Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1925-11-14
Review of New
England Crops
Especial to Kennebec JournaD

Especial TO henneDeC JOurndl)
Worcester, Mass, Nov. 13.-In a
review of the Aroostook County po-
tato and other profitable farm crops
in New England, Mr.. Charles M.
White, chief of the Maine Bureau or
markets, told the New England Con-
ference today that the well-rounded
farm program that includes livestock,
has the best chance of providing con-
tentment and happiness for the New
!, England farmer. The future Of agri-
culture in this territory, he said. de-
pended largely on whether the
farmers could maintain for them
selves and their families standards of
living that compare favorably with
those enjoyed by people in other
lines of activity.
IF the comparative proportion of
those things which go to make life
worth living is more favorable in one
industry than another" declared Mr..
White, 'the first industry will con-
tinue to support a contented ana
happy people, while the latter will
decline. To provide suitable stand,
ards of living for the farmers of New
England is the one limiting factor,
the same today as 1t was ninety
years ago when the pioneers first
hewed their homes from the forests
of Aroostook County. If the farmer
Of those days lived in log cabin, If
his hours of labor were long and
hard, nevertheless they returned to
him the comforts of life in sufficient
measure to make his children willing
to carry on the tasks which he so
well began. If. however. the changes
of the years show that any one class
,fDt rtr1r t1NoV q
in the ill-favored class will turn to
the advantages enjoyed in the other.
Mr.. White gave some striking
figures regarding the Aroostooll po-
tatoes. Since 1895, he said, the pro-
duction of this crop has grown from
10, O00, 900 bushels to 34,000,000 bushels
in 1924, while property values in the
county have increased from 1885,
237 in 1860, to S61,717,996 in 1924. In
the early days of potato raising,
crops averaged from 100 to 200
bushels per acre, as compared with
the 1924 yield of 325 bushels per
acre.
Nevertheless, declared Mr..
White, "the future prosperity and
security of this important branch of
agriculture can not be said to be en-
tirely safeguarded. The future
prosperity of the Aroostook potato
area depends upon the labor income
to the farmer and his family. If
the present price of potatoes could
be taken as typical, the labor income
from raising potatoes would be
ample indeed, but reflection on the
record of the last few years tells an,
entirely different story. Our real
problem consists of two simple
questions: first, how can the cost of
production of potatoes be reduced,
and second, how can the costs of dis
tribution be decreased? The diff
ference between the consumers price
and these two costs spells the farm
ers labor return, and this is what
actually builds the home and main
tains the contentment of the people
on our farms.
1.-THE present situation in Aroos-
took County is a challenge to the
present distributors of the crop to
conduct their opEations so efficient
ly as to remove themselves from the
criticism-of too wide margins for the
actual service rendered. Cooperative
marketing has been given a two-year
test in AroostoolS County. The fact
that it is not in operation this sea-
son is no reflection on the soundness
OIL UilS VI ldlu
down. Perhaps it is enough to say
that those interested in this market
ing venture We're not really ready
for or educated to cooperative mar
keting.
aside from specialized crops in
comparatively small areas like to-
bacco, cranberries, maple syrup and
onions, the principle producers of
farm values in New England may be
said to be hay. apples, poultry and
dairying. 1t sounds good to say that
the Maine hay crop is worth 21,500,-
900 and that for all New England
worth $S0,000,OOO, but. to speak
bluntly, there is nothing in it when
viewed as a cash crop. The farm
price of the last few years gives little
or no labor income to the producer,
after the costs of harvesting and
hauling are deducted. Tho only way
the farmer can get profit from his