io8 WITH GUN AND GUIDE 



Now see what a wonderful friend to man nature is. 

 The settlers had nothing better to do than to till the 

 land, which had been so suddenly and disastrously 

 cleared. They planted the easiest thing of all to 

 raise for their future sustenance potatoes ; and lo ! the 

 crops were enormous, the yield per acre being fabu- 

 lously large, and best of all the quality was phenome- 

 nally good. When cooked, the potatoes were of firm 

 texture, white and mealy inside, and even now they are 

 without doubt the finest potatoes in the world. What 

 the county lost by the destruction of its timber has 

 been regained over a hundredfold through the marvel- 

 ous wealth realized from its rich and bountiful potato 

 fields. 



There are few points in this great country of ours 

 where Aroostook potatoes are not known and used 

 either for the table or for seeding. 



It seems that the ashes remaining upon the land after 

 the burning of the vast forests of spruce, pine, fir, 

 beech, maple, birch and chestnut so enriched the soil 

 as to have made this particular county the world's gar- 

 den spot for the growth of potatoes. 



We crossed Moosehead Lake on October 13th the 

 next morning after reaching Greenville on as fine a 

 day as mortal man could wish for. While taking din- 

 ner at Kineo I was called from the table to listen to a 

 telephone message from a comrade from Philadelphia, 

 who had missed his connections and was going to 



