Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-09-15
A THRIFTY FARMER.
Great Results Obtained From Little
Land by Intensive Farming.

One oe the bcst-known fruit growers
in Eastern Maine is frequent contrib
titor to the horticultural department of
that paper, says the American Cultiva-
tor. "A. A. Eastman, Pcnobscot county,
Me. Mr.. Eastman is one of the com
paratively few fruit growers in the Far
North who have applied intensive
methods to the culture Of small fruit.
His little farm is a Garden of Eden for
productiveness, and Mr. Eastman
knows how to sell the fruit. He claims
to have made a good living from only
two and half acres of land, and those
who have seen Mr.. Eastman and his
farm may well understand how such
results could be obtained
He bought a little piece of average
New England well 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 work.
ing hard clearing away the stxn1ps and
rocks the soil was moist and dark and
heavy; in fact, 1t 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 a good
figure, at least in labor, but the results
proved that thorough preparation was
wise policy. BY reason of it's condf-
ton tire soil had never been exhausted
and it was now ready to produce good
crops even without much fertilizer.
Little by little Mr.. Eastman worked
his way forward into the ranks of ex.
pert fruit growing. He planted the or
binary kinds of small fruits, Including
currants, Strawberries and raspberries,
which he set between rows of apple
and plum trees, thus looking out for
ar increasing income with the growth
Of the trees.
In fruit farms distant from large
cities one difficulty is to obtain fertil-
lzing material. Mr.. Eastman realized
that besides using commercial fertili-
ger he must in some way keep up the
vegetable matter in the soil. He col
leCted all sorts of such material in
Guiding waste hay and straw, forest
leaves and shoddy from nearby WOOL
en- mill. This mixture applied freely
as heavy mulch kept down the weeds
around his current and gooseberry
bushes and finally supplied vegetable
matter to the soil. The same material
near the strawberry plants kept the
the weeds. This mulch was not ap-
piled until the plants We're we'll NAL
tured, and during the rapidly CROWNS
stage they were cultivated between
the rows.
Every fall a few more raspberries
and currant bushes are set out and the
old ores thlrned out in such a 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..
E2stmans experience, as he finds
growth starts very early in the spring
and the fall set canes gain considera-
bly, in growth over those set in the
spring.
Even in the far north insects make |
trouble for che fritz growers. The cur
rant and gooseberry worm are on time
every season, and need to he fought |
with paris green mixture two or three |
times in the season.
RaSrbelricS are one of the best pay
ing products. The season in Northern |
Maine is late, and when raspberries /
reach Boston they find a poorly sup
piled 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
raspbcrries are grown in the hill sys
TEN, 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 aboue
four feet high ard tied together to get
them out of the way Of cultivation and |
IL.