USE OF POWDER IN CLEARING
The following letter upon a subject
of importance to settlers—the use of
powder in clearing land—has been re
ceived from the Giant Powder Co. by
the Times:
“You can do the farmers in your vi
cinity considerable good by calling to |
their attention the advantages in us- |
ing the electric method of firing farm !
blasts instead of the fuse and cap
method. Few farmers understand the
greater safety to be gained, or know
this method will save powder and la-!
bor, or do better and more complete
work.
“The sum of the whole matter of
electric firing lies in the fact that
two or more charges can be exploded
simultaneously. The power of the ex
plosives can be hitched short to the
load. The advantages of this are ob
vious after a little thought.
“For ilustration: In stump work, in 1
order to get out all the roots, the fuse,
method requires one central charge, j
heavy enough to blow out a crater!
comprising the entire main root area; j
but with the newer method, light
charges are placed out close under the
anchor roots. The result is that the I
roots are pulled out, or broken off two |
or three feet under ground. There is,
no waste in throwing out of three or j
four feet of earth in order to apply the
force to the roots or stump.
• “The saving in labor is as striking
us the increased efficiency. The sev
eral small shallow holes for charges
are made easier and quicker than a
deep hole of a large capacity at the
bottom. Since the job of removal is
complete, the pulling of roots left
tight in the ground by ordinary blast
ing is eliminated, which is an excellent
thing when time and labor are so lim
ited, which is an excellent thing when
time and labor are so limited as this
year. Multiple blasting also makes
smaller holes, requiring less leveling
and filling. j
“As a further illustration of the
increased efficinecy of the method, a
ditch can be blasted under almost any
soil conditions. With the fuse method
of firing the former is restricted to
warm weather to a great extent and it
is necessary for the ground to be sat
urated with water. ’
“In ditching and stump removing—
particuarly ditching — electric firing
makes possible the satisfactory use of
a cheaper powder than might other
wise be required. Half of one ditch
was blasted last summer with fue fir
ing and high percentage explosives;
the other half was fired electrically
with low percentage powder. The lat
ter method meant the saving of 85
cents per rod. The lower percentage
powder is actually more effective for
stump removing than the higher per
centage, owing to its different action.
“Greater safety is another advant
age. In electric firing the blast is tim
ed exactly, and a surely r.s the firing
of a gun by pulli. g the tugger. Such
exact timing save many minutes to
the workmen and along a road or near;
buildings prevents accidents which
sometimes occur to persons or animals
that run into the danger zone after a
fuse is lighted. In case of misfire, the
blaster can investigate with safety
right aawy after he disconnects the
wire, instead of having to wait hours,
or better, a whole day before ap
proaching the spot; by approaching a
misfire with the fuse and cap method,
it is dangerous until at least twenty
four hours have elapsed.
“The equipment required for elec
tric firing, owing to recent develop
ments is comparatively simple to use
and inexpensive to buy. Electric
blasting machines are small boxes of j
wood or metal operated by pushing or
turning a handle. In addition to the
blasting machine, some leading wire
is required, also a little connecting
wire and electric caps.”
CAR OF MATANUSKA
POTATOES ARRIVES
FARMERS’ ASSOCIATION WILL
KEEP SUPPLY IN WAREHOUSE
HERE FOR LOCAL TRADE.
Many tons of Matanuska potatoes
in comparatively small quantities have
been shipped to Anchorage to supply
the local demand, but the first ship
ment of a carload lot reached here to
day.
The potatoes were shipped by the
Matanuska Farmers’ Co-Operative as
sociation and will be held in Ernest
Wehnke’s warm storage warehouse
awaiting delivery to the Anchorage
merchants.
It is understood that the first car
load has been contracted for and it
is the intention of the association to
make regular shipments in the fu
ture.
In this manner there will always be
a supply of Matanuska potatoes on
hand for consumption in this city.
In view of the fact that more than
150 acres of land, in one-, two- and
five-acre tracts adjoning Anchorage
have been sold during the past year
by the land and industrial department
of the Alaskan Engineering commis
sion and improved with homes and by
truck gardening there are many in
quiries concernng additional acre
age.
“There are approximately 350 acres
remaining to be sold immediately con
tiguous to Anchorage,’ said Andrew
Christensen, head of the land and
industrial department. “All this
land is well-adapted to the raising of
any kinds of vegetables.
