Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-07-12
8roadacres Farm d Il n. stursis, River
side. Nc.

On the river road in Vassalboro. haK /
mile above the little village OF Riverside
! is one Of the largest and best, II not tn.
very largest and best farm in Kennebet
county. 1T is BrOadacreS, the farm o.
the late Ira d. Sturgis, now owned b.
his son Horace r. Sturgis. The farm
consists of about 600 acres. divided int
tiliage. pasturagc and woodland Us acres
Of which is fine tillage land. Thirty Il
forty acres is annually devoted to crops
mostly fodder crops and ,turnips. Mile
ana rape are quite extensively cultivated
which together with the turnips are fec
to his large and splendid flock of sheep
lie has at the present time 49, sheep ana
300 lambs, coarse wool variety. mostly
grade Shropshire and Southdowns. Sheer
are his principle stock, a..hough he has
some fine horses which will be spoken Oi
further along. He has on hand both last
and this years clips of woOl--in all about
5000 pounds-which he is holding in antic-
ipatfon of higher prices resulting from
the Dngley hill.
He has his sheep and lambs divided
into several small fiocks. that is, one tOr
two hundred In a flock mot so very
smalD in different pastures on his farm.
He uses a good deal. of what they call
hurdle fence. which is quite easily put up
and taken down. so that he can change
them from one place to another with lit
tie expense. 1t Is generally conceded,
believe. that high rocky land makes the
best pasturage for sheep. but Mr.. Sturgis
seem to thrive pretty well on his smooth
prairie-like fields.
Just now his stock of horses Is small.
he having sold several recently, but what
he has. are good ones. He has a very
fine pair of bay mares. grade Percheron,
bred and raised ON the farm: large well
matched and we'll nigh faultless in their
general form and make up. Another
good one Is a light chestnut driving mare
and she is called the most stylish driving
horse In The county. which is saying a
good deal: and / will venture to say, there
are not many. If any. in the county that
can road more miles In a day than she
can. He also has three colts which for
breeding as we'll as for individual merits
are worth careful examination. The
oldest of them Is a gray gelding. by Gen.
Thton by Constellation. dam Antelope by
Crown Prince. by Gen. Knox. This colt
is six years old. and for style, form and
action is hard to equal. He will be kept
as driving horse and IL he can road as
many miles in Il day and as many days
as his dam he will be good enough for
she was a mare of excellent reading quail
tiles and of wonderful endurance. The
next is Prince Wilkes by Nelson's Wilkes;
dam Antelope, spoken of above. This is
a black geldng. five years Old. stands
substance and of symmetrical propor-
tons. He is undoubtedly one Of the
handsOmest horses in the State, of Won
derful courage and stamina, the type for
iiIHltIS 10 DTetu IL tuty can. ne Is now
being handled by the well known train
er. r. NJ. Small of East Vassalboro. and
will be heard from later in the season.
The last and choicest of the trio is a
gray iilly three years old. a full sister to
Prince Wilkes. OF her it is enough to
say that she has all the good qualities
of the Prince with others peculiarly her
own. She is a pure gated trotter and as
near perfection as one could wish; she
suits Mr.. Sturgis exactly and will be kept
as brood mare.
On t'his farm is a large mansion and
several large and convenient barns. one
of which, Il few years ago cost about
$1,000. These barns are all pretty well
filed with hay and other fodder as the
farm cuts from $50 to go tons, according
To the season.
Mr.. Sturgis Is a man of large means and
can afford to experiment somewhat in
farming as he does sometimes. because
if his experiment don't work to advan-
tage he can stand it better than man
with less means He has extensive in
terests outside of farming. He is con-
nected with the Augusta Lumber Com
pany. Hayes & Dewitt Ice Company, and
owns largely in shipping, engaged prin-
cipally in the coasting trade. besides
owning several stores and houses In Au-
gusta which he rents. Any one passing
up the road on the east side of the Ken
nebec from Augusta to Waterviile can
not help noticing and admiring the beau
tiful farms all the way along, and the
tidiness and general neatness of the
buildings indicate the thrift of the farm
ers along that section. Mr.. Sturgs place
is the most noticeable of any on account
of its extensive proportions both in land
and buildings Any one TO walk over his
large, level fields or even to look over
them will appreciate fully the idea which
suggested the name by which he desig-
mated his farm. BrOadacres..-M. +. F. in
Turf, Farm and Home.