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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 5, 1915)
8 THE SUNDAY OKEGOXIAN, PORTLAND, SEPTE3IBER 6, 1915 POSSIBILITIES FOR AGRICULTURE IN ALASKA ARE DESCRIBED BY EXPERTS Government Investigators Find Thousands of Acres Suitable to Different Varieties of Farming, Though Warning as to Obstacles Is Sounded for Fear Stamped i Might Be Started With Disastrous Results. 1' uam lit Vixr;p4 V v - w&wccai'y gut i-uisrr; " iSn ffniiiif iil Hn'iiiiiniiiiaiiiTif sz. 7 -r-i, Vx:1' AW 5 A . ?5 h S 0RECOMAN NEWS BUREAU, Washington, Sept. 4. The agricul tural possibilities of Alaska are great, but agricultural development necessarily must be slow and must keep pace with the general settlement and development ot the Territory, for Alas kan farm products will have to be sold in the local market. Freight rates and the high cost of production for many years will prohibit exportation. To day, Alaska is no place for the farmer who hopes to "get rich quick." This, briefly, summarizes an exten sive report soon to be issued by the Department of Agriculture discussing the agricultural possibilities of Alas ka. The report is the work of two scientists who spent last year studying the soils, climate, crops and other con ditions bearing upon agricultural de velopment of the territory. It is the conclusion of the Govern ment soil experts that more than 1.250. 000 acres of valley lands along the line of the new Government railroad, can be brought under successful culti vation, tliis land lying in the Susitna nd Matanuska Valleys, and it Is here that the first extensive farming is ex pected to be undertaken. A greater agricultural region lies in the Yukon Tanana section, but because of its re mote location and the lack of trans portation facilities. It will probably be developed less rapidly. The third agri cultural region studied was that In the Coi per River country. IVarnlna: Riven Farmer. Sounding a warning against a stam pede of farmers to Alaska, the Govern ment Investigators. In their publica tion, say: "While the development of a suc cessful agriculture throughout an enormous area in A'aska is possible, it must be remembered that as yet strict ly pioneer conditions obtain, that set tlement Is largely confined to com munities in the vicinity of mining camps, that much of the country is inaccesible owing to the absence of roads and railroads, and that home mar kets are restricted by the present small population. Every indication is that agricultural development must be gradual. must grow with the construction of high ways and railways, with the develop ment ot mining Industries and accom fete 7-tajr- y.-.,, , ........ . . " , ii,'ri)tiiiii "a"?i r"1 ..'.-'ffciSl.Iv:iv panying increase of population. If large numbers, without sufficient cap ital, should 'stampede' to these lands with the Idea of Immediately estab lishing profitable farms for themselves, it Is believed there would be only dis appointment for many. A careful study of the conditions before under taking farming- operations here is therefore urgently advised. The pros pects of success for farming depend, so far as sale of surplus products is concerned, upon finding a. local taarket among a population attracted by min ing resources and fisheries. In other words, these regions of Alaska will probably not for some time export agri cultural products, at least not on an im portant scale. Exportation of such products must await the building of a system of railways and highways and probably, also, the establishment of cheaper transportation." Three Hrnlona Studied. The report deals with three general areas, the Cook Inlet-Susitna region, the Tukon-Tanana region and the Cop per River region. The most important is theCook Inlet-Susitna region. the agricultural lands of which are comprised, says the report "in the plainlike country and adjacent bench lands bordering Cook Inlet from Kachemak Bay northward and extending up the Susitna and Matanuska Valleys. The unfavorable climate and topography of the sur rounding mountainous country restricts the farming possibilities to this low country, the approximate area of which is 6000 square miles. At least one-third of this area, amounting to a little more than a million and a quarter acres (1.296.000 acres, the lowest estimate), consists of arable land possessing to pographic and drainage characteristics and chemical and physical properties quite favorable to farming. About one half of this good land occurs in the Susitna and Matanuska Valleys. "The climate and soil make' possible the establishment of an important ag riculture in the Cook Inlet-Susitna re gion. Development will follow along pioneer lines at first, leading eventual ly to the establishment of many com fortable homes, supported largely by the products of the farm. The pos sibilities of raising stock and dairying point to the furtherance of agricul ture, eventually to a position of im- ..