Evening star., 1916-10-15

Rickert expects to harvest this year
about twenty-five tons OF turn1ps. nve
tons of beets and thirty tons OF CAP
bages. As we went through one OF the
fields I pulled up cabbage and put II
on the scales in the greenhouse. 1t
weighed twenty-six pounds. Others
weigh moro. Cabbages are now worth
8 cents pound, and caulihowers are
selling at from 25 to 20 cents a pound.
Some of the crop Is sold when 1t IS
taken out of the ground. The rest is
stored away IN the cellar ana marketed
during the winter. :.
The hothouses are one of the most
important parts of this farm. There
are several, each devoted to different
crop. There Is one 100 feet long that
grows melons only. including water
melons. casabas and cantaloupes. The
vines are trained upon wires running
along under the glass, and from the
beds up to the roof. From these wires
the melons hang down, the heavier ones
being supported by rags as though IN
sling to prevent them breaking the
now ripe. 1 asked as to the price. and
was told that they sell for dollar
pound. Some of the melons weigh four
or flve pounds, which means four or
five dollars for cantaloupe.
During my stay in the Tanana valley
I have asked the farmers and agrtcul-
tural experts some questions as to the
farming conditions. They are alto
gether different from those OF most
parts of the United States proper. Fair
banks is more than one hundred miles
south of the arctic circle. and the grow
ing season is short. ranging from
three to four months. and extending In
favorable seasons perhaps a half month
longer. The last spring frosts occur
about the middle of May. and frosts be-
gin again during the latter part of Au-
guest or first of September. There Is
really no darkness in midsummer. and
t<x1,x 70 fha N
of the crop. June. July and August are
warm. the thermometer sometimes go
ing to 96 degrees.
The winters are cold, in the Tanana
valley the mean temperature In Janu-
ary being about 20 degrees below zero.
The thermometer ranges from the
freezing point to go or 10 degrees be-
low zero during December. January and
February After the freeze-up. which
begins about the last Of October. there
is steady cold weather from then until
May. Tho ground Is frozen as hard as
a rock: quiet bodies OF water become
ice to a depth of six feet; and there is
from three to six feet Of ice on the
lakes and the streams. The Yukon has
three or four feet Of ice. The streams
are then the sled roads: and travel Is
easier than in tho summer. The ice
and snow begin to melt in April and
early May. The small streams how into
the larger ones, raising the ice sheet 20
that 1t Is torn away from the shore. ~
breaks into pieces and starts on 1ts way
to the sea. the cakes Of ice grinding
against one another and piling up IN
great masses. AS they go on they carry
every movable thing In their path. TINS
movement lasts for week or SO. wnen
the streams clear. and the boats sear'
out from their winter quarters.
The soil is fairly fertile. some Oh
that about Fairbanks grows two hun
dred bushels Of potatoes per acre
without manure. When the WOODS are
cut down the native red-top springs
up. There is pasture everywhere in
the summer. The best lands are sne
gently sloping hills, composed OF nne
silt, sand and gravel. Tho most OF th the
soil is sandy The very best best 's tbsre .ae
are altogether half million acres IN
the Tanana valley.
I close this letter by warning the
would-be settler that cutting farm
Of the ice is no baby job. It is bet
ter suited to men OF from twenty to
thirty than those over sixty. The nfst
year or so will be full of hard work.
and the homesteader should orlns
along enough money to keep himself
and his family during that time. Prac-
tically all the land needs clearing.
cabin will have to be built, ana q
garden patch cut out of the woods.
sible, a hothouse should be erected.
The most of the work will have to be
done by the farmer and his family.
wages are high. A common hand gets
70 or IS day and board, or. u
hired right along, from 800 to $50 q
month Mr. Rickert pays his 'lady
COOK" $7s a month and her board. A
servant who does general housework
women who come in to help on wash
Gays and sweeping days will charge
from 90 cents to rs cents an hour.
These arc the wages in Fairbanks.
Inc result 10 that most Of the women
40 tnelr own work, hiring help only
Tor the heaviest kinds Of labor.
FRANK q. CARPENTER