El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-10-14

-AIRBANKS Alaska Oct IA
have just returned from an auto
~ mobile trip through some Of the
Fich farming lands Of the lTanana
valley This part Of Alaska has the
largest body Of good soil in the terri
tory, and the government is expecting
an invasion of homesteaders as soon as
the railroad from Seward to Fairbanks
is completed
Much of the land is IN what IS
known as the Tanana bottom. 1t com
-trises a tract about zoo miles long and
n places. 70 miles wide Altogether it
IS about as big as the state Of New
Jersey. and its cultivable country is
one-fifth as large as the state OF Ohio
- Ny journey today was through a rolling
,TeEiOn as beautiful as the Pennsyl-
wanna foothills Of the AlleChenies- The
land rises from the river and gently
slopes 10 the mountains which are
far off in the distance.
With the Thermometer at 90.
As We rode up the valley il was dff-
ficult to realize that we were on the
border Of arctic Alaska The Their
mometor was at 90 degrees in the
shade There was no snow on the tops
of the mountains. and the hills and
valleys were covered with green At
times We nassed through plains spot
ted with wild flowers There were beds
Of huttercupS as yellow as gold, and
daisies as pink as the cheeks Of a baby
In some places the ground was covered
with burberry bushes the fruit as
large as cherries and loaded with juice.
Now We passed through forests Of
birch, spruce and cottonwood. Some
d. the trees were two feet in diameter.
! Where the woods had been cut or
burned away there were vast eXpanses
Of flaming pink flowers as high as the
wheels Of the car, and everywhere the
aHHar = 10 eTr-n.n
and red-top that reached to the hubs.
Now and then We went over corduroy.
our automobile bouncing high under
the fast driving Of the Jehu Of this
northern frontier
Many Farms Cut Out of Woods.
We passed many small farms cut out
Of the woods. with cat hay and pota-
Soes in blossom We saw cattle graz
ing, and by and by came to the expert
ment farm which the government has
esta blished in the heart of the Tanana
valley. about four miles from Fair
banks The farm is beautifully located. |
consists Of 1880 acres Of gently
eloping hillsides and bottom land. slop-
ing at one side to a wide stream and /
rolling thence on up and over a low 4
range Of hills
At one end Of the farm is the site re- |
gently selected for the Alaska Agricul- I
tural college. the corner stone of which /
was laid in 1878 The college will stand 4
on a hill. giving magnificent views for I
80 miles up and down the Tanana val i
ley. taking in Fairbanks and also the 4
Slue mountains. far off in the distance. /
'Dn a bright day Mount Mckinley is !
visible The campus will include a
forest of birch trees as straight as an
arrow Their trunks are as white as
frosted silver, and they end at the top
in green leaves
An Alaskan Experiment Station.
The experiment station has now from I
80 TO 100 acres under cultivation. and
20 acres more are being cleared along :
fhe roadside AS we rode by We could
See men cutting the trees and burning /
The brush A little further on we came
10 grain fields. not little patches, but
fields that would be large on any
farm in Virginia We passed tracts Of
oats ready for reaping. and rode
Though barley which was four or more
feet in height. Above these on the
hillsides were long strips Of Siberian
wheat. planted last spring and now
ripening, and side by side with them !
strips Of experimental grains Of one
kind and another. On the crest OF the
Aells were the farm buildings with
buskwheat in front and a potato patch
of five or six acres between it and the
oat fields We first passed The pota-
toes were in full blossom. the vines