-'It. j-- -sm portance considerably beyond a self supporting stage. "The building of a railroad through the Susitna and Matanuska valleys will make accessible a large area of good farming land, and, unquestion ably, settlement will follow, probably at a rapid rate. Already 150 home steads have been registered along Knik Arm, and others have been taken up. A number of prospectors and min ers, most of whom previously had not been identified with agriculture, are now supporting themselves in the neighborhood of Knik largely with the products of their farms, assisted by the earnings of a few days' outside work during the Summer. "The Tukon-Tanana region com prises (1) the lowlands of the lower Tanana River, from the vicinitv of Mc carty to the Yukon River, known as the Tanana Flats; (2) the lowlands of the Yukon River, chiefly comprised in the Yukon Flats; and (3 the area of highlands or hill country between the Tanana and Yukon lowlands', the Yu-kon-Tanana uplands. In discussing the area as denned above it is not meant that this includes all of the agricult ural land of Interior Alaska. This is simply the area to which the investi gations were specifically directed. 1 arming' lands are reported to exist in considerable areas along the upper Tanana River, and good grazing is said to be available about the headwaters of White River, in the Mentasta Pass section and in other places outside the limits of the area described. "On the soils of the Tanana bottoms good crops of vegetables and grain hay are produced. Immense quantities of nay ana good grazing can be derived from the native grasses -which thrive on these soils. In addition, large quan tities of grain hay and root-crop for age can be easily grown. Tanana Soil Ricb. "In the hills north of the Tanana bottoms is found the best soil seen in Alaska. This Is a deep, mellow silt loam (Fairbanks silt loam), having good drainage and moisture-holding capacity. It occurs on the lower slopes and is largely susceptible of jasy cultivation. There are approxi mately a half million acres of this valuable soil. This type of soil is the same as that at the Fairbanks Experi ment Station, where such, good results have been had with grains and potatoes. On the southward-facing slopes it yields more than 200 bushels of po tatoes an acre, without fertilization. Early varieties of oats and, barley ma ture in normal years. Wheat and rye also have matured at the Rampart end Fairbanks stations. All varieties of grain give good yields of hay on this aoil, even in years of early frost. Tur nips, cabbage, beets. carrots, lettuce, celery and several other vegetables are grown with unusual success, both. as. regards quality and yield. Native red top grass springs up quickly imme diately following the removal of tim ber. "There awe still larger areas of other cultivable soil on the slopes of the hill country. These are not so deep as the Fairbanks silt loam, but they, produce good crops of excellent potatoes, vari ous. egetablea. grain and grass. Prob ably 1,500,000 acres of such land exists. in the country between the Tanana and Yukon rivers. Other soils of agricul tural possibilities are found in the bot toms of the- sma41 --streams and-on the bench lands of the region." - Copper River Reasons Extensive. The Copper River regions are the Copper River basin and the Copper .iver delta. "The Copper River basin, or Copper River plateau, is a broad ex panse of plainlike country almost com pletely inclosed by mountains. v It is bordered on the north by the Alaska range, on the west by the Tallceetna Mountains, on the south by the Chugach Mountains and on the east by the Wrangell Mountains." The Copper River Delta occurs where "Copper River enters the Pacific Ocean a short distance northwest of Con troller Bay, through a labyrinth of channels, dividing and - reuniting to form an interminable, network of pas sages, sloughs." with almost countless intervening islands and bars. Tha low. i flat delta through which these numer ous distributaries flow is somewhat triangular in shape, with its apex about SO miles inland, between the fronts of Chllds and Miles Glaciers. There is a large extent of country in the upper Copper River basin, northward from the vicinity of Copper Center, which has a favorable topography for agri cultural operations. The principal soil here, however, is not so favorable, be ing predominantly of a clayey charac ter, and so stiff and probably cold natured that it would be difficult to till and crops likely would be slow to reach maturity on it. Heavy teams and tools would be required to work such land. Furthermore, the climate of the region appears to be hot so favor able as that of either the Cook Inlet Susitna or the Tukon-Tanana regions. Vegetables and grain hay, however, are being successfully grown on the bottom-land soils and the