Agricultural Development of Alaska
Awaits Coming of Real Agricultural
People Says Matanuska Govt. Official
i
(The following article relative to agriculture in Alaska
was written by M. D. Snodgrass, superintendent of the gov
ernment experimental station at Matanuska, and appeared
* in a recent issue of the Pathfinder of Alaska.)
A full agricultural development of Alaska awaits the coming of an agri
cultural people—a people who can recognize the possibilities of soil and cli
mate and who want farms. There are found among the homesteaders of
Alaska a considerable number of farmers who know the game and are mak
ing real progress. These people ask no odds, but accept conditions as they
find them, and are improving their farms as fast as their limited capital will
permit. In many instances, that capital has been a few hand tools, a know
ledge of what to do and a willingness*
to do. They have cleared the timber
from the land, used such portion of it
needed for the construction of a log
house, barn, sheds, and root cellar, and
built the necessary fences to protect
their crops from livestock running at
large and their gardens from the rav
ages of the thousands of rabbits that
infest the country. They have put their
cleared land under cultivation and
grown such crops as their needs call
ed for, and many have made their liv
ing entirely from the soil. Those
who were fortunate enough to enjoy
a fair market for their produce, have
been able to improve their farms year
to year, and today have farms quite
comparable to those of western Wash
ington and Oregon. Where roads
have been built and made possible for
the introduction of modern farm mach
inery to used on the farm, it will be
found in use. Up-to-date methods em
ployed on Alaska farms are not unusu
al and have proven that farming in Al
aska is here to stay. People familiar
with early pioneer conditions of the
wrest readily recognize the need of
markets to stimulate agricultural de
velopment. People of Alaska have
overlooked the fact that Alaska mar
kets look good to the farmers of Wash
ington, Oregon and the -western states,
who produce the beef, pork, mutton,
butter, milk, eggs, bread stuff, pota
toes and large quantities of vegetables
annually shipped from the States. In
variably, the question is asked, when
one speaks of farming in Alaska,
“Where are you going to get your mar
ket?” Those who are shipping these
very same articles from the states ask
that question. The housewife, the
store clerk, the office man, the law
yer, the teacher, and the army of gov
ernment employes, who order from
the store, want the stuff from OUT
SIDE, presumably because of the
friendly feeling for the outside, where
many of them plan to return as quick
ly as they make their fortune in Alas
ka. This same question comes from
* some of our territorial officers, who
draw their salaries from the territory
they serve so loyally, but fail to recog
nize the possibilities of producing our
food stuffs, and the markets now here
for that food stuffs.
We Alaskans, and would be Alas
kans, are perfectly content to have
our money go to Seattle at the tune of
$5,000,000 and better annually for the
things we eat, and then look to the
government for more and larger ap
propriations for roads, railroads, trails
schools, and the many things now un
dertaken by the government in order
to keep our house going, while there
are many thousands of acres of fertile,
tillable land awaiting the coming of
the farmer, and the several hundred
homesteaders already here ready to
supply our needs for farm products.
Mercantile business is overdone in all
the towns of Alaska. We have too
many people ready and anxious to
serve us over the counter at a fair
profit to themselves. Alaska needs
producers of foodstuffs more than any
other class today and when production
at home equals consumption, the far
mer -will be in a position to stand a
I ' -----—--——
reduction in prices of farm produce
thereby lowering the cost of living and
making possible the working of much
low grade placed ground now impos
sible to work. I can conceive of no
other way of lowering the cost of liv
ing to that end.
The agricultural possibilities of Al
aska were stressed and played an im
portant part toward getting the appro
priation necessary for the building of
the railroad. The agricultural possi
bilities of Alaska have been tested
more and more each year since that
day and all reasonable predictions of
ten years ago have come true, except
the influx of farmers. Economic con
ditions in the states have been such
that farming has not paid there, and
is less inviting today than in many
years past. High priced land lays a
heavy hand upon the farmer. Taxes
and interest on investment have been
too heavy for many, and they are look
ing in vain for another frontier open
to them. Alaska is closed so to speak
by misunderstanding upon the part
of the farmers of the states, by lack
of appreciation of facts by many peo
ple living here, by the unconcerned
attitude of the transportation compan
ies serving Alaska and the lack of
working capital for the farmers in Al
aska today.
