Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-07-13
THE THRIFTY Firms.
What They Are Doing on q Worno"f
Farm Here in Maine.

OnStrated that they are capaDie VI IT,
For a number of years he has been
constant source of surprise to the
farmers of oxford county. At first they
laughed at him and his strange methods
of doing things. They saw him take
farm that had been practically aban-
doned about six miles from Paris VIII
lage, a farm which had been generally
regarded as hopeless proposition. They
saw seventy-five acres Of woraOut land
gradually transformed into one of the
most productive farms in the country,
and growing up around McKeen a little
colony of Firms with peculiar IDEAS about
farming. but ideas that almost invaria-
bly, brought results when put into opera
ton.
oxford county farmers are now adopt
ing the methods of the Firms; some have
hired the latter to work on their farms,
and this little settlement on the banks
of the AndrOscoggin river has become
one of the most interesting spots in Maine
to those interesting in agriculture.
How have the Fms accomplished SO
much?
Because, as McKeen puts it, they real
ize that ground is like an old shoe. With
constant wear it becomes worn out and
unfit for use. Mckeens method is to
bring it back to where it was, to pro-
vide for it the fertilizer that nature would
furnish in the natural course of events
if man kept his hands off. He has EN-
ployed the same methods in Maine that
he found successful in Finland, and by
a combination of American and Finnish
ideas has worked out to his own satisfac-
ito ma problem which many others tried
to solve and failed.
Coming to this country from Finland
about sixteen years ago, with less than
two dollars in his pocket, McKeen set
tied in Maine, engaged in farming and
within 4 few years had accumulated
more than 5000. He was unfortunate
in a trade and lost it all. Meanwhile, he
had induced about forty of his fellow
cOuntrymen to come to Maine. Against
the advice of friends, he bargained for
the wOrnout estate about six miles from
Paris. He declared that he would make
all of it good land. and the people laughed
at him. But Mckeen was satisfied with
his choice.
He had about $50 in his pocket when
he made the bargain, and the farm cost
him about seven times that amount
He liked the location. 1t appealed to
his artistic sense. His fields stretch
away in the foreground through the val
ley. valley almost shut in by mountain
peaks. some of them towering many hun
dred feet. until the range sweeps to the
White Mountains of New HAMPSHIRE
Yet the smoke of the locomotive rises
within easy distance.
1t is an ideal spot for a people who de-
light in outdoor life who can look up at
the sun and tell within five minutes the
time of day, who like to whip their own
trout brook for a choice dinner, and make
friends with the birds in their own wood
lands.
When McKeen took possession of these
seventy-five acres the transformation be-
gan in which the practical farmers of
Oxford county have become interested
The place cut about two tons of hay
the year Mckeen took it, The neigh
bors smiled, and said that would about
feed the one cow of which he was pos
sessed. Today the farm cuts twenty
five tons. McKeen has paid every cent he
owed. has good bank account. has a
number of horses, eighteen cows, and
other stock. Last year, when none of
his neghbors was able to raise any sweet
corn, McKeen realized considerably over
$500 on his; and he has shown results
equally remarkable in other directions
The great scrawly forest which covered
great part OF the land when he took it
taken out of il, only the best trees being
allowed TO remain. and everything taken
| from this forest has been put to the best
use. The brush cut from the woods he left
| on the ground through rain and storm I'M
til it became rotted and ground to dust.
Then he ploughed it into the land, and
| results seem to bear out his statement
TO enrich the soil. Following McKeen' $
example, other oxford County farmers
have secured equally good results.
Satisfied with nothing but the best
fields. he dug out all the rocks and placed
| them in the hOllows. later covering them
with earth His fields are as level as the
| floor of house He placed sods in the
crotches of the apple trees. which had
been growing straight and scrawly. and
now there are no more shapely and pro-
ductiye trees i'll the valley.
In winter he solved the ice problem
after others had failed. Before he went
there attempts had been made to dam the
brook. Hundreds of dollars had been
spent on it. but every spring the floods
would wash the dam away, and the n..-
tNtS Stoutly declared th3t uam SOnu
enough to resist the freshet could not he
built. McKeen took two men. and with
them worked three days, and at the end
of that time had a dam that has held up
against some of the worst floods that sec
ton has known. Instead of being obliged
to haul his ice a half-doZen miles. he now
has all the ice he wants on his own prop
erty. and for several years has had
enough to supply several of his neighbors.
Everywhere on the farm are evidences
OF the thoughtfulness and ingenuity of
the owner. The cattle are well cared for;
even the water they drink is OF the
purest. A good tub in the pasture is sup
Piled from spring, which keeps 1t full of
water clear as crystal.
In accomplishing all this, McKeen and
MS fellow cOuntrymen owed much to
what they learned in their native land.
and even now there are constant remind
ers of Finland around the farm. Many OF
the implements used were brought from
abroad, the hoes and axes, even the
sleighs used in winter One hoe which
Mckeen uses so deity as to astonish his
neighbOrs has Il blade of about GxS inches
and Is nearly round. In digging stump
he uses this to dig on all sides. and he
can do more effective work with 1t than
with any other implement on the farm
what was deep forest SIX years ago IS
now level field. from which he cuts
large amount of hay. Every tree has
been cut. the stumps all dug out and the
hOllows all filled. In a lower area of the
woods he has reclaimed thrifty potato