MAINE 



3601 



MAINE 



square miles in area, the source of the Andros- 

 coggin River; Chamberlin Lake, from which 

 flows the Saint John, and Chesuncook Lake, 

 the water head of the Penobscot, are among 

 the largest. 



The rivers of Maine are swift, and most of 

 them flow to the sea in a series of rapids and 

 cascades, which have developed the water power 

 that has built up the manufacturing interests 

 of the state. The largest of the rivers are the 

 Kennebec, rising in Moosehead Lake, the Pe- 

 nobscot, draining one-third of the whole state, 



LAKES AND RIVERS OF MAINE 

 Not all the lakes are shown on the map ; there 

 are more than an equal number of smaller bodies 

 of water. 



the Androscoggin, the Saco, the Saint Croix 

 on the eastern boundary and the Saint John 

 on the north. The rivers flow through broad 

 valleys and drain numerous lakes which form 

 great reservoirs, making the water supply uni- 

 form throughout the year. 



The Coast. Most remarkable of all the sur- 

 face features of Maine is the indented coast, 

 frayed and torn by the sea and by glacial 

 action into a ragged fringe of promontories, and 

 cut by deep fiords and harbors rivaling those 

 of Norway and Alaska. When measured in a 

 straight line, the coast of Maine extends 225 

 miles, but the actual shore line around the bays 

 and promontories of "hundred-harbored Maine" 

 226 



covers over 2,500 miles. West of the Kenne- 

 bec, for several miles inland, the coast is flat 

 and marshy, but at Mount Agamenticus, Cam- 

 den Hills and Mount Desert it rises to bold 

 cliffs. 



Maine's excellent harbors are protected from 

 winds by a chain of more than three hundred 

 islands, some low and wooded, others bold and 

 rocky, but they suffer from the great tides 

 which increase northward from Portland, where 

 the rise is eleven feet. Between Eastport and 

 Portland there are proportionally the greatest 

 number of good harbors found anywhere along 

 the United States coast. Some's Sound is the 

 largest and is one of the most advantageous 

 positions on the Atlantic coast for a United 

 States naval station. Other fine harbors are 

 Casco, Penobscot, Frenchman's, Machias and 

 Passamaquoddy bays. 



Climate. Because of the arctic currents 

 whose southern reaches touch the shores of 

 Maine, its climate is colder than that of many 

 other places of the same latitude. The winters 

 are severe, the average winter temperature at 

 Eastport and Augusta being 20 F., while at 

 Mount Katahdin the temperature drops to 30 

 below zero. 



The summers are always cool, the average 

 temperature in July being 65 to 70 F., and 

 sudden changes, due to the alternate land and 

 sea winds, occur frequently. The growing sea- 

 son in the southern part of the state is less 

 than six months, and that of the northern 

 section is a month shorter. The rainfall is dis- 

 tributed evenly throughout the year, the aver- 

 age being forty inches; the snowfall on the 

 coast is over sixty inches and in the north 110 

 inches. 



The climate is very healthful, and though 

 damp, is free from malaria. The cool summers, 

 the beautiful seashore, the forests abounding in 

 game and the lakes well stocked with fish have 

 made Maine very popular as a summer resort. 

 Bar Harbor, on the east end of Mount Desert 

 Island; Long Island, Orr's and other islands in 

 Casco Bay, Rangeley and Moosehead lakes and 

 Mount Katahdin are among the most famous 

 summer resorts of the continent. 



Agriculture. In the greater part of the state, 

 the sandy soil strewn with gravel and other 

 glacial deposits is unsuitable for agriculture. 

 Aroostook County, in the northern part of the 

 state, the largest district of fertile farm land in 

 New England, is a notable exception. Its 

 potato crop of 17,500,000 bushels reported in 

 the Census of 1910 was three times that of its 



