Ownership of Farms.

1895

The statistics show that Ohio has the largest number of farms of any state in the Union, 256,264; Illinois comes second, 252,953; then Missouri, 250,832; Texas, 248,782; New York, 226,632; Pennsylvania, 211,472; Iowa, 205,435; Indiana, 205,331. No other state has more than 200,000. The percentage of ownership in farms is largest in the north and west, as is the percentage of homes also.


Like Some Shoes.

"They say that the paving brick is only 8 inches long."
"I always knew that it was under the foot." — Syracuse Post.

A Jolly Sort of Farm

1895

Vegetables Growing at One Hand, the Products of the Sea at the Other.

"Once some years ago," said Superintendent H. T. Woodman of the city's aquarium at Castle Garden, "I went up the west coast of Florida in a sailboat on a collecting tour for shells and so on. On the north shore of Tampa bay we saw a little white house — very white indeed it was — a whiteness, as we afterward learned, that was due to whitewash made of lime from shells that the owner had burned himself. We went ashore there and were most hospitably received and invited to stay. We couldn't do that, but we were in the neighborhood for a day or two, and we ate two or three meals at his house, and subsequently I called upon him once or twice and was received in the same hospitable manner.

"No doubt there are other gardens like his, but his is the only one of the sort I ever saw — a kind of land and water garden combined. His land garden, which was about half an acre or so, was 50 or perhaps 100 feet back from the shore. He had in this garden cabbages and beans and potatoes and lettuce and garden stuff generally. His water garden was composed of three patches, each about 50 feet square, side by side and under water, close to the shore and each inclosed in a palmetto crib, which was, however, only one log high, for that was all that was needed. He could go out in a skiff at any time and catch anything that there was in any of the cribs.

"In the first patch of the water garden he kept hard clams, and he had plenty of them. The second patch he had fixed up for oysters. He had thrown in shells for the oysters to spawn on, and he had an abundant supply of oysters. The third crib he had fixed up for crustacea. He had thrown in some old stumps here and shoved in under the crib some slabs or planks that had drifted ashore to make a shelter for crawfish, which like to back in under things, as the lobster does. He had in this crib crawfish and crabs. Of course these could easily have crawled over the single log of the crib if they had wanted to, but they didn't want to. They preferred the shelters in this crib to the sandy beaches outside. In fact, the crib was an attraction to any stray crawfish or crab that might come that way. You see, he had only to step out of his house on one side for his vegetables and on the other for his sea food. He gave us oysters steamed in a big iron pot over a fire in the yard and the pick of both his gardens, land and marine, and certainly we couldn't have had anything fresher or more delightful." — New York Sun.


Making Himself Solid

"Didn't you think that was a beautiful girl with me today, Arthur?"
"What girl, my dearest?"
"Why, she was with me when you met us in front of the church!"
"Was there a girl there, dear? I didn't notice. I was looking at you." — New York Recorder.

Studebaker Bros. (1895 advertisement)

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, Feb. 22, 1895, p. 2.

Boomed The Peanut

1895

A MERCHANT SAYS THAT IS ONE OF THE THINGS DONE BY THE WAR.

An Enormous Increase In the Peanut Crop Due to the Old Soldiers — A Steady Demand, No Longer Limited to Fourth of July and Circus Days.

"I don't suppose there are many people who know that the ever popular peanut came originally to this country with the first cargo of slaves that landed on our shores," said a dealer in nuts and fruits, but such is the interesting fact. The peanut is a native of Africa, and in its wild state is as full of oil almost as a fat possum. Cultivation and change of soil have greatly reduced its oleaginous quality, although the nuts raised in North Carolina secrete enough oil yet to make them in demand in France, where they combine with their African progenitor and cotton seed to make a great deal of the olive oil we find in our restaurants and groceries.

"And I don't believe there are many people outside of those who have it who ever heard of the peanut habit. You don't like raw peanuts, do you? I thought not. No one does until he acquires the habit, and then he wants his raw peanuts just as regular as he wants his tobacco, provided he chews or smokes, and if he has the peanut habit the chances are he is not a tobacco chewer. The funny part of the peanut habit is that it prevails only among veterans of the late war who served either in Virginia or Tennessee or North Carolina. These are the states where the bulk of the peanut crop is grown.

"Perhaps you can remember how things were before the war. If you can't, I will tell you that the peanut then was chiefly a holiday luxury to the great mass of people in this country. The day when the circus was in town, or when the county fair was showing its pumpkins and four minute horse trots, or when the great and glorious Fourth of July had come around again, were about the only occasions when the popular yearning for the peanut was in any measure satisfied. On these memorable occasions the nut was shucked and masticated until it couldn't rest. It was only in the towns and large villages that the favored few could have peanuts with them always. Before the war there wasn't a peanut roaster in the whole country outside of the big towns and cities, and the rural dealers bought their stock already roasted and delivered to them in big, coarse bags. Today every crossroads from Maine to California has its peanut stand and its wheezing steam roaster, and the great American nut has no better standing on circus day or Fourth of July than it has on any ordinary day of the year, except that there is greater concentration of energy as to its shucking and chewing on these red letter days.

"Now, then, a large proportion of the soldiers who went to Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina were from the rural districts of the north. So when they got among the peanut patches they were, metaphorically speaking, right in clover. At first they roasted at their campfires the peanuts they pulled from the patches, but it wasn't long before they not only acquired a taste for them raw, but actually preferred them that way. The result was that the boys discovered after awhile that they hankered after their peanuts pretty nearly as much as they did for their tobacco, and after they got home they brought the longing with them. What has been the consequence? The demand for peanuts increased so much immediately after the war that the crop didn't begin to supply it. Wide awake farmers saw the point, and garden patches where peanuts had been grown for nobody knew how long were abandoned for broad fields, which were planted with the popular nut, and today Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina are growing something like 8,000,000 bushels of peanuts a year, a result due almost entirely to the civil war and the contracting of the peanut habit by the soldiers of both armies.