The Alaska farmer living along the
railroad enjoys a low freight rate up
on agricultural machinery, if it be
new, and there his encouragement is
ended. He must have livestock, and
fencing, and much material that goes
into permanent construction, that
must come from the States. He needs
lower freight rates for these things,
and he needs emigrant rates for him
self and family. He needs intelli
gent encouragement in every way pos
sible for the first few years. He needs
the assurance that he will have your
support in way of market for his pro
duce, the support of the bankers of the
territory to help finance his farming
operations and the loyal support of
every merchant in the territory. Give
the farmer this encouragement and
make the invitation whole hearted and
in good faith, and this country will be
settled with a hardy farming class that
will make it possible to retain part
of Alaska’s wealth now flowing to the
States.
Repeated experiments with varieties
of oats, barley, rye, wheat, vetches,
peas, and the various root crops prov
ed beyond a doubt that this country
can produce its own foodstuffs and
all animal products now shipped from
the states.
Lake Biooks lies to the south of
Naknek Lake and is separated from
the latter by a high mointain Both
th? lake and the fails are uamel i”.
'•arvir of the late Dr. Altrti H.
B-.»o,fcs, «Vef Alaskan g'vhisist ji
the United States Geologh.a! Su-rey
t id a pioneer in AlaiKa exploration,
Attu is the last or the real Aleut
settlements on the Aleutian chain ol
islands, and the most primitive vil
lage the revenue cutters visit.
.
aasEKit::/. . - - «r«s&»^-.-,: :^?sstTm
WM. YOUNG’S FARM, FAIRBANKS.
PEAS FROM AN ANCHORAGE GARDEN
DISCOVERY DAY IN SEATTLE
August 30, 1925, was the day that
Seattle set aside on which to cele
brate the great gold discovery of the
North on August 17, 1896, when Geo.
Washington Carmack found gold on
Bonanza creek. From the time of
the first whisper of the gold dis
covery until the present day, Seattle
has prospered from the northern
trade.
Martin Creek and Mount Martin, a
conspicuous volcano near the south
west corner of the monument, were
named by Dr. Griggs in honor of
George C. Martin, wrho led the Na
tional Geographic Society’s first ex
pedition to the Katmai region short
ly after the cataclysmic eruption of
Katmai volcano in June, 1912.
A HEAVY CROP
WOOD ISLAND
ORPHANAGE BE
RECONSTRUCTED
HEAD OF MISSIONS VISIT WEST
WARD HOME—MAINTAINED
BY S. S. CHILDREN.
Mrs. K. Westfiall, of New York, one
of the leading missionaries of the
Baptist Missions "was a visitor in
Seward last summer, en route to
Wood Island near Kodiak, where it
was stated, under her authority, a
new orphanage would be construct
ed, probably next spring. The for
mer orphanage burned down last
winter.
The orphanage, which was started
many years ago and maintained by
the Sunday Schools of the New Eng
land states, takes oare of approxi
mately fifty children. Their educa
tion is closely followed along prac
tical lines fitting the youngsters for
various work in the Territory which
they are particularly adapted to. On
the homesite at Wood Island there
are six buildings, it is stated.
Frame dwellings and second rate
canned goods are doing their share
to wipe out the original Bering Sea
natives, according to Dr. E. C. Kad
ing, surgeon on the coast guard cut
ter Unalga.
The most popular method of curing
sea lion meat is by putting it inside
of a seal’s stomach to dry.
GOLD OUTPUT
ON INCREASE
IN TERRITORY
Statement by Department of
the Interior Gives Fig
ures for 1924.
LODE MINES ACTIVE
Slight Decrease In Output
of Copper and Other
Minerals.
