The Alaska daily empire. [volume] (Juneau, Alaska) 1912-1926, 1922-08-14


we must be careful to avoid ex-
trCmcs. They raise good wheat in
Fairbanks and Matanuska Not a No.
/ hard wheat, but good milling
grain that produces good flour.
The Agricultural Expcrim nnt Station
is endeavoring to breed a variety OF
wheat suitable to the region and eli
mate with a larger gluten content
and, consequently, with better break
making qualities; but even with the
present good grain the Alaska far
mer should be able eventually TO
prevent the importation of a single
sack of flour from the States. Al
the same time it is hardly reasonable
to expect that either Alaska wheat
or Alaska flour can ever be profit
ably raised for marks&irg in the
States The same thing holds true
for Alaskan berries, potatoes and
other vegetables.
Export Some Products
But butter and cheese cen, I be
licve, be produced in Alaska and sue
cessfully marketed in the States The
product is worth from $500 to $3.50 a
ton so that the transportation charge
/ is net such a heavy percentage toll
TO be taken from the gross receipts.
In fact, it is not improbable that
the transportation handicap on such
1 condensed product will be more
than offset by the difference in the
cost Of land and atfro resulting large
capital invested in hand I'm the States
In other words. the Alaska home
stcader or FREQ land can compete
with the farmer in tho States who
must either pay a heavy reTt1l or
mako a hcovy inve7tmcnt in land.
Furthermore. northern regions
with Climate like the Interior OF
Alaska are great dairy regions the
world over. | hope to live to see
She day that Tanana Valley butter
will be sold i'm great quantities in
New York City in competition with
product from the dairies of WiscOn-
in, Pennsylvania, Iceland and Den
mark. and I don't expect to live to
be a ce"tcnarian, either.
"As for diversified farming, the
s'eld in Alaska is limited by eco
monte factors to supplying your own
needs. To the extent of the limits
of your consumption you offer the
Alaskan farmer the best market on
the globe. He can supply your needs
and at tho same time materially re-
duce your living costs and improve
YOUR living conditions. If food can
be as chca'~lv produced in the Ter
ritory as in tho States it will have
tendency to enable you to compete
with the States in supplying your
selves with other things which could
not previously be manufactured To-
callv because high living costs placed
'ocal labor at a disadvantage"
No Land Boom Expected
When asked if he expected to see
IN agricultural boom in Alaska, Mr..
Sherman rerlied that he did not look
for any abnormal growth. Indeed
he solid, 81 believe that such boom
would be a misfortune rather than a
blessing 10 the Territory coun-
Try absorbs population somewhat as
a sronge absorbs water. An abso-
rutolv dry sponge VIII float on the
water and scarcely absorb drop of
moisture but after its texture has
Neon dampencd through 1t fills up
rapidly. SO with the new country
That presents pioneering difficulties.
The first 40 years Cf pioneer set
Element in Illinois was a period of
slow growth. After the skeleton set
Elements were founded the country
filled up rapidly No doubt this will
be the case with Alaska. The direc-
tor of the Agricultural Experiment
Station at Fair banks estimates that
all the land suitable for farming in
the Tanana valley will be taken up
within the next 90 or 25 years. That
probably means 100000 homesteads.
have no doubt that he is substan-
tally correct lin his estimate. but
probably more homesteads will be
taken up during the last five years
of the period than during the first
Is OF 20. However, that is a detail.
"Alaska's agricultural land settled
and farmed within the next two or
three decades? In 40 years | have
seen in Iowa millions of acres OF
land settled upon, tile-drained and
farmed which lin my boyhood was
considered worthless. From l9lV
to 1920 your Uncle Samuel issued
patents to a total of over l29,O00,Oos
acres of land lin the States, or more
than twice the total estimated area
of agricultural land in Alaska. When
the free lnnds of the States are en-
tirely exhausted and when the pio-
necr farmers of Alaska have demon
strated agricultural success in your
great Interior valleys, the blood
of the nation will flow in to claim
the land and its labor will add TO
the wealth and stability OF our
schools.
Recommend RoadExtension
"On my trip yesterday. however, !
was primarily interested in the roads
we are constructing in the neighbor-
hood of Juneau out of the National
Forest road fund l must confess
that started out somewhat prejudic-