Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-02-08


of the farm. The idea was first put
forth by Hon. Rutillus Alden in a
meeting of the Experiment Station
Council on April 1s 1906 This result
ed in the following action. Voted
that Committee of three be appoint
ed by the President of the Council to
cooperate with the Commissioner of
Agriculture, the State Pathological
Society, the State Dairymen's Associa-
ton and the State Grange in petition
ing TO the legislature for the purchase
of farm in the apple section Of the
State for experiments in apple produc-
ton and in corn breeding. The COM
mittee appointed on the part of the
Council were Hon. Rutillus Alden, Mr..
f. Fl. Libby and Mr.. c. S. Pope"
The following is from the Council
records of the meeting of May 9. 1907.
Through the efforts of the committee
that was appointed at the last meet
ing of the station Council. resolutions
calling for the purchase and equip
ment of an experimental farm for this
station On which to conduct expert
ments in orcharding and corn breeding
were unanimously passed by the State
Pomoloscal Society. the State Dairy
mems Association and the State
Grange The records then go on to
recite the history of the bill. how its
friends appeared before the commit
tee. no one appeared against it, and
many members of the legislature were
in favor of its passage, but that for
Some reason the committee gave the
Legislature no opportunity to decide
upon ii. hut reported To refer it to the
next legislature At this $500 and at
the 1905 meeting Of the Council reso-
buttons we're passed and the same COM
mittee' continued to do all possible to
secure farm upon which the Station
shall conduct experiments in orchard
ing and corn breeding.
The attendance at the first meeting
of the 1908 session of the State .Po-
biological Society was small and the .
speakers expected We're not there.
The Director of the Maine Station
was called upon and spoke about the
desirabilits of the purchase of an eX-
perimentaI farm and is tolerably ac-
| curately quoted by DR.. Twitchell in
Ibis newspaper articles on Highmoor
Fam. After some discussion it was
voted to appoint a committee for this
purpose. This resulted in the APP
pointment of the late DIR. Edward p.
little help from the officers of sthe
Society DIR. Turner at great expense
of time and effort succeeded in getting
| the hill reported out of committee and
| it was finally passed by the legisla-
| ture. The station Council accepted
the name which the farm had borne
| for many years-Highmoor Farm-as
| its name and under that name 1t will
I, III tf.aata f.a dn hn
( is already Tin the language of one of the
! foremost lawyers of the State) worth
more to the state of Maine in one year
than every dollar the state expended IN
purchasing the farm"
/ DR.. Twitchell has, while condemning
certain things in the management, spoken
highly of the work accomplished by Mr..
Bonns and by Mr. Sinclair. If he had
avaiIed himself of his nearness to High
moor Farm to have visited it, as in a
4 recent newspaper article he urges others
to do he would have written with equal
enthusiasm of the work that is being
done there by the plant pathologists, the
biologists and the entomologists of the
Station. 1t might also have prevented
his making the exceedingly false state
ments about the labelling of the fruit
packed at Highmoor Farm in 1911 which
| has really led TO the writing of this long
letter.
DR.. Twitchell addressed numerous
questions to the undersigned in the col
umns of newspaper. Some of these are
here answered. Others of them are not
answered because they are trivial and
this letter is already far too long. My
attorney asked only two questions OF the
Doctor in letter that was sent by
registered mail.
In his reply to Judge Dunn, Dr.
Twitchell makes no reference 10 the let
ter quoted by the Maine Farmer and
neither admits nor denies the accuracy
of the interview reported by the Lewis
ton Journal. He says, There was no
| thought, desire or purpose to misrepre-
sent or place in false position" The SIN
cerity of that statement is not confirmed
by the practical admission that the ac-
cusations were made on hearsay infor-
nation and that no attempt was made to
learn whether they We're true or false.
The reproduction of the brand that the
| buyers proposed putting upon the APP
pies and of the brand that was used are
| here given. In some way DR.. Twitchell
| learned that the stencil furnished by the
buyers was modified before it was used
| and he stated that 1 ordered 1t rejected
| and supplied another While l am re-
| sponsible for all the work OF the Station
| and all that the Station staff may do,
| they have large opportunities for initia-
| tie and it's accompanying responsible
ties. AS matter of fact the efficient
farm superintendent, Mr.. Sinclair, ar
| once saw that the stencil furnished did
| not conform to the apple packing law
| as it did not give the name and address
of the owner at time of packing. lie
| showed the buyers representative tne
! stencil he had used the two preceding
seasons and together they made up the
! label for 1911 as shown below. LII the
| writer had seen the label before 1t mad
been used he would have suggested also
! emitting the word fancy as possibly
/ being misleading In removing the mean
( ingIess words Estate Farm, Mr.. SIN
clair showed good Judgment for those
4 words neither name the state nor identi-
fy the farm They apply equally well to