Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1920-05-04
AMONG THE FARMERS.
"sPxlD TH1 PLow."
Some Agricultural Possibilities.

Some Agricultural Possibilities.
Auto-tourists riding through the State
OF Maine are impressed with the great
number OF little hamlets which are 60
ing to decay. Most of these little ham
lets were built up around small water
powers, used in the days of our fore
fathers to grind grain and saw lumber.
Those were the days when people did
not build their houses of Southern and
Michigan pine or buy their -four and
grain Of western producers. They were
self supporting and therefore utilized
the small water powers about the coun.
try to manufacture native raw materials.
The small powers were used In prefer.
ence to the large ones because they were
more easily developed and the larger
| amounts OF power were not then needed
but when manufacturing industries came
to the fore, they preferred the larger
ones, because the larger the unit the
more cheaply the product could be
turned ont; so the small powers went
into the discard together with the little
villages which bad grown up around
them.
The number of these deserted villages
cannot be calculated unless one travels
about the countrywide and sees them
and these little villages do not contain
ell Of the abandoned water powers
either. Some can be found In unlocked
for places-in pastures or wood lots.
Fishermen lashing brooks In search OF
trout more than five inches long some
times come upon the remains of broken
dam, built either of logs or stone, gen.
orally the former, with the outlines of q
mill pond showing against the surround
Ing forest, by Its smaller growth of
delirious willows, a. the effect of sudden
prohibition against wetter conditions.
Sometimes they find the falling and rot
ting timbers of an old mill or an ancient
overshot water wheel as a kind of decay
ing cenotaph to our ancestors.
These latter discoveries, however, are
generally located on streams 30 small
that 1t is quite likely the water will be
allowed to run unfettered through future
time and In years to come what is left OF
them may be as rare and interesting as
druid remains; but the larger damsites
In the center Of these small hamlets
were better "damsite" being busy do.
ing something. The question is whai2
These water powers we're originally
developed by farmers for farmers, and
when farmers ceased to use them they
fell into decay. If these water powers
are to be resuscitsted It will probably
take hair Of the dog which originally
bit them. 1t will take the farmers
themselves.
In recent times It has become custom
to take power to work and not work to
power. That Is If an operator has lum.
Der to saw he takes portable mill to
the forest and not the timber to q per-
manent mill. What is wanted then, at
the present time, is portable power;
and why not turn these tumble-dowp
mills, or new mills built on sites of the
old ones, into producing 1t?
In other words, why not set these
abandoned mills producing electricity
to be carried to the countryside to fur
nish power for wood.saws, ensilsge out
ters, threshing machines and other
things which farmer wishes to oper.
ate, to say nothing of light and, at some
future time, probably, heat. Farmers
want all these things but, 80 far, have
made little effort to obtain them. In
this they are behind even the wooden.
shod peasants Of France, who have cleo
trio power In abundance.
The abandoned water power utilized
may lead to abandoned farms being re-
Inhabited.
AouARIus.