Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1871-01-19
THURSDAY, JANUARY 18th, 1871.
The effect of Railroads upon the In
dustrial and Farming Interests Of q

I-a-t tttfthhbti VIC NtSt itIutrith w
prepare a paper. to be read at some Of the
Farmers Club meetings OF this county,
on the influence of railroads upon the
farming interests of community. Feel
demonstrated by experience. should tell
the story, we addressed letter of inquiry
to several persons. whose location would
seem to give them the necessary informa-
ton. and received the following very full
and carefully considered reply, from Hon.
A. NJ. Robinson. of Dover. Maine. We
give the letter to ohr readers. asking for it
a careful reading
DEAR SIR.-Your note of Dec. lst. TO
Major Woodbury.. inquiring as To the effect
of railroads. upon the business prosperity
and industries of the localities through
which they pass. and as TO the effect Of
our railroad in these PARTICULARS. has been
handed me by that gentleman, with a
request that would reply.
] very cheerfully accede to the request.
and will give you. as well as | can. such
information as have. upon this important
subject. NV relations to our road. the
Bangor and Piscataqus road. for the last
three years. has been such. a 10 impose
upon me pretty close attention 10 the subject
matter of your inquiry. The accomplished
work of a railroad. is rapid. cheap. and
sure transportation and this result Is in
evitably followed by another development.
that of the natural wealth of the locality
penetrated. and the industries stimulated
by this development: this invites capital
and profitable labor. and these agencies
hold and increase population. All this,
Of necessity. has the direct tendency TO in
crease the value of all real property gen
orally: aud its especial value will be en-
HANGED. just in proportion 10 its productive
capacity. Another noticeable fact is. that
productive industry is most benefited By
railroads. The man most benefited. i lie
who takes his product directly from the
field. the forest or the mill. and exchanges
il in the market for money. by means of
cheap transportation. Compared 10 this.
the merchant who buys. To sell again. Is Of
a secondary importance.
The farmer who places hi> product upon
the railroad. and receives for ii cash in the
market gets all the benefit Of cheap trans
poftaiion. 80 with the miner and lumber
men. while with the merchant. thu adv an
iage Of this same cheap transportation
goes mainly to his customers. The
advantage 10 the trader i chiefly this -
Much le-, capital will do much more bust
ness; a. from any railroad point in Maine.
his order can in two or three DAYS be filled
from almost any market Ia New England.
To the ordinary productive industries of
the country. the adya tiage> OF railroad
transportation may thus be summed up -
Il enhances the value of all production.
and decreases the price of all consump-
ton. The primary advantage il 10 the
producer. the secondary TO the consumer
of products, affected by this transport alton.
Iu2iss, ur1ue rrie' nvr' iSr'r rItrr- zcr---viTi,
the proposition was presented TO the towns.
the farmers quite generally opposed IL.
The road has been in operation one year.
and my impression f. now. that this class.
would be the very last TO surrender it, II
such proposition was presented.
On a line of about twelve miles In this
county. about forty thousand bushels OF
potatoes has been transported this fall
and | judge that more than half of this
crop i, still held back, These potatoes
have gone mainly to the Boston market
They have averaged at the depots. about
Scots per bushel. and realized about twenty
thousand dollars. By the old mode OF
transportation by teams to Bangor. they
would not have melted TO the owners more
than half this amount on thi, line OF twelve
miles. This road then, has melted TO the
farmers the present season. on one half oi
their crop. tbs sum Of ten thousand dol
lars. on this single product. The same
will apply with nearly the same force 60
other agricultural products. such Us beef.
pork. grain. hay. butter. cheese. and live
stock. Il very large amount of which has
been forwarded.
One of the most marked features Ia our
road. (and feature common TO all our
railroads i its tendency to stimulate new
industries. and 10 originate new erterpris-
e.. Almost every farmer along it. whole
line is widening the breadth OF his improv-
ed land and clearing up sSamps. and
ditching. and thus bringing his waste land
into cultivation. The miner i enlargine
his works and opening up new field. Six
new slate qnarries have been opened in
this county within the past year One OF
them. the famous Leavitt q Weston quarry.
Is claimed to have no equal in the world
Some dozen or more Of new mills for the
manufacture Of lumber-w thin the same
time have been built. or are now being
built along the line. or within conyenien,
striking distance. Many OF these are de-
signed 10 cut out small choice lumber
such as poplar. white birch brown ash
and the like. This timber is of great val
ne. to the owners Of it. now that they are
within reach Of a market. and which wa.
of no especial value before-besides open
Ing up new and profitable avenues for la
Dor. / am just informed while writing
this sentence. that the owners of one OF
| these mills are now contracting for seven
hundred aud fifty cords Of this kind OF
lumber the present winter. All this you
perceive must inevitably enhance the value
of real estate. In the villages and at cen.
trail points the rise is rapid. Away from
these points its advance is more slow. bur
steady and with healthful pace.
Another marked feature of railroads i.
the accumulation of business. This ac.
cumulation. | believe. uniformly outstrip.
the calculation of the most sanguine
Such has been the fact with US, and such
is the general fact. We started GU,
but poorly equipped with cars. and with a
road. at the time. without ballast on twelve
miles of its length, and with other portion:
with none. or next to none. on the first day