"Naturally the returned soldiers' loud call for peanuts soon placed the nut within their reach, and that of the rural population to the further limit of Way Back, and the nut ceased forever to be simply a holiday luxury. The floor of the backwoods grocery is now littered nightly with the shucks of peanuts hot from a revolving roaster as thickly as it ever was on the Fourth of July in the olden time, and the old soldier can get his supply of raw peanuts at Way Back Corners just as fresh and regular almost as if he were still on the old camp ground, yanking the nuts from their native soil.

"While the Virginia peanuts are the best, their popularity was threatened a couple of years ago. Consumers began to complain of their having a peculiarly disagreeable taste and smell, and they did too. What caused this was a mystery to the trade for a long time. Finally it was learned that sometimes the shells of a growing crop are discolored by a prolonged spell of wet weather, and, as one thing that recommends the Virginia peanut as a favorite in the market is its clean, white, glistening shell, a process of cleaning the damaged crop was invented. In it certain chemicals were used that impregnated the meat of the nut while cleaning the shell. When this was discovered, the artificial cleansing of peanut shells was discontinued until the difficulty in the process could be remedied, which has been done.

"Norfolk is the greatest peanut center in the world, about 1,000,000 bushels being handled there during the year. It is a pretty sight to see a peanut plantation when the vines are in blossom. The blossoms are a bright yellow and the vines a vivid green. No, the nut does not grow from the blossom. As soon as the blossom appears, though, a fine branch forms on the vine and shoots down into the ground. The peas, as the nuts are called on the plantations, form on the shoot beneath the ground, like potatoes. When the crop is gathered in October, the vines are plowed up, and the nuts hang to their roots. Vines and all are piled in cocks in the field, and in 20 days the nuts are ready to be pulled off, placed in bags and taken to the factories. There they are cleansed of dirt, assorted into different grades and polished in revolving cylinders, when they are ready for the consumer, whether he is the old soldier with the confirmed peanut habit or the lover of the nut smoking hot from the roaster." — New York Sun.

Temperature For Seed Germination

1895

It has been ascertained by an extended series of experiments that rye and winter wheat will germinate in soil the temperature of which is as low as 32 degrees. Barley, oats, flax, clover and peas will sprout at 35 degrees. The turnip is as cold blooded as the rye and winter wheat but the carrot needs 38 degrees and the bean 40 degrees before they will make the initial effort to send the life shoot in search of air and light. — St. Louis Republic.


Round Numbers

Her Father — What is your income, sir?
Her Lover — I can only give it to you in round numbers.
Her Father — Ah!
Her Lover — No other numbers will express it.
Her Father — Oh!
— Detroit Tribune.

Employee and Money Gone

New York, 1895

Silas A. Williams, a young farmer, whose place is near Old Westbury, is searching for a man whom he had in his employ for a year and a half. Tuesday Mr. Williams and his wife went out to spend the afternoon among relatives, leaving the house in charge of the hired man. When they returned the man was not to be found. Mr. Williams found that a pocketbook in his bureau drawer had been rifled and $87 taken.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, Feb. 1, 1895, p. 12.

They All Come To See This

1920

Up in Hige River, Alberta, Canada, people are coming a long way to the farm of Mrs. J. A. Osborne to see one of the most curious nature freaks ever known. Out in the barnyard a large hen is mothering five black and white terrier puppies, taking care of them as maternally as if they were her own brood. It all came about when the mother dog stole the hen's eggs. Biddy, to get even, appropriated the pups. Since then the dog will have nothing to do with her offspring. But they don't seem to care, and appear to be just as happy with the hen. Biddy will fight furiously if anybody tries to take one of the puppies from her.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 5.

U. S. Crop Report

1916

Maine

Corn — September 1 forecast, 477,000 bushels; production last year, final estimate, 656,000 bushels.

Oats — September 1 forecast, 5,540,000 bushels; production last year, final estimate, 6,080,000 bushels.

Barley — September 1 forecast, 135,000 bushels; production last year, final estimate, 132,000 bushels.

Potatoes — September 1 forecast, 25,700,000 bushels; production last year, final estimate, 22,010,000 bushels.

Hay — Preliminary estimate, 1,830,000 tons; production last year, final estimate, 1,397,000 tons.

Apples — September 1 forecast, 1,550,000 barrels; production last year, final estimate, 720,000 barrels.

New Hampshire.

Corn — September 1 forecast, 798,000 bushels; production last year, final estimate, 990,000 bushels.

Oats — September 1 forecast, 442,000 bushels; production last year, final estimate, 456,000 bushels.

Potatoes — September 1 forecast. 1,940,000 bushels; production last year, final estimate, 1,520,000 bushels.

Hay — Preliminary estimate, 767,000 tons; production last year, final estimate, 504,000 tons.

Apples — September 1 forecast, 510,000 barrels; production last year, final estimate, 353,000 barrels.

United States.

Corn — September 1 forecast, 2,710,000,000 bushels; production last year, final estimate, 3,054,535,000 bushels.

Oats — September 1 forecast, 1,230,000,000 bushels; production last year, final estimate, 1,540,362,000 bushels.

Barley — September 1 forecast, 184,000,000 bushels; production last year, final estimate, 237,009,000 bushels.

Rye — September 1 forecast, 41,884,000 bushels; production last year, final estimate, 49,190,000 bushels.

Potatoes — September 1 forecast, 318,000,000 bushels; production last year, final estimate, 359,103,000 bushels.

Hay — Preliminary estimate, 86,200,000 tons; production last year, final estimate, 85,225,000 tons.

Apples — September 1 forecast, 67,700,000 barrels; production last year, final estimate, 76,670,000 barrels.

—The Fryeburg Post, Fryeburg, Maine, Sept. 12, 1916, p. 6.