more loamy types of the uplands. Some cattle have been raised at various places In the region along the Valdez-Falrbanks road. Stock-raising and dairying would likely be found the most remunerative types of farming. Plood Onngrr Noted. "Practically the entire delta is un suited to agriculture, owing to the poor drainage, the liability to disastrous floods, and the inferior character of the soil. Near the glacier fronts the gla cial plains, covered with freshly dis charged glacial debris, are mostly bare of vegetation, but farther away there is much alder and scrub willow and a variety of water-loving grasses." In conclusion, the report says: "The existence of a vast mountain ous area along the southern coast of Alaska, with numerous lofty, snow covered peaks and huge glaciers, nec essarily unfit for human habitation. Is apt to give one unfamiliar with the complexities of the topography and cli mate of the country asa whole the im pression that Alaska is a region of inhospitable mountains, glaciers, and snow, without farming possibilities. In a measure that is true, for there are in' the territory immense areas of rugged mountains,- including the loftiest peaks upon the North American Continent, and great wastes of snow-clad and pre cipitous land, wide stretches of bleak tundra and mountain skirting the Arc tie Ocean, innumerable bodies of water soaked Muskeg, and many glaciers of almost incredible magnitude. Never theless there are millions of acres of relatively low, smooth land and gentle slopes in various parts of the country which are topographically and climat ically suited to farming. That this is true is not a matter of conjecture, for many valuable food products both for man and animal are now being suc cessfully grown. Farming in a region so far north may seem astonishing un til one is acquainted with the equable Summer climate, the long hours of Bummer daylight, and" the good quality of the soil." Pig Stolen by Eagle Now Is Full Grown. "Betty" la Pampered Pet of Oak ( rt-W Kann, but Flees Even From Sparrows. BY DENNIS H. STOVALL. ((13 ETTT" is a big. motherly sow L9 whose home is on an Oak Creek farm, of the Willamette Valley, West ern Oregon. She is much like any other full-grown Poland China bow, with the exception of the six scar marks on her back. Those marks tell a strange tale. When "Betty" was a 10-days-old pig she was one of a dozen who, with their mother, were given a special place in the corner of a clover lot. One warm Summer day, when the mother lay sleeping in the sun, a great bald eagle swooped down, and hovered for a moment over the sty. Though there were a dozen to select from, the big bird made no choice. It seized the first one that came handy, and this one hap pened to be "Betty." The old sow awoke from her dreams in. time to see the eagle soaring skyward with one of her young. The little pig was carried high into the air, and for a distance of two miles and more from the farm, squealing all the while. Its frantic cries attracted the attention of a party of campers on Oak Creek. These looked up and saw the eagle drop its squealing, wriggling quarry from the sky. "It would have seemed that nothing but a parachute could prevent the ulti mate destruction of that unfortunate little porker. Yet fate was more kind. For it dropped straight into the broad, leafy top of a great white oak. The dense foliage, the network of limbs, twigs and boughs, stayed its fall. Be neath the tree was a soft carpet of green grass, and into this the pig fell with a thump. Its breath was gone, and its back was bleeding from the wounds inflicted by the eagle's sharp talons. The campers picked it up, cared for it, and returned it to the farm. "Betty," as she came to be known, was a much favored porker from that time, bhe thrived under -good treat ment and in due time reared a family of her own. But if a winged creature of any kind-r-i bird as harmless as a swallow flies over hen pen, she utters a "woof! woof!" of fright a"nd alarm, and scurries for cover. She evidently has no desire to go skyward again. flexible Stone in Brazil. Indianapolis News. e Itacolumite is a peculiar stone which is found in Brazil. ,When flexible ita columite is cut into thin plates and when examined with a microscope it is found to be composed almost entire ly of fine grains of sand of peculiar shape, with indented edges which in terlock like the fingers of clasped hands. The flexibility of the material results from this interlocking of the grains of sand, of which it is chiefly composed. Although but few persons know that this stone can be anything but hard, the flexible stone is not so much of a curiosity as it seems, for it is found in North Carolina and there are specimens of it in a case at the Philadelphia collection. The sensation of handling a piece of stone which bends like a piece of - rubber is a strange experience. If handled too roughly