The Portland daily press., 1867-11-22

m = ouI oI somewhat dark color.
u' nave been owing to the inferior
u "neat then cultivated, or to the fact
Inat we hau no mills that could bol, tho
grain without pretty large adm;v,,,,a 81 a.
bran with the flour. The whea, :, -. :. '"o
may now call native growth, its or,o;T, ~
ing unknown, like our 'na.ive" eatt.e, beso,.
the superior Malaga and Tea wheats, or the
Durham shorthorn and Jersey cows had
found their way hither in response to the
public demand for improvements which have
since blessed our fields and stalls.
In those days we well remember, country
traders who took in wheat in course of the
winter, generally took their accumulated
stores by sleds and pungs to the mercantile
towns-as Portland, Hallowell, Bath and Wis
casset, where larger merchants bought UP
the grain-sometimes for shipments to Bos-
ton, Salem. and ''all along Shore Hallowen.
In those days, was the greatest depot in the
Distrlct Tor country produce of all kinds,
brought thither from what are now the coun-
ties OF kennebec, Androscoggin, Oxford.
Franklin and Somerset, and parts of Sarada-
hoe. Lincoln, Waldo and Piscataquis. At the
Hallowell X Roads, now Manchester Forks.
we have seen, when the sleghing was gone in
the winters OF 1914, rs. 16 and II, whole
lines of OK teams and horse sleds, like one
vast procession, filling the roads, moving into
Hallowell, laden with wheat and other grains,
besides beet, pork, mutton, butter, cheese,
lard, beans, potatoes, apples and other mar
kntahlo for a,nA hou I,,,o
more than one spring, when, on the opening
ofthe Kennebec, vessels at the whafves of
that busy town Were laden largely with do
mestic wheat for a distant market
Perhaps the success in wheat raising, down
to the period we have suggested, was greatly
owing to the fact that the country was then
comparatively new; the grounds had not
long cen aivested Of their primeval forests
and much OF tie grain was raised on burnt
land. The soil was in its virgin purity, and
certain diseases and insects had not vet so
effectually kept pace with the advance of civ
iization as to riot on the endeayor of young
settlements. 1t may be that this is reason
able solution of the difficulties that subse-
quently arose,-albeit experience has since
shown that the newness of a country and a
virgin soil are not the necessary conditions of
success in this matter. On old grounds, in
much later years, larger crops have been rails
ed per acre, than W. have any account of hav-
ing been produced ON burnt land. We reeol-
lect instances in which the Kennebec Agri-
cultural Society have awarded premiums to
farmers for raising 35, 45 1-2 and even so bush
els of excellent wheat per acre. Larger yields
than this have been reported. Even the pres
ent year the newspapers announce that on
seven-eighths Of an acre of old ground in
Phillips, Mr.. NJ. G. Walker has winnowed out
and measured 80 bushels and two quarts
The Report of the Agricultural Bureau at
Washington shows that the average of wheat
per acre in Name, during the last ten years OF
Encouragement, is within one bushel and
eight tenths of that in Wisconsin, which, we
all know, is one of the best wheat producing
States of the Great West.
The first misfortune that befel our wheat
crop ia Maine, so far as the recollection of the
writer serves him, was in the year 1S1O-the
year when Elbridge Gerry was Governor of
the Commonwealth. The smut then made its
appearance, and made sad work with the rip
ening wheat heads This scourge was regard
ed by some of the Governors superstition
opponents as visitation of Divine vengeance
upon the people on account of the hideous
GeTymdader with which he disturbed the
geographical, domains of the Essex Junto i
The grain in many of the heads was decom-
posed into black iinpalpable powder, which
being imponderous, caused them TO stand
pertly erect over their fellows that contained
''e 'uh 0o---- ~. tha ear, and were bowed
down of their owl golden weight. Itwas Gu
rious to behold field and witness this sig
ni6cant appearance. We recollect eaustic
arecdote, for which this fact was made an il
lustration. The famous Elder Elias Smith.
protector Of the first religious newspaper in
America-the Herald of Gospel Liberty"-in
Portsmouth, N, H., and originator of the un-
sectarian sect called ''Smithites," now known
as Christians" made his appearance in the
village of our residence, and appointed a
meeting which drew great crowd to see and
hear the wonderful man. After service, he
" was attacked by a dissentient, who not only
combatted his doctrines, but descended to rude
personalities. 1t was remarked that Smith
and his disciples, as if to make their humility
distinguishing mark, had formed the habit.
when discussing points, of bowling down the
head more than was common to people; and
his opponent wished he would explain why it
was that the Smithites bowed their heads
whilst other Christians held theirs erect?
Pointing to a field of wheat across the way
ready for the sickle, Smith desired his querist
to notice that all the soun1 and good heads
were bowed down, whilst every smutty one
stood proudly erect The objector realized
the force OF the illustration, and closed the
colloquy. l.eI
This smutty evil in the wheat continued
for some years. Machines were constructed
for separating the sound from the infected
grain, and great pains were taken to cleanse !
the seed by various solutions before sowing
the grain in spring.
The next mal-visitation was the Hessian
fly. As the smut began to abate, these flies
in great numbers took possession of the field