ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 9 



written aiul spoken of so imicli of late that the subject would seem 

 to be fjiniiliar to all present. Tliatour soil is exceptionally fertile is 

 beyond dispute. It is an objection with some that our climate is too 

 severe, that our summers are too short and our winters too long and 

 cold, and that almost impenetrable snow di'ifls maintain a virtual 

 blockade against all travel and business for a large part of every 

 year. Though this is to some extent true vet it has been mu<!h 

 exaggerated by those who are not well acquainted with this section, 

 and it is a matter of fsict that very often an Aroostook winter is 

 much more pleasant and enjoyable than a winter in an}' other part 

 of the State of Maine. It is true that the ground is covered with 

 snow here much later in the spring than in localities farther south 

 and nearer the seaboard, but this we consider an advantage as we 

 therebj' escape the long season of mud or frozen ground which those 

 seciions are afHicted with, and when our snows melt and disappear 

 the frost is usually gone from the soil and we are able at once to 

 begin our farming operations. And indeed it almost seems like the 

 work of magic as we see the fields which one week were white with 

 their wintry mantle, in the next rejoicing in the richness of a freshly 

 springing verdure. 



The crops which can be raised with profit here are perhaps fewer 

 in number than in the more southern parts of the State. Corn 

 receives but little attention with us, and but little breadth is devoted 

 to this crop, but the different kinds of grain take kindly to our soil 

 and lor years the wheat crop has been a success in this county. 

 Nowhere in New England does the potato flourish as it does in 

 Aroostook. The yield is lai-ge and the quality- excellent as is shown 

 by the market quotations, Aroostook potatoes always taking the 

 lead in price. I should have been glad if I had had the time at my 

 disposal to have given some figures in regard to this crop, showing 

 the number of bushels of potatoes shipped and the amount of starch 

 manufactured in the county. Starch factories have multiplied 

 throughout the county during the last few years and have proved 

 a great benefit to the farmers, giving them a ready and sure market 

 for potatoes at a price which has proved to be remunerative. The 

 raising of large breadths of potatoes has caused our farmers to bring 

 under cultivation much rough and stumpy land, removing the stumps 

 and smoothing the ground, and fitting it nicely for a good crop of 

 wheat, and after the wheat a smooth grass field. How long the pro- 

 duction of potatoes on a large scale can be continued without detri- 



