The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1912-10-03

Washington County as Compared with
the West
The Bangor Commercial has receive d
the following interesting letter from a
former resident of this section, now in
the west, relative to conditions here and
there:
Il have read with the greatest in
terest, the proposed plan of the railroad
company colonizing those great blue
berry plains in Washington county.
When l was boy l tented on those
plains and picked 'blueberries. Whole
villages of tents were scattered over that
immense plain. One morning l went
down to the little stream that starts in
what was called Stick Meadow. l fol-
lowed the stream down for several rods
and caught 120 fine trout; others caught
as many more. ! have often spoken of
those plains and wondered why they
could not be of some use otherwise than
for the growing of blueberries?
LAS | have Travelled over the great
prairies in the west, my thoughts would
turn back to Names great plains and
compare the difference. In the west
land rose year by year and the Maine
plains were left and forgotten. While
through Kansas, the great wheat fields
often produce nothing; but in many sea-
sons only seven to ten bushels of wheat
to the acre. Why will not Names
plains do as well?
''Since the creation of man the am
bition seems to be to go west. He will
put up with all kinds of hardship and
deprive himself Of nearly every pleasure
in life to go west. New England has
for years been the dumping place of
every fake mining scheme and land
frauds; she has poured out her wealth to
build up the west and left her own sec
ton to its own destiny.
Her people have come west and as if
by some crazy notion have run the price
of land up to thousands of doll2rs per
acre, many acres for fruit growing,
reaching 81, 900 per acre. But they are
becoming convinced that they have
bought lemon In New York state,
one can buy 100 acre farm with fine
buildings upon it for less than 10 acres
with nothing in the shape of buildings
can be bought in certain parts of the
west, and the New York farm will, with
the same care n..fruit, beat this to death.
| believe that the Maine plains will pro-
duce apples much finer in favor than
can be grown west Of the Mississippi
river, and if they would give the tree the
same care and the apples the same care
full pack, it would soon be known all
over the European markets and the
Washington County, Maine, apples would
bring the highest price of any apples in
the world
eff. the Annapolis valley in Nova Scotia
can grow apples, why can not Washing
ton county, Maine. But Nova Scotia
people do not give their trees the care,
neither do they pack their fruit as does
the Colorado or Washir gton and Oregon
fruit growers, and that pack is why these
western States is gaining reputation
and leading the price above all others.
eve will often hear that Names
rigid winters are barrier against living
there, but they are far better than the
Dakotas and Kansas, where people have
to have underground cellars to which
they flee when blizzard is on.
81 can not conceive of anything in the
west that could compare with that Maine
Plateau all laid out in tracts and settled
along the railroad with pretty homes and
close to the markets. Lumber is only
about one-half what it is here and the
expense of living far less than in these
mountain countries. | can see one mis-
take in the county allowing any one man
to buy more than so acres, unless he
comes under contract to farm it all
and improve it. There are too many
men who have capital who buy up large
tracts and never do anything but wait
for the industry of others to make his
land valuable by improving all around
him. Such men are parasites to the
country; they neither build up country
nor help railroad, and that is why the
government in these irrigated lands will
not allow one man water for more than
100 acres and will not allow any one man
to draw over 40 acres of irrigable land
in this valley. If the railroad sells out
its lands in Maine to spectators to hold
for others to make it valuable, they will
never build up traffic for their road or
help Maine population. -
FIG. HAYES.