The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1907-08-15

| farmers in Alaska will need is hardy
all purpose COW, and | think the Gal
loway stands nearer the requirements
at the present time than any other
| breed.
Third-Another object of the COVE
eminent in establishing this breeding
station is to aid settlers in Alaska to
obtain the kind of live stock best ad-
apted to the region, and with this
end in view surplus stock will be for
sale for breeding purposes at reason
able prices. In due course of time we
shall establish dairy and manufac-
ture butter and cheese at this station,
as we are now doing at the Kenai
station.
One or more breeds of hardy sheep
will be added to the station as soon
as we are able. The breeds have not
been settled on, but it is probable that
the black-faced Scotch will be one of
them. They should be we'll adapted
to the mountain pastures. Possibly
also the Iceland sheep would do we'll
there. 1t has also been suggested that
it would be an ideal place for the
breeding of Shetland ponies. They
could there maintain their original
sturdy qualities and their diminutive
size without the necessity of resorting
to artificial means to prevent them
from growing too large, as is their
tendency in the corn belt.
By work along these and other re-
lated lines we hope to render the peo-
pie of Alaska service at a nominal
cost to the government. M. D. Snod-
grass until lately an assistant at the
Kansas experiment station, has been
placed in immediate charge of this
new station.
Possibly it may interest you to
know that we have four other stations
in Alaska besides the one just men
toned. The headquarters station is
at Sitka. Our work here aims to be
along the line which shall be of most
benefit to the coast region of Alaska,
and more particularly in southeast
Alaska We devote considerable time
to experiments with fruits and berry
plants, the propagation and distribu-
ton of nursery stock, and the testing
and breeding of plants of all kinds
suited to this climate. We have a
station at Kenai, on the Kenai PENN
sula, devoted at present to live stock
and dairying
We have a station at Copper Cen
ter, in the Copper River valley, one
hundred miles north of Valdez de-
voted chiefly to grain growing, the
production of hay, and experiments
with dry climate plants. To show the
diversity of climate in Alaska I will
mention that while we have an aver
age annual rainfall of eight feet at
Sitka, the average annual rainfall at
the Copper Valley station is less than
ten inches, and while the temperature
seldom reaches zero at Sitka it occa-
sionally goes to 65 degrees below zero
in the Copper River valley, and, on
the other hand it seldom reaches
maximum of 80 degrees in Sitka in
summer, while in the Copper River
valley the maximum is 95 or above.
We have a station at Rampant, on
the Yukon, in latitude 65 degrees 40
minutes, which is devoted chiefly to
experiments with grain and vege-
tables. In some respects we have
scored our best successes here. Hardy
spring grain, that is, early maturing
oats and barley, have matured here
every year since we began work in
| 1900. The summer is short and warm,
and we hope to succeed in developing
varieties which will be certain to ma
ture in ninety days or less from the
date of seeding.
In addition to the foregoing it is
planned to open a station this sum-
mer in the Tanana valley near the
city of Fairbanks. A reservation for
this purpose was made in the summer
of 1905 This station will be devoted
to general farming, with special
view to see how far farming under
these conditions can be made to pay
from a practical standpoint. That
| there is money in farming in Alaska