VOL. LXIV
INDIANAPOLIS, OCTOBER 2, 1909.
NO. 39
Agriculture in Alaska.
By Guy E. Mitchell.
There is in the range of possibility
that the recent discovery of the North
Pole—either by Cook or Peary—will
increase the domain of the United
States by thirty thousand odd square
miles of territory and if this should
happen it is not known to what use this
land, or may be ice might be placed.
The great discovery, however, has served as a gentle reminder that already
there is considerable valuable land
owned by Uncle Sam in the region of
the Arctic Circle—not wholly Ice or
barren land—which is of considerable
value. In Alaska,    contrary  to  the
general conception of most people, mining or fishing is not the only valuable
asset of our possession, but under the
direction of the Department of Agriculture, farming is prospering, and it is
not improbable that the time may come
when agriculture will produce more
wealth even there than do the gold or
other mines.
Experiment stations are located in
Alaska at five different points, some as
far north as the Arctic Circle, where
efforts toward growing live stock, horticultural and cereal crops have met
with a fair measure of success.
It is believed by officials of the Department of Agriculture that live stock
may, in the end, prove most valuable
in agricultural pursuits in Alaska, and
to that end 40 head of Galloway cattle
have been secured, and this herd has
been divided between the Kenai Station and the newly established animal
breeding station on Kodiak Island. The
principal experiments at the central station at Sitka are along horticultural
lines and plant breeding. As a result
of the plant-breeding experiments hybrids of strawberries, raspberries and
other small fruits have been produced.
Cereal investigations and the production of forage are being given especial
attention at both the Rampart and
Copper Center stations—the former being in the Yukon "Valley, quite near the
Arctic Circle.
These experiments are not conducted
for the mere sake of securing scientific
data, but it must be remembered that
there are thousands of inhabitants of
Alaska who are not dependent on the
mines for their livelihood and, as in
Pioneer days, turn to Mother Earth for
their daily bread. As an instance of
'he beneficial work of the Stations, dur-
"*g 1907, the Sitka Station distributed
"•ore than 12,000 fruit trees and shrubs
thruout the Territory.
As a result of the co-operation between the stations and settlers some
vpry important facts have been brought
°ut. regarding the possible extension of
agriculture in Alaska. One of the
neatest surprises to the officials was
the receipt of samples of well-grown
vegetables from Judge Frank L. Howard, United States commissioner at
oldfoot, Alaska. Coldfoot is located
about 68 degrees North, 60 miles north
*>£ the Arctic Circle, and the fact that
Judge Howard should be able to grow
these vegetables to such perfection in
hat far northern latitude speaks volumes for Hie possibilities of Alaska. It
■s true that such results are not ob-
ained spontaneously. To grow vegetables o. any kind, even with moderate
success,    requires Judgment  as to  the
selection of the garden and care and
forethought in the cultivation of the
crop. The officials were further convinced of the truth of the Judge's
claims when an inspection was made
by an agent who saw Judge Howard's
garden and was struck with the possibilities it revealed. The following is
middle of September. I grew' a garden
from the seed you send me, also from
seed I got in Seattle. My radishes,
lettuce, carrots, beets, rhubarb and
potatoes are very good. Would average fairly well with such as I have
grown   on   Puget   Sound. I   planted
three kinds of    peaas—Earliest of    All,
Artesian Well, on farm of J  A.    Molter,     Marshall     County.
the information contained in the letter
from the Commissioner:
"I send you a few samples from my
garden this year, gathered at random
and  not picked. 1 will  harvest my
crop about the 10th, and will then send
you full report.
"Rhubarb: Grown from seed planted
in the house in April and transplanted
to the garden May 15. Stalk, from the
ground to base of leaf, 19 inches.
"Cucumber: Grown from seed planted in the house in April, and transplanted to open garden  last of May.
"Potatoes:     Planted last of May.
"Growing weather will last two
weeks yet. I can not send by mail an
8-pound head of cabbage or a 16-pound
turnip. Frank E. Howard,
Sept.   1,  1906. Commissioner.
Another interesting report was received from Mr. .T. D. Johnston, of Bear
Lake, near Seward, Alaska. Mr.
