Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1882-05-27

ters than Western apples-beuer favored,
better looking and handle better
j "What part Of Maine can apple. be raised
most proftably?"
The apple belt seems to run through the
| central part Of the State. 1t begins in west.
ern ork,r runs through northern Cumberland
and takes in Oxford. Franklin and Kennebec
counties. Waldo is doing considerable in
apple raising. Out of this section the apples
90 not grow so large nor look SO snowy.
There Is quite q difference between apples
grown on the coast and in these counties''
would YOU advise farmers to 60 into ap-
pie raising?'
Il would tell them to put in all the trees
| they can take care Of; the more the better
| PorAroEs
''What do you think of potatoes as a sta.
pie crop?
"Generally speaking. il PAYS to raise DO
tatoes- In Aroostook and W ashington conn
Ties the potato crop is their sheet anchoe In
the Older sections of the State, farmers are
| learning that it does not pay To RELY exeiu-
-ively npon one crop, but if they wish to
maintain and increase the fertility of the soil
there must be rotation
| rs the Early Rose potato deteriorating in
quality and yield?"
~ CERTAIN extent any potato Will grad
ually decrease in yield and quality, and be
superseded by newer varieties. The Early
Rose is generally raised in Maine, and seems
to give general satisfaction. But the Beauty
of Hebron is taking its place. This potato
resembles the Early Rose; it is of the same
color. but little shorter; it keeps WELL and
IS better FOR use in the latter part of the
year"
| ut doesn't speak very well for Maine when
we have 10 send to Scotland for potatoes to
use on our tables in Augusta
.'There will always be years when certain
| crops fail. and last year the potato crop was
very small. Then again our Maine potatoes
are in great demand in Boston now. Aroos-
took potatoes bring h CHER price than pota-
toes from other parts of New England. That
is because the soil is new and strong. The
| average yield in that county is from 200 to
400 bushels per acre"
''How about the potato bug?"
81 am afraid that the Colorado beetle has
come to stay. We must make up our minds
to wage perpetual war against him. With
the proper arrangements farmers will soon
come to regard the potato bug as simply one
item to add to their expense account in the
cost of production, and not necessarily de-
structive to the crop Paris green and pa
thence will conquer in the end
THE Corn CRoP.
''Does it pay to raise corn in Maine?"
SIT does. and farmers are coming to realize
it. More acres are being devoted to corn
every year. 1t is now grown in larger fields,
and cultivated by machinery. Up in Dover
| last year saw one cornfeld of so acres. To
raise corn you must manure your field heavi-
ly. and the soil feels the advantage of this
fertilization for years"
SIS sweet corn for canning purposes pro-
fitable crop for Maine farmers?"
Il do not think this crop has anv remarka-
bic advantage over others, although for the
past two years the acreage devoted to sweet
corn has increased largely. 1t puts money in
circulation through the country towns, which
is good thing. Maine is well adapted to
growing corn for canning purposes, from the
fact that the farther north you get the sweet
er the corn. Foreign markets have been
opened for our canned corn, and factories are
being erected in many places. 1t is fact
not generally known that Maine raises more
than half Of the entire canned-crop of the
country
The ARoosTooK.
cit is currently reported that our farms are
getting worn out. and to raise big crops one
must leave the State and settle on the fertile
prairies of the Northwest. Is that sop
Il think not Farming in Maine has its
ups and downs. of course; but farmers
are generally thrifty and better off than their
brethren in most States. These people who
talk about 'worn-out farms should go up into
Aroostook and see the crops they harvest
from the virgin soil of that county,
''Then you have good opinion of Aroos-
took"
at is a wonderful county. There is more
fertile land in Aroostook than in the whole
State of Massachusetts,. The production of
that county in the future is going to be i'm
mense-immense. 1t is beyond comprehen-
sion You have no idea what Aroostook
will do"
''Is all the good land taken up?"
''By no means. In northern Aroostook
there is any quantity of good Ian within easy
reach of the railroad. That's the beauty of
it. In the Aroostook river valley a man can
purchase farm for what it would cost to re-
move his family to Dakota. 1t is the finest
farming country in New England"
''How about the winters"
"rhey are severe, of course. But the
county is so far inland and the air is so dry
that the cold is not so piercing as in sections
where the atmosphere is more humid. In
the spring you can go to work as early as in
Kennebec county. There ia no frost in the
ground. The snow comes on so early that
the ground cannot freeze. and as soon as II
melts YOU can begin operations
What is going to be Aroostook' s speciality"
at is going to be great hay. dairy and
potato region. 1t is now the second county
in the State in the manufacture of factory
cheese. The soil is rich and deep, and not
easily exhausted"
ssWhy don't more of our young men go to
Aroostook instead of leaving for the great
West?"
Zone reason is. suppose, that its charms
| are not depicted in such alluring tints as
are those of Western counties where railroads
have lands to sell. and where it is for their in.
terest to make the region out paradise.
! Aroostook hasn't been half advertised. |
think young man can do better there than
! i'm the West"
THE OLDER COUNTIES.
as farming playing out in the older cOun-
tes:''
ssNo, sir. l think that Maine farmers are
| improving their farms every year. and max
| ing them Weld larger returns. To make
money at farming, you must make business
| of it and farmers in certain sections of the
State-aong the coast noticeably-have lost
bv not concentrating their efferts upon their
farms instead of dissipating their energies in