New Hampshire Neighbors — Sweden

New Hampshire/Maine, 1916

Leslie Chandler, who got so badly burned by the bursting of a gasolene torch while soldering some milk cans recently, is gaining.

The remains of Miss Louise Brackett were brought from Cumberland Mills to her sister, Mrs. Martha Chandler's. The funeral was held Thursday. [*]

Sweden grange held its regular meeting Saturday evening, Sept. 9, with nine members present.

Charlie Bailey hauled stove wood for Walter Evans Monday.

Miss Mable Trimback is doing housework for Mrs. W. E. Evans.

M. E. Perry and wife and Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Moulton were in Portland Saturday, going in Mr. Perry's new auto.

Mr. and Mrs. James H. Bennett are visiting his brother, Charles Bennett.

Mrs. Fordyce Gammon and daughter Emily are visiting her sisters, Mrs. Ernest Bennett, and Cleora Saunders, also her brother, Lindon Merrill.

Mr. and Mrs. Fred Saunders and daughter of Portland are visiting his father, Lincoln Saunders, at O. P. Saunders'.

Miss Marion Moulton is visiting Mrs. Charlie Bailey and Mrs. Forest Hutchins.

Miss Louisa Moulton has gone to Massachusetts to visit her sister.

George Thompson and Ernest Bennett cut corn fodder into the silo for Lindon Merrill Thursday afternoon.

Hugh Smart helped Thell Bennett get in oats and hungarian Saturday.

—The Fryeburg Post, Fryeburg, Maine, Sept. 12, 1916, p. 3.

[*] Note: Original newspaper breaks this line "Thurs-" followed by "Number Four. [another linebreak] No. Four."

New Hampshire Neighbors — West Brownfield

New Hampshire/Maine, 1916

Mrs. Horace Mason and son Harry of East Conway, N. H., were Sunday visitors at Mrs. James Dennett's.

Miss Peggy Comstock of South Conway, N. H., was seen in this neighborhood one day last week.

Walter Mason and wife and Lester Mason of Conway, N. H., were weekend visitors at J. L. Dennett's.

Among those seen in the neighborhood Sunday were: Thomas Harmon, M. L. Rounds and wife, Clayton Spring, Ralph Miller, Harold Littlefield and Ralph Bishop.

Mrs. F. M. Chamberlain, son Earle, M. L. Rounds and wife and Ralph Bishop made a motor trip to Ossipee Corners and Chocorua lake Sunday afternoon.

Mrs. Charles Stearns with her daughter, Mrs. Jenney, and granddaughter, Miss Jenney, of Brookline, Mass., were callers at Mrs. James Dennett's and at J. L. Dennett's one day last week.

A good many people are calling to inspect Lieut. Walker's new barn these days. This barn, we are told by those who should know, will be, when completed, the equal if not the superior in finish and modern equipment of any in the state. It is 113 feet long and 36 feet wide, and will have two tie-ups, one on each side, the cows facing each other with a walk for feeding purposes between. There will be steel tracks and carriers for handling both feed and manure; the floors will all be of concrete with steel stanchions. Two large silos of glazed hollow tile are already in place. A system of ventilation is being provided, having numerous air shafts connecting with three large metal ventilators on the roof arranged to turn with the wind. The finish of the building, both inside and outside, is excellent and we are told that the cost will exceed $13,000. This barn is being built on what was formerly the John Payne farm, on the road to South Conway, which Mr. Walker purchased some time ago.

School began Monday with Miss Murphy teaching here again.

—The Fryeburg Post, Fryeburg, Maine, Sept. 12, 1916, p. 3.

Care of Food In The Home

1916

All cooked food should be cooled as soon as possible before being placed in the ice box. Butter may be kept from taking up the flavors of other food by keeping it in a tightly covered receptacle. Milk requires more access of air, but in a clean ice box in which no strong smelling food is kept milk should remain uninjured in flavor for twelve to twenty-four hours. If vegetables or other foods of pronounced odor are kept in glass jars with covers or in covered earthenware receptacles there will be fewer odors to be communicated. Portions of canned food should never be put into the ice box in the tin can. Such food does not of necessity develop a poisonous product, as has sometimes been claimed, but experiments show that ptomaines are particularly liable to develop in such cases. Casting out this somewhat remote possibility, keeping is enough to condemn the "tinny" taste acquired by such practice.

Foods that are to be eaten raw, such as lettuce and celery, should be carefully cleaned before being placed in the ice box, and may with advantage be wrapped in a clean, damp cloth. If they are to be kept for some days they should, however, be put in without removing the roots, the further precaution being taken to wrap them carefully in clean paper or to put them into grocers' bags,

The following hints regarding the keeping of different kinds of food may be found useful:

Potatoes are kept without difficulty in a cool, dry, and dark place. Sprouts should not be allowed to grow in the spring.

Such roots as carrots, parsnips, and turnips remain plump and fresh if placed in earth or sand filled boxes on the cellar floor.

Sweet potatoes may be kept until January if cleaned, dried, and packed in chaff so that they will not touch each other.

Pumpkins and squash must be thoroughly ripe and mature to keep well. They should he dried from time to time with a cloth and kept, not on the cellar floor, but on a shelf, and well separated from each other.

Cabbages are to be placed in barrels, with the roots uppermost.

Celery should be neither trimmed nor washed, but packed, heads up, in long, deep boxes, which should then be filled with dry earth.

Tomatoes may be kept until January, if gathered just before frost, wiped, and placed on straw- covered racks in the cellar. They should be firm and well-grown specimens, not yet beginning to turn. As they ripen they may be taken out for table use, and any soft or decaying ones must be removed.

Apples, if for use during the autumn, may be stored in barrels without further precaution than to look them over now and then to remove decaying ones; but if they are to be kept till late winter or spring they must be of a variety known to keep well and they must be handpicked and without blemish or bruise. They should be wiped dry and placed with little crowding on shelves in the cellar. As a further precaution they may be wrapped separately in soft paper.

