Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-03
SPARSELY SETTLED REGION
Crop Has Reached as Much as
$4,000, 900 Bushels.
OVER 200 BUSHELS AN ACRE
"Green Mountain" Variety Mostly
Observation-Disclosures Results OBJ
tanned on Lord Rosebery's Farm.
by WILLIAM E CURIlS.

Written for The Star and the Chicago Record
Herald.
We have been taught to believe that the
largest crops of the finest quality are
produced on the virgin soil of the irri-
gated valleys Of the west and Greeley,
Col, calls itself 1.-The Potato City.
Very little else is grown in that vicinity
and the finest potatoes in the world are
advertised to come from there. Every
summer Greeley celebrates her great
ness and the quantity and quality of the
fruits of her soil by potato day"
when everybody within radius OF
many miles comes to town to eat pota
toes that are contributed by the farmers
and are cooked and served with various
relishes in the public square. But, not
withstanding the glory of Greeley, the
official statistics of the Agricultural De-
partment show that Aroostook county.
| Me-, produces more than twice as many
| bushels to the acre and sells them at a
| higher price than the farmers of Greeley.
And they are raised in the old-fashioned
way by ordinary farming, without irr-
| CATION, and without any scientific frlllS,
and are shipped to all parts of the world.
The official statistics show that in 1910
| the average crop per acre of potatoes in
MAINE, and that means Aroostook county,
was 90 bushels, while the average per
acre in Colorado, and that means Greeley.
was only 100 bushels to the acre. That
| is no discredit to Colorado, but it proves
that farming is still profitable in certain
parts or New England if people will plant
| the right kind of seed.
| ArOOstoOk county is a great spot of
ground shaped like a wedge that runs up
between New Brunswick and the Cana
dian province Of Quebec and is one of the
| largest counties in the United States out
side of Texas. From the looks of the
| map it must be very sparSely settled, for
the towns are few and far between, and
there is a great deal of timber. The linn
| tied population of Aroostook county in
potato time Is reinforced by temporary
immigrants from the large towns and
cities of Maine, and from the factories
| and lumber camps. because it requires
many hands to pick and pack and ship
the eighteen or twenty millions of bush
| els that are disturbed in their slumbers
and are thrown out into the cold world
by the digging machines that are used
| to save labor.
Crop of 25,O0O,O0O Bushels.
The official statistics are surprising.
AroostoOk county alone produces more
potatoes every year than any state in the
| Union except New York and Michigan.
| Sometimes Pennsylvania must be excepted
also, but not always. The crop of Aroos-
took county has been as high as 250O0,G0O
| bushels, and has sold for as much as $15,
G01,Oo0. The average for five years has been
| about 1S,00J.eOO bushels and has sold for
| an average of $12,JD,G0D on the ground.
4 In 1908 the yield was 1S,C00,CO0 bushels
and the average wat' 30 bushels an acre,
which was more than double that of any
other locality in the United States. Nearly
! 100000 bushels were shipped to Bos-
ton, New York and other city markets
over the little Bangor and AroostooN
| railroad; about 100000 bushels were
,ptyNv, a.I1 h1-f tnf,
| Canadian Pacific, and about 15W0,W0
bushels were ground zip and made into
starch. The balance of the crop was sold
or kept for seed and used for home con-
sumption.
That was not as good a crop as many
that have been harvested. but it was good
deal better tltan the crop of 1909. which
ran down to a bout 1850. $50 bushels because
climatic reasons, and in the northern end
of the county only 30 per cent of the av
erage yield was produced. The potatoes
rotted in the ground because of the ex-
cessive rains, and III certain places they
were washed out of the fields by heavy
| freshetS. 1t rained nearly every day CT
weeks after the seeds were planted, and
| then followed a period of unprecedented
t high temperature. 50 degrees being regis
tered on several days. Nevertheless,
AroOstook county succeeded in harvesting
about 160Oo,C00 bushels. or more than
any entire state except New York, Penn
| syivania, Michigan, Wisconsin and Min
| neSOta, ana SOLO tnem Tor nearly $l2,-
| C00,CN0.
| There are several big starch factories
in that part of the state. which consume
the small and poor potatoes. None but
! the best are shipped out. and the starch
makers got about five million bushels in
1863, which was an unusually large pro-
| portion.
Yield for the Entire Country.
Another bad year was 1910, and it
seems to have been a poor season for
potatoes all over the country, because,
although the acreage was increased from
3,52i,OOO to 1851 900 acres, the total prod
uct fell from 1916, 537 OCO to 33S, S11 900
bushels, and the price realized was drop
ped from 20j543,O00 to $1S7, 9S5, GOO.
The average yield per acre for the en-
! tire United States in 1909 was 1868
| bushels, and the average price was 54.9
cents a bushel. The average yield per
| acre in 1910 was H.4 bushels and the
| average price was $50 cents per busheI
| That means the entire United States.
The potato crop for Maine in 1909 was
-. 25O.DO bushels, and the farm value
was $13, 74S 600 in 1909, while in 1910 the
total product was 27.94O0O) bushels and
the farm value was $11, $4,000.
The only states producing more pota-