The Republican journal., 1909-05-20
Great Results from Little Land.


A. A. Eastman, Penobscot county, is
one of the comparatively few fruit grow
ers in the far north who have applied in
tensive methods to the culture of small
fruit. His little farm is Garden of
Eden for productiveness and Mr.. East
man knows how to sell the fruit. He
claims to have made good living from
only two and one-half acres of land, and
those who have seen Mr.. Eastman and
his farm may well understand how such
results could be obtained.
1t is often noticed that men who make
success in farming by striking out in
somewhat new lines are more likely to be
recruits from other occupations than
farmers born and bred. For man who
knows little about farming it is quite as
easy to work his way into specialties as
i'll health drove Mr.. Eastman from shop
to farm about thirty years ago, he
thought he saw a good opening in the
culture of small fruits. The local mar
kets were not we'll supplied with such
products, and because of the lateness of
the season he thought any surplus might
He bought little piece of average
New England land, we'll supplied with
stumps and rocks and not the sort of a
lot that would be placed in the front rank
by soil experts. But after working hard
clearing away the stumps and rocks, the
soil was moist, and dark and heavy; in
fact, it was too moist, and the next step
was to put in drains. By the time Mr..
Eastman had cleared and drained his land
it cost him good figure, at least in
labor; but the results proved that
thorough preparation was wise policy.
By reason of it's condition the soil had
never been exhausted and it was now
ready to produce good crops even with
out much fertilizer. Little by little Mr..
Eastman worked his way forward into
the ranks of expert fruit growing. He
planted the ordinary kinds of small
fruits, including currants, strawberries
and raspberries, which he set between
rows of apple and plum trees, thus look
ing out for an increasing income with the
growth of the trees.
In fruit farms distant from large cities
one difficulty is to obtain fertilizing mate
rial. Mr.. Eastman realized that besides
using commercial fertilizer he must in
some way keep up the vegetable matter
in the soil He collected all sorts of
such material, including waste hay and
straw, forest leaves and shoddy from
nearby wooden mill. This mixture ap-
piled freely as heavy mulch kept down
the weeds around his currant and goose
berry bushes and finally supplied vege-
table matter to the soil. The same ma
terial near the strawberry plants kept
the fruit clean and helped to keep down
the weeds. This mulch was not applied
until the plants were well matured, and
during the rapidly growing stage they
were cultivated between the rows.
Every fall few more raspberries and
currant bushes are set out and the old
ones thinned out in such manner as to
leave constant supply of new wood and
to prevent overcrowding. The practice
of setting fruit bushes in the fall gives
good results in Mr.. Eastmans expert
ence, as he finds growth starts very early
in the spring and the fall set canes gain
considerably in growth over those set in
the spring.
Even in the far north insects make
trouble for the fruit growers. The cur
rant and gooseberry worm are on time
every season, and need to be fought with
Paris green mixture two or three times
in the season.
Raspberries are one of the best paying
products. The season in northern Maine
is late, and when raspberries reach Bos-
ton they find poorly supplied market
with prices double those received at the
height of the season. Mr.. Eastman's
berries usually return from $3.50 to $40
per bushel crate. The raspberries are
grown in the hill system, five or six canes
to a hill, with space enough to cultivate
both ways. When the canes are thinned
out, those which remain are cut back to
about four feet high and tied together to
get them out Of the way of cultivation
and to make picking easy.
A profitable branch of the business of
late years has been selling fruit plants to
other growers. Trees which We're plant
ed with the small fruits yield more and
more income each year, although with
plums the fight is hard one against
black knot and curculio. Shipment of
small fruit three hundred miles to Bos-
ton brings rather heavy bills for express,
but the returns range from eight to fiji
teen cents per quart for currants and
gooseberries. Raspberries are usually
sent by express. -American Cultivator.