The Department of the Interior
j has announced, through statements
| made by the geological survey, that
l mines in Alaska produced $17,457,333
I worth of minerals in 1924, as against
; $20,330,643 worth in 1923. The total
j value of the mineral output of the
! territory since 1880 is $535,084,276.
j These figures are abstracted from the
annual report on the mining industry
! of Alaska, now in preparation under
| the direction of Philip S. Smith, chief
I Alaskan geologist. The sources of
Alaska’s mineral output in 1923 and
1924 are given below:
(
Copper.pounds .....8
Silver—fine ounces ....
Coal—short tons ...*....
Tin, metalic—tons .....
Lead—tons *....
Placer platinum metals—fine ozs. ...
Miscellaneous minerals products in
cluding petroleum, gypsum,
marble, lodge platinum metals ...
j Gold—fine ounces ...
In spite of the gradual exhaustioi
j of the richer gold placer deposits,
; the gold output in 1924 was larger
than in 1923. The increase was due
mainly to activity in the lode mines
in southeastern Alaska. The benefits
to the gold-mining industry of inter
ior Alaska that are certain to result
from the completion of The Alaska
Railroad are rather slow to appear in
! the production of gold, for the work
j of testing larger areas of placer
; ground and the engineering work
needed to complete ditches and install
dredges or other power-driven mining
machinery require considerable time.
The developments now in progress
j and increased prospecting for metal
! bearing ledges will eventually lead to
an increase in production. The de
1 crease in the total value of the min
eral output of Alaska in 1924 from
that of 1923 may be attributed almost
entirely to the smaller production and
the lower price of copper.
Seward is the first point of con
tact to and from Westward Alaskan
points.
FOREST FIRE LOSS
CHUGACH FOREST
AMOUNTS $2,000
Fire Swept Regions of Large
Extent Show Relative
ly Small Cash Loss
The report of the fires in the
Chugach National Forest, particular
ly those in the Anchorage and Sew
ard districts, the figures show that
over 3,735 acres of timber lands
were burned over by forest fires the
past summer.
Eight hundred thousands feet of
timber was destroyed with a valua
tion of about $2,000. The Hope fire,
which was the largest one, began on
July 11 and burned until August 15.
The largest crew of men at any time
during the fire was 60 men employ
ed in fighting the blaze. All the fires
were thought to have been caused
by the negligence of trappers or
travelers leaving cigarettes or camp
fires burning, in the moss.
The season in the Hope district at
the time of the fire was very dry
and a high wind raged continually
aiding the fires. Altogether there
were 35 fires in the Chugach forest
this summer and the total cost of
fighting them amounted to about
$8,000.
The total damage done by the fires
in other parts of the forest has not
yet been computed. The expendi
ture in fire suppression this year
has been greater than any year since
the department’s establishment. The
reason for the unusual difficulty in
fire fighting last summer was the
fact that the fires were in isolated
districts, and much trouble was had
in getting fighters to the scene of
the blaze in time.
Unga, Alaska, at the Far West
ward of Seward is one of the most
important codfish towns on the ter
ritory’s southwestern coast, but it has
a mail boat only once a month.
1923
1924
Quantity. Value Quantity. Value
5,920,645 12,630,335 74,074,207 9.703.721
814,649 668,012
119,826 755,469
190 1,623
410 57,400
25.90 3,004
229,496
.— 20,330,643
289,539 $5,985,314
669,641 448,659
99,663 559,980
700 7,028
631 100,889
21.9S 2,594
34S.728
-. 17,457,333
304,072 $6,285,724
National Geographic Head
and Chairman, Committee,
Receive Alaskan Honors
Lake Grosvenor and Lake Coville,
named for Dr. Gilbert Grosvenor,
president of the National Geographic
Society, and for Dr. Frederick V.
Coville, chairman of the society’s re
search committee, lie to the north
east of the Katmai Monument.
Lake Grosvenor is twenty-eight
miles long and has been described
by surveyors as the most beautiful
body of water in this part of the Al
aska peninsula. It is shut in on all
sides by high, forest-clad mountains*
but may be reached by an easy
portage of a mile and a half from
Savonoski River, which flows into
Iliuk Arm.
Seward on Resurrection Bay, where
rail and water meet, connecting with
the Interior of Alaska, via the Alas
ka Railroad.
STRAWBERRIES RAISED IN VALDEZ