Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-01-15
WHAT ALASKA OFFERS? '
By Frederic J.. Haskin i
WY AsHINGTON, D. c., Jan. 10.-Gen-
w eral farming in Alaska has been

| WY ASHlNGTON, u. u, Jan. 1O.-Gen-
w eral farming in Alaska has been
| " proven possible, and about hun
dred thousand square miles of rich agricul-
tural and grazing land are there to be had
| for the taking by settlers who are willing
to brave a somewhat difficult climate.
| One of the scientists connected with the
government agricultural experiment stations
in Alaska is here for few days, and that is
the word he brings. If you are looking for
a chance to get farm of your own without
any considerable capital Alaska offers you
| that chance.
| Nearly everybody nowadays knows that
Alaska is not a snow-covered, fce-bound waste
all the year round. Not so many realize the
wonderful possibilities of this far northern
territory in it's summer season. This govern
ment scientist brings word that Alaska could
be practically self-supporting so far as ordi-
nary farm products go. Right now, the ma
iority of the standard fruits, vegetables and
grains are grown there to some extent. He
says that what Alaska needs is more settlers
with the spirit of pluck and a Willingness to
work to develop it's farm lands.
n Few People
| Here, he says, is a country with $4,000
| inhabitants spread over nearly 100000
square miles, This population would be lost
in corner Of New York City It is about
the number of people that live in Atlantic
City; Topeka, Kan, or Bethlehem, Pa. Scat
| tered over this country are about 500 home
steaders working tracts of 16O or 800 acres,
and there remain 100000 square miles of
land-the size of an average state-wh1ch
could be used for practical farming about
half for farm land, and the other half for
grazing
/ The land, then, is there. And the govern
ment is maintaining five agricultural expert
ment> stations IN Alaska, where all sorts of
experiments are conducted to help farmers.
Farming in this latitude presents different
difficulties from farming in the states. Pota-
| L
beans, Strawberries, apples, lettuce and any
number of other familiar foods. But you
cannot take any kind of strawberry plant,
for instance, and expect to get firm, sweet
berries
The strawberry illustrates very we'll what
it means to adapt product Of temperate
| climate to conditions in the far north. The
experiment station at Sitka has made Il, 900
tests with Strawberries in order to find va
| r1eties really suited to Alaska. To make the
experiments the two wild Strawberries native
| to Alaska were crossed with different hardy
| varieties of the cultivated strawberry. Nine
tenthsJ of the plants proved too frail for the
climate, or produced soft or fnsipid fruit.
| These were discarded at once. OF the other
tenth all but three or four in every hundred
were also discarded not altogether salts
| factory, leaving the best product so far as
| color, flavor and size of the berries was con-
cerned. This is good example of how the
| agricultural problems are worked out for
arctic and near-arctic regions.
/ Long and extensive experiments have been
conducted to find grains sufficiently hardy
and swift in growth for planting, growth and
harvest to be crowded into the brief Alaskan
summer. 1t seems to be impossible to make
grain more hardy by a process of selection
That is, when the government agents took
a few seeds from the best grain one year
and planted them the next, and again took
the best of the harvest and planted that, and
f0p A~o1 I'm
provement in the strain, there would be in
some vegetables
| The only way to produce grain hardy
enough for the climate is to cross the va
Irious strong varieties and try them out. AS
result of experiment along this line, spring
wheat that runs % bushels to the acre, rye
taller than a man, and number Of successful
varieties of barley and oats have been pro-
duced in Alaska.
The First Flour Mill
Alaska could be absolutely independent so
far as breadstuffs are concerned, the govern
ment agent tells us. And Alaska is slowly
gaining this independence. A flour mill
the first in Alaska-has been established In
Fairbanks, so that it is no longer necessary
to get -four from Seattle and to pay heavy
freight on it.
AS for independence along other lines of
fodstuffs, Alaska may attain that also to a
reasonable degree. Practically every stand
ing localities of the country. The majority
Of the fruits have been successfully produced.
Strong breeds of cattle and sheep are being
developed at the eXperimnt stations. AT a
recent banquet in Fairbanks, the conquest or
the soil by Alaska was shown by having the
entire menu of homegrown products.N
These are the true signs of progress. The
difficulties of life in the far north are mainly
the climate, and then lack Of transportation
and hired labor. Transportation prospects
are improving that the railroad from
Seward to Fairbanks is we'll under way, with
a chance of bein,, completed next year. Farm
help is still scarce because large proper
ton of the 10, 900 men who LEFT Alaska for
war service have not returned.
Climate Not So Severe
Climate remains the big problem to be
met in life in this part Of the world. What
the homesteader can raise in his garden,
how he can market surplus products, whether
he lives in comfort or misery depends on his
understanding of the climate and how to
adapt himself to it. Temperature and hui
midity are so widely varied in this territory
that it is difficult to describe the Alaskan
weather conditions as a who're. At Sitka
the thermometer rarely goes to zero, and
the winters are not much colder than those
in Washington, D. G. At Fairbanks, on the
other hand, 60 degrees below zero is not
unknown This is the sort of weather which
ltypifies Alaska to most people and it Is the
fear of encountering months OF unbroken
cold that makes many an otherwise adven-
Iturous spirit cling to the comparative warmtn
of a. semi-heated fiat in what is supposed to
be temperate zone.
Alaskan winters are in general snowy and
| ooII Tn he for three months