Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-09-11
annual REPORT
OF Dept. Of Agriculture
For Year 1908.
Drouth Was Source Of Much
Discouragement TO Farmers.
Report Contains Many Sugges.
lions Of Value.

agriculture, for the year 1908 which
has heen submitted to the Governor
and Council, says in part.
IN briefly reviewing the agricultural
conditions of our State for the past
year, while there have been some
dlsco'iraging features, we see many
indications of an upward trend in our
farm HE. The farmers are more alert
more anxious to learn new and i'm
proved methods and are placing their
farming on broader and more in
tel!igent basis. They have had to
contend with some serious obstacles
during the past year. such as I'M
favorable weather conditions which
materially affected some of the crops.
unusual insect depradations etc :;
but those who have learned to antici-
pate these conditions by providing
supplemental crops, by a system of
rotation and fertilization which tends
to produce vigorous, drought resting
plants, and by intelligent methods OF
combating insect pests. have kept the
margin on the right side.
THE short hay crop of last year
the light yield of grains and the
scarcity of feed occasioned by the
severe drought and the unusual in
hesitation Of grasshOppers, have en-
phasiZed the necessity of providins,
more supplementary crops to meet
this emergency. This LED the depart
ment tc issue a bulletin on Supple
menting the Pastures and the Hay
Crop which contains many valuable
suggestions.
THE corn crop was of good quality
and the yield was above the average.
A specia! effort is being made all over
the country to increase this industry.
1t is estimated that during the past
wear there We're produced in the
United States 2,643,O00,0OO bushels of
corn. There is no other crop in this
country or any other that is worth as
much. Not only the grain itself is
the corner stone of our prosperity
but an advance is being made in the
development of the valuable by
products.
New England practically ahan-
doned corn raising many years ago,
when corn was raised so abundantIy
on the cheap lands OF the West and
was sent to the East and sold at very
low figure. Then it seemed to the
average farmer that he could buy it
cheaper than ne could raise it, but
the day of cheap corn from the West
has passed. There is no cheap corn
land and the farmers of Maine will do
no wiser thing than to give more at
tention to this industry and create a
new interest in it. The corn plant
has two feeding values, one as grain
and the other as fodder. An acre of
cora fodder is generally worth as
much as an acre of good grass. In a
rotation, with d cash crop like pota-
toes, this crop is of great value. The
premiums offered by DR.. q. NJ.
Twitchell at the state dairy confer
ence at Dexter for the best exhibit Of
corn raised by a boy of IS years or
under resulted in a large display of
good corn, and we are confident
stimulated a new interest in the
growing of this valuable crop. The
indications are that the acreage of
corn planted in Maine this year will
exceed that of 1908 by one-third. The
constantly increasing price of corn
has aroused the farmers and they are
becoming convinced that they can
produce their corn to better advantage
than they can purchase it. Another
thought that encourages the farmer is
that the possibilities OF improving the
corn crop through careful seed selcc-
ton and thorough culture are large,
Experiments show that an advance
in yield of 10 bushels per acre has
been gained as the result of selection
Of seed. This would mean three to
five million dollars added to the value
of the corn crop in the United States.
Maine should be doing her part. II
by careful breeding q variety can be
obtained which will mature earlier as
we'll as yield more abundantly, it will
mean much to the corn industry of
our State.
plant breeding through seed selec-
ton is a line of work which has been
too much neglected. In recent years
results are being worked out which
show that it is of much Importance
for the farmer to practice scientific
selection of seed of plants rs 1t is to
breed his live stock according to
principles of selection. We believe
some work in this line could be
protitably carried on by the depart
ment, if funds We're provided.
with the potato rrop there is also
Il promising field for seed selection
Prof. Weber of Cornell University
states that 40 or so good sized pota-
toes per hill have been grown by
right seed selection and methods or
culture The farmers of Maine have
been giving potato culture special at
tertion fer several years past, ard
each year we are doing more in this
line. BY a careful selection of seed
by thorough preparation of the seed
bed, and by the use of improved
me. hods of cultivation, this industry
has been largely developed. Only
that seed should be planted in which
the eyes are strong, and indicate the
growth of a strong, vigorous plant.
1.-THE orchard industry is one of our
main branches of farming, and in
spite of the fact that unfavorable
weather conditions and depredations
of insects have depressed this indus
try somewhat, it is slowly but steadily
increasing in extent, and we are
firmly of the opinoin that it is to be
one of the most profitable industries
of the State. In order to accomplish