1854 J»f RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
All Sorts 
Alaska as a Food Producer 
Most Americans have a very hazy idea 
of what Alaska really is. We know that 
gold is to found somewhere up in th it 
country, and most of us imagine that -it 
is a land of deep snow and thick ice. As 
an agricultural section few people would 
consider it for a moment, yet it is true 
that the Goveimment has four agricultural 
stations up *n that northern country, and 
strange as it may seem. Prof. Gcorgoson, 
who has been there for 21 years, makes 
the serious statement that the time will 
come when Alaska wheatfields will play 
an important part in the economy of the 
nation. Prof. Georgeson was connected 
with Ttte R. N -Y. many years ago, and 
we know that when he makes a statement 
of this sort he has sound authority for 
it. The annual report of these experi¬ 
ment stations is a very interesting docu¬ 
ment. It seems that already a small flour 
mill has been established at Fairbanks, 
far in the interior of Alaska. This mill 
has made an excellent quality of flour out 
of wheat grown in that northern section. 
Of course ordinary varieties of wheat 
would be of little value in the far North, 
but for a number of years experiments 
have been made in adapting varieties of 
grain to that climate. When we consider 
that the growing, $e!i,son rarely covers 100 
days, we can imagine that some one must 
breed speed into a grain variety in order 
to get it through. 
One of the stations is located at Ram¬ 
part, which lies close to the Yukon River, 
about 75 miles south of the Arctic Circle. 
This river freezes solid about the middle 
of October, and the ice breaks about the 
middle of May. The average of the frost- 
free period is 97 days, and there are fre¬ 
quently early and late frosts which cut 
the crop at one end or the other of the 
season, yet up in that cold country great 
work has been done in the breeding of 
grains which can be made to mature dur¬ 
ing this short period. They have also 
tried varieties of Alfalfa and clover, as 
well as vegetables. Strange as it may 
seem to some of our people, it has been 
possible to make a quantity of molasses 
from sugar beets grown in that northern 
latitude. This has been done on a small 
scale, but enough of it has been worked 
out to demonstrate the fact that most of 
the syrup used in Alaska can be made at 
home. 
The Siberian varieties of Spring wheat 
have been developed to a point where 
they mature a good quality of grain, and 
this can bo made into a suitable flflur. 
There are several millions of acres in the 
interior of Alaska which can be cleared 
and put into wheat whenever the neces¬ 
sities of the world make it profitable to 
do so. Great quantities of potatoes are 
grown in the valleys around Fairbanks, 
The potatoes arc of good quality, varie¬ 
ties having been bred to suit the climate 
and soil. The timber in this country is 
chiefly of spruce, birch and cottonwced. 
With the building of a railroad now pro¬ 
jected from the coast up to Fairbanks 
there will come a demaud for spruce 
timber, chiefly for paper-making. As is 
well known, the paper-makers are scour¬ 
ing the earth for new supplies of spruce. 
Alaska evidently can supply all that the 
world needs for a long time of this 
material. 
The bulletin describes a simple method 
of clearing the laud in that country. In 
most of the forest there is a thick layer 
of moss on the surface of the ground. 
Underneath this moss the soil is frozen 
down to an unknown depth, and this 
mossy layer acts like a mulch on a straw¬ 
berry bed to hold the frost in the ground. 
In clearing this land a fire is started in 
dry weather, so that it will work into this 
layer of moss. It requires considerable 
nursing to keep this fire going, but it 
burns underground, and is in no sense 
destructive. The fires creep through the 
moss, kill the timber and burn off most 
of the upper roots, so that the first high 
wind will blow these trees down without 
extra work on the part of the farmer. 
Then it is found that after this moss has 
been destroyed the ground gradually 
thaws out finally to a depth of 12 or 15 
feet, and during the Spring and early 
Summer this thawing below the surface 
keeps the ground moist and the crops 
well supplied with water. 
As a stock country Alaska seems to 
offer good opportunity. There is a good 
sale for ^neat and dairy products, and it 
is possible to obtain good crop*; of forage. 
None of the established breeds of dairy 
cattle seem to thrive well there. The 
milking Short-horn appears to give first- 
class satisfaction. It is a hardy animal 
and does not suffer severely from cold. 
It gives good returns as a dairy cow, and 
also has a large carcass of beef. The 
Galloway is also popular. At the experi¬ 
ment station a cross of Galloway on the 
Holstein seems to be quite promising. 
Red clover when seeded in the Spring 
makes an exceedingly rapid growth dur¬ 
ing the short season, but does not live 
over Winter. The Canada field pea is 
not very satisfactory, but the farmers 
have succeeded in breeding a strain of 
Alaska garden pea which gives very good 
satisfaction as a forage plant. Several 
silos are to be found in the territory, but 
they are not filled after the habit of New 
York farmers. The silage is made from 
a form of beach grass, which grows in 
strips along the islands or bays on the 
coast. The method of making this silage 
would interest some of our readers. A 
team of horses, a mower and wagon and 
a camping outfit are loaded on a big 
scow and towed from place to place 
where the grass is to be cut. A small 
gasoline boat is used to do the towing. 
