The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-05-24
PROLIFIC ALAsAA.
Territory Rich in Fish, Game, orse
 and Agriculture.

Skagway Alaskan.
 Alaska is teeming with animal life. From the countless millions of fish crowd ing it's thousands of rivers to the still more countless millions of game birds in the cover of her limitless forests and plains the broad land Is Hfe-sustaining from the Pacific to the Arctic Ocean. from the agreat lakes at the head of the Yukon to the Behring Sea. Principally the salmon canneries of Alaska produce at the present time more than 30 per cent of all the salmon canned in the whole world. and the industry Is still in it's infancy. With the rapid development of the salmon hatoherics and more ra- tionai management the whole catch of the rest of the world will be equal to only . fraction of the annual output of Alaska.
 But salmon Is not the only fish school ing on the Alaskan coast and it's outlying banks. The output of the herring fish cries. that were started only two or three years ago. has already reached q mag indecent proportion, and Will in, the near future be second to none in the world. the tremendous herring fisheries of Nor way not excepted. Everybody had heard something of the cod fisheries of New foundlsnd or of Dogger banks of Lofoden in Norway. But some day there will be reports from Alaskan cod banks that will reduce these now famous fishing grounds to comparative insignificance.
 Reports of vast schools of nackefel. larger and richer than those caught in the Atlantic, are now coming in from the westward, and American enterprise will soon take advantage of this new field. The immensity of the Alaskan halibut banks is almost beyond conception. Up- on them N fishing schooner can be loaded in few hours Only a lack of rapid transit to the markets of the world has kept the shipping of halibut from being Etft. r. of Alaska as game country is world wide. While tho costly, afur-beariug afi- mals are now becoming scarce in the more settled parts. there are still large areas where they abound. The deer on the islands of the cost are stiii plentiful, In spite of the enormous. numbers killed every years, and in the interior theRcari- bpu and moose arc still common. Bears of several varieties arevery plentiful In wilder portions of the country. Bands of mountain goats range the higher Aup- lands. Of fur animals. the fox. lynx. maften, beaver. otter, mink and many other species are still caught each year in large numbers.
 Along the Alaskan. coast the sea is alive with schools of oolicans, bass, many varieties of cod. Aace. trout. sthe sporttve grayling. the vofdcious plltee and deli cious large whitefish. Through the en- actment of an effective game law. fur and fowl and meat and the invigorating sport of the chase will be saved for future gen efations. fee
 Alaska has limitiess forests of red and yellow cedar, spruce hemiock, birch, cot tonwood and alder. Some of the trees grow to large size and will scale on the average better than the timber in the Eastern forests, Tn Alaska is the reserve supply for American lumbermen. Hun dreds of miles north of Skagway the at- tempts at gardening and farming have been surprisingly successfuh Finest veg etables are now cultivated4at Dawson. Good gardens at Eagle City and at other places along the Yukon are reported. For years successful culture has been prac- ticed at Holy Cross Mission. on the Yu- kOn. - %
 The great river valleys like Yukon, Tan ana and Cooper River embrace cultivAbie areas large enough for good size States.
 The people of the States will with wonder see proofs of what Alaska can produce at the Worlds Fair in St. Louis next sum mer. This country can exhibit garden produce that is incomparable in growth
 and quality.