Evening star., 1916-10-15
(ospydshf, 1s16 BY Frank q. oarpenter.,
ATppANuc A1..,,.

(ospSdsh& 1874 BY Frank q. oarpente.l
FAIRBANKS. Alaska.
= HAVE rust returned from an au-
tomobile trip through some of
the rich farming lands of tho Ia
mana valley. This part of Alaska
has tho largest body of good soil in
the territory. 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 Ia
mana bottom. It comprises a tract
about 200 miles long and. In places, 10
miles wide. Altogether 1t is about as
big as the state of New Jersey, and its
cultivable country is one-ffth as large
as the state of Ohio. My journey today
was through rolling region as beau
tiful as the Pennsylvania foothills of
the Alleghenies. The land rises from
the river and gently slopes TO the
mountains. which are far off in the
distance.
AS we rode up the valley it was DIFF
hcult to realize that we were on the
border of arctic Alaska. The ther-
mometer was at 80 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 passed through plains spot
ted with wild flowers. There were beds
OF buttercups as yellow as gold and
daisies as pink as the cheeks of a baby
In some places the ground was covered
with blueberry bushes, the fruit as
large as cherries and loaded with Juice
Now we passed through forests of
birch, spruce and cottonwood Some
OF the trees were two feet in diameter.
Where the woods had been cut or
burned away there were vast e1panses
of flaming pink flowers as high as the
wheels of the car. and everywhere the
roadside was hedged with green grass
md 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.
We passed many small farms cut out
OF the woods. with oat hay and pota-
toes in blossom. We saw cattle graz
ing, and by and by came to the expert
ment farm which the government has
established in the heart of the Tanana
valley. about four miles from Fair
banks. The farm Is beautifully located
1t consists of 1890 acres of gently
sloping hillsides and bottom land. siop-
ing at one side to a wide stream and
rolling thence on up and over a low
range of hills.
At one end of the farm is the site re-
Gently selected for the Alaska Agricul-
tural College. the corner stone of which
was laid in 1915. The college will stand
on a hill, giving magnificent views for
fifty miles up and down the Tanana val
ley, taking in Fairbanks and also the
blue mountains. far on in the distance.
On a bright day Mount Mckinley Is
visible. The campus Will include a
forest of birch trees straight as an
arrow. Their trunks are as white as
frosted silver. and they end at the top
in green leaves
The experiment station has now frora
so to 100 acres under cultivation, and
E forty acres more axe being cleared
along the roadside. AS we rode by we
could gee men cutting the trees and
burning the brush. A little farther on
we came to 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 through 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
iipening. and side by side with them
strips of experimental grains of one
kind and another. On the crest of the
hills the farm buildings with
buckwheat in front, and q 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
were luxuriant and the hilled-up rows
reached to my thighs.
Potatoes grow well in this part Of
Alaska. Two hundred bushels per acre
Is not uncommon, and the country is
now raising about all that is needed for
the towns and the camps. A year or SO
ago the station sold the yield OF five
acres for s3,500. and 1t has records Of
three acres which have produced a
value Of from $500 to $500 per acre for
years in succession. Potatoes are sold
by the pound. They bring from to 9
g cents. according to season. Some claim
the tubers lack the mealiness of those
Of the Rocky mountains. Those have
had, have been dry and delicious.
] spent some time at the experiment