The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1867-05-24

We think the writer of the following is a
recognized old friend of ours, formerly OF York
county. Seven years ago, with little or no
capital, he removed TO Aroostook county and
took up piece of wild land on which to make
farm. The result is given below. 1t is in an
swer to the question of "A Shoemaker" in the
Maine Farmer of April 9th, who wishes advice
from some one who knows by experience, as
to the chance OF a man with good pair of
hands and u willing heart, to make his living
by farming in the "down-east" region. Mr..
Ambrose, we know, to be a gentleman whose
statements may be relied upon, and therefore
we are inclined to give them to the public and
cOnm9nd them to the attention of our young
men vino think, enormously, of doing better
by leaving Maine for the Great West, or for
California. We copy from the Maine Farmer.
Seven years ago las January arrived with
my family (seven in number) in what is now
Sherman When l got here my funds consist
ed OF about thirty dollars and an old horse
which 1 exchanged for COW. During the time
that elapsed between January and spring.
earned about thirty dollars more; so with this
family On my hands, l managed to keep "sL Lul
and body together" As soon as the ground
was bare l went to work on my lot, (where by
the way bad five acres OF trees telled the pre-
yious summer) which was four miles from the
main road, the distance TO be travelled only by
a spotted line through the woods. L cleared
up my nVe acres, by constant toll, changing
work with others and pihng by hand, as had
no team. After my seed was in the ground, /
put up log house, swamped or bushed out a
| sort oil a road through the woods, hired yoke
| OF oxen and sled and moved my family and
our small effects into our "cabin in the wilder
ness" My crop was all that could be expected
from so small a beginnings From three pecks
of wheat sowed the last day Of May, harvest
ed Twenty-Five bushels; five bushels ofpotatoes
81 tk.a Of
June, yielded latter digging for family use all
the falD ninety-two bushels of the very best of
tubers. Nj other crops were all satisfactory.
Thus l began. Well, had pretty hard time
of it, as had no capital and consequently no
team until l raised one.
But / viii not weary your patience, nor that
of your readers with minute details. Suffice
| it TO say that l worked hard, for had to; and
| where will a man escape hard work who has
LARGE family to support and nothinff but his
hands TO do it with? Well, seven years have
elapsed, and now find myself the owner of q
good farm and a team to work it with, besides
some other stock and conveniences which L
need not mention here. My farm affords me
better living than could possibly get at my
| trade and the beauty of is is have home
| tbatI can call my own. Last year sowed two
aad q half bushels of wheat and harvested
sixty-two bushels. From less than half an
acre of corn planted the ID day of June,
| harvested forty-two bushels of ears of splendid
| corn, besides ten bushels of pig-corn. plant
ed thirteen bushels of potatoes and harvested
two hundred bushels. My other crops were al
| SO good 1 could state cases of enormous
| crops but these would be the eXeeDuonS and
- .i.a---z-l-I I,alS- -srata what was produced
| on my land that was never plowed, and couse-
| quently never manured.
| Now my advice to "A Shoemaker" is come
| to Aroostook about the first of June, select a
| good lot of State land at fifty cents per acre,
| payable in labor on the highway, fail a few
| acres of trees for crop the next season, and
| then return to his family, and use all honora-
| BILE means in his power until the next spring to
| Get a few dollars ahead to start with; then
/ move his family on or near his lot and com
| mence in earnest ''life in Aroostook," and my
word for it, with health, industry and econo-
my, he will in a few years be "lord of the
| soil.
Allow me here to digress little / have
stated above that had to travel four miles by q
| spotted line through the woods to reach my lot
| On that same line is now u pasSable carriage
road. My first crop of wheat had TO be sent to
| Lincoln, distance otforty miles, 10 be ground
now we have in our own town one of the best
| flour mills in the State. Then we had miser-
able apology for saw mill, now we have two
good ones. Then we had two schoolhouses
| in town now we have five with a pfoSnaet oi
| two more. Then abont sixty dollars year was
| raised for schools, this year We raised seven
| hundred dollars for that purpose. Thus we
/ progress. Our progress, however, was very
much retarded during the war. When the re-
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| tv-three voters; out of that number we furnish
| ell one hundred and twelve men for the army
/ Several Of these brave fellows perished in de-
fense of the stars and stripes, and few took up
residences elsewhere after the close of the war.
| The consequence is that several farms, with
small Improvements on them, are now vacant
and for sale The prices of these farms o
course vary according to the amount of I'M
nroyements on them. A farm adjoining my
1wn containing one hundred and forty-fonr
acres of land, and enough of il cleared to cut
fourteen tons of hay, was sod last spring for
500. and this may be set down as the current
price of such farms here. Farms with less
land cleared, can be bought for less money. II
a man has the means to do so, would advise
him by all means to purchase farm with
| some improvements thereon, as he is thus en-
a,pled to move on to 1t ut once and commence
! farming.
The price of settling land owned by the
| State, is City cents an acre, payable IN labor
| the highway, with three years time to COM
plete the payments. For full particulars on
This subject, 1 would refer your correspondent
TO chapter FIVE OF the Revised Statutes OF
Maine also to our excellent Land Agent, j.
| H. Clark, Esq, of Bangor.
Ia conclusion allow me to say that l would
! not exchange my farm in Aroostook TOR one OF
| four times its market value in one of the old
| eountsjes not that would disparage farming
| in other sections of our State but simply be-
| cause q farm that can be purchased here fo
\ three hppdred dollars will produce more anC
| better crops than that which will cost from
| twelve to fifteen hundred dollars in other SEQ
tions of the State. / have tried farming ON an
| old farm, and have tried it here, and atte
4 ssgen years experience, do not hesitate to say
Sbernlan Mus. j. w. AMBROSE,
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