centers recently that an official
of the Commission objected to
that manner of disposing of
pelts and caused the arrest of a
trapper because of his failure to
await the arrival of the official
sealer. Three trials were held
and at the last one the jury vot
ed unanimously to acquit the
defendant. Sentiment against
conviction was also very strong
at the first two trials, it is said,
but there were certain men on
the juries who were of the opin
ion that trappers should go hun
gry while waiting for a warden
to come along and seal his pelts.
The Kuskokwim district is a very
large one.
The proposal to register trap
lines is not a popular one in the
Kuskokwim, Mr. Hood asserts.
The plan is all right in theory,
he admits, but it is his opinion
end the opinion of others in hi>
district, that the parceling out
of territory in the manner sug
gested would open the way to
favoritism and graft, of which
there already is too much in
Alaska and elsewhere as the
result of unworkable regula
tions.
Fur conditions are not so good
in the upper Kuskokwim dis ■
trict just at present and the
signs of an early leturn of fur
bearers are not any too encour
aging. It is the belief of Mr.
Hood, in view of the demoralized
condition of the market, that
the fur situation in Alaska
vould have been materially im
proved had the Territory been
closed to trapping for a time
and then opened without annoy
ing and confusing restrictions.
That would have put fur boot
leggers out of business, he ar
gues, and made it better for the
legitimate trappers
Mr. Hood is an oldtimer of the
Dawson and Fairbanks districts
and met many oldtime friends in
Anchorage whom he had not
?een in years,
Agricultural Possibilities in Alaska
-X
Agriculture in Alaska is pass
ing from the experimental stag
es to actual settlement ancl pro
duction.
In the early days ninety per
cent of the settlement on land
for farming was a last resort of
o’d prospectors who had filed to
make a strike or locate a paying
mine. Observance of the grow
ing gardens of the miner who
came from the farm showed
them that a living in Alaska was
assured through farming, pay
streak or no pay streak. Then
too, the fancy price vegetables
commanded in all the towns and
camps gave the homesteader the
incentive necessary to clear the
land and turn to gardening.
Later he could engage in regu -
lar farming to produce horse
feed, which commanded prices
ranging from live to ten cents a
pound. Here was something
sure as long as mining in the
camp held out and it beat the
pay streak proposition for the
average prospector.
Among these early homestead
ers was found a fair per cent
who were capable farmers and
who have fully demonstrated
that farming in Alaska can pay:
that returns from the labor of
the farmer are equal to and oft
en much greater than returns
to the farmer in the states.
Farms developed in the Matanus
ka and Tanana Valleys prove
beyond all doubt that farming
in Alaska has come to stay, that
the millions of acres of good
farming land will in time be put
in production and that Alaska
will no' only feed its own popu
lation but will contribute large
ly to the production of wheat
for the United States and the
production of seed potatoes for
all the northern and western
states if called upon to do so.
The Matanuska and Susitnq
Valleys at the head of Cook In-’
let can boast of winters as mild
as those of the Mississippi Val
ley as far south as Kansas City
and of cooler summers, an ideal
condition for the growth of
small grain, peas, small fruits
and vegetables. There are ex
cellent range lands where live
stock can pasture on native
grasses for periods as long as
afforded the livestock in the up
per Mississippi Valley states.
The Tanana, Yukon and trib
utary valleys contain many mil
lions of acres of good farming
land are comparable with the
northern tier of states, with
summer temperatures of 80 to
90 degrees during the day, long
hours of sunshine and a grow
ing season of ample length to
mature all small grain and
hardy vegetable srops. Winter
temperatures compare favorably
with those of the northern
states and are without violent
wind storms.
The valleys are timbered,
building materials and fuel for
many years to come. The roots
are shallow and more easily re
moved from the ground than in
sections of the northern states.
Tractor farming and power ma
chinery are in evidence every
where. Dairy, poultry and gen
eral farming arc now profitably
carried on in these valleys.
New settlers are coming from
the States and settling the land
adjacent to the Alaska Railroad.
This insures them a means of
reaching the Alaska, market,
principally with spruce and
birch, which insures the settler
which at the present time is
importing more than $5,000,000
worth of feed and food stuff
that can be grown with profit
by the farmers of Alaska.
With the continued develop
ment of the mining industry of
Alaska this market will grow.
Eventually the cost of living