The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1908-10-15


that should be planted and not plant
ed. for the benefit of others. You have
certainly done great experimental
work there, and in our business we
have gotten best results from individ-
uals who do the work of this kind be-
cause they love it, rather than from
the stations. Again thanking you for
such a pleasant and profitable outing
in your orchard, we remain, truly,
William P. Stark"
1t has always been mystery to me
how some fruit growers can maintain
that the Black Ben and the Gano are
one and the same apple. AS we grow
them here. no man unless very poor
observer or blind with prejudice, would
ever claim that they are identical. The
Black Ben, as we raise 1t here, under
our almost continued sunshine, during
the summer and autumn, takes on
much darker hue than the Gano. The
latter differs from the old Ben Davis
in being more uniformly red but never
so far as my observation goes, has the
deep black of the Black Ben. The
Black Ben sells better owing to it's
very fine appearance.
man as the President of the State
Board of Horticulture of Missouri
speak so we'll of my experiments in
testing the different varieties of the
apple. 1t was matter of regret on
our part that we could not have had
Mr.. Stark and Mr. Irvine spend much
longer time in our 100-acre orchard.
know it would have been time well
spent on my part.
Recently 1 enjoyed call from Prof.
G. G.. GeOrgeSOn, special agent IN
charge of Alaska Investigations, Sitka,
Alaska. He represents the Depart
ment of Agriculture, Washington, d.
c., in these Investigations. 1t is sur
prise to many people to learn what
has been accomplished in growing
| wheat, oats, barley, grasses, vegetables
of all kinds and fruits in Alaska. Mon.
| teith's geography, some years since,
| represented Alaska by the supposedly
significant picture of polar bear on
cake of ice. That made false i'm
| preston. A prominent writer in an
Eastern paper in describing Alaska
| headed his article "Uncle Sans Ice
Box" So the idea has been quite
prevalent that the products Of Alaska
consist of ice, polar bears and other
fur-bearing animals, gold, silver and
other minerals. : Never was a greater
mistake made in estimating the re-
sources of a country. The fishing in
dustry is immense, there are large
bodies of very valuable timber in all
Southern Alaska. Grass grows in inn
mense quantities in the Yukon and
Tanana valleys. Great herds of cat
| tie and horses can be pastured on
! these plains in the summer and win
tered over On hay produced in these
values. Rev. Galen Wood, living here
in Seattle, told me once that he rode
on horse back across a section of the
Yukon valley as large as the state of
New Jersey where the red-top grass
was as high as his horses back. Think
of the possibilities of hay-making on
a meadow as big as one of our states.
Prof Georgeson has already issued
some bulletins on the agriculture of
Alaska and more are to follow. Some
day Alaska will sustain an immense
population not wholly devoted to min
ing, but very largely devoted to stock
raising and other agricultural pursuits.
The government is acting wisely in
sending a trained man into that vast
territory to lead in developing it's ag-
ricultural resources. Prof. Georgeson
impressed me as a man we'll qualified
for this important work.
Prof. Georgeson owns a fruit ranch
in the Yakima valley, a few miles west
of Prosser. He called to consult me
on a number of points relating to the
care of his orchard and the handling
of his fruit. I was glad to meet him