Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-12-28
MEMBER OF ASSOCIATED PRESS
FARMING IN ALASKA.

tDDut 5D,o''' WnIlt persons dlc !Nli6
IN Alaska. most OF them miners. he
anne i coming when there will be thou
sand, Of white farmers IN the territory
and they will have home market for
Ill the food they produce for man and
beast
1t present ncinn> grown in Alaska
sell at a dollar apiece, cucumbers about
~ cents each. hay brought from Seattle
and sledged inland in winter, $500 a
ION, while potatoes, onions, flour and
other such articles often bring about
a dollar a pound over the counter. The
::,nt II all supplies j, SO enormous that
wage, must be very high, and conse'
qlrtt,y it does not pay to work any ex-
sept the richer strikes OF placer gold
Il IS now known that the mineral pros
,rct> OF lower value aggregate vastly
more wealth than the rich claims, but
tlcy must remain unworked until a
cheaper supply Of food makes lower
y lse, possible.
r. i; true that railroads are now ex-
ending into the interior and that they
will be supplemented by good wagon
roa IS: but if the base of supplies con-
i,1,e> to be in the States. l,nmo to
1000 miles away, the cost of living and
labor will still be too high to permit the
largest development Of Alaska's re-
sources.
The remedy is Alaskan grown food
for TIE white population. Fortunately
back Of the snow mountains and glaciers
that ire the coasts there are many thou.
sands among the millions of acres Of
the interior plateau that are adapted for
the production of farm crops and meat.
This fact is now fully demonstrated.
There are also thousands OF acres of
tllabe land in small areas nearer the
sea. conspicuousls in the Copper River
and Cook Inlet regions. where there is
room and a growing demand for large
farming industry as an adjunct to the
expanding mining interest.
The government agricultural expert
Anent station at Kadak reports thous-
inds of square miles Of luxuriant nat
'ral grasses capable OF supplying large
grazing industry The experiment sta
lion at Rampant on the Yukon is rip
entng wheat, rye. barley and buckwheat
within seventy-tive miles OF the Arctic
circle The experiment station at Fair
BANKS on The Tanana river and the other
stations are maturing all the hardy
vegetables. cultivated grasses and small
grains. Similar reports come from
many scores OF gardens and ranches Of
nome teaders and mission stations. Mr..
Levi Chubbuck of the agricultural de-
partrent, who spent the summer OF 1909
n studying the agricultural possibilities
Of the territory, says that the Tanana
and upper Yukon valleys will at no very
distant day be producing from the soil
most Of the food supply OF a largely in
creased mining population. He adds
thai the number of homestcaders now in
.tle territory and what they are accom-
plisting are sufficient proof Of the feas-
ibility Of farming in Alaska.
These encouraging facts do not indi-
cate that brilliant opportunities are now
open in Alaska for our farmers. They
simply mean that when transportation
by rail and good wagon roads is pro-
videi the crops that can certainly be
grown will find good home markets, and
that hardy pioneers, who are fitted for
this severe labor of tanning the wider
ness will find their patient toll reward
ed in Alaska 1t is the opinion Of those
VINO know Alaska best that as yet its
mineral wealth has only been scratched.
The agricultural possibilities will also be
developed and home grown food will
greatly facilitate the working of the
enormous resources in gold, copper and
.o,I