CHAPTER IV.
Climate and Agricultural Resources.
ALASKA may be divided agriculturally into three districts ; each differing from the others in its climate, vegetation, and physical characteristics. The first and most northern district, which I have termed the Yukon Territory, is bounded on the south by the Alaskan Mountains, on the east by the British boundary line, and on the north and west by the Arctic Ocean, and Bering Sea.
The second or middle district, which may be called the Aleutian District, includes that part of the peninsula of Aliaska, and all the islands west of the one hundred and fifty-fifth degree of longitude.
The third or southernmost, which will be designated as the Sitkan District, includes all our possessions on the mainland and islands south and east of the peninsula of Aliaska.
The Yukon Territory.—The character of the country in the vicinity of the Yukon River varies from low, rolling, and some-what rocky hills, usually easy of ascent, to broad and rather marshy plains, extending for miles on either side of the river, especially near the mouth. There are, of course, no roads, except an occasional trail, hardly noticeable except by a voyageur. The Yukon and its tributaries form the great highways of the country.
The rocks vary, the greater proportion being conglomerate, sienite, quartzite, and sandstone. Trachyte and lava abound in particular districts. The superincumbent soil also differs, in some localities being sandy, and in others clayey. In the latter case it is frequently covered with growth of sphagnum, which causes a deterioration of the soil below it. Over a large extent of country it is a rich alluvial, composed of very fine sand, mud, and vegetable matter, brought down by the river, and forming depos-
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