Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1882-01-13
AUGUSTA. MAINE FRIDAY MORNING. JANUARY 49, 1882
Dailp kennebtr Juurnal.
Prosperity.

The past year OF 1881 has proved to be
anexceptionally an favorable one for the farm
ers of the New England States. and es-
pecially in Maine has fortune smiled on
the husbandman as she has seldom, ifever.
done before in the annals of farming.
Every crop has yielded bountifully not
failure has been reported. Corn matured
long. well-filled ears of flinty hardness
Potatoes yielded well and the tubers were
Of prime quality. The small grains.
wheat, barley, oats and rye gave good re-
turns. The hay crop, though damaged in
curing. was fully up to the average. The
apple trees fairly groaned beneath their
burden of fruit. But while the crops of
Maine were pnshing rapidly forward.
watered by copious rains, those of the
great West were languishing beneath ter
rible drouths. The earth became parched,
vegetation dropped, withered, and the re-
suit was that throughout this vast and fer
tile region the yield of crops fell tar be-
low the average. Indeed, the apple crop
was wellnigh total failure. In Illinois
the yield of corn was only one-half of the
crop OF 1879. while in Iowa the yield of
wheat was alarmingly small in the ex-
treme northwest. The rivers overfiowed
their banks; floods of water and ice swept
down, overwhelming the buildings and
submerging the lands of the settlers.
In many sections, notably in Mich
igan. desolating fires ragged and razed
from the face of the earth crops. houses
and barns, the savings of lifetime
of toll. Yet Maine has encountered
none of these disadvantages. and we can
safely assert that no State in the Union
has, all things considered. given better
return to the agriculturist than the Dirigo
State. Not only have the farms of
Maine been exceedingly productive. but
prices have favored the farmer as they
never have before, within the memory Of
the present generation. AT this writing.
nearly all articles from which our farmers
100 per cent. from last year. Meat and
-four have gone up Is per cent, butter and
cheese 25 per cent, apples, potatoes, and
beans 100 per cent. Compared on gold
basis, the price of nearly every article of
farm produce is to-day as high as during
the war. But, unlike rates then, prices of
manufactured articles, w. I. goods,
tea, coffee, spices, ETC., are down to
hard pan while in war times when pro-
duce advanced. prices went up all round
and practically the farmer was not bene-
fitted. To be sure, the high prices of
provisions render the cost of living dearer
to those engaged in other than agricul-
tural pursuits. Yet the successes which
our farmers have met with furnishes them
with the funds and the incentive to in
dulge in the purchasing of an increased
amount of those commodities so necessary
for their welfare and convenience living
as they do in this enlightened age of the
world. Thus stimulating trade and COM
merce into renewed activity, revivifying
and building up the great manufacturing
industries and what is of more importance
than all, giving TO our mechanics and ar
tisans, to the laboring masses remunera-
tive employment during an abundance of
which that old familiar CRY of "hard
timesn is never heard.