Exploring the gardening potential of the Last Frontier over 100 years ago Published January 2
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Print article More than 100 years ago, a man traveled north on a mission most people thought was ridiculous to see if crops would grow in the frozen wasteland known as the Territory of Alaska. That man, Charles C. Georgeson, was a special agent in charge of the United States Agricultural Experiment Stations. The secretary of agriculture charged Georgeson with the task of finding out if crops and farm animals could survive in the mysterious land acquired just 21 years earlier from the Russians. When he landed at Sitka 100 years ago, Georgeson set in motion agricultural studies that are still carried on today at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.