The Portland daily press., 1882-08-01
The A oricultural outlook.

The Kennebec Journal did a clever bit OF
journalistic work in interviewing Hon. q. a.
Gilbert, of Turner, Secretary OF the MAINE
Board of Agriculture, upon the general ag-
ricultural outlook in this otate. lhat MI.
Gilbert is well informed Oh this subject goes
without the saying. He is not only prac-
t;cal farmer himself, but a student of and
writer upon agricultural matters, and his re-
lations with the Agricultural Society extend
ing over more than dozen years, have
brought him in communication with the
leading farmers of the whole State. Our
Kennebec contemporary naturally found MIR.
Gilbert a perfect bonanza of information;
and we are glad to note that it was OF the
most encouraging kind. In reply to the
question, ''How are the farmers OF Maine
prospering?'' Mr., Gilbert said: "Nicely.
There hasn't been a more prosperous year
for farmers for many years than the last.
Prices of all kinds of farm produce have
been high. and farmers are making money
We are full of courage for the future. a
larger area will be devoted to crops this year
than ever before. Farmers are purchasing
improved machinery and spending more
money on the hired man. improvements
are going on all around. New houses and
barns are being built, and the paint brush
is more literally used on the old buildings"
To show how Maine farmers are benetiting
ky the business boom Mr.. Gilbert quoted the
prices which have been paid for produce:
Potatoes from 81 to $1.20 bushel; apples
from S2.5O to $500 barrel; butter, 30 cents
pound; fat cattle, $11 hundred on the
foot, dressed weight, and other things pro-
portionately. Farmers have more ready
money than formerly, and the tendency
among the most progressive agricIlturists
is to work up the raw product on the farm;
to transmute the hay, corn, and coarser feed
into beef, mutton, wool, pork, and dairy
products. The failure of the potato crop IN
some counties last year Mr.. Gilbert thinks
was more than compensated by the enor-
nous apple crop. He regards the potato
crop as generally profitable, but says it does
not do to rely upon one crop exclusively,
and that to maintain and increase the fer
tility of the soil there must be rotation. He
is of the opinion that the Colorado beetle
has come to stop and must be warred upon.
but s'Paris green and patience will conquer,
in the end" With regard to apple raising
Mr.. Gilbert is an enthusiast, and recom-
mends farmers to put in all the trees
they can take care of; the more the
better. He says: "Apples are the best pay
ing crop produced from the land Many
a mortgage has been lifted by the oountlful
apple crop of the past two years.. MI Gil
bert reports more attention given to the
raising of sheep and swine than formerly,
with a marked improvement in breeds. He
thinks sheep quite profitable, and says that
under the best system of keeping them 1t
paws to raise hogs. Hogs naturally suggest
the corn crop, of which Mr.. G. says: more
acres are being devoted to corn every year:
1t is now grown in large fields and cultivated
by machinery Up in Dover last year saw
one cornfield of so acres. To raise corn you
must manure your field freely, and the soil
feels the advantage of this fertilization for
wears" It is fact not generally known
that Maine raises more than half OF tne en-
tire canned crop of the country.
OF the agricultural capabilities OF The
Aroostook region Mr.. Gilbert speaksin warm
praise. He thinks man can do better there
than in the west, and that more would go
there if it was as well advertised as the
lands along the western railroads. lie
thinks that farming is not retrograding in
the older counties, but that, on the contrary,
Maine farmers are improving their farms ev-
cry year and making them yield larger re-
turns and he finds tendency among them
to own big farms and to conduct them on
business methods. In conclusion we give
Mr. Gilbert's reply to the question, What
is the outlook for Maine farmers"'
Most excellent. Prices must range high.
There is big boom in business, and every
body has money. Farmers share in this gen.
eral prosperity as much as any class. The
crops last year were not large, and the
country is short of the great staple products.
1t has been short of dairy products right
along. You can't raise a cow or steer
in less than three years, and all this time
the demand for butter, cheese and beef is in
creasing. A million immigrants are pouring
in from Europe annually who can not become
producers at once, and who must be sup
plied with food. Then there is the immense
foreign draft on our productions. 1t is inev-
liable that prices must range high this year
and that Maine farmers will reap another
golden harvest.-Belfast Journal