On arriving at the island or beach 
where the grass is found the outfit is put 
on the shore and the mower started co 
cut the grass. It is raked up green, put 
on the scow and towed back along the 
coast to where the silo is located, and is 
then cut from the scow into the silo, pass¬ 
ing through a silage cutter. When all 
the grass has been cut at one place the 
camp is moved to another spot, and the 
same process is followed. Much the same 
plan is carried out in cutting hay. Wild 
grass is located as near to the farm as 
possible, and cut and cured about as we 
handle it here, being hauled to the barn 
at some central point. It is strange to 
think of Alaska as a food-producing 
country, yet it seems evident from this 
bulletin that the future certainly holds 
such possibilities. We are not ready to 
advocate the removal of any of our farm¬ 
ers to Alaska at this time, but 50 years 
from now, when the mineral and agricul¬ 
tural resources of that country are better 
known, we have no doubt there will be 
located on the Alaskan coast a great 
modern city, handling the metal and coal 
trade of the territory, while back in the 
interior thousands of contented farmers 
will be feeding these cities in a large 
part. 
An Ear for Sale 
Hardly a day passes in New York City 
without an advertisement in one of the 
daily papers calling for a supply of hu¬ 
man blood. It frequently happens that 
some patient in the hospital has become 
so weak that infusion of blood into the 
veins becomes necessary. In order to ob¬ 
tain this blood, advertisements are print¬ 
ed, and in every case there are many ap¬ 
plicants. It is necessary to use blood 
from a strong and vigorous person, free 
from diseases, and thorough tests are 
made before the blood is taken. Some 
very remarkable stories are told about 
some of these people who apply, offering 
to give up a pint of their blood. They 
are usually well paid for this sacrifice, al¬ 
though frequently there are volunteers, 
who for the sake of humanity are willing 
to give of their own blood iu an effort to 
save human life. The other day an an¬ 
nouncement was made in the daily press 
that a rich man wanted to buy a human 
ear. This man had lost his left ear 
through an accident, which occurred some 
years ago. There is nothing left now but 
the stub of an ear growing on his head. 
An expert surgeon tells him that it will 
be possible to graft a living ear upon hie 
head if they can find one that will match 
his other ear in general shape and size. 
There is an offer of $2,000 for a left ear, 
and it is probably that one will be found 
This is not by any means a new thing. 
Some years ago we learned of a case of 
this kind that "was full of interest. It 
appears that a man in one of the Western 
States year ago got into a fight and one 
of his ears was sliced off by a knife. 
Later he became wealthy and fell in love 
with a young woman, who, very likely, iu 
order to get rid of him, told him that she 
would marry him if he could raise or 
produce another ear, as she declined to 
marry a man with only one ear. This 
man came East and was told by a sur¬ 
geon that it would he possible to graft 
another car upon his head, provided he 
could find another mau who would be 
willing to give up his ear. They finally 
found a tramp with an ear that fairly 
matched the one remaining on the rich 
man’s head. The tramp was willing to 
dispose of his ear at a price. The graft¬ 
ing consisted in slicing off a portion of 
the ear stub and then cutting the tramp’s 
ear about two-thirds away from his head. 
The two men were then strapped closely 
together and the living ear pressed upon 
the wound which had been made in the 
stub. The two were held together closely 
and proper dressings applied. The men 
were lashed together for a number of 
days, and actual grafting took place. 
After a portion of the ear was fastened 
the rest was cut away entirely from the 
tramp, so that after a while the rich man 
couhl actually show two ears growing on 
his head. Whether the young woman 
kept her promise or not we cannot say, 
but this indicates some of the wonders of 
modern surgery and the power of modern 
advertising. 
■ i i i —■——— 
Sprouted vs. Unsprouted Seed Potatoes 
On page 1707 Mrs. F. N. comes out as 
an advocate of sprouting all seed potatoes 
before planting. She says: "Never leave 
any sprouts in the eyes of the potatoes be¬ 
fore planting, because planting the seed 
with sprouts takes about three weeks be¬ 
fore the sprout decays, and the new sprout 
drives out again. When I cut my seed 
potatoes I break off the sprouts, and all 
of my potatoes come up in two weeks.” 
Mrs. F. N. is ably answered by Prof. 
Massey, who takes issue with her, stating 
that the eyes of the potatoes arc simply 
terminal buds, and that with these rubbed 
off one jam ply develops a lot of lateral 
December 11, 1020 
buds, which means small potatoes. Mi\ 
Massey seems to got the exact kernel of 
the matter. 
