Xvi BOARD OF AaRICULTURE. 



pounds to the bushel. The farmers bring- them in barrels which 

 are emptied and taken back. A large part of the potatoes are 

 raised on burnt land. Some raise 200 bushels to the acre ; I have 

 known as high a yield as 400 bushels. I know a man who says 

 bis potatoes cost him 8 cents per bushel when he pjot them in the 

 cellar ; the average is far above that ; he raised on new ground 

 and I presume did not reckon the cost of clearing the land. All 

 varieties are used for starch. The Garnet potato is a favorite 

 with the farmers for its large yield. We raise wheat to some ex- 

 tent, but not as much as we used to. In some sections it is a 

 good crop ; in others, midge and rust hurt it. Some sow it as 

 soon as the snow is off, others not until the last of May or first of 

 June. I think the early wheat has done the best on the whole. 

 I should think the average per acre is from 15 to 20 bushels, not 

 less than 15 I think. They do not raise any winter wheat at 

 Houlton but they do in the vicinity of Presque Isle. There are 

 different kinds of wheat raised. Some raise the Lost Nation, 

 some what is called the Fife Wheat. I think the Lost Nation 

 rusts more than other kinds, and is longer ripening. Barley does 

 well ; it is the most profitable sown crop with me. It now sells for 

 25 cents per bushel. A good many oats are raised. I should think 

 the average yield would not be above fifty bushels to the acre. 

 They do not use fertilizers for oats ; some may a little, but they 

 generally raise them on the green-sward. We generally lay down 

 land with wheat or barley. I have got a good catch with oats 

 but they are apt to lodge. We raise considerable buckwheat It 

 is a crop we can put in after our other grain. We do not raise 

 much corn about Houlton. A good many beans are grown — gen- 

 erally as a separate crop. First quality hay is worth $8 per ton 

 at the barn ; the buyer pressing it and the farmer hauling it to the 

 station after it is pressed. Last year it was up to $10. It is 

 shipped to Boston. I raise some grass s.^^1, but do not make 

 much account of the straw after I get the seed from it. I thresh 

 with a flail and then clean up with a winnowing machine. Some 

 grind it out with a threshing machine, and some have clover 

 machines to clean it up. I think the yield per acre would be per- 

 haps from two to three hundred pounds. I threshed some one 

 winter with a flail, and after I had done my day's work I would 

 have a half bushel of clean seed. I believe that with hay at $10 

 per ton you would get more from it to let it ripen for grass seed ; 

 but it injures the ground more to grow grass seed than hay. The 



