The Ketchikan miner., 1909-07-24


 if he be the lucky one. To the capi- talist and engineer, an empire to be openeed up by railroads, highways cities, and the development of gold, copper and coal mines; while to the average man it must be confessed Alaska is but small spot on the map somewhere near the pole where the snow lies deep and men grow fabul- orsly wealthy-the source of seal skins and an endless stream of gold.
 ''Of these varied impressions each is in part correct but composite of all would best represent the Alaska of today. Yet it is no easy task to blend such discordent elements. Even Alas kans accustomed by long residence to think of their country in terms of it's great magnitude, seldom do it justice. The Alaska fisherman has little in common with the inland prospector as has his prototype of Glocester with the Colorado miner. The life of the whaler. again is outside the experi- ence of either prospector or fisherman. The lode miner of Juneau is apt to 0espise the placer miner of Fairbanks as little more than a rowing adven. urer. The pioneer prospector who has won his gold from the auriferous gra- veis unaided by capital or machinery views and advent of the trained engi- neer with suspicion. Those who have spent their lives among the somber rocky fords and heavily forested islands of southeastern Alaska evince great skepticism regarding the possi- bility of any agricultural develop ment On the other and, the resident of inland A laska familiar with broad fertile valleys, luxuriant grass and bright days, realizes that farming is possible. The small fur trader in isol- ated points has still another point of veiw, for he lives under almost as primitive conditions as did the voy ager of the Great Lakes two centuries ago. At Nome and Fairbanks, the thriving centers of rich mining dis tricts possessed of telegraphs, tele- phones, railways, electric lights-all the essential and most of the luxuries of modern life are to be found.
 It is, therefore, not easy to answer 1 the question: What is Alaska? For 1t is nothing less than continental in it resources. Alaska, with it's contiguous islands measures east and west and north and south, almost the same as the continent of Australia. Moreover its geographical position and the dis tribution of it's, mountain ranges give it as great diversity of climate and vegetation as any equal area on the globe. The heavy rainfall, cool sum- mers and mild winters of the Pacific seabord are in strong contrast with the semi-arid conditions with the short hot summers and the long, cold win ters of the costal region lying beyond the costal barrier. In contrast to both of these again are the barren grounds of north ern Alaska, where strictly polar conditions prevail"
 Of the agricultural possibilities Mir. Brooks says
 "Even those fairly familiar with Alaska can see no possibilities of agri- ulture. They naturally compare it with such rich lands and favorable climate as those of California or Illinois, for getting the sturdy race bred upon the stony hill slopes of New England, or the agriculture of northern Europe. They forget, too, that our rich lands are being rapidly taken up and that almost no extensive areas remain unoccupied in the states except as they are delevoped by irrigation or new methods of dry land farming. Year by year the northern limit of grain rip ening is pushed further toward the pole, so that lands which would have been considered valueless for farming a generation ago, now support thriv- ing agricultural population.