Pears may be kept for a limited time in the same way, or packed in sawdust or chaff, which absorbs the moisture which might otherwise favor molding.

Oranges and lemons are kept in the same way. Wrapping in soft paper is here essential, as the uncovered skins if bruised offer good feeding ground for mold. Oranges may be kept for a long time in good condition if stored where it is very cold but where freezing is not possible.

Lemons and limes are often kept in brine, an old-fashioned household method.

Cranberries, after careful looking over to remove soft ones, are placed in a crock or firkin and covered with water. A plate or round board placed on top and weighted serves to keep the berries under water. The water should be changed once a month.

In winter large pieces of fresh meat may be purchased and hung in the cellar; thin pieces, as mutton chops, are sometimes dipped in mutton suet, which keeps the surface from drying and is easily scraped off before cooking.

Turkeys, chickens and other birds should be carefully drawn as soon as killed and without washing hung in the coolest available place.

Smoked ham, tongue, beef, and fish are best put in linen bags and hung in the cellar.

Salt pork and corned beef should be kept in brine in suitable jars, kegs or casks, and should be weighted so as to remain well covered. A plate or board weighted with a clean stone is an old-fashioned and satisfactory device.

Eggs may be packed for winter use in limewater or in water-glass solution. Many housekeepers have good success in packing them in bran, oats, or in dry salt, but according to experiments summarized in the aforementioned bulletin, the preference is to be given to the 10 per cent solution of water glass. Exclusion of the air with its accompanying micro-organisms and the prevention of drying out are what is sought in all cases. Packed eggs are not equal to fresh eggs in flavor, but when they are well packed are of fairly good quality and perfectly wholesome.

Paper has many uses in the kitchen. The cook needs a piece of paper on which to drain the fried croquette or fritter and she reaches out for the brown paper that came around the meat or for the grocer's bag. She turns to the same source when she wishes paper for lining a cake pan. A little reflection will show how far from cleanly is this practice.

In every kitchen should be found a roll of grocers' paper on its frame. You are sure here of something that has not been handled since it was rolled up by machinery in the factory. Paraffin paper should also be at hand for covering food, for wrapping up sandwiches for school lunches, and for similar purposes. — Maine Farmer.

Seed Corn

1916

I remember well my father's kitchen of 75 years ago. It was about 20 feet square, with a brick fireplace with cranes and pot hooks, a large tin baker and a three legged spider to set over the coals. In the ceiling were driven hooks, from which poles were suspended on which to dry apples and pumpkins, and on the walls of the room were hung traces of seed corn for next year's planting. That way of drying apples and pumpkins has been discontinued, but this method of saving seed corn I consider the perfection of wisdom.

The chit or germ of a kernel of corn is imbedded in a soft wet cob, and unless this cob is dried out in a reasonable time, its vitality is impaired or destroyed.

In experiments I made years ago, I found that the seed kernels taken from near the top of the ear produced not only earlier but better developed stalks and ears than the seed kernels taken from close to the butt or lower end of the ear. The difference, I believe, was owing to the smallness of the cob and the better curing of the seed from top of ear.

Next month, farmers will secure their seed corn for the coming year, and they should give the matter the attention that its importance demands. Pick corn before main crop is harvested; get the best, discarding all ears with large cob at the butt; husk immediately, and braid into traces of a dozen ears, and hang on a rack in the kitchen or an attic with a warm chimney and a good circulation of air is an ideal place.

In three or four weeks, remove to a dry place and you will have seed corn that will not need to be tested to prove its vitality. — Maine Farmer.

Mow Those Weeds

1916

Have you mowed those weeds? Then your farm is worth more and you are a better neighbor and a better citizen than if you hadn't. Everyone thinks more of the farmer and farm if he sees the weeds neatly mowed as he drives along a well-dragged road. As he passes the end of the line fence, he sees a fence row, not a weed row, and the same is true of the cross fence.

Does this describe your farm? Then rabbit shooting may not be so good on it next winter, but buyers will offer you more an acre on it because they know it will take less work to make crops on it for a number of years than if all that weed seed had not been harvested. If you still have that weed crop to harvest, you will have to hurry. Weed seed is getting nearer ripe every day. The hot, dry weather has hurried ripening instead of belating it. Burr-pulling time is coming, and the horse weeds in the fence rows are getting harder for the mower or scythe to handle, but there is some consolation in the thought that there is still time to do a great deal of good, and that too early mowing might have let the weeds come up and make another crop of seed. — Exchange.

Agriculture of Maine

1916

By B. Walter McKeen.

XX. Advanced Agricultural Thinking

The Board of Agriculture held its winter meetings for 1872 at Paris January 23rd to 26th inclusive. The attendance was not what it had been the last years and some disappointment resulted. More talent was gathered for these meetings than for any Other session. Upon the list of the members of the Board there appears for the first time, the name of Elisha E. Parkhurst, of Presque Isle, the pioneer in the spraying of potatoes for blight. Mr. Parkhurst's work along this line preceded that of any experiment station and formed a foundation for what has been done since to overcome this trouble. The writer has been over the piece of land, with Mr. Parkhurst, where this early spraying was done, and it was with some degree of deserved pride that he related all the circumstances to me. The name of S. L. Boardman, who at that time was the editor of the Maine Farmer, appeared as a member at large, appointed by the Governor and council.

The first vote of the Board required the agricultural societies receiving aid from the state, to expend one-fourth of the money in premiums for farm improvements, these premiums to be in the fall of 1874. By this vote, the money heretofore devoted to the encouragement of wheat culture was turned in another direction and the attempt to keep Maine in the column of wheat growing states was abandoned. It may be of interest to note some of the crops of wheat grown that year as recorded in the reports of the secretaries of the various agricultural societies. These are as follows:

"A. Hunter, Strong, 29 bushels on one acre. F. N. & C. Frye, Fryeburg, 115 bushels on 7 1-2 acres. Peter C. Barker, Orrington, 58 bushels, on one acre (this was known as "Lost Nation" wheat). A. J. Wiggin, Stetson, 71 1-2 bushels on two acres. Edward Jay, Patten, 31 bushels on one acre. W. Vickery, Unity, 44 1-8 bushels on one acre." When we consider that flour had averaged for the whole year to sell for $15 per barrel, and that conservative estimates placed the cost of imported flour for the year 1868 as high as $9,750,000, it seems a pity that interest couldn't have been maintained in the cultivation of wheat.

