Ogden Daily Standard | 1914-01-29 | Page 4 | Do You Want a Home in Alaska?

DO -YOU WANT A HOME IN ALASKA? The agricultural department of the United States says there is probably 60,000,000 acres of land in Alaska of ;" possible farming and grazing value. Then a most inviting picture is presented pre-sented of raspberries and strawberries, strawber-ries, wheat and barley, potatoes and other products, of the soil that can be grown. The coast climate Is spoken of as mild. One reading the first half of the. ! bulletin, if at all Inclined to wander, Decomes possessed with a desire to proceed' without delay to claim 320 acres of Alaska's great domain as a homestead, but the second part of the document does not fall to set forth some of the difficulties of farming in the interior, where the winters are 1 described as long and cold, requiring 1 frost-proof buildings as shelter for both family and stock Tbe ground freezes to great depth and the sur-faco sur-faco is made up of moss and other j 1 vegetable matter, which holds the I frost. When the thaw comes, the 1 country is a morass of muck and 1 travel is almost impossible. Mos- I quitocs and gnats are present by the I millions, and they are an Intolerable pest to man and beast. The lands a must ho drained, in order to reduce I the acidity of the soil, raise the tem-1 . I ipe'rature of the surface, lower the 1 frost line and facilitate the decay of 1 organic matter. Where moss exletB, ' I .thiB must be destroyed by burning I or carting it from the land for if 1 .plowed under it decays slowly and in- Jures crop piants. The timber growth 1 which is everywhere must be cleared. r i Well! Now who wants a homestead I I In Alaska? There are hundreds of i - :acTes of land in Weber county open I to reclamation at one-tenth the cost lin labor. '