The daily Alaskan., 1914-09-23
DEpARTENr SENDS SOIL
MyFURTs INTO EAIEBANKs
Trom 5he E.Irbanbs News-Miner:

..aN tItHa.r B .. V -. 4aH--t Ahah H' HAl
 From the Fairbanks News-Miner:
 At the request or secretary Lane,
 tho Bureau of soils of the United
 States Department Of Agriculture
 detailed two soil experts for Alas : ka this summer. one Of whom ar
 rived in Fairyanks last night oyer
 the trail. His name is H. II. Ben
 nett and he came through on Shel- ! dOns auto. Thy other expert Is IT. D. Rice, whom MT. Bennett left in the Cook Inlet country. They worked together over there until about two weeks ago when the lat te, started for the interior.
 Mr. Bennett has been with the service for a great number of years aud has been oug.yoI in examining soils all over the United States, from the Atlantic s,a-os west to the Pacific. He will take many samples os typical soils in this valley, in the lowlauds on the benches and On the hillsides, which will be sent east to Washington for chemical analysis in the government labOra- tories for the purpose of determin- ing their composition. From his examinations and these analysis, the agricultural department will make 8 report oD what the soil will best pEoduce, what they require to increase their producuon,. how they can best be handled by farm CTS, and how much actual farming land there is along the proposed railway Ines to to y--.t in the territory by the government. These reports win all Ug turned over to Secretary Lane and by him sub mitted to PrlGde.. Wilson and con- gress and will ID doubt have an important bearing or laying out the railway l-y5.
 Mr. Bennett and Mr. Rice are the first soil experts eyer sent North, and their appearance marks the be- ginning of IIr,4e. and bro9-er work by the department of agriculture in the development of Alaska. There are a number Of experiment stations now maintained at different points in Alaska, one here and one at Rampant among other places, all of which are in a branch of the az ricuIturaI department. As rapidly as large farming districts have been opened up ill the states, these soil experts have been Of great benefit to farmers and have made eXhaus- tive examinations aad reports which have Leen of great benefit to farm CTS and others engaged in deyelopin farming.
 Over on the coast Nr. Bennett says they have foUAd much very fine agricultural land around Cooks Inlet to which their work has been confined. They worked clear to the head Of trg Susitna valley and will report in full regarding it's farming ..ssiJilit.O5. II, states that they raise gcoL crops of veg etables, oats, barley and hay in that G rict and much Of it is a black ,oam that compares very rayorab,y with ,hc soil tn the rich est southern valleys.
 Coming oyer the trail he made some examinations iu the copper river valley and found some thriyingI farms scattered oyer it. The Tan ana valley looks good to him, but of course lie has not yet been able to do any work here. He will visit practically all the farms in the dis trict and much of the unoccupied region ia his investigations and re- main here IS long as he can work. With so short a time, he cannot make anything but 8 general report, but Secretary Lane desires the in- formation very much and MT. Ben nett is here to get all he Can for the department. Arriving at just this time he will also be able to attend the Panama Valley Fair, which opens @ week from Monday.