The Cordova daily times., 1918-04-02
RICH POSSIBILITIES OF ALASKA
 SEEN THROUGH TRAVELLERS EYES

too prevalent that Alaska is a land of snow, icebergs, and polar bears," he said to me. We are just beginning to realize what a wonderful storehouse it is, and that it's climate is, in many respects, superior to that found in many portions of the United States. Vegetables of all kinds may be raised in abundance. Recently a farmer in Alaska announced that he had raised seventeen tons of potatoes per acre on his farm. At Fairbanks nine hun dred tons of potatoes were produced during the summer of 1915, and last year. the experimental farm of the department of agriculture tested fiji teen different varieties Much of the agricultural land is of volcanic ash, which is a proved advantage in the growing of potatoes. Beets, cabbages, carrots, and turnips are also raised. A farmer living at Haines made this re- port recently to the government:
 I had about four acres under cuI- tiyation and I raised about three hun dred sacks of turnips, about one hun. dred sack of rutabagas, one huncred fifty sacks of potatoes, and about lG0 pounds of cabbage. 1 also raised eight Hubbard squash that weighed twenty pounds each, all ripe, and I had ten pumpkins that weighed sixteen pounds each, that were also ripe I would like to have some of your currsnts. gooseberries, and some grapes to try next year
 Since writing that letter, MT. Nc Guire (the farmer) has more than doubled his acreage, and it would be 1 interesting to hear his opinion of the people who still persist in speaking of his country as the frozen North
 Another industry that is fast be- coming far-reaching is the raising of reindeer. From a small beginning in 1892 these herds have increased to more than 10000, and reindeer meat is now being exported to the states and becoming an important part of our food supply.
 1 More men each year are taking their families to Alaska and locating homesteads, knowing that they can educate their children in Alaskan schools, feed them with Alaskan meat and vegetables, and pay their bills with Alaskan gold. There is a market for everything that can be grown, and the increased population brought byI the railroad enlarges this market veryI considerably. It is estimated thatI there are 100000 square miles suit able for farming and grazing alone A scant 65,000 people are living there. There is room for more, ana the gov-i ernment encourages the taking up of homesteads by people in the states who wish to make Alaska their home
 "'The flame of the Yukon burns for all," declared MT. Feitsham upon his return from Alaska. Tt is no longer the call of the wild that lures ad- venturers to that great empire of become the law of a prosperous and civilized people. One of the richest sections, if indeed not the richest of United States territory, has hardly been touched"
 Of the government railroad he says in the Los Angeles Times:
 While in the north I spent some time at Seward, the southern terminus | from which the new government rail- road is being built north to Fairbanks. 1 This is the road authorized by Presi- ueht Nliooh' anu "hioh hoS peeh III course of constructor since 1914. It | is significant fact that this road was begun in the year that saw the begin ming of the great war. The bill au- thorized the construction of one thou sand miles of railroad, which, when
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