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Show CATTLE RAISING IN ALASKA. The Country Said to be Very Favorable Favor-able to tbe Industry. - The Fort Benton Press is in correspondence correspond-ence with Lieutenant Schwatka, the Arctic Arc-tic explorer, who recently made a recon-noissance recon-noissance of Alaska in the interest of the Government in regard to the project of establishing cattle ranches on the Aleutian Aleu-tian Islands, a portion of the Territory of Alaska. Lieutenant Schwatka is enthusiastic enthu-siastic on the subject and thinks there is no such cattle country in the world, as every circumstance is "favorable and every, element of success in this business supplied. sup-plied. Mr. Tingley, of Butte City, Montana, Mon-tana, who has visited nearly all portions of North America, "is able to confirm this report from observation, and if he were not in the beef business in Montana a stock country that he thinks is pretty hard to improve upon he would give this enterprise serious consideration. We glean the following facts of interest from Lieutenant Schwatka's report on the islands, is-lands, with reference to the advantages to some company that will utilize them as a stock range : JLne area or the Aleutian group is about 8,000 square miles, and of this at least 2,000 square miles is unexcelled pasture land. The climate is almost tropical, the lowest temperature recorded, since 1830 being one degree above zero. In this regard re-gard the British Isles, even, cannot compare com-pare with the Aleutian group. The islands are covered with luxuriant grasses, among the varieties being the celebrated bunch grass, the most nutritious nutri-tious of all. "Without going into any scientific or even common classification of the grasses," says the renowned explorer, "I will say it is as luxuriant and of as good quality as I have ever seen in my life, and twelve years of that life has been spent in close contact with the cattle interests in-terests of Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Montana and other great stock growing districts. The domestic cattle (belonging to the seal company) I saw on Oonalaska Island were in better condition than many thousand carloads I have seen shipped east from the plains." The market for stock will be the Pacific Pa-cific coast of North America and possibly Asia. Cattle can be shipped from the islands to San Francisco for $10 a head, which is the cost of sending a steer from our ranges to Chicago. Lieutenant Schwatka suggests numerous numer-ous advantages the cattle kings of these islands would have over the sovereign of the boundless plains. No fencing for any purpose would be necessary, for the ranges are "girded by the sea;" the natives na-tives are docile and friendly, and would supply all the labor the company needed a. a nominal cost; to round up would be the work of a few days instead of many months; prairie fires are unknown ; cattle pests, such as flies, mosquites, etc., are swept away by the sea breezes. It is proposed, if possible, to organize a company com-pany this winter to embark in the enterprise enter-prise next season. The Lieutenant is willing to take the management and prove that the project is a leasable and profitable one. It looks like it ought to be such, and we have no doubt that in time not only these islands, but much of the Alaskan coast will become an important impor-tant stock growing region. |