“Acre tracts are also for sale near
Matanuska and the new town of Ne
nana.”
C. C. Osier whose homestead ad-!
joins Anchorage on the south is clear
ing another half acre before snow |
flies. With this additional land clear-'
ed, he will have four acres ready for
cultivation aside from the garden spot |
immediately around his home. His po
tato crop this season surpasses his ex- ’
pectations and he is satisfied that next!
year there will be a tremendous in- j
crease in the yields from farms near
Anchorage and this side of the Mata- |
ruska valley. ]
Making Flour of Potaoes.
Potato drying is a comparatively
new industry on this side; but dried
potato flakes and potato flour are
! used in Europe. The 1913 report
j showed that imports of potato flour
were 16,710,488 pounds. A plant situ
ated in Arlington, Va., is to find a
new location shortly at Rhinelander,
Wis. Potato flakes can be turned al
most instantly into mashed potatoes
i and would be especially welcome in j
; mining camps and in the home of the j
| busy housewife who can “bring them !
i to a boil and serve.” Unsalable pota-1
! toes and culls are now almost a total!
loss, and these may readily be con- J
verted into potato flour and products, j
The process of drying consists in i
steaming carefully cleaned potaoes, j
mashing them and drying the mashed 1
potatoes on revolving steam cylinders.
Potato flakes make good feed for
i farm stock. Horses eat them readily,
I look better and work better on that
I diet.—Philadelphia Record.
Aften an absence of twelve days
Mrs. Mary Morrison has returned to
i Anchorage and reports that her trip
was highly successful. Mrs. Morrison
has a ranch between Matanuska and
Wasilla on the main line of the new
government railroad. Owing to the
size of her potato crop it was neces
sary for her to employ eleven potato
diggers, who worked for twelve days
and harvested more than sixteen tons
of the vegetable. Mrs. Morrison will
dispose of three or four tons here in
the local market, keeping the remaind-'
er of the crop in root houses on the |
ranch.
Need of a federal taxation program
which would place idle land in the
states within the reach of men of lim
ited means who possess ambition and
ability to cultivate it was voiced re
cently by Carl Vrooman, assistant
secretary of agriculture, in an address
at a conference on the high cost of
living. Such a tax isn’t needed for Al
aska, where millions of acres of pro
ductive farming land is being made
available by the government railroad;
but it would go far to counteract the
mischievous inflation of outside land
values, based on the expectancy of
what it will be worth at a future time.
Union men will be found in favor of it.
Anchorage Daily Times, “The
Newspaper of Alaska.”
THE RANCH
EAT THE MATANUSKA SPUD.
Today the first carload of potatoes from the Matanuska
Farmers’ association arrived in Anchorage and the product
which is destined to make this part of Alaska famous now is
on the local market.
It is now up to the people of this <city to see that the local
product is given an unstinted support. The merchants of An
chorage have signified their willingness to handle the Mat
j anuska potato exclusively. They must receive the loyal sup
port of the consumer if the plans as now outlined are to work
| smoothly.
In this connection it is well to call the attention of the
people to the fact that the potatoes sold to the merchants by
the Farmers’ association are the best raised in the country.
They are graded in the warehouse as to size and quality before
being shipped, and are given the best of care until they reach
tiie home of the consumer. The fact that the produce of the
Farmers* association is guaranteed by that body should create
a favorable impression in favor of their potatoes. Every farm
er in the country has an opportunity to join this association,
which is working only for the betterment of the men who are
tilling the soil, which means the prosperity of Alaska.
Under these conditions it is unwise and unfair for house
holders to buy from the house-to-house peddler, even though
at first thought it may appear that the produce is cheaper. In
most cases the man who refuses to join the association and sells
direct to the consumer has an inferior product which is not
cheap at any price.
Anchorage is famous for its loyalty to home institutions
and the unstinted support always given to any movement for
the betterment of the country. The success of the Matanuska
spud means the success of Anchorage, and it is up to all loyal
citizens to see that it is given a fair chance to establish itself
according to its worth.
COMMISSION DOING ITS PART.
The Alaskan Engineering commission, following its usual
policy of doing everything possible for the development of
the country through which the railroad passes, has submitted
to the farmers of the Matanuska valley proposals calling for
200 tons of potatoes for immediate delivery.
