THE POTATO IN AROOSTOOK. 109 



Mr. Barnes. I do not think there are an}' ; of course 3'ou know 

 Aroostook is a large count}-, and I give you the general impressions 

 from what I have seen. I do not think the scab is ever found on the 

 new land ; it is a product of civilization. Some things we get 

 with high civilization, and scab on potatoes is one of these. 



Question. Have you made any observation as to comparing 

 methods of hilling ? 



Mr. Barnes. Our men use horse power as much as possible, and 

 my own practice is to hill up. 



Question. I would inquire whether one application of this Paris 

 green is enough for the season ? 



Mr. Barnes. Yes, that is all that we use. Plaster and Paris- 

 green used when the dew is on in the morning. 



Question. Sometimes you do this work in the morning and in the 

 afternoon comes a summer shower and washes it off : Do you apply it 

 again ? 



Mr. Barnes. Of course a shower may come in the afternoon;, 

 but then here is a question. If we sprinkle in the morning, can they 

 eat all day and not get it and drop over on the ground ? My opinion is 

 that they will soon eat it and then they will die. I should not care 

 about the shower in the afternoon if I had sprinkled it on in the 

 morning. 



Question. Is the use of flour at all general in your county? 



Mr. Barnes. I do not think it is; plaster is very plenty there,, 

 and very much cheaper ; we mix one part of Paris green to one hun- 

 dred of plaster. 



Question. What is the cost? 



Mr. Barnes. Five or six dollars a ton. 



Question. I would ask whether the potatoes are dug by hand? 



Mr. Barnes. Every machine that is manufactured for digging, 

 potatoes by horse power is brought to us up there, but the perfect 

 digger has not come. Our machine for digging potatoes is the Mad- 

 awaska Frenchman and his wife and children, and when they will 

 dig, sort and put in potatoes at ten cents a barrel, we calculate that 

 is cheap enough. We furnish horse power to get the potatoes out 

 of the field. My potatoes were all dug by one man and three chil- 

 dren, the oldest seven years old and the others coming along in 

 order. 



Question. In your planting and raising of the crop in Aroostook, 

 in using fertilizers, how do the farmers in that new country buy fer- 

 tilizers to raise potatoes, and does it pay? 



