Richland beacon., 1888-03-24
LITTLE SEBOOIyS'S HAY CROPS.
He " n Maine Lake of 500 Acres ES.
tent Was Made Profitable.
From the Lewiston Journal. |

From Tie LeWlstOn JOURNAL.
Bangor people are not altuge!hci
given to the cutting and manufacture
of lumber and such branches of trade as
naturally follow these interests. for she
cuts more hay than any c..y. town, or
plantation in Maine, and some of the
best of farmers and dairymen reside
within her limits. Some of her wealthy
men who have retired from trade, take
much interest in farming, paying special
attention to hay culture, among them
being Messrs. S. and ! Adams, who
for a period of nearly thirteen years
have been 'eveloping for hay raising
what WAS once known on the map of
Maine as Little Seboosis Lake, 500
acres in extent, and the work and the
results may he of interest to the readers
of the JournM.
Little Seboosis Lake in Is ; was situ-
atcd i'm the Town of Rowland, a few
miles from the mouth of the Piscataqus,
being basin of hard clay. having coy
cring of about ,hrec feet of black muck.
In the northwestern corner was brook,
running to the / scataquis River, which,
when the snow melted in the Spring,
was an Jutlet, and in the summer, when
the lake became low, changing to an in
let, the water oozing from the river.
On the easterly side. running north
and south, parallel with the lake, was
Seboosis stream, separated from the lake
bv q horseback and distant only twenty
rods. This stream was thirty feet below
the lake, affordmg a splendid chance to
drain the larger body.
Messrs. Adams, owning all the land
about the lake, cut ditch through the
horseback, aud then had, haG they chOs-
Ell to utilize it, fine water power, there
being a fall of thirty feet in distance
of twenty rods. and having also, besides
the 500 acre reservoir, the water which
would flow in from Piscataquis.
But the operators were after hay
field, and to obtain it, next dug, ditch
through the muck to carry away the
water which was to flow i'll when the
summer came, and then sowed, OH the
snow, 175 bushels of Timothy, costlrc
S5O4 The idea We first to obtain a
sward, and, this succeeded, although
the grass grew in punches md much OF
the sowing was lost.
1t was almost impossible to get at al
hat did grow, but some was cut, and
the next move was to thoroughly ditcl
the land, finally drawing off all the
water. A fair crop was cut the mex
year. AM a. this time barn was built
1OOx40. Such hay as was cut was of tho
best kind, and the process of gathering
continued several years, a portion no
cut being burnt over.
On this latter land grew sort of fire
weed. which FINAL. spread and killcC
out the grass. The only thing to Il,
new was to food the land again, whicl
was done, and this remained 50 for tw'
years, when the water was again draine,
off, AID timothy again sOwed, and an
other barn quilt.
Previous to the flooding the land ha,
cracked into blocks of about lively,
inches square, but after the secont
nooding the muck settled and the Ian,
has since been in good shape.
Since Che last operation the crop ha
been steadily on the increase, and Their
is now cnt, on 80 acres, about 300 ton
of hay, which, in years past, has beer
sent to Boston, where it has been sol,
to the owners of trotters and other valu
able animals.
One year the crop was sold at the rail
road station, about ten miles away. Thi
was in 1881, and the price realized va
$40 per ton, one man taking $500
worth. This year the Canadian Paciii
people, who are operating near by, too
the crop, paying Sl2 at the barns.
| required no attention and no dress
ing to raise the crop. ..ld the owners lie
clare the soil to be the finest grass grow
ing land known, and expect in the nea
future to get nearly, if not quite, tw
tons to the acre.