This action indicates that the commission is willing to do
its part in the development of the country and will assist in
('very legitimate way the men and women who are enriching
the country by tilling the soil.
It is earnestly hoped that the people of Anchorage Will
not be backward in following the example set by the Commis
sion. especially when it is remembered that the latter have
nothing to gain while the residents of the city will profit ex
ceedingly through the prosperity of the ranchers.
The product of the Matanuska farms this season is fully
equal to the best vegetables produced on the outside. The po
tatoes sent to Anchorage by the Matanuska Farmers’ associ
ation are carefully graded.according to size and quality before
being shipped, and the consumers are guaranteed the best that
money can buy when they get the home-grown spud.
The commission now is buying other vegetables from the
farmers, including turnips, rutabagas, cabbage, beets, parsnips,
in fact every variety of vegetable grown in this district, for
the stationmen along the line, and it is up to the people here to
see that Anchorage is not behind the railroad builders in the
efforts to support the settlers.
“Wheat for the Belgians from Am
erica,” is the heading of a newspaper
item which caused the following pert
inent comment by the Washington
Times:
All Belgium except a tiny slice is
in the hands of Germany.
How are you going to keep those
Germans from getting your “wheat
for Belgians?” How does Mr. Hoov
er imagine that he manages it ?
Modern Plows.
The modern plow was a Dutch in
vention. Englishmen and Americans
have made many improvements in this
implement, but for many years tne
Duch plow led the world.
BISHOP IS BANISHED.
LISBON, Sept. 26. — The Official
Gazette has printed a decree prohibit
ing the Bishop of Oporto to reside for
two years either in his own diocese or
in a neighboring one.
The banishment is decree as a pun
ishment for having authorized some
novices to take the veil, thus trans
gressing the law of the separation of
the church and the state.
“WORKERS CANNOT OWN
AND RUN FACTORIES”
A little less than two years ago
about twenty workers of Everett got
together and decided to purchase a
shingle mill. The price to be paid was
$19,000. Enough money was raised to
make the first payment and the men
started to co-operatively work the
mill.
Today the mill is running full blast
turning out shingles while privately
owned mills all around it stand idle.
Thirteen thousand dollars of the $19,
000 has been paid off; $2,000 has been
spent in repairs; $300 has been paid in
dividends. The men are working eight
hours a day and drawing enough mon
ey out of the treasury to make life
somewhat bearable. Plenty of logs are
on hand, as well as a good market for
their shingles and yet we are often
told by some bonehead that the work
ers cannot run industry.
The men who co-operatively own the
Everbest Shingle Mill have not lost
anything by becoming owners of the
mil, neither do they expect to.—N. W.
Worker.
CO-OPERATION IN COMMUNITIES
Any American farmer who is
worthy of the name likes to be asso
ciated with a good, clean, up-to-date
enterprising business town as his post
office and trding center. It’s an asset
to the farming community to have
good churches, good schools, a good
commercial club, and good business
houses within easy reach. The growth
and prosperity and service which such
a town can render to its country
j neighbors depends much more largely
| upon the farmers themselves than
they themselves think. The more you
j trade with the town merchant the bet
| ter stock he can keep. The more you
i help out the creamery or the cheese j
! factory or the grain warehouse com
! pany or the grange or the farmers'
j union, or any other organization that
j is helping out the town and countryj
i alike, the better town you will have.
Your town is sure to have some sort i
of a moving picture show. It is far
I better that you should have a good, j
j reputable movie than a low-class pic-'
j ture show. Farm fathers and mothers
| can exert a great influence in the mat
I ter of clean amusements in the town.
If the town has a public library’, it
' can double its value and efficiency by
the co-operation of the surrounding
j farming families.
If the business men of the town
; help out in the matter of good roads,
j why should not the farmers cooperate
! in town betterment?
The fact is that the rural town is a
farming town and depends not only
upon the production of the farms
within its territory for its own suc
cess, but this rural town is of itself an
index to the farmers who live within
its territory.
Community cooperation, community
development, means that the farm
women join with the town women as
members of the commercial club, as
they do in Garfield, Whitman county,
Wash.; it means a community cooper
ation in caring for and beautifying the
local cemetery, as at Oakesdale, in the
same county; it means that the town
people unite with the farm people in
the community clubhouse, as at Oro
ville, in Okanogan county, "vv'ash.; it
means that the farmers and the
townspeople unite in making a perm
anent institution of the annual fair, as
demonstrated at the first annual ex
hibition recently held in Anchorage; it
means mutual aid morally as well as
financially, as proven by the agree
ment among Anchorage merchants'to
encourage purchase of home-grown
products.