the stone breaks. High Society Tea. Washington D. C.) Star. A well-known essayist and connois seur of New York attended recently an artistic tea in Washington square. L.Near artists of all sorts near poets. near sculptors, near painters and near novelists attended the tea. The ladies wore djtbbahs of green burlap. The gentlemen wore sandals. The collation was vegetarian. "Looking calmly at that mass of freaks, he said, with a smile: "Artistic longings consist invariably, it seems, of long hair, long teeth and long faces everything but long purses, in fact." ONLY WHALING STATION IN UNITED STATES LOCATED AT BAY CITY, WASH. Fleet of Four Vessels Is Kept Busy During Summer Season and Several Valuable Catches Have Been Made . . Along the Pacific Coast. BY CAROLINE W. M'KINLAT. w ESTPORT.-Wash.. Sept. 4. (Spe cial.) Although there are 100 whaling stations in existence in the world, but one of these is situated in the United States, this distinction belonging to Bay City, on Grays Har bor, Wasn. This plant was built in 1911 and be gan its work the following year, be ing operated by the American-Pacific Whaling Company, with headquarters in Vancouver. B. C. This company owns and operates several stations in Southeastern Alaska, and on Vancouver Island.- and has made a success of the business. The Bay City station had such a successful first season that its fleet of two steel steamers was increased to four vessels, after but four months of operation, and the entire fleet is now kept busy. In the old days of the whaling in whale and the bortes of its head were dustry when the oil of the sperm while, the other whales of the family considered the only products worth were neglected, not being considered valuable enough to hunt. Then the meat, blood and carcass were thrown away after the blubber and gillbones great mammal is utilized in oil from had been taken; now every part of the the blubber; stearin, a by-jaroduct ob tained by refining the crude oil; ferti lizer from the meat, blood and bone, and whalebone from the head. Average Value Is SS10. It has been estimated that the value of the product obtained from the aver age Pacific Coast whale is about 819.35. divided as follows: 35 barrels of oil at 30 cents a gallon, 50 gallons to the barrel, $525; fertilizer, 9 tons at $2.50 a ton. $225: whale bone. 250 pounds at 12 H cents a pound. $43.50 stearin, 600 pounds at .043 cents i pound, $26.80; total, $819.35. or course, in the case of a sperm whale the value is much greater, some times running as high as $6000. Six of these were taken by the Bay City crew last season, one of them producing from the great reservoir in its head 63 bar rels of the precious sperm oil, which is so highly valued for its lubricating qualities. This whale Is still talked of at the station, and the capture of one of its kind is the occasion for a Jubilee. Another rare catch is the bottleneck whale, which is found only at intervals, and which is fully as much of a prize as the sperm whale, as its oil when re fined is perfectly colorless. This season has been an unusually rortunate one at the Bay City station for with the season a little more than half over, 12 sperm whales and about 200 whales in all have been taken against 192 for the entire season last year. This number of sperm whales is double that of any previous campaign, three or four being the usual number taken. Captain James F. Brown, manager of the station, in keeping a detailed record of the whales brought in has noted number of interesting facts which will be valuable to naturalists in under standing the different species. , IVo Female Sperms Caught. It is interesting to note that among all the sperms that have been brought to the station, there - has not been single "female of the species," so it has been impossible to compare them with the males. It is the intention to keep the whal ing fleet in operation until October 1, if the weather is favorable At the Bay City station the fleet lays up during the Winter months, as the whales go so far south as to make their chase impracticable. With the coming of warm weather hunting is resumed, and the crews of the fleet are given a bonus on their catch, of which the gunner receives the larger' share. There is naturally great rivalry between the crews of the dif ferent steamers as to which one wins the most prize money. Extra prizes are given when a sperm whale is taken, and the bonus is increased if a whale is caught which contains ambergris. This Is a peculiar wax-like substance, Bomewhat resembling beeswax, which is found only in an animal which has been wounded. It is used as the basis of perfume, and is valuable.