Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1880-12-01
Questions About Ar00st0ok.

Questions About Aroostook.
Numerous inquiries are made by CORE
spondents in regard to the farming lands in
Maine described by us in recent article.
As we are unable to answer them all by
mail we take the following letter as cover
ing most of the points on which information
is asked:
woLcoIT, Vt, November 10, 1880.
Dear sir:-Your article In the last WAToHMAN
has excited an interest in my mind in regard to
farming in Aroostook county, Maine which leads
me to beg favor Of you. | am young man
with less than $500 OF capital, and have thought
some of going west. But your description OF
Maine leads me to think that perhaps it is better
for me to go east. Will you do me the favor to
answer the following questions and give me all
the information you can? Q) How far is that
county from here? (2) What will it cost to go
and look at the country? (3) Had better df
locate) take my four cows and horse from hereP
(4) What household goods had better take? (5)
What course shall take to get to the most favor
able point to locate? cannot spend much money |
in prospecting. t6) What time of year had bet
ter go to look, and what time of year had ought |
to be there? Yours, o.E EB
ANswERs.-O In a direct line Aroos-
took county is between two and three hun
dred miles from northern Vermont. 1t is
further by the route it is necessary to take,
Tickets can be bought at Wolcott for Port
land. Return tickets are sold at reduced
rates. In the depot where the Portland &
Ogdensburg cars stop at Portland, tickets
oo,, ho bo,oht and tho caro tatap for Houl-
ton or Caribou, one at the south end and
the other near the north end of Aroostook
county The whole fare from Vermont to
1oulton is about Sl5. The Eastern Steam
boat hotel, close by the depot at Portland, is
a good and cheap house to stop at in that
city, and the Penobscot Exchange is sim
liar house in Bangor, near the depot where
the cars are taken for Houlton. We stopped
over night at both those places, but passen
gers who choose to ride by night can go
through with but few hours delay at
| Portland.
(2) You can spend as much as you choose
looking at the country. If we were situated
as our correspondent is, we would go to
Houlton in the spring and work our way
northward Jobs can be got on most any
farm during the working season, and these
jobs give one an opportunity to learn the
nature of the country and hear of good
chances to get hold of land. So far as we
could learn, land is as cheap in one part of
the county as in another. 1t seemed to us
rather to improve as we went northward,
but is good enough in all parts.
(O Common cows can be bought cheaper,
and are about as good in Aroostook as in
Vermont 1t is quite dairy country al
ready, but there is little blooded stock there
as yet. Well bred Jerseys, Ayrshires, Short
horns and Dutch cattle can be bought in
southern Maine as cheaply as in Vermont
We do not think it would pay to take stock
of any kind from here, unless one chose to
drive his own team and take his household
"plunder along with him.
az As to household goods, there is no
difficulty in freighting whatever you choose
to Aroostook by rail- We saw cars stand
ing in the railroad yard at Houlton from
|
from more places than in any railroad yard
we ever saw in Vermont. But if we were
going there to settle we should sell off all
except especially priced articles, and buy
again when we got where we decided to stop
1t is a great bother and expense to move
household gear, even when we know Just
where we are going, and have house all
ready to receive it.
(5) The answer to this question is con-
tanned in the answer to question 2. But il
one desires to find location at once the
best way would be to see or correspond with
the parties mentioned in our first article
In such case, however, the purchaser would
have little opportunity to examine the land
aud location before deciding. Springs worl
begins the moment the snow is gone, il
Aroostook. A shrewd, cautious man woult
prefer to spend one season looking about, es
pecially as it could be done without losin,
many days work, and might save much in
the cost Of the purchase, at the same tim'
being better suited.
(O If one has time and money to spend
he might go this winter and learn all tina
can be learned without seeing the ground
He could see that as soon as the snow goe
off, and "pitch right in," if he wanted To
Work can be had all winter, if desired
at numbering. There was great deman
for choppers and teamsters while we wer
there.
!, To illustrate how easily money may b
made in Aroostook by wide-awake fello,
we will mention what Mr.. Glines of Law
renee, Massachusetts,, whom we fell int
conversation with at hotel in Hoaltor
| told us. He said his son was there in tn
spring on business and having chance h
ly rent sixteen-acre lot which had been i
3, pasture number of years and was full c
old cedar stumps just about ready to com
:, out, he took it, and hired a man to plow
and plant it to potatoes. After paying tn
MS rent, the cost of plowing, getting out an
burning the stumps, the cost of seed, plan
ing to potatoes, cultivating them durin
the summer, digging aud drawing to tn
cars, the net profit on the whole was litt
over 5000. No manure was used, and ii
crop was over three hundred bushels TO I'll
acre. We have no doubt there are pleni
of Just such chances, all the time, but
course the difficulty with new conner is
happen to hear of them just at the rigl
time, and the pluck to "pitch in" Tn
young man did not strike lick himsel
II ha had haen a workinU man and ha