Wherever you find the farmers co
operating with the townspeople you
have a good town, and when you have
a good town you are pretty sure to find
good people living on the farms
around that town. You can not build
up a successful social life without
community effort. Good stores, good
churches, good schools, good roads,
good farm organizations must have
the cooperation of the farmers as well
as of the townspeople themselves.
STATE WILL SELL LAND ON
LONG TIME TO PERSONS DE
SIRING TO CULTIVATE IT.
FIRST INSTANCE IN AMERICA
Plan Has Been Tried in Australia,
New Zealand, Denmark, Ireland and
Score of Other Countries With
Great Success.
BERKELEY, Cal., Sept. 28.—Cali
fornia has virtually completed plans
| to branch forth in the land coloniza
i tion business. This new undertaking
| is the first time in America that such
| a land settlement policy has been in
! troduced.
Under the new land settlement sys
| tern, authorized by the last legislature,
[ a young man with little capital may
make a start as an independent farm
er, cultivating a farm he himself
owns, with anywhere from twenty to
thirty-six years to pay for his land.
j As the hrst step, the state land set
| tlement board has announced that it is
now ready to purchase from 4,000 to
6,000 acres of farm land, the board
then to improve, subdivide and settle
j the land. When the land has been
purchased, the board will sell it on
small initial payments with twenty to
thirty-six years to pay the balance and
will create a colony devoted to mixed
farming, in which rotation of crops,
the growing of livestock and the main
tenance of the soil’s fertility will all
be assumed.
Before the land is selected Profes
sor Thomas F. Hunt dean of the Uni
versity of California College of Agri
culture, will report on the suitability
of the tracts submitted for closer set
tlement, and the president of the state
water commission will report on the
water rights pertaining to the lands
offered or to be purchased with them.
The land settlement system by the
state has been in effect some time in
Australia, New Zealand, Denmark,
Ireland and a score of other countries
from whence reports say it has been
found to be successful.
Owing to the inability of shippers
to secure space for frozen fish ship
ments from Juneau, halibut steamers
arriving there recently have found no
takers for their cargoes, the cold
j storage men being afraid to buy.
GROWERS OF
OF POOH SEED
GOVERNMENT TELLS FARMERS
NOT TO BE MISLED IN ZEAL
FOR BIG CROPS.
SWINDLERS ARE BUSY NOW
Favorite Scheme of Dishonest Persons
Is to Pretend to Have Grain of Su
perior Quality for Planting, Says
Departmentfetatement.
By Anchorage Radio.
WASHINGTON, D. C., Sept. 24.—
A warning to American farmers not
to be misled in their zeal for increas
ed wheat production, into planting ab
normally high-priced seed for which
extravagant claims are made, is is
sued by the United States department
of agriculture.
Wheat is attracting at the present
time greater attention than perhaps
ever before, owing to its comparative
scarcity and high price and the neces
sity of sowing a large acreage this
fall,” says the department statement.
“As might be expected therefore, var
ious persons are offering to the pub
lic varieties that they describe as far
superior to the kinds now being
grown. These varieties are usually
given some catchy name and extrava
gant claims are made for them.
“A favorite scheme employed by
those having wheat for sale for which
they wish to obtain exorbitant prices
is to claim that their variety requires
but a small amount of seed per acre.
A peck of seed, twenty pounds, and a
half pound bushel per acre are
amounts frequently mentioned. Of
course the claims of maximum yields
from these small seedings are not sub
stantiated by fact. Only on dry lands
or under very special conditions is the
seeding of as little as even forty-five
pounds per acre of wheat advisable.
On nearly all of the wheat lands of the
country it is more profitable to sow
from a bushel to two bushels of seed
per acre than to sow less than a bush
el.”
Advices received in Washington are
to the effect that there will be unusual
ly heavy plantings of winter wheat.
The recently-published reports of
the Alaska Treadwell and the Alas
ka Mexican mines show a combined
profit for 1916 of $722,354.98.
loioTolOToTdHOj
§
BANK OF ANCHORAGE
United States Depository for Postal Saving Funds
Depository for Territorial Funds
RESOURCES OVER $800,000.00
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