THE POTATO 335 



far away beyond the reach of the eye or at the har- 

 vest time when the farms take on a new activity. 

 The mechanical potato digger has revolutionized 

 the work and the crops are taken from the ground 

 in surprisingly quick time. Potato growing in 

 Aroostook is already a business of big proportions 

 and the constant development promises to make 

 it one of the greatest agricultural industries in the 

 country. " 



\ 



During the winter of 1910 the senior author 

 visited the Aroostook district, and his impressions 

 follow: 



This one county is like a Colorado county in area. 

 It is on the northern boundary of Maine and bor- 

 ders on Canada. 



Apparently the whole idea of the farmers in the 

 county is centred on the growing of potatoes to 

 the exclusion of all other crops as much as possible. 

 The potato dominates every sentiment and idea. 

 It is the sole topic of conversation where two or 

 more men are gathered together. They are apt to 

 be discussing machinery and wagons for potatoes 

 and the cultivation of potatoes. And you see men 

 hauling potatoes in every direction in barrels 

 to and from warehouses, from farms to markets. 

 They talk of them in the streets, in the offices and 

 in the banks; and, I have no doubt, in the schools 

 and churches, and even in their sleep. At Car- 

 bondale and Greeley, Col. they think and talk 

 of other things than potatoes, because their 

 crops are diversified. At Houlton, Maine, the cen- 

 tre of the potato work, is the only place where I 

 have been talked to a standstill on the subject of 

 potatoes. I never met people who were so eager 

 for knowledge in connection with potatoes. 



