The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-08-09

of so good Judge as Benjamin Lohoalu VI
the Lombard Investment Company OF Bos-
ton, to the farming lands of Iowa OF Aahoas
More than in any other farming region III
the State the farms show thrift anu pioo-
perity. The buildings have tidy appear
ance, and the barns especially are suggestive
of abundant crops and prosperous huspan aoo
men. The last census showed that III looo
there were in the county $500 farms, with an
area of 100000 acres, ard valued at S5,zVo'-
000 The live stock was valued at 81 ,2Oo,ooo'
and the farming implements and machinery at
$3.50, 900. In value of farm products only Ken
nebec, Penobscot and Cumberland equalleo
Aroostooks two million dollars WORTH
The Fourth of July orator at Houlton THIS
year could point with pride to the fact tnat
in 1880 only two counties in the nation, Steu-
ben in New York and Bradford in Pennsyl-
vania, equalled Aroostook's crop of buck
wheat, while no county raised so many pota-
toes. Throughout Maine the average yield
of potatoes per acre is 116 bushels, in Aroos-
took it is estimated at from $50 to 175. Many
of these potatoes are manufactured into
starch, of which nearly 5000 tons are sent
away annually In certain staple pro-
ductlons, the contribution which Aroostook
makes annually is very considerable pro-
portion of the production of the whole State.
Gen. Hall speaking at Houlton this summer
estimated the proportion shown by this
table; the estimates being based on the GEN.
sus of 1880.
State Aroostook
Hay 100000 tons $1,000 tons
Wheat 666,600 bushels 298,0o0 bushels
Buckwheat $4,000 " 29sOo0
Rye 10000 1900
This is the showing m ade by the county
considered the most remote in Maine.
THE TOWNS.
The great country which produces sucn
abundant crop. is without any other railway
facilities than are furnished by the two
branches of the New Brunswick Railway,
which come in at Houlton and along the
Aroostook river; and by the extension which
reaches the Madawaska settlement. The
result is that the principal towns, like Houl-
ton, Presque Isle, Caribou and Fort Fairfield
have grown and fourished, not through any
manufacturing industries, but by the trade
with the great country around. Farmers in
Northern Aroostook drive sixty miles to
Presque Isle for their supplies and market.
In the southern part of the county Houlton
is the distributing point for another great
area. Presque Isle sells million and half
feet of sawn lumber yearly to be used
at home, that is, in the country around
Forty million shingles are manufactured
there yearly, one firm, johnson & Phair,
making half of these. The starch manufac-
tured there in a year amounts to twenty-four
hundred tons. Caribou ships great many
raspberries. Riding on the roads around the
village one sees frequently sign saying that
certain dealer wants twenty-five tons of
raspberries." Honey is another great pro-
duct in Caribou, some families keeping as
many as fifty or a hundred hives of bees.
The population of these towns has in
creased considerably since the last census.
In 1880 Fort Fairfield had population of
2807; Presque Isle, 1906; and Caribou, 2756.
Presaue Isle shows every sign of growth and
thrift. Since 1880 the polls in Caribou have
increased from 527 to $685. and Samuel W. Mat
thews, Esq, in greeting the Exploration
Party on the evening of their arrival, esti-
mated the present population of the town at
$500 or 5000.
NEW SWEDEN.
New Sweden proper is about eight miles
from Caribou, but the Swedes have settled
two other adjacent towns, Woodland and
Perham. In New Sweden there are three
churches, a Lutheran, a Baptist and an Ad-
vent, store, and public building known
as the Citadel. These buildings, however,
are not near each other, and there is nothing
that would pass for village in the three
towns. They have flag staff in front of the
store, and on the day the settlement was
visited by the Exploration Party the Ameri-
can flag was hoisted. The Swedes had also
made preparations to celebrate the anniver-
day; but a rain storm interfered somewhat
They arranged for few speeches, however,
and a wagon toiled up from Caribou with
load of fireworks and a barrel which APP
peared to contain some sort of beer. 1t was
too damp for the fireworks, but the loss ON
the beer must have been less considerable.
The settlement much resembles any other
farming community in Maine. Once in
while fellow is seen driving his oxen with
reins attached to the horns; and whenever
one of the settlers is met in the road he sa-
lutes the stranger with politeness not COM
mon among Yankee farmers. But the origi-
nal log houses have generally given place to
better habitations, and the farms year by
year are showing that the Swedes are becom-
ing Americans in their ways of working and
living. They are said by their neighbors to
ack that quality known as push; but a
business man in Caribou who deals with
them great deal, says that in the whole set
Element there are but three Swedes whom
he would not trust for any amount asked.
Wooden shoes are still made, but the Swede
generally sells to visitors, and buys for him
self leather shoes at Caribou Their cloth
ing does not attract any especial attention,
although the girls still show tendency to
wear red Shawls.
The population changes somewhat each
year. Some get discontinued and go to the
far West, and new settlers come in.
One Swede, the store keeper, said
that they liked rather better than in the
old country, although last winter was Every,
very cold" as he expressed it. He thought
the community were prospecting, and in
answer to question about the wealth of
said: "Oh, yes, many are very
well off, some have eight or ten children"
Auu IL Iu6Se culluT6n are TO grow up 10 DC
as industrious and sober as their fathers and
mothers are said to be, the store keeper GER
tainly selected the real article for his stand |
ard in measu ring wealth
THE SHIRE TOWN.
The most interesting town in Aroostook is |
Houlton, the shire town of the county In |
the days when it was a. Uuited States post, |
and distances were reckoned along the old |
Military Road" from Bangor, Houlton was
said to be two hundred and fifty miles from |
Portland. Now, by the railroad, the dis |
lance is 304 miles. The town was incorpor- |
ated in 1881, and named for one of its set |
tiers. The Houlton family still survives in |
the town. By 1850 there was population |
Of 1853 in 1880 it had increased to $3.50. Since |
1880 the polls have increased from 535 to 1884, |
and it is estimated that the entire population |
is now some over four thousand. The coun-
try around Houlton is not quite equal to the |
valley of the Aroostook River, although it is |
very fine farming land. The village itself |
has many fine residences, and many other
A system of waterworks