- Sometimes, but rarely, two or three whales are taken in one day. In this event, the first ones taken are marked by a flag which is fastened by a barb, after the whale has first been inflated with air to keep it afloat. On an ex tremely rare occasion a steamer has been' known to -return to the station with as many as six whales in tow. In this case the progress of the vessel was extremely slow. ' Whale Not Easy Mark. When the prey is sighted, the gunner makes his choice of a victim, and the shot is fired, and it is seldom that a second one is needed. At 30 yards dis tance it is not the easiest thing in the world to hit a whale even though it is so big, as only a Email part of the back usually is visible. Sometimes they will dive Just as the gun is trained on them, and If they were not exceedingly curious by nature their capture would be still more difficult. They are bold and restless and extremely violent in temper when angered. When one is hit he spouts a fan-shaped jet of blood and vapor. Jumps and roars, and thrashes the water with his tail. If hit in a vital spot, death is speedy sometimes almost without suffering. Most of the whales taken by the Bay City station are found within 40 or 60 miles of Grays Harbor, and seldom more than 100 miles distant. As soon as a whale is captured it is securely fastened, and its tail is re moved by a huge knife, so that it will not impede the progress of the steamer. It is then towed to the station, where it is brought to a slip. Here a chain is passed around the tail end and It is draw.n on the platform by means of a wire fall. It is turned on its Bide, and the flinchers strip the carcass of the blubber, several working together, and turning the blubber off the carcass as one would strip the peel off an orange. An elevator carries this blubber to the blubber factory where it is tried out In the pots, .converted into oil, . and drained off into the storage tanks. The carcass is then dissected, the meat and bones put into pots, when the steam is turned on. Several consecutive boilings take every bit of the oil out of the carcass. The bone is separated from the meat, and piled up for grind ing into fertilizer. The erillbone is dried and packed into bundles for ship ment. This is used for making whips, stiffening corsets and other purposes, in this country. The Japanese put it to a variety of other uses, making frem it cigar and cigarette cases, char coal baskets, sandals and a number of other articles, both for their own use and for export. Crude Oil Is Lubricant, f The crude whale oil Is used as a lubricant, as a signal oil on railways and in soap making. One of the larg est soap -manufacturers in the United States uses a tank car load of the oil every month and it is to this whale oil that his soap is said to owe its ability to float. The dried meat is sold as chicken feed, and the fertilizer finds a ready market, both locally and In the Soutflern states. The odor of the oil bubbling in the vats is so offensive that many are un able to endure it. To compensate the workmen at Bay City" for putting up with the necessary conditions of the business, they are paid unusually high t"' 1 -v. vL Itta... -Jt .T'-p. ; v-;-..W ' . wajres, are most comfortably housed nd are given other advantages. Most of the whales taken are of the humpback and finback varieties. The spots often seen on the large humpback whale are barnacles, a sort of mollusk which attaches itself to objects that are stationary or nearly bo in salt water. As the humpback i9 of a sedentary disposition and pre fers to keep near shore, the barnacles can easily attach themselves to its body and it sometimes becomes as closely covered with them as the piles supporting1 the docks. The finback whale, on the other hand, prefers deeper water for its feed ing: ground, so that when taken its skin is found to be as smooth and glistening as that of a trout. Pioneer Whalers Xorweglani, Norwegians were the pioneera in the whaling industry and were as success ful In the business as the primitive methods of the early days allowed. To a Norwegian, Pven Boyen, beronps a large part of its present successful status. Boyen was the inventor of the ex plosive whale gun. which is now placed in the bow of the whalinR steamers, shoots the line armed with the harpoon into the body of the whale. Following this invention the nystem was evolved whereby part of the whale was converted into tome sort of mer chantable product. In the booth belonging to th Bay City station in the Washington build ing at the Panama-Pacific Exposi tion may be seen some fine moving pictures illustrating the entire busi ness of the company, from the chase and capture of the whale, down through all the processes described. until the animal is separated into Its various commercial products. Bodies Sometime Go An it ore. Occasionally it happens that a whale will be wounded, will tear Itself loose from the line and will later die from its injuries. In such a case the body often will drift ashore and be stranded high and dry on the beach. In one of thes instances an 80- foot black whale was stranded near a popular Summer resort on