The Cordova daily times., 1922-11-18

only 44,255 square miles, as against Alaska's more than 500,000, Finland has over seven million acres under cultivation, which is divided into 271,- 254 farms. And besides exporting dairy products, Finland exports con siderable oats, barley and other gains and vegetables. It is true that Fin lands markets are much closer than Alaska's, nevertheless, the comparison shows something of what Alaska can do.
 The second method of enlarging the market for Northern food products, that of importing consumers, is the the one most readily available-and it | is inevitable. Alaska now has between fifty and sixty thousand people, in- cluding Natives. Instead of these few thousands We are sure to have sev- eral hundred thousand in the future, and million population in Terri tory one-fifth as large as the whole ! United States is not at all unreason- able
 We are fully aware that people are not going to move to Alaska for the | patriotic purpose of populating the country. They will come only to bet ter their conditions. Bue we also know that Alaska has the resources and can offer them opportunities to do that very thing. The coal industry alone ought to support hundred thousand people. The writer believes that Alas ka is destined to be the greatest metal 1 producing country in the world; her copper, gold and other mines will sup port many thousands. The oil fields, which are just now being prospected, ! hold vast possibilities. As these 1 branches of industry develop and bring large population to the Ter ritory statehood will come, and state- hood will give us control of our tide lands. This will make the fishing industry a tremendous asset which will in turn, further boost our popu- laton. These industries, together with the development of our fur, tim Der and other resources, will provide a market for all the food products that thousands of farmers can raise.
 There is no inclination in the part of The Pathfinder to minimize the hardships incident to making farms in Alaska. It requires something of the same price in toll and sacrifice that has been paid by pioneers everywhere. In some respects it possibly costs more than was paid by those who pio- neered say in Oregon and Washington. But just as surely there are other re- spects in which it costs less. And the returns are vastly quicker. Try to imagine a hundred of the first home steaders in any State in the Union selling their second years crop for $200 900 in cash. Yet that very thing happened in the Matanuska Valley. True, it takes work to get land ready for the blow, but it is done easier here than in many other pioneer coun- tries, The birch spruce and cotton woods, which constitute our main tim Der growth, do not send their roots deep into the soil; they find lodgment in the thick moss and decayed vegeta
 ton, with a very shallow penetration into the ground. When the moss is
 burned off the grubbing is largely done, the bulk of the work consists of pilng and burning the timber
 Perhaps the reader will pardon personal reference. The proof of the pudding is in the eating and actual re- suits in farming are better than theory. The writer homesteaded at Anchorage in 1917. Last year six acres of his land was rented on a share rent basis, the owner getting one-fourth of the crop. The crop raised was potatoes, and the writer's share brought $500. If the value of that land is placed at $200 per acre, it is easily seen that the income on the land rented for the last year was 25 per cent. As matter of fact, however, it cost only $30 an acre to clear and break that particular land. Much peter results can likely be ac- complished by others, for the writer believes that he could do lot better were he starting over again
 The Pathfinder constantly receives inquiries relative to "how much can be made farming in Alaskan" That is an impossible question to answer. The only answer the writer would attempt is to say that whoever expects to make money from the beginning must