The frontiersman., 1955-02-24
IN PASSING BY
By M. ?. Snodgrass

upon which our future existence must depend. We should look well to it's possibilities. Conser- vation of the soil, and it's build ing up as we till the soil, is the farmers job. The sooner we es- tablish farm population, the bet ter for Alaska's full development of it's vast resources of fisheries, timber, coal and mining products power, transportation by roads, highways, rail, air and water; all these developments require peo- Die, capital, and markets.
 The people required to conquer this vast domain must be given an opportunity to acquire farms and grazing land at low cost, and financial aid over 20 to 30 years and a property tax exmption until his farm is on a paying basis. Recent high costs for clear ing land, costs of farm building and machinery has greatly re- tarded progress in farm develop ment.
 Defense wages are too stiff for the new settler-on homestead under present homestead laws. The Agriculture Experiment Stations have demonstrated what crops can be grown successfully, and the 54 Grade A dairies of the Matanuska Valley have shown dairy possibilities.
 The Panama Valley has demon strated possibilities in grain grow ing and dairying. Kodiak Island and the Aleutian Chain has prov en that beef, mutton and wool production are of economic inn pOrtance.
 Liberal changes in land laws are promised by Secretary Mckay of the Department of Interior. It's policy is to get Alaska public domain into production through private ownership. This will be possible by changes in homestead laws. The Congress must act on this
 First by direct sale of home steads of 16O acres with safe guards to assure loan funds are expended for the purpose of the loan, with first mortgage security.
 Second land clearing by ap- proved methods to save the soils.
 Third substantial building, though modest but habitable. All building materials utilized from clearing the land. At this phase ] homesteads must be supported by ! the Territory and Federal gov ernment jointly Money spent for land clearing is better security against loss than any other fea- N ture covered in Alaska farm loans 1 Fourth-livestock chattle loans are safe so long as tillable acreage is sufficient to maintain sizeable herds of beef or dairy cows, poul- try, and hogs. Additional land is needed for support of beef cattle, sheep and goats, while the new settler is bringing his farm into production. A farm garden is of prime importance which often spells success or failure of home stealing.
 Farm experience is essential ard hard work a necessity.
 The long hours of sunshine through spring and summer works for your livestock N grows while you sleep at night. A 16O-acre farm in the Matan- uska Valley is the best insurance any farm loan agency could ask N for. The same is true of much of the Panama Valley where grain growing has proven profitable. The Kenai and Homer areas of fer considerable acreage for gen. eral farming. The lower Susitna Valley, and the upper Yukon Valley will be developed in time and supply grain, concentrate, wheat, oats, barley, rye and peas.
 At Rampant Station F. w. Rad er and George W. Gasser demon strated beyond doubt that the far north will support a large farm | ing population.
 To meet our increasing popu- lation's food requirements Alaska needs several hundred farmers now to insure a more rapid de- velopment.
 I recommend that the Alaska Farm Loan Act be ammended to include: ID Aid to the new home steaders in the sum of $300,000 and to increase the general fund