Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1916-07-05
Hi0asscOR FARM.
work the state ie Doing It Expert
went Farm.

DWB h~94@
Hishmoor farm wss purchased BY the
s,st, in 1909, and .urDsdovs 70 tho Maine
.er,cul.ura, experiment station to b. used
In conducting experiments In orchardins
and with various other crops, During
the six s-ssons that tbs farm be, bsen In
the hands Of the experiment station, .
large number Of experiments have been
carried out. Rssultss ha~s been obtained
which arc Of much practical value to ths
farmers Of the State.
The results Of alAexperimsnts are pub
li,hed AZ rapidly - possible in the pub
l,city letters and o0ilstins Of he station.
However, IL Hishmoor farm 10 TO realize
M greatest usefulness TO the farmers
AZ the state. the orchards and the expert
mental fields and plots must Be seen.
For this reason the experiment station
extends an invitation to ell who will, 10
visi, the farm during the summer. Il Is
hoped that grnngss and other argapisa-
tions will arrange for field meetings at
the farm, Arrangements Tor such meet.
ines should b. made with the director
Of the experiment station Ut Orono. II
such arrangements src made, the station
will furnish coflss to the guests and will
arrange to have members OF the stan
present to explain the object Of the ex-
psriments-
Highmoor farm II easily accessible. II
lie. on the state highway between Law
,ston and Winthrop. The Pennington
branch OF the Maine Central railroad
passes along one side OF the farm. There
is flag stop, "Highmoor.n II which all
trains will stop on notice to the con-
duc,or II 10 possible for visitors to come
from either direction BY train, spend four
or Ave hours At the farm, and return home
In good season.
While 1t 10 hoped that some Of the ag-
riculturai organizations will find IL con-
venieui to visit the farm In . body, 1t IL
realized that many people will prefer to
come at some other time. Such visitors
are always welcome, and this year they
will iind each experimental Geld and plot
plainly labeled with card desert bing 81 he
nature OF tho experiment being carried on.
This system 10 80 complete that stranger
can go on the farm without = guide and
obtain very fair notion OF what Is being
attempted and accomplished. In addition
10 this The superintendent and such mem
bers OF the station staffas may be present
al the farm win be glad 10 answer qucs-
tons OF to explain the experiments more
in detail.
The foiIowin ing IL 40 outline OF some
Of the work In progress st the farm
this year: There are In the neigh
borhood Of aoOo bearing apple trees
on the farm. These trees are Tor the
most part between twenty-five and thirty
years old. Before the farm came into the
possession Of the station these trees had
been very badly neglected and were bear
ing very few apples. One OF the first
things which the station undertook was
to see whether orchards which had been
so systematically neglected for twenty
years could b brought into profitable
bearing. The results speak for them
selves. Al the present time various fer
tiiizer and cultural experiments, a. well
a. quite elaborate spraying experiments,
In which different plots ars sprayed with
different mixSnres ana 10 different ~sys,
arr in progress.
Work on bFesaing new varieties OF apples
has besn under way for sessrals ysars.
With this there 10 nursery which con-
tsins over 1000 sssdiings. Cions from
most Of the young trees have bsen grated
on to old stock In order 10 bring them
into bearing earlier. Expsriments
to test the mutual influences OF stock
and cion arc also bstng carried on. In
connection with this young orchard Of
500 trees and containing 10 different va
rieties has bssn ut.
OF the expsrimsnts outside OF orchard
ing, probably tbs oct work 10 batter
known than any other. This year over
twenty different varisties are being tested
in held plots. Many Of these are new
varieties originated In ths plant breeding
work at the farm. An oat garden contains
nearly 1000 rows. Each row 10 planted
with seeds nom . singis plant Many OF
these are hybrids bskwssn difsrsnt vsrie-
ties and species. This oct garden repre-
ssnts the nrst step In the breeding OF new
varieties. This garden also contains re-
pfessntativss Of lArRs number Of wild
and cultivated spsciss OF oats gathsrsd
from all parts Of tbs world.
A fertilizer expsfimsns to test the effects
OF potash on The oat crop II also being
carried on In all thsrs are over 100 sxpsr-
mental plots Of oats. About twelve arcss
Of farm oats srs planted with variety Of
our own breeding known ~ Maine 80.
This Il regardsd q tbs best oat yet OBJ
tanned for southern and central Maine.
As average yield Tor tia last three years
on oar piots hes bssn over eiGhty-dvs
bushels per acre.
There are also cultural and breeding
experiments with sweet corn and flint