To give a somewhat local flavor to this paper, which may be interesting to my older readers, I am going to quote from the report of the West Oxford society, as made for the year by its Secretary, Dr. D. Lowell Lamson. He says: "Corn crop very good. From statement made to the committee, the following are selected and noted here: J. G. Swan, Denmark, 75 bushels per acre: cost of crop, $49.00 per acre; value of same, including fodder, $111.75; net profit, $62.75. A. O. Pike, Fryeburg, 91 bushels on 1 1-2 acres, cost of crop $89.00, value including fodder, $134.00, net profit, $45.00. A. H. Evans, Fryeburg, raised 90 bushels rutabagas in 1-8 of an acre. The society voted to expense $1,200.00 in and about the grounds, which will bring it into debt again. Amount of premiums paid, $362.20." As a comparison, premiums paid in 1915, were $1,296.00

Secretary Goodale and Professor Fernald were appointed a committee to attend a National agricultural convention, called by the commissioners of agriculture, to meet in Washington, February 15th. As far as the writer knows, this was the first meeting of its kind ever called and possibly it was the beginning of the Farmer's National Congress which has now become a power for good.

The public exercises begun with an address by Governor Perham, in which he spoke in a general way of the interests of agriculture and gave statistics to prove its importance to the state. President Allen, of the State College, followed the Governor in an address outlining the aims and methods of the college and from this address I will quote one paragraph:

"The Maine State College is not a professional school to prepare the students exclusively for any trade or occupation in life. It is not designed alone for those who are to be farmers and mechanics. It does not teach fully the art of farming, or any of the useful arts. Its design is to lay the broad, deep foundations of a liberal education which is best adapted to industrial pursuits, so that into whatever department of industry its graduates may enter, they will be successful business men, farmers or mechanics, and also intelligent, educated men; prepared to lead and guide the thought and intelligence of the whole community where they dwell." If the thoughts contained in that paragraph could have been kept in the minds of the people of the state during the years the college was struggling for existence, it would have been much better for all concerned.

A new departure was made in the subjects treated at these meetings when Professor Fernald was asked to read a paper on protection from lightning. Other states had been drawn on for talent and T. S. Gold, Secretary of the Connecticut Board of Agriculture, gave a lecture on orchards and fruit culture. In this lecture, the apple maggot was discussed. The speaker said he had not reached Maine and that the state was fortunate. But, like other pests, he did not pass Maine by, and soon many of her fall varieties of apples were badly infested with the maggot. Hon. John Stanton Gould, of New York, gave a lecture on the management of meadows and pastures. In this, we find the first mention of the Thomas smoothing harrow, as it is known today. Its use as a tillage implement is recommended. From this lecture probably sprung the practise of "harrowing" corn, now quite commonly adopted in the state. Mr. Gould also speaks of the relations of railroads and transportation companies to agriculture. This is the first time I have seen this matter treated before the Board or the farmers, and it is to be regretted that no copy of the lecture appears.

To those who are familiar with the great number of books of the present day which treat of the various branches of agriculture it may seem strange that Secretary Goodale couldn't find but two at that time that he would recommend. These were Practical Dairy Husbandry by X. A. Willard, and How Crops Grow by Professor S. W. Johnson of the Sheffield Scientific school of Yale to call "Walter culture" and notes that Maine was the pioneer in calling attention to the possibilities of the culture of fish, which was first done in his report for 1864. Since then, Congress has recognized its importance and, pending the adoption of a bill carrying a limited appropriation, listened to a speech by representative Roosevelt, of New York. This speech, the Secretary uses entire. He adds in a foot note that much progress has been made in stocking New England waters with salmon and shad.

The Autumn session of the Board was held at Skowhegan, October 9th, 10th and 11th. The attendance was not as large as it had been at some of the other meetings. The first business of the meeting was to listen to the report of the committee which attended the National agricultural convention. This report was made by Professor Fernald, and while it is not within the province of this paper to give it in detail, we may note some of the subjects that received attention. They were the expediency of seeking further grants of land from Congress. The establishing of experimental farms. Best methods of cooperating with one another and with the college of agriculture. The preservation of timber lands. The necessity for a general plan for a meteorological observation and crop reports, and a general system of communicating the same by telegraph. The distribution of valuable plants and seeds by the Department of Agriculture was urged, and special request was made that samples of the Threadwell and Diehl Winter wheats, such as are grown in Michigan, be distributed throughout New England.

Following the regular business of the session, the Junior class of the college of agriculture gave a class exercise designed to exhibit the character of the instruction given at the Institution. From a lecture on "Life's Callings" by Hon. C. J. Morris we cull the following figures, the contemplation of which should give every Maine farmer cause for serious thought and reflection: "The average per acre value of the nine principle crops in all the states, viz: corn, wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat, potatoes, tobacco, and hay is $18.71, being 84 cents per acre short of the average for Maine. Maine is ahead of the other New England states in the yield and value of her corn crop, and she is but nine tenths of a bushel short of the average yield of the six largest corn growing states in the Union, and exceeds these states in the per acre value of her crop $23.26. Maine's wheat crop exceeds the average yield of the six largest wheat states two and four tenths bushels per acre, and $14.00 per acre in the valuation."

The session closed with an address by Hon. S. L. Boardman on the power and influence of the agricultural press. As a whole, the crops for 1872 seem to have been fairly satisfactory. There were no insect pests and no serious droughts. The returns for the crops grown seem to have been satisfactory.