the Wash ington coast. For three days the huge carcass was watched as it slowly drifted landward before 11 finally came to a resting place. It was first noticed on account of the immense flocks of birds which feasted on it. These birds blackened the water for miles about the dead animal, fighting for their share of the spoils, their cries and screams being- heard far inshore above the roar of the surf. As soon as the carcass had found secure landing place, the Quiniault Indians appeared from their reserva tion, a short distance away, and be an cutting the blubber, as many as 5 teams being on the scene at once. The whalebone wa appropriated by two white men who chanced to be on the beach, who donned old cloth ing and with sleeves rolled up to the elbows and pants to the knees they pursued their unsavory task, remov ing several hundred dollars' worth of whalebone from the great jaws. Several white women. who were spending their vacations on the beach, were interested spectators, and one of them was allowed to cut the first strip of blubber from the whale, which was carefully tried out. As soon as all of the flesh was re moved from the carcass, the skeleton was blown up "with dynamite and the remains were surrounded with drift wood and burned. This "was done in self-defense, as the odor was un bearable. Boy Kntombed In Dead Whale. Several years ago a small Indian boy was amusing himself by running about on a huge whale which had drifted in while his parents were cutting off the blubber. Leviathan had been long 4j .t . .iJ azl- 5-, J I I - f 1 r:- :. I -I if 1 9 , : i ..,.t.itj v.. S3- jZxstcrr ?aw Cjr--ar, AC&'F7? C-s'arzr 2ZyCs2?v C-J dead and was quite soft in spots. This did not bother the Indian and his , klootchman, who worked away busily until attracted by a cry from their offspring, whom they were amazed to see throw tip his hands and disappear into the whale's body. He had struck an unusually soft spot and sank into the soft carcass, disappearing at once from sight, It took hard and frantic efforts on the part of his parents and their friends to rescue the child before he was smothered to death In the unsavory mass. South Bay. on which Bay City Is built, and the inlets and rivers ad joining it are favorite feeding places for wild ducks, which come in myriads in the Fail to feast on the wild grain and to rest for a time on their annual flight southward. Disaster came to hundreds of these through a peculiar accident due to the establishment of the whaling sta tion. Several hundred barrels of oil were stored in a tank a short distance from the plan. During a violent storm one night, the pipe leading from the tank was broken by a landslide, nearly all of the oil running out into the bay be fore the breakage was discovered. The surface of the bay in the vr cinity of the station was covered with the thick, heavy oil. which settled in the plumage of the ducks quietly sleeping there, glued their feathers to gether, so that in the morning they were unable to fly. Docks Starve to Death. Their distressed cries and calls brought others ot their kind, who naturally settled down beside them and were soon in the same predica ment. Hunters shot some of the birds, but found their flesh so impregnated with the oil as to be unfit for food. Some kind-hearted persons tried to feed the starving birds, but found It to be an impossibility, so they remained pris oners until they slowly starved to death For weeks after the shores were strewn with their dead bodies, which on investigation were found to be wasted to skeletons. This accident, besides causing con siderable loss to the whaling company, also spoiled the season for Grays Har bor duck hunters. Many of the oyster beds belonging to Grays Harbor residents have been planted in the vicinity of the whaling station. - The oysters began dying off in large numbers and the owners came to the conclusion that the mortality was caused by the whale oil on the water, which they declared to be detrimental to the health and growth of the young oysters. . Suit was accordingly brought to en join the whaling company from oper ation in order to protect the growing crop of oysters. Much expert testimony was offered on both sides of the case, but the whaling company was given judgment. ' No Headdress for Him. Saturday Evening Post. A prominent New York business man. who declines the use of his name for reasons most obvious, is telling this one on his wife: On bis return from a long tour of the West this business man's wife was nar rating to him the delightful times 'she had while she. was away. "One night I was invited to a dinner party at a smart cafe." she said, "and. one of the guests was the Turkish Am bassador. He was well informed on every subject and was one of the most entertaining dinner companions I ever knew." Ii4 he wear a fei?" asked the hus band. "No, indeed!" she replied. "He was clean shaved."