It may interest some to note Fig. 623, 
showing an actual test of sprouting vs. 
no sprouting of seed potatoes, as shown 
in a small garden plot. In the row at 
the right in the foreground next the corn, 
are 13 hills of potatoes from unsprouted 
seed, tried as an experiment. The seed 
of all the remaining garden plot was 
sprouted, the entire garden being planted 
on the same day. The 13 hills from un¬ 
sprouted seed were fully twice the size 
of the others at time photograph was 
made and at harvest time far better re¬ 
sults were obtained. In vigor of growth 
and uniform sizable yield this one test 
was sufficient to convince me for all time 
that it pays to retain the first sprouts on 
the seed potatoes. Mr. Massey is right 
in his advice to keep the potatoes so cold 
and dark in Winter that they will not 
sprout, and if allowed to sprout, that the 
sprouts be carefully saved in planting. 
New York. A. H. PUT.VKK. 
Sprouting Potatoes 
I note your advice about removing 
sprouts on potato seed, which I am thank¬ 
ful for, heretofore breaking them off. I 
note, however, that you will plant in 
"December.” Would not they come, up 
and later be frost-bitten, and if so, would 
not that destroy the crop prospects? 
I have always planted after danger from 
frost, and if any happened to he bitten, 
I have always replanted, on the theory 
that they were “done for.” I.. \v. 
Plainfield, N. J. 
I usually plant early Irish potatoes in 
late February, or very early in March. 
Rut I am trying to keep some of the 
Rovee grown early to plant the coming 
Spring, and I may plant in December if 
there i« danger that they will make long 
sprouts in the cellar. I would not mind 
short sprouts. I have planted in Decem¬ 
ber, but much depouds on the severity of 
the Winter. I have ridged well over the 
furrows in which the potatoes are planted, 
and in our usual Winters here in Mary¬ 
land the frost does not reach them. Rut 
I do not think the December planting 
is best, for they are apt to get up too 
soon in a mild spell in late Winter, and 
get their tops frozen later. I do not like 
the sorouts rubbed off, for the strong 
growth of the terminal bud gives a better 
show for a crop. You could not plant 
in December safely as far north as Plain- 
fie’d. N. J., as your so : > freezes too deeply, 
and in^an extra cold Winter, like the one 
in 1917-18, they would be destroyed here. 
Winter before last Cannas lived out with¬ 
out protection here, and I have often had 
Dahlias to live over Winter where they 
grew. Rut. nevertheless, I do not trust 
to the Winter, and take up all of these 
things that I want to keep. The best 
way is to keep the potatoes so dark and 
cold that they do not sprout till Spring. 
W. F. MASSEY. 
Culture of Tulips 
Will you print your ideas of caring for 
tulip bulbs? o.ir. 
Beaver Dams, N. Y. 
The tulip bulbs purchased in the Fall 
may he planted any time in October or 
November, until the ground freezes. Randy 
loam, well enriched with old manure and 
leaf mold, and thoroughly worked to a 
depth of 12 inches, is the ideal soil, but 
any good garden soil -will give results. 
Fresh manure should never be used near 
bulbs of any sort. Low wet ground is 
very undesirable, and if the spot is not 
well drained it is advisable to raise the 
bed above the surrounding ground. Plant 
the bulbs to a depth of four to six inches, 
four to nine inches apart. The small 
early single kinds are not set as deeply 
or as far apart as the later and larger 
varieties. In planting a large bed, for 
even effect, it is desirable to lift out the 
soil to a uniform depth, stand the bulbs 
in regular order, and then fill in the soil. 
When the ground begins to freeze, cover 
the beds with leaves, dry forest litter, or 
other light material. After danger of 
heavy frosts is past in the Rpring the 
covering should he removed. Tulips may 
remain iu the ground for several years, 
if the tops are not cut off, and if the 
maturing leaves are not smothered by 
other plants, but best results are usually 
obtained by lifting tho bulbs and drying 
off every year or two. Where tulips are 
planted among perennials or at the edge 
of shrubbery they may bo, left for several 
years, but if in beds where other flowers 
are needed they may be lifted when bloom 
is past, and reset in some inconspicuous 
place to ripen their leaves, after whieli 
they may be dried off and stored until 
planting time in the Fall. 
.Tones met his friend Stimson in the 
street the other night. "Hello, old 
fellow!” he exclaimed, "How are you 
getting on?” "Pretty well, thunk you,” 
answered Stimson; “but,” he continued, 
"I’ve something to say to you—you’ll 
have to keep your eves open next week. 
“How is that?” queried Jones. 
"Because you won’t be able to see if 
you don’t,” and before Jones could kick 
him lie was out of sight,—Now York 
Globe. 
