The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1910-11-10
FEWER OXEN NOW

FEWER OXEN NOW
The change in the work from oxen
to horses, has been very great. In
1920, there were 1884 horses and
AZ .244 oxen in the State; in 1850 there
were 4l,72l horses and 1888 oxen;
in 1860 there we're 60,637 horses and
1872 oxen; in 1870 there were 71,51l
horses and 60,530 oxen; in 1880 there
were S7,S48 horses and 43,049 oxen;
in 1890 there were 109, 156 horses and
80, 105 oxen; in 1900 there were 128,-
666 horses and 1897 oxen; and in 1909
there were 122,336 horses and 1928
oxen; the increase In the number of
horses usually keeping pace with the
fall off in the number of oxen.
In the early history of the State
there were no butter, cheese or con-
densed milk factories. or creameries
of any kind. Butter and cheese were
inyaribly made on the farm, while at
the present time a considerable por-
ton of the milk and cream produced
goes to the factories. At the prices
prevailing 10 years ago. the value of
dairy products of the State was $10,-
1874 JAP, Of which amount $2001 1893
was the product of the factories and
$S.182,344 the product of the farms.
The estimated value of dairy products
consumed on the farm was 81 561 ,239,
while the value of $7,622,903 was sold
to non-producers i'll the towns and
cities of this and other states.
I'VE can hardly conceive of the
chariSSa in farm implements, means of
transportation and all that enters into
the convenience of farm conditions
during the 80 years of the life of the
State of Maine. In 1920, a considerable
area of what is now under cultivation
was an uncleared wilderness. Farm
implements were of the crudest sort.
Hoes and forks were hammered out
by the village blacksmith and the han
dies made of a sapling from the forest
by the farmers themselves. Plows
were of primitive pattern, and har-
rows were usually made of a section
of branched tree top, and filled with
spike teeth at the same shop which
produced the hoe and fork.
The grain was soWn by hand. cut
with sickle, pounded out with a fail
and winnowed by the wind, Hay was
cut with a hand seythe which. when
new, required half day to grind 1t to
an edge, gathered with a hand rake
end pitched by main strength to the
Top OF the now in short, farm ma
chinery and improved implements had
been scarcely thought Of The build
ing of railroads was in the future, and
electric roads were not yet the dream
of the inventor. Such products as
were to be sold had to be hauled over
poor roads and shipped to market in
sailing vessels.
Nor was the lot of the housewife
any more encouraging. The cooking
was all done over an open fire and the
baking largely done in a brick oven.
The clothing and bedding were pre-
pared in the home from the fax raised
in the field and the wool from the
sheep. the carding spinning, weaving.
coloring, cutting and making being all
done by hand, as this was long before
Elias Howe had thought out the in
tricacies of the sewing machine.
There is no state in the Union |
where the different field crops yield so
nigh per acre as in Maine. the only /
exception to this being hay. With I
improved methods of cultivation, and |
with machinery for nearly every kind /
Of farm work, the agricultural inter
ests of our State are becoming more I
and important year by year.