The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-05-23
BY JAMES 4. SULLIVAN
United Press Star Correspondent

United Press stan Correspondent
SAN FRANCISCO. May 23-On
a summer day in Minnesota last year
a heavy wind blew down the corn
in Johan JohnSons fields.
The following day an unexpected
frost nipped the vegetables above
the ground.
On the third day fire destroyed
the little home in which Mr.. john
son sheltered his wife and two
children.
The series of disasters unexpect-
eddy plunged Mr. Johnson into the
middle of an agricultural contro-
verSy in ALASKA 1t concerns the
color Of cattle best suited for the
rolling bench lands Of the Matan-
uska Valley. where the Federal gov
eminent has placed 200 Midwest
ern families in a colonization ex-
pertinent.
Shall the cattle be black and
white. all black, red and white or
all red?
The question is practical and not
an aesthetic one. 1t involves around
the type of cattle which will thrive
best in that land Of strange con-
traStS, where vegetables and grain
crops develop amazingly in a four
month growing period, where snow
covers the ground most OF the re-
naming eight months.
The Federal government plans to
make dairy farmers of the colons
lists.
Opinion in Sharp Conflict
M. D. Snodgrass, a pioneer Of two
decades of Matanuska farming,
favors red cattle. He believes the
milking Shorthorn the best breed
for the conditions which must be
faced-the limited outdoor season,
the restricted amount of hay and
silage which can be raised. the sub
zero temperatures and the deep
SHOWS of the Alaskan winters.
THE milking Shorthorn gives the
settler dual purpose breed, pro-
viding him with sufficient milk and
sufficient beef to meet Alaskan
needs" he said.
Harold Thuma, who teaches the
higher grades of the 26-puph
Matanus<a school and operates a
farm on the side, favors the Black
Angus. But Mr.. Thuma is inter-
ested mainly in producing beef cat
tie. He is aiming at the fresh meat
market in which Alaska is ighly
deficient. Ham and bacon, n. :. I
it imported. is still the standby OF
the Alaskan Sourdough.
Cross Breeding Experiments
The experts at the College of
Agriculture of the University Of
Alaska - the farthest northern
college in the world Alaskans proud
~ claim-are experimenting with a
cross between the Holstein and the
Relloway breeds.
Their purpose is the same as that
of Mr.. SnodgrasS-a dual purpose
breed. Other farmers favor the
black and white Holstein.
Not all OF the 200 families trans
planted from Minnesota. Wisconsin
and Michigan have been dairy
farmers. but all have had farming
background, and it will be put to
supreme test in the next few years
in tanning the vast acreage Of the
MatanuSka.
Grazing Space Needed
Their first task will be clearing
sufficient ground to provide grazing
space for the cattle which the gov
eminent is providing under a $4,000
credit arrangement. At present the
plan is to allot one milk-producing
COW to each settler.
There will be a cooperative
creamery, similar to those in the
Mid West. Milk, cream and butter
will be shipped to points on the
Alaska railroad which now are pay
ing at least Is cents quart for
milk when they can get 1t and 81
pint for cream.
The colonists and their dairying
promise to deliver interior Alaska
from its complete dependence on
tin cans.