Seward daily gateway., 1925-07-09
FORESTRY MAN CHANGES MIND
 ABOUT ALASKA
WASHINGTON OFFICIAL IMPRESS
 ED WITH AGRICULTURAL POS
 slBlLlTlEs OF MATANUSkA VAL LEY.
SEWARD LAND IS so U n
Summer Forage Sufficient for Buiio- ing of Tremendous Stock raising Business.

II am thoroughly charmed with the country, especially between Moose Pass and Hope said c. H. Squires, inspector for the forestry service, Washington, D. C., during his recent visit in Seward. we did not expect to find such natural beauty in Alaska for, somehow, we had gained the idea that the topography of this dls- trict was dull and uninteresting. This is not true"
 MT. Squire is connected with land work, such as classifcations of lands for the forestry department, and III boundaries. In agriculture he is keen ly interested So while in the Inlet district, Mr. Squire made a trip to the Matanuska Experimental Farm which is in charge of M. D. Snodgrass The agricultural possibilities of that district astounded him, he said, and it was with much qualification he not ed the splendid success the farmers are having in the Matanuska valley. There is absolutely no question, from what MT. Headley and myself saw, that agricultural crops can and are being produced" MT. Squire stated.
 "Supt. Snodgrass is very confident that it is only a question of time when good size agricultural community will be settled in the valley. There are many there now and have been for years, the great trouble thus far l though has been the marketing of l the home grown products, including the dairy and livestock. With refer ence to the dairy products the district seems to be particularly adaptable | for this industry.
 "The cost of clearing the land is ra- ther heavy, on. an average much high CT than found in other agricultural districts. I was informed that the av- craze cost of clearing land in the Matanuska district was $150 an acre. Coming towards Seward the cost of clearing runs much higher, in fact $4O0 to $500 an acre seems to be the cost in this district. This is very high. Between Seward and Anchor age, the agricultural possibilities are almost hill. The soil is sour and the farmer has to use too much fertilizer, such as Hines, etc, to make the land
 produce. Splendid small gardens are found at various points in this re- zion, but it requires a great deal of effort to cultivate even these small
 bits of ground.
 When I look about me and see the wonderful summer forage going to
 waste I can imagine what stock
 man in the states would say if any one of them could see the tremendous
 natural growth abundant on the hills
 and in the lowlands. There is suffi- cient of summer forage to support a
 huge stock industry in this district.
 Someday, I suppose you folks will
 have an industry here"
 Mr. Squire was particularly impress
 ed with the large quantities of food products which are shipped into Alas ka, which could be raised here. He gave as his reason for this as the
 practice, since the early days, of pur'
 chasing supplies in the States had nev'
 CT been done away with, people having
 acquired the habit, never giving Il
 much thought What wonderful
 thing it would be to the Territory, Il
 these products which could be grown
 in the Territory, would be purchased
 by Alaskans," MT. Squire exclaimed
 Such a huge industry could be de veloped from this alone, reflectine much prosperity to every Alaskan town and community"
 MT. Squire and MT. Headley, art both from the Washington, D. c. of flee of the forestry department, ant in company with M. L. Merritt, as sistant distict forester, Juneau head quartes, and W. J. Mcdonald, flores supervisor of the Chugach Nationa Forest, Cordova headquarters, made trip of inspection thru this district the past two weeks. The official departed for Juneau on the North western, last Sunday.