Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1911-09-16
potato chief VoaetabIe.


this country.
Potato Chief Vegetable.
The potato. in fact, is the chief veg
etable crop of Alaska. Mr.. Georgeson
saws 1t Is of more value than any other
single kind Of vegetable. Potatoes can
be grown successfully in all parts oil
Alaska, even north Of the Arctic circle.
when proper locations are selected ana
proper methods followed. At the differ
ent experiment stations. experiments
are being steadily carried out with
view to the discovery of the best meth
DDS and the best varieties
Strawberries Grow Too.
Alaska would hardly he considered
good place to raise strawberries but
the efforts Of the department of agri-
culture in this direction have been at
tended with much success. Straweer-
ries grow wild in many parts of the
country and the work of most interest
at the Sitka experiment station the last
year, Mr.. Georgeson reports. was the
cultivation Of hybrid strawberries.
These experiments have been success
full Some of the plants produced her
ries that would exceed in size the aver
age straw berry found in the market
and with few exceptions all Of the ber-
ries are superior in favor to the cult
waited varieties.
Root Crops Raised.
Considerable success has been met
with in the cultivation OF cabbage,
cauifowe. and root crops OF all kinds.
Apples and like fruits have given little
promise Some fruits. however, in adj
81 m =
toned. do well. The currant. the goose
berry and the raspberry. according to
the report. thrive and fruit as we'll as
anywhere on earth The currant and
gooseberry are both indigenous to
Alaska. The red currant is described
as abundant in many sections and Mr..
Georgeson adds:
The writer once was member o. a
party of berry pickers less than de-
gree from the Arctic circle, and the
raspberry was the most abundant
fruit Alaska has other berries equal
ly as good. The BURBERRY Of the in
terror is so abundant in places that
the slopes look blue at a distance, and
the native cranberry is also found in
low, moss grown thickets in the in
terror and in he swamps in the coast
region"
Some Success With Grains.
AS to grains. some success has been
met with It is said barley will be
the most important grain which can
be raised in the interior. It has a
wider field of usefulness than oats
Barley meal can be used, and in north
ern European countries is used, largely
as flour for domestic use. The
/ housewives do not make bread .of II
but they use 1t for all other culinary
purposes for which flour is used. More
| over, barley is an excellent stock food
Barley natures in a shorter season
| than oats, rye or wheat and Is there
! fore less liable to failure from early
| fall frosts. Winter wheat has beer
more successful than spring wheat
the latter being a failure.
Farm Hands Get $3.50 Per Day.
The down trodden hired man" has
| a paradise in Alaska, providing he car
hnd anybody to hire him for farn
work The government agents at Fair
ba inks experiment station found tina,
wages for common labor were $3.50 8
day This means that only about q
! fourth OF the work can be done for a
given sum that could be done for the
| same sum in the states. 1t means
! too, that only such agricultural work
can be done in the territory as car
be done by the owner himself or by
members Of his family.
Livestock Thrives.
| In the raising of livestock, It APP
| pears the experiments have met witt
| a large measure of success. Cattle
and sheep thrive. The hay supply II
good. Moreover. settlers have mel
with success in raising hogs. One set
tier reports that the hogs and bears
feed over considerable Of the same
ground and he adds this observation
which has at least some Of the ear
| marks Of nature fake. or would have
! il not in government report:
when they happen to come close
together, the hog first noticing this
gives the alarm and runs away from
the bear, but the bear appears to b
az much frightened, and runs fully al
fast the other way"
| The Wild grasses have proven excel.
| lent for livestock. Angora goats thrive
| we'll Some Of the settlers say they
anticipate more from stock raising
than from any other kind Of farming
in the territory.