—The Fryeburg Post, Fryeburg, Maine, Sept. 12, 1916, p. 5.

Kansas Wheat For France

1901

The enormous wheat crop in Kansas and Oklahoma is bringing grain buyers of foreign countries to Kansas, says a Topeka dispatch to the New York Sun. Alon and Jean Goldschmidt, importers of Paris, came recently to negotiate for shipments. They declare that there is little promise of a big wheat crop in France this year, and France always turns to the United States when her own crop is short. Kansas wheat is famous in France for good flour. It is the product of Russian seed, but the wheat of Russia does not compare with the Kansas product. The French importers will arrange for shipping by way of the gulf of Mexico.

$1,000 an Acre From Dandelions

1901

The dandelion is but little grown in this country as a vegetable other than in some parts of New England. Some of the market gardeners in the vicinity of Boston claim to have taken as much as $1,000 worth from an acre. The variety known as the improved French thick leaved is the best and most generally grown. It is not at all particular as to soil or situation — in fact, it will thrive anywhere — but the larger profits are made in growing it on heavy loam, with good tilth. The seed should be sown soon after May 1, but good results are obtained when grown as a second crop, the seed being sown as late as Aug. 1.

The soil should be finely prepared as the seeds are very small, and the young plants because of their dark color are quite inconspicuous. Sow in drills one foot apart and cover thinly. Roll the ground after sowing. In order to see where the rows are a little lettuce seed should be mixed with it, say two ounces to the acre. The lettuce will plainly show the rows. Cultivate in summer so that weeds will not grow. Upon the approach of cold weather cover with any coarse litter and remove same in early spring. One quarter of a pound of seed is sufficient for an acre, says Rural New Yorker in conclusion to the foregoing.

Artificial Spring New Device for Seed Analysts

1929

New York, Jan. 2. — A method of simulating spring artificially in a modern version of the old family ice box was described today before the association of official seed analysts.

It is used for testing the germination of farm seeds at the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Immigration, Richmond. By a specially prepared chamber and an artificial refrigerator, controlled temperatures are obtained over test seeds planted in special soil boxes.

Even the breezes of spring, so far as they are useful to the fields of farmers, are preserved through the action of cold water running through the apparatus, and providing the air purification that takes place in open fields.

Spring's sunshine is reproduced in its essential effects through an electric heater whose emanations are distributed from beneath a covering of water.

The apparatus was described by Carroll M. Bass of the Virginia department of Agriculture. The seed analysts met with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which closed its eighty-fifth annual meeting here last night. The seed men held over for a session today.

New Hampshire Farmers May Retail Milk in Boston

1916

Manchester, N. H., Sept. 23. — Officers of the New England Milk Producers' association went into conference here tonight with regard to price and the distribution of milk in Boston, and it is apparent that the deliberations will continue past midnight.

The present situation was brought about by the association recommending to the farmers of New England that they insist upon 50 cents a can of 8 1-2 quarts, this price giving the producer one-half a cent per quart more than the price he is now receiving.

Thus far only one large firm distributing milk at retail has consented to pay the price asked, although another big company, which handles milk by wholesale only, has been paying the price now asked for several weeks. A spirit of extreme optimism prevails the gathering here tonight and no doubt was expressed but that all of the distributors will accede to the demand which is being insisted upon by the farmers.

"Our object in meeting tonight is to encourage the farmers to stick for the price which has been demanded, but in the event of all of the distributors refusing to comply with the advance in price, to arrange ways and means for distributing the milk in Boston," said Pres. Richard H. Pattee. "We don't want to pour milk on the ground," he continued, "and we want Boston people to have it, and believe that ways will be found for getting it to the consumers. The farmers are holding together almost as a unit in asking for the new price, and we can find only an isolated instance here and there where a farmer has signed to deliver milk to a contractor at the old price."

Agriculture of Maine

1916

B. Walker McKeen.

XXII. More Advanced Farm Methods; Maine Dairymen's Association; Maine State Grange; Fryeburg Cheese Factory; Recollections of a Drover.

The annual meeting of the Board of Agriculture for 1874 was held in the court house at Wiscasset, February 10th, 11th and 12th. The attendance of farmers, and others, at these meetings was large and the meetings were of much interest. Organization was effected by to election of Z. A. Gilbert, president, J. W. Lang, vice president and S. L. Boardman, secretary.

A careful review of the published report of the winter and autumn meetings of the Board shows that the papers and lectures given at these meetings contain a fund of scientific and practical information on leading subjects in agriculture, and although more than forty years have passed since these meetings were held, the student of farm methods today can not afford to pass them by. Papers presented by members of the Board covered such topics as Butter or Cheese, Which; The Elevation of Farming; Irrigation; Associated Dairying; A System of Practical Agriculture; Farming as a Profession; No Cattle, no Crops; Co-operation among Farmers; On Labor and Farmers' Experiments.

Scientific papers were given by such eminent men as Prof. W. O. Atwater, Hon. Harris Lewis, Hon. C. L. Flint, Prof. F. L. Scribner and Prof. James Law. It is a pity that there can not be an interest in these old reports started among the students of today as they are rich in the lore of old-time agriculture, much of which could be put in our modern practise to good advantage.

The report shows that there were thirty-four cheese factories incorporated by the legislature during the session for that year. But about one-half of these were put in operation, and there were in operation thirty-six during the year. A little local flavor attaches to these cheese factory items, for on the 20th of February of this year, 1874, a cheese factory was organized at Fryeburg. Immediate steps Were taken to begin operations. A building was erected and equipped, and cheese making begun early in the summer. The Argue Not Inn is the building, the original dimensions of which were 30 by 60. The company was capitalized at $2,500, the shares of stock placed at $25. Alden B. Walker was engaged as cheese maker. The records show that it took 9 1-2 pounds of milk to make one pound of cheese and that the cheese sold for 15 cents per pound. The cost of manufacturing was placed at 2 1-2 cents. This did not prove a very profitable venture. The factory was well equipped, the cheese made was of good quality, but the milk did not net enough to induce farmers to deliver it in sufficient quantities to make it a paying business. As the writer remembers, the factory was not run but two years and the building and outfit were sold at considerable loss.

