plateau 