Johnston is a bona fide farmer and :s
making a success of his business. He
took up a homestead a few miles from
Seward four years ago and is now comfortably sett'ed In his letter, dated
October 30, he stated:
'•l,ast June we burned about 30 acres
of old logged-off land and seeded lt
down to timothy, which now stands ii
inches high and is as green as in the
summer. This shows that tame grass,
timothy or clover, will give at least six
weeks more pasture than native grass,
as native grass was yellow here in the
Little Gem and Alaska. Alaska I received from you and they gave the
best results. My cabbage was a failure. They were nice plants when I
set them out about May 20, but they
did not grow well. Grew slowly; just
commenced to make head this fall.
Clover that I planted in the fall of
1905 I have cut twice this summer
(1906), which shows that I can cut two
crops of clover here for silage. Every
one of my hundred plants of strawberries grew lovely—just as well as on
Puget  Sound.
I must speak of our chickens. Last
Winter, in February, I sent an order to
Seattle for four dozen Plymouth Rock
pullets. In due time they came and a
nice bunch they were. In a few days
they commenced to lay eggs, and they
have laid all summer. Some set; so
we have raised 168 young ones and sold
$20 worth per month of eggs in Seward. If all goes well till February 1,
each hen will clear above her feed $4.
That is good enough."
Letters from correspondents show
parsnips 18 and 24 inches long; celery
two feet high; turnips weighing nine
pounds and potatoes two pounds each;
Marrowfat pea vines 9 feet high. These
results indicate great fertility with
hard labor as Indicated ln one letter
stating: "My experiments have taught
me the value of seaweed and flsh guano
as a nice fertilizer and I believe that
farming In Alaska can be made a pay
ing proposition if one farms the same
as they do In the States—-with a team.
Selection of soil  is a factor that is to
be considered of great importance."
 . ♦ «	
A Few Farm    Failings.
Editors  Indiana Farmer:
One of the most common failings o£
the average farmer is to pursue what seems to be the cheapest
course, when, in the long run, he really
loses. Cheap hired help , cheap tools,
and cheap live stock are examples of
what he considers as economy, but
which he will And, sooner or later, to be
dear at any price.
Part of his tools or machinery are
frequently too badly worn to do efficient work. Still, he doesn't appear
to see that in most cases, he loses
enough in a single season to buy a half-
dozen first-class tools like the one needed, and yet have a handsome profit remaining from the extra crop produced
by  the  aid  of  effective   machinery.
Some farmers allow small amounts
of manure to lie around in various
places, and then talk of selling the
farm because it is becoming less productive every year. Others, equally as
short-sighted, plant corn in the same
field for five or six years, and expect
the soil to maintain its fertility. S.ill
another class will have nothing but
corn on their very choicest land, and
then condemn small-grain and truck
crops for not proving more profitable
on thin, worn-out land.
Farmers who are land-owners, obtain
credit so readily and find it so convenient to go in debt, that it soon requires
a mortgage on the farm to meet the
out-standing bills. Giving a mortgage
is order to make an investment is bad
enough, but a mortgage given for the
purpose of paying over-due obligations
is about equal to a free ticket to the
poor-house. And these are the very
misguided mortals who call their rash
speculations "hard luck" and grumble
at what they term the way the world
is serving them.
The great draw-back is, most of us
keep our eyes on the large profits,
never noticing smaller leaks. Then,
when the big gains fall short, they with
all the minor losses, sum up a most discouraging total. It's the seemingly
little and insignificant things that count
after all, since they soon coalesce and
form the greater things. A little extra care in handling the crops at harvest-time may mean more products and
of a higher quality, which is but another term for greater profits. Later
on, a little care and judgment in tending to the stock and feeding the year's
supply of grain and roughage, cannot
fail to bring about gratifying results—
the product of economy, foresight, and
close application in farm management.
Missouri. M.   A.   C.
Employment Bureau.
The free employment bureau in the
office of the state statistician is helping to solve the farm labor question.
J. L. Peetz, State Statistician, believes
that when a knowledge of this bureau
has spread among the farmers they will
be able to get in touch with persons
willing to go from the cities to the
farms. Already a number of letters
have been received from persons who
wish places on farms and others from
farmers who are seeking help. Mr.
Peetz expects to have many applications from farmers who are seeking
men to harvest their bumper crop of
corn.