Farmer's clubs were still flourishing and doing a work that is not being done by any organization that we have today. There were thirty-six of these clubs, many of which held fairs and all of which had libraries.

Here we find the first report of the college of agriculture and find that it has really got a start in its work. It had 120 students and a faculty of eight instructors. The trustees had expended some over one thousand dollars for full blood stock and there were at the farm four Shorthorns, four Ayshires and five Jerseys. The stock was inventoried at $4,388.00.

The importance of commercial fertilizers was becoming more and more apparent and the Secretary had been authorized to investigate the value of fish scrap as a fertilizer. The report which he made was very encouraging. The fact was brought out that the scrap had sold for $11 per ton and enough had been purchased by the farmers to net the factories $631,475 for the year.

We have this year, for the first time, a report of the Maine Dairymen's Association and learn that this Association was incorporated, February 20th, 1874. Its first officers were Seward Dill, president; J. W. Lang, secretary; J. W. North, treasurer. The first meeting was held in Augusta April 10th, 1874. The Association immediately begun active work to promote the interests of dairy farming in the State.

A sufficient number of subordinate granges having been organized to warrant, a State organization was effected at Lewiston April 21, 1874, with Nelson Ham, master; L. B. Dennett, lecturer, and John M. Jackson, secretary. Mr. Ham was the first master of Lewiston grange, number 2. He was a man of ability, and one fully respected by every one who knew him. Mr. Dennett was a Portland lawyer who was interested in farming and in farm organizations. Mr. Jackson was a farmer in his native town and was a strength to the new organization. I knew all of these men, who have now passed on leaving behind them work well done.

For the first time the Board took up the matter of irrigation, and Mr. D. M. Dunham of Bangor read a comprehensive paper on the subject. The discussion which followed the reading of this paper, led by President Gilbert, showed conclusively that the members of the Board had a good grasp on the general principles of irrigation and the effect it would have on crop production. Many years have passed since then, and we are no nearer practising a system of irrigation, nor will it come until the roads are free for the farmer's products to consumers all over the world and he is able to get these products before the consumer without paying undue toll to middle man or transportation company.

To show that there were important matters before the Board at that time other than the growing crops and animals, and that there were men on the Board who could use good, vigorous language as well as a lesson for today. I am quoting at some length from a lecture given before the Board on farming as a profession by J. W. Lang, the member from Waldo county. Let us read this carefully and then seek an answer why we are no further advanced along these lines, after 42 years of toil and self sacrifice than we are at present:

"Will some farmer tell us why more hours of labor should be required to support a family on a farm than anywhere else? Will some one tell us why farm products can not wait for sale until they are wanted as well as all other things? Will some one tell us how it is that those farm products that were all used up, not a pound or bushel was wasted for want of consumption or from poor care, are often so much in excess of demand that they bring next to nothing? Will any one tell us why a business which requires a capital of three to five thousand dollars, with skill and a long apprenticeship to learn it, and 14 hours a day to labor and to look after it, should not pay as much dividend as the hand cart or the wheel barrow with a man behind it?

"Will any one tell us why, when one man holds in his hand that which another man will die for want of if he does not get, that the man who holds it should beg and plead for the other man to take it? Will some one explain why it is that the corner grocer knows so much better what it is worth to raise a bushel of potatoes than the man who did it? It is useless to seek financial success on the farm so long as the incubus of prices made for farm products by other classes is submitted to." And the writer might have added that until financial success does come up the farm, our brightest and our best will be leaving it.

The annual meeting of the Board was closed with a lecture by Charles L. Flint, then secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture, on a hundred years progress in agriculture. This meeting was but two years before the Centennial celebration in Philadelphia, and the speaker's thoughts took him along the lines that would be brought to the front by this celebration, and covered the entire history of the agriculture of the country. I wish that much of this very valuable lecture might be reproduced here, but as that is not possible, I can only refer my readers to the report of the Board for 1874 and urge them to study it and learn of the early agriculture of the country.

The secretary, considering that Maine was one of the earliest sections of the new world to attempt an improvement of its breeds of cattle through the introduction of thoroughbred cattle from other countries, includes in his report some notes on Maine cattle which give many interesting details of the introduction of most of the breeds of cattle that are now found in the state. I can not refrain from quoting at some length from these notes. Captain John Mason purchased the rights which Sir Fernando Gorges had in several grants of land, and in 1639 he began bringing cattle onto his lands. The present towns of Kittery and Berwick were included in these grants. The venture of Captain Mason seemed to end disastrously. His death occurred in 1635 and at that time there were some three hundred cattle on his plantations. How they were dispersed and how the lands were divided are best told from the following deposition which was first published by the New Hampshire Agricultural Society in 1854.

