The Republican journal., 1885-03-12
Maine: Its Agricultural Features and
Capabilities.
Copyright, 1884, S. l.. b.


The county of Aroostook extends across the
entire northern nortion of tbe St,ta for ia
miles, lhciudes o,ooo square mlies, or an area
considerably larger than the State of Massa-
cbnsatts Thar Naipa has Sixteen count;es .
single one OF Which Is larger thah the entire
State Of Massachusetts. will no doubt excite
surrri.a in the minds nf those nat aeouainted
'"i r. = = 'liN ''' ''0N - - 1''''i''o> y
Win our tocai 2eoSiaPhS' any i've one some
faint idea of the great extent Of our territory
as compared with some .f the other New Fng-
lna a U. c. ~ ,u T.,
IAN" anu I1"eteih 0'ftes' - hlustrale stlll
further: This one county of Maine is more
than four times aS l.ron as Phoda 1sIand .
third ]aronr than CnunrTti.n, thran-fanrthS a :
larre as Nermont- and fonr-tifrh. ~ Iarna rl. as
Nh U,nn.hira /, i u,atarhI H., ,ha Si.'3
John and jts trilut.,,ias thp rhiaf ~ ,yhi.h ,ra
the Aroosfook the Mad,wa.La snd ,ho NJ
| duxnakn.o Tbn opuar.I lirant;nn ~ Ill H.
| rivers and their n,1ncrnal trihnt,r;os i aast
ward toward ihe saint John tha u,.tarshod
| eytendinu ,ynsttr.rd ~ tha haialt ~ InI IL
tween th,t river and tbn Pennh.na, ''.nu ami r.
| tributaries The surface Of the county i ,,,ore
| or less unf]ulatjno iii o..tarlv rsn,,as ~ tnt
sbips being Iess hilly and mara free fron, stona
han is usiIaI in thr Statr at Iaroa Th ih1anle
| Of Lo,yld.rs j. o,Iita rrti,aal,Ia 7.,,a ,I ,.I
nrfn nf the iii rnnd "f rlr I, ~ -
| Nirhioan and ala of Ian.d., We.t frha,. -,
| marks annly ia the eastern or tirst nsnon1
and third ranocs Of town.hi,,s III r.noes ,yaat
of these are more broken. sometimes hilly.
with frequent powders, and outcrops of lime
stone and slate. some townsbjns in thesa f.,.I-
| ern ranges arc q free from stonas tbnt # /
| difficult to find enough .t -rpii cellars. sc.
| There is an abundance of iron ore IN Wade
| Plantation no. 10, .ourth rance). near the
| Aroostook River also in t,.stla JIiH pl.nt.,;n,,
| (\o - fnurth rangel .n1 il, porha,,, III
| lownshin north Of Wade Pl.ntation Thara l.
| also iron in other localities These deposits
were examined some wears ago bv a. ".
| Davis, Esq. manager Of the katahdin Iron
| Works Company. in company with an exnert
from PENNSYLVANIA who pronounced it Of an
excellent quality and very tayortbly situated
for working. There is limestone III Caribou
and Fort Fairfield which has been worked 10
some extent, but has not been vet sufficiently
| tlevploppd to make If profitable Tor ,npr, nical
| purposes There is al eXhall.tibie formation
| of roofing Slate in Littleton. about \ miles fran
| IIoulton, of a very excellent ulaIity Sand
| stone Of fine qualify exists in MapIrton. ana
| will no doubt be eventually worked for bni1-
ing purposes.
The Soil consists mainly of a lppn rirh
| hazel loan. and is usually unu,rlaid with 4
substratum Of limestone, frequently with Slate,
| the depth varying from to + fpet The origin
| of the soil is from the decomno>ition Of line
| tone and slate. In many pIace. yruetahlp
mold is found 10 feet below The surface. There
| is more or less of interyale bordering Tie
streams. and Il sill larger extent Of such 1, i
| doubtless OF auNial origin. but more elevated
| than that which in the Older poriipn> Of IRE
| land usually i, ,eunmiuatr,] ipfprv.le I.nd
| The prtdominating >oij i, what !, commonly
| termed a "strong. hardwood soiI." ana oou1
| for all CROPS. in the valleys between tha
| ridges or swells of land are larue eytents Of
| loWluud ORIGINALLY covered chiefly win cedar
which make The bpst gras> ana Grain ),nds of
| the country. The soil is ,leep. consisting Of 10
| or II Inches of vegetable matter rp,Iinn on
| loan or clay and beneath mi. , nnrou. sub
| soil
| The forest trees Of Aroostook Are mainly
| those found in other portiuu, III northern
Maine The white lime (po,..x xt,L.l vyas
| originally very laraa. valuable and hp1otifu
| lre, of The Aroostook Valley ~ walI a. If
| other portions of the county Mai Of th.se
| trees were emf Nv thp e.rl- S.tfI.rS an1 III
| umbern,rp many wears ago. and sent down thr
| SAINT John for a market. These yaluahIe Ana
| beautiful pines were made intn bawnIi,nher u
| inches so,iare ana larotr RIM I,,yn th4 Sti,f
John to The dock. of ,ha, civ in raf1. whrrp il
| was shipped to England saved ntn surh dj
| mensiuus ;ts was wanted in thpir bnitlingx .n1
useti ali over That conntr, in tb4 ron~tin,tinn III
| the homes AM, huu,e> of olI I,mulan1 Nsvttn
| lie nine. the srruc4 l5;py ,lILI n,In .r,'ts'g
| were and are nov rhp ,nost y,,lr.,hIn tr4.>
| These are found IL yast numbers II, 1U tbn IL,
| settled township,. put ure heino con,tantIv Til
off by lumbermcn. 4 yorno gro,yth nf ihpse
trees >prinn M very Soon Mar he ,,4rent tr,es
| 4 htlShl OF ~ 1eet' ana diameter Of l. TO u