: 
and the southern and western will be considered in the February issue, with 
deduciions from all the facts presented.; 
MAINE, 
1. An increase in the value of farm lands since 1860 is reported from nearly 
every county in the State, though not equivalent, with few exceptions, to the 
appreciation of gold. In Piscataquis county this increase is placed at fifty per 
cent.; in Cumberland, forty ; Androscoggin, Somerset, and Oxford, twenty-five; 
Waldo and Kennebee, twenty ; Sagadahoc, ten; Penobscot, seven; York, five 
per cent. 
In some localities farms have been thrown upon the market, owing to the 
searcity of farmelabor, high taxes, and the opportunity to invest in untaxed gov- 
ernment bonds. Increase in values is more marked in the vicinity of cities. 
2. Tracts of unimproved Jand, divested of wood and timber to a considerable 
extent, of sandy soil, and growth of oak and pime, are held at from $1 to $10 
per acre in Cumberland county. In Oxford county similar tracts, valued 
mainly for growing wood, are estimated at $8. In York rough pasture lands 
are worth $10 to $12. Average value of wild lands in Kennebec $12; growth, 
maple, beech, birch, pine, spruce, larch, and fir; cedar swamps ‘becoming valu- 
able; pine very remunerative ; poorest lands sw ampy and ledgy, yet abounding 
in muck. In Somerset $5 per acre, the growth paying for the land In Lin- 
coln $15, two-thirds of it good farming land In Sagadahoc, at the mouth of 
the Kennebec, a lumbering county formerly, the average is put at $45, though 
timbered lands are worth $100. The soil, a clayey loam, is suitable for grass. 
In Penobscot $5. Wild lands in Piscataquis, the Moosehead Lake region, are 
somewhat rocky, yet capable of cultivation to some extent, and can be bought 
as low as $1 per acre. 
3. The timber resources of Maine are not unknown. In Somerset county, 
west of Moosehead lake, lumber is yet abundant, mills plenty, and the product 
sent to warket, the pine by water, the hard wood by railroad. Penobscot has 
been a great lumbering region, and has an abundance of peat. Cumberland 
county claims uusurpassed water power, awaiting improvemeut, “ which will 
st'mulate and develop the resourees of the soil.” Fine granite for building pur- 
poses abounds in Kennebec. ‘Traces of iron are found in the rock formation, 
yielding a pigment used by mezhanics in lieu of sienna. In Piscataquis are 
inexhaustible quantities of slate, plenty of iron, and some lead, silver, and gold. 
The iron interest, neglected during the war, is beginning to look up; slate 
quarries are doing a good business. The county lacks railroad facilities for the 
transportation of these products. York abounds in granite, and a fine article of 
trippli is worked. 
4. In Waldo county, which has a soil well suited to the potato, the cultivation 
of this esculent is made a successful specialty. Hay and potatoes are extensively 
shipped from this region, and, in fact, from other sections of the State. In Ken- 
nebec the potato yield is estimated at 150 bushels per acre, worth $165 at the 
railroad depots. 
In Oxford hops are considerably grown, one man (T. P. Duston, of Bethel) 
having produced 3,800 pounds from three acres, which he sold at home for $1,900. 
In Lincoln county hay is said to yield a profit of $6 per acre. After planting 
with corn and potatoes, with applications of stable manure, lands are seeded to 
grass with some kind of grain; and lands not ploughed are top dressed with 
ashes, lime, plaster, and superphosphate of lime. 
‘Lhe wool business is prominent in Somerset, and fine-wool sheep more abun- 
dant than elsewhere. ; 
5. Among the varieties of wheat preferred are Canada and Wisconsin, Bald 
Spring, White Malaga, Canada Club, &e. It is very little grown. The time 
