Lew Hanks

SCS (Soil Conservation Service) Collection

c. early 1950's

This winter image looks north across a field covered by approximately a foot of snow and extending from immediate foreground to an unbroken line of dark heavy forest extending across the photo in far middle ground. Snow-covered Talkeetna mountains are visible above the trees in background. Several shocks of grain are evident protruding above the snow in near middle ground. Several lanes have been plowed clear near the visible grain to provide access to the shocks to be broken loose from the frozen ground by the cat tractor. Snow berms along plowed sections appear approximately three feet high. An accompanying note by the SCS Conservationist offers some analysis: "Frozen hay shocks broken loose with bulldozer so they can be hauled to barn for feeding. Hay left out like this makes very poor forage. Illustrates an extremely sloppy farming practice common in the Matanuska Valley."

Matanuska Valley, Alaska

Black & White Paper Print, 4" x 5"

Farm#20nx-SCS-1