3^48 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



continuing through the northeastern corner of Anson, emptying 

 its waters into the Kennebec at Savage island, opposite the village 

 of Anson. The intervals situated upon this stream are of the 

 same character as those upon Sandy river, than which there is no 

 better farming land in the entire "county. 



We next come to Dead river, so called from the sluggish motion 

 of its water, which in fact only applies to it above Grand Falls, for 

 from there to the Forks it is a wild, ragged stream. It rises in the 

 county of Franklin, and enters Somerset in Flagstaif township. 

 This is a river of considerable size, and with its tributary streams 

 waters a portion of the county nearly fifty miles in length east and 

 west, and about thirty miles wide, comprising about fifty town- 

 ships, a large part of the land being covered with a heavy growth 

 of pine timber. For many years this region has been the head- 

 quarters of the lumbering operations upon the Kennebec, and there 

 is yet no estimating the value or amount of lumber remaining upon 

 this territory. Aside from the large quantities of pine, there are 

 also heavy growths of cedar, together with spruce, hemlock and 

 hackmetac, and considerable tracts of land the growth upon which 

 is ash, oak, birch, maple, beech, &c. Minerals are found, but to 

 what extent is not known ; they comprise slate, lime, plumbago, 

 lead and iron. There are but two townships in the Dead river 

 valley where settlements have been made ; these are Flagstaff and 

 Dead river plantation. At the former place there are good mills, 

 a store, &c. The soil upon the river is rich and deep, being a 

 diluvial deposit of a chocolate color of the finest texture, and pro- 

 ducing bountiful crops of grass, oats, wheat and potatoes — corn 

 being seldom planted, although upon the high ridges it is said to 

 ripen about once in four years. Large tracts of these bottom lands, 

 every way as fertile and productive as the best farms in the Sandy 

 river valley, can be had at a price almost nominal, the cost of clear- 

 ing being about ten dollars per acre. The land on the mountains 

 is of no value, yet lots are frequently cleared upon the sides and 

 less lofty ridges, which produce good pasturage. 



Going east from the Kennebec, the first noticeable river which 

 we find is the Wesserrunsett, or east branch of the Kennebec. It 

 is formed by numerous small brooks and streams in Athens, and 

 also by Wyman pond in Brighton, and Weutworth pond in the 

 northern part of Solon. These unite just above Athens village 

 and form one of the most beautiful rivers in the county. It flows 

 in a southern course through the eastern part of Cornville, and 