"Francis Small, of Piscataqua in New England, planter, aged 65 years, maketh oath that he hath lived in New England upward of 40 years; that he very well knew the plantations Captain Mason had caused to be made at Piscataqua, Strawberry Bank and Newichewanock, and was well acquainted with all the servants employed by Captain Mason upon the said plantations, some of whom are still living; and that there was a great stock at each of these plantations. And this deponent doth very well remember that Captain Mason sent into this country eight Danes to build mills to saw timber and tend them, and to make potashes; and that the first saw and corn mill in New England was erected at Captain Mason's plantation at Newichewanock, upwards of fifty years ago, where was also a large house with all conveniences of out-houses, and well fortified with stores of arms. That about forty years since the said houses and buildings were burnt to the ground, but by what means this deponent doth not know. That about the same time this deponent, with others, was employed by Capt. Francis Norton, (who then lived at Capt. Mason's house at Piscataqua, called the great house) to drive about one hundred head of cattle towards Boston, and the said Capt. Norton did go with the cattle; that said cattle were there usually sold for five and twenty pounds, the head money of England. And the said Norton did settle himself at Charlestown, near Boston, and wholly left Capt. Mason's plantation, upon which the other servants shared the resedue of the goods and stock among them, which was left in that and the other plantations, and possessed themselves of the houses and lands, and this deponent doth verily believe that from cattle sent thither by Capt. Mason, most of the cattle in the provinces of New Hampshire and Maine have been raised for this deponent doth not remember or heard that any one else did bring over any. That Capt. Wannerton, a servant to Capt. Mason, and lived in a fair house at Strawberry Bank, about the year 1644, did carry goods and arms belonging to Capt. Mason's plantation, and did sell them to the French that did inhabit at Port Royal, where the said Thomas Wannerton was slain. That some time after one Sampson Lane came over from England, with power as he pretended, to look after and take care of the said plantations, and did settle himself at the great house at Strawberry Bank, where he continued about three years and then returned to England, upon whose departure, John and Richard Cutts got into possession of the house and lands at Strawberry Bank, but by what right this deponent never heard, and have sold several tracts, upon which many houses have since been built and are now in the possession of the relations of the said Cutts.
"Francis Small.
Sworn to before me the 8th of September, 1685.
B. Chamberlain, Justice P."

As a reminiscence for my older readers and as a curiosity for the younger ones, I am quoting from the recollections of a drover, matter which reminds me of the older times when just such droves of cattle as he describes frequently passed my home in the fall months. The matter quoted was furnished the Secretary, by Seward Dill of Phillips, whom I well remember, and who was engaged in the business as early as 1835:

"My first drove was picked up about this place, Phillips, in the fall of 1835; and I continued in the business for about twenty years, driving from one to three droves a year, which was done in the latter part of summer and fall in droves of from fifty to two hundred head, a large proportion young cattle. These cattle were of as many colors as Jacobs; some with high horns, some with low horns, some up and some down, and some with none at all. The prices paid for the first two years were, for one-year olds, $3 to $5; for two-year olds, $7 to $10; for three-year olds from $10 to $15; cows, $10 to $12; oxen, $35 to $40 per pair, for six feet in girth and sometimes six and one-half feet at that price — and six and one-half feet was considered very large here at that time. In those days, selling cattle at Brighton was dull and hard business for "greenhorns;" many drovers lost money, myself among the rest. Two-year olds were often sold for $7 and sometimes for much less. In 1837 and 1838 prices went up with a rush. For two years cattle had been so low that but few calves had been raised in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. We poor drovers who purchased our droves early in 1837, then got even with the Brighton sharpers, and some one-year old heifers sold as high as $24 each, two-year olds, $30 to $35, and oxen went from $35 and $40 up to $80 and $90. In 1840 cattle were low again, but not down to the price of 1835. I have purchased 7 feet oxen in the towns of Livermore and Turner at $50, (what we called mass and market beef) driven them to Portland and Brighton and then sold them at a very small profit."

The autumn meeting of the Board was held at Orono on the 27th, 28th and 29th of October. Much time was spent by the members and their friends who had gathered for the meeting, in making investigations of the work of the college of agriculture, and much satisfaction was expressed at what was seen. The regular meetings were held in the town hall and were well attended. The papers were of a high order and were listened to with interest by all. Fryeburg people may be interested to know that the Hon. George B. Barrows, then the member of the Board for Oxford county read one of the most interesting papers of the session, on the province of the Board of Agriculture.

—The Fryeburg Post, Fryeburg, Maine, Sept. 26, 1916, p. 5.

Grain for Cows in Fall

1916

Many dairymen have learned that it pays to keep their cows milking during the last part of the fall and winter. Last November the owner of herd G in our testing association was feeding very little grain, just a few pounds a day to each cow, whether milking or not. He told me that he didn't think it would pay to feed any more grain to his cows until they began to freshen. After talking the thing over he decided to begin feeding grain in proportion to the amount of milk produced, following the rule of about one pound grain to 3½ pounds milk.

The next month I came around I noticed quite a change; most of his cows had increased in milk, and cows that had been kept at a loss in November were making a little profit above feed cost in December. His herd summary showed a loss of $13.73 for November. In December he jumped from a loss of $13.73 to a profit of $28. His cows had increased in production enough to pay for extra grain feed and their hay and still have a very good profit left. Had he not begun feeding more grain his cows undoubtedly would have shrunk in milk flow in December, and consequently his loss for that month would have been even greater than it was in November.

In another herd the owner was planning to cut out the grain ration for most of his cows. He told me that he never fed grain in the winter because he didn't think that it paid. He said: "Grain is high and it will not pay." I began explaining to him where he would lose if he left out the grain. He is an old man and has been connected with the dairy business a number of years. After talking a while about it he said: "I'm in this association to learn what I can, and I'll try your plan of feeding for a while, if it don't put me into the hole too bad."

Having the weight of milk from each cow he figured out approximately the amount of grain each cow should have giving about one pound grain to 3½ pounds milk. He has fed according to this rule ever since. As a result his herd made a profit of better than $45 for November, December and January. His cows freshened in the early spring so one would not expect a very large profit from a herd of cows due to freshen in two to four months.

On my January visit to his place he told me his cows had always been dry at that time of year and it was quite unusual for him to take milk to the creamery during at least a couple of months in the year. He said: "I am convinced that it has paid to feed some grain and thereby get enough more milk to pay for hay and grain and have a little profit left over rather than not to feed grain and let the cows dry off as they usually did and consequently not pay for the hay they eat."

The other advantages of feeding grain which are not shown by figures are as follows: First, manure is worth more, ton for ton, than if no grain is fed; secondly, cattle are undoubtedly in a better condition; third, a cow that is fed some grain will not eat as much hay as when no grain used. — Archie Holden, New Hampshire in New England Homestead.