Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-03-25


foggy. The average rainfall is about 10
inches month, and Unalaska is said to have
$50 rainy days in the year.
1t is questionable whether the islands will
ever support any considerable population.
So far they have no whites except few fox
farmers who haxe taken single islands and
are trying to raise blue foxes there.
There has been some talk of using the ISL
ands for dairying, but there is difference of
opinion as to whether it would pay The
climate is such that grain will not mature
but grasses of all kinds grow in abundance,
and on the low lands there is more or less
grass throughout the year The soil is a
vegetable mold mixed with volcanic ash
The country is very rugged and there are no
places where farms of any size could be
made
| have before me letters from several
school teachers who have been doing mis-
sionary and educational work in the Aleu-
t1ans. These men have planted garden
patches which they call farms. One from
Unalaska writes that he has successfully
raised oats for enslage and that his. turnp
crop has equaled $50 bushels per acre. He
planted the turnips in rows, thinning them
out from time to time, and cultivating them
as long as IT was possible to get the pillow
through. He had wheat, rye and alfalfa
which lasted over winter and made good en-
silage when cut the following year. Anoth-
er farmer says that potatoes do very well,
but that insects are destructive to cabbage3,
rutabagas and turnips.
There is no doubt but that cattle can be
raised on the island of Kodiak That island
is not one of the Aleutians. 1t lies far to
the eastward, being only about 200 miles
west of Seward. 1t is south OF the Alaskan
peninsula and separated from it by Shelkof
strait Kodiak is the largest of the Alaskan
islands. It's area is almost as great as the
state of Connecticut and it raises some of
the finest grass that waves under the Amet-
lean flag. The island is TO-. the most part
treeless and the hills are covered with green.
The Russians raised cattle there and Amer
leans have had farms under cultivation there
as far back as 1880. The government stock
farm is at the eastern end of the island
about | 5 miles from the harbor and town OF
Kodiak. The town has perhaps 500 people,
nearly all OF whom have gardens in which
they raise cabbages, potatoes and turnips.
Some Of them keep cattle and they put up
some hay TO be used during the snowstorms.
The government station has barns and
sllos and all the equipment of modern
cattle farm. The fields are fenced with barb
wire and the stables are of modern construc-
4
with separators and other butter-making
machinery and experiments in breeding
cattle suited to the climate are carried on.
So far the best animals have been found to
be Galloways. They have long black coats
of hair which afford good protection from
the rainy weather. They are good rustleEs
and they feed out of doors great part Df
the winter
recently received a letter from Professor
c. c. Georgeson, who is in charge OF our
agricultural experiment station in Alaska
and who knows more about farming cOndi-
tons here than any one else in the territory
He makes annual inspections of the stations
and it was at his advice that the Kodiak
farm was established. He writes me tina;
he expects to bring some Hostein-Friesian
cattle from the state of Washington to
cross-breed them with the Galloways. |
quote from this letter:
"The Alaskans need hardy dairy COW
and one that is good mixer. Now, the
GallowaysSare VIGOROUSLY poor mixers and
we have been slow in increasing their milk
ing qualities, although we are progressing
1t is my idea to cut across lots and introduce
some good milking blood into the Gallo
ways We shall cross them with the Hol-
tein-Friesians, and we shall then have pure
r o~d o.o.eae tTtt,n Cai1auya 20