Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1898-12-26
|ALASKA'S BIG RESOURCES
GREAT POSSIBILITIES THERE IN THE
LINE or AGRICULTURE.


Was Commissioned by Congress to Sur
vey the Climate, Soils and Economic
Plants of Our Glacial Possession.
The most interesting traveller who
has lately returned from our Arctic
possessions is Dr.. Walter Evans, some
time ago commissioned under special
act of Congress to survey the climate,
soils and economic plants of Alaska.
A, great part of time his sole compan.
ion was Special Agent Ball, sent this
year to established Weather Bureau
stations in the Territory The greater
part of the doctors camping was done
at Kussilof, considerably north on
Cooks Inlet.
DIR. Evans believes that much of the
agricultural activity of Norway, Swe-
den, Finland, Scotland, Iceland and
the Orkney Islands may be success
fully reproduced in portions of Alaska.
The climates, soils and topography OF
all the regions named are similar. The
southwestern portion will offer good
facilities for stock raising. The only
drawback will be the providing of win
areas here Of grass nearly rs high as q
mans head. In the interior the win
ters are colder and the summers hot
ter. In the lower Yukon region nu-
merous gardens have already been es-
tablished, especially by missionaries.
The commercial companies have
raised good vegetables along the Yu-
kon further east than Circle City and
near the Canadian boundary. Two
years ago three thousand pounds of
turnips were raised by q woodman
near Circle City. A large vegetable
garden has been established opposite
Dawson. in the Klondike region.
The white Alaskans now live mostly
on potatoes, turnips, cabbages, let
tuce, peas, radishes and rutabagas, as
far as vegetables are concerned. The
natives raise little else than potatoes,
rutakagas, turnips and sometimes
onions. They gather salmon berries,
huckleberries, cranberries, currants
and raspberries, and preserve them in
seal oil. The Thlinkets cultivate q
plant which they call "koo," dry its
underground bulbs and grind them
into powder for making sort of cake.
They also eat the roots of the wild
parsnip weed, and drink sort of tea
made from the leaves of another wild
plant. They also relish skunk cab.
bage, among other weeds, as o pot
herb. The leaf stocks of the plant
Heracleum Lanatum are peeled and
chewed at irregular intervals, taking
the place of our peanuts or foods eaten
more for pleasure than nutrition. I'm
less this luxury Is well peeled the
mouth becomes very sore from the
hairs which, the doctor says, cover the
entire stem.
A very popular food of the natives
is known as ''thlakusk. 1t is made
from q marine alga which grows on
kelp. After storms or very high tides
large quantities are collected and pre-
served. 1t is highly esteemed for
stomach disorders. and is similar to
the "sloke," "slokan" or "laver" used
in the North of Ireland. The root of
skunk cabbage also has high reputa-
tion as domestic medicine, as we'll as
the huckbean. DIR. Evans believes
that the use OF native plants by the
Alaskans has greatly diminished since
the advent Of the whites. The flour,
sugar and other prepared food ma
terials of the latter now mostly sup
plement the native diet of fish, seal
oil and meat.
The natural timber of Alaska, the
doctor says, is sufficient to supply the
Territory for all the time to come, if
properly managed. The native grasses
are especially valuable.
The Alaskans now pursue the same
methods of agriculture throughout the
whole Territory. The gardens every
where appear neglected. Those of the
whites are often no better than those
of the natives. A crop once planted
with great pains is allowed to care for
itself. The result is usually large
and luxuriant crop of weeds.
Upon the small islands about Ka-
diak and Prince Williams Sound
there is springing up promising ami
NAL industry. Blue foxes are being
taken there and bred for their furs.
German carp will probably be intro
duced in the fresh water lakes of this
region to furnish food for the foxes.
The other native animals are fast de-
creasing. These are the white-tailed
deer, moose, mountain sheep and
bears. About the lakes behind the
coast are the breeding grounds of vast
| HnoIfc of 1,,,1-o aud o,oaoa