The independent-reporter., 1910-07-14
What Some of the Somerset County
Farmers Are Doing.

VIC Ulduc DIltt Cdll LhC OliiCi ddg
at the home of p. E. and Henry Will
liams on the s. N. Williams estate at
Fairfield Centre, and were pleased to
see what these young men were do
ing to redeem this old farm. They
have gone into potatoes with the en-
thusiasm of intelligent young men,
and are sure to get their reward.
They have many obstacles to over
come in the way of rocks, but are
facing the problem manfully and be-
tween the rocks are carving out some
very productive rich deep soil. We
were pleased to see the method they
had adopted in their length of rows
ia their corn and potatoes. Instead
of bobbing around with rows eight
or ten rods along they are all ll5
rods long, hence eight of them just
make an acre. They are getting In
modern machinery and are certainly
doing business. We wish Maine had
whole lot of just such young agri-
cultural enthusiasts.
Whiting Brothers of Norridgewock
are doing quite business in swine,
sending a carload to Penley at Au-
burn every few days. The fellow
who has been talking that there
wasn't any hogs in the country
couldn't have had any accurate
knowledge of the conditions that
Messrs. Whiting Brothers find or
they wouldn't talk so. OF course they
are not as plenty as they once were,
but Mr. Whiting says that whenever
he announces that he will ship car
on a given day he usually gets a good
load of prime fat animals. At this
season of the year the hogs have to
be iced" that is, a box car is sup
piled with several large cakes of ice
and it is refreshing to see how the
hogs enjoy it. They will lie down all
over the frozen chunks until they are
gone. The hogs of course are turn
ed loose in the car and have free ac-
cess to every part of it, ice and all
Last week the price paid was nine
cents pound, live weight. o. b.
Fletcher broughtin couple and took
the company's check for $41,67. j. b.
Smith of Mercer had two whose COM
bined weight was $50 pounds. One
brought by j. F. Bigelow of Norridge
wock weighed 278 pounds. Hiram
Bigelow had three that weighed 812
pounds. Waugh Brothers had one
that weighed 1862 pounds. Chas. Far
rem had two that tipped the scales at
522 pounds, but Geo. Blaisdell of
Rome beat them ALL for he brought
| in a yearling brook SOW that stood
as tall as good many yearling heif-
ers will next spring, If their owners
don't get them in out of the sun this
summer, and she tipped the scales at
473 pounds. All of these shippers ex
pressed themselves as pleased with
the business and are satisfied that
the swine business while not per-
haps as good the coming year as it
has been the past, Is on the average
one of the best paying branches of
Maine agriculture. The man who
raises what the hog lives upon is the
man who gets the high price for his
product.
c. L. Worthley of Norridgewock Is
one Ol lle DuSy lHuuSlTlouS IueH WHO
loves hen, and a white hen, and a
small white hen, in fact White Leg
horn hen, and well he may, for they
are a source of much profit to him.
Az is well known Mr.. Worthley runs
large granite business, and just has
big contract from the estate of the
late d. M. Parks, Pittsfield. to put
up substantial monument of heroic
size for the late Mr.. Parks, who is
mourned by SO many good friends of
this paper.
Betwixt and between he likes to
meddle with the fussy white hen. He
has 100 prize winners at his place in
Norridgewock, and quite a number
that he keeps outside. He recently
received an order from S. S. Vose of
Waterville, for fifteen of his best
stock, and Mr.. Vose writes him that
he Is more than pleased with what
he received. Said that he had not