Part 21

_Physical Features._--The surface is a gently rolling upland, forming a part of the "New England uplands," above which rise isolated mountain peaks and clusters of peaks, and below which are cut numerous river valleys.[1] The highest peak is Mt Katahdin (5200 ft.), a little N.E. of the centre of the state in Piscataquis county, which rises from a comparatively level upland. South-west of Katahdin, in Franklin county, are most of the other high peaks of the state: Saddleback Mountain (4000 ft.), Mt Abraham (3388 ft.), Mt Bigelow (3600 ft.), and Mt Blue (3200 ft.). A little N. of this line of mountain peaks is the water-parting which divides the state into a north slope and a south slope. The north slope descends gently both to the N. and to the E.; although quite hilly in the middle and western portions it is so poorly drained that swamps abound in all sections. The south slope which contains nearly all the mountains and is generally more hilly, has a mean descent toward the sea of about 7 ft. to the mile, the fall being greater in the W., where the mountains are high at the N. and the shore low at the S., and less to the E., where the water-parting is lower and the shore high and rocky.

After the uplift which caused the rivers to cut below the general "uplands," and develop well marked valleys for themselves, came the period of the great continental glaciation. The glacier or ice sheet overran all Maine, irregularly scouring out the bed rock to produce rock basins, damming up many river valleys with glacial deposits and completely disarranging the drainage lines. When the ice melted, the rock basins and the dammed-up valleys filled with water to produce lakes. This is the origin of the numerous lakes of Maine, which give it some of its most beautiful scenery, and help to make it a holiday resort in summer. These lakes are about 1600 in number, are scattered in all parts of the state, are especially numerous at high elevations, and have an aggregate area of more than 2000 sq. m. Few other regions have so many large lakes so variously situated, and with such beauty of aspect and surroundings. They contribute largely to a constant supply of water power for which the course of the rivers of S.W. Maine are exceptionally well adapted, many of them abound in trout, salmon, togue, black bass and pickerel; and near them there is still much game. Moosehead Lake (about 120 sq. m.; 35 m. long and from 2 m. to 10 m. wide), on the boundary between Piscataquis and Somerset counties, is the largest in Maine and the largest inland body of water wholly in New England; the Kennebec River is its principal outlet and Mt Kineo rises abruptly to about 1760 ft. above the sea (about 700 ft. above the lake) on its eastern shore. Other lakes, such as the Rangeley Lakes,[2] Chesuncook and Twin Lakes on the Penobscot, and the Grand or Schoodic Lakes, in the western boundary at the head waters of the Saint Croix River, equal or surpass Moosehead in picturesqueness. The glacier or ice sheet, above referred to, deposited till or boulder clay, which was compacted under the enormous pressure of the ice sheet to form the "hard-pan" referred to later. The glaciation is also responsible for the poor soil of most of the state, for, although the rocks are the same crystallines which give good soils further south in unglaciated regions, all the decayed portions of the Maine rocks have been removed by glacial erosion, revealing fresh, barren rock over great areas, or depositing the rather sterile hard-pan as a thin coating in other places.

After the uplift came a period of subsidence, during which this region sank one or more thousand feet, allowing the sea to encroach on the land and run far inland into the previously made river valleys. This depression probably occurred during the glacial period, perhaps toward its close, and is responsible for the second most important feature of Maine physiography, the embayed coast. To this subsidence are due the picturesque coastal scenery, the numerous islands and bays, the good harbours and the peculiar coast-line.

The shortest distance between the N.E. and the S.W. extremities of the coast is only 225 m.; but, on account of projections and indentations, the coast-line measures not less than 2500 m. The headlands, the deep indentations and the numerous islands in the bays and beyond produce a beautiful mingling of land and sea and give to the whole ocean front the appearance of a fringed and tasselled border; west of the mouth of the Kennebec River are a marshy shore and many low grassy islands; but east of this river the shore becomes more and more bold, rising in the precipitous cliffs and rounded summits of Mt Desert and Quoddy Head, 1527 and 1000 ft. high respectively. All along the coast-line there are capacious and well-protected harbours, Casco, Penobscot, Frenchman's, Machias and Passamaquoddy bays being especially noteworthy.

After the subsidence came another period of uplift, possibly still in progress. This uplift has brought up submarine deposits of sand, &c., to form little coastal plains at some points along the coast, providing good land for settlement and clay for brick and pottery. Further evidence of this uplift is found in old beach lines now well above sea-level.

The principal river systems of Maine are the Saint John on the north slope, and the Penobscot, the Kennebec, the Androscoggin, and the Saco on the south slope. The mean height of the basin of the St John is exceeded only by that of the Androscoggin, but the fall of the St John River through the greater part of its course in Maine is only sufficient to give a sluggish or a gentle current. The Penobscot, Kennebec, Androscoggin and Saco have numerous falls and rapids.

_Fauna._--The animal life of Maine shows a mixture of northern and southern forms, and very little that is peculiar as compared with surrounding regions. The state has moose, caribou and deer, especially in the northern part. The black bear, wolf, catamount, wolverine, wild cat, fox, beaver, racoon, marten, sable, woodchuck, skunk, otter, mink, rabbit and squirrel are also found. Geese, ducks and other water fowl frequent the lakes and bays in the migratory season, and eagles, gulls, hawks, kingfishers, owls, plover, woodcock, "partridge" (ruffed grouse), robins, orioles, bobolinks, blue birds, swallows, sparrows, and many other insectivorous birds are common. In the inland waters salmon, trout, togue (_Salvelinus namaycush_), pickerel and bass abound; along the shore there are lobsters, clams and scallops (_Pecten irradians_); and off the shore are herring, alewives, mackerel, cod, halibut, haddock, smelts, hake, menhaden, porgies and porpoises. The game in the North Woods attracts large numbers of sportsmen during the autumn season.

[Illustration: Map of Maine.]

_Flora._--Maine was formerly covered with forests, principally of white pine and spruce, but mixed with these were some hemlock, tamarack, cedar, and, on the south slope, birch, poplar, oak, maple and beech. Chestnut and walnut are rare and are found only near the south-west border. In 1900 about 21% of the state's area was cleared, and much besides had once been cleared, but not being suited to agriculture had become reforested. Of fruit trees the chief is the apple. The plum, cherry and pear also thrive. The peach grows well only in the south-west near the border. Species of grape, gooseberry and currant are native, and others are cultivated with advantage. The blackberry, raspberry, blueberry and strawberry grow wild in profusion throughout the state.

_Climate._--The climate of the state is moist and, for its latitude, cold. Extremes of temperature are not so great as farther inland in the same latitude; for the summer heats are tempered by the sea and the cool north winds, and the winter cold is so constant as to be less severely felt than the changing temperature of more southern districts. The summers are short, there being only about 4½ months between frosts even in the southern sections, and the mean summer temperature is about 62° F. The mean winter temperature is approximately 20° F., and the mean annual temperature for the entire state is 42° F., that for the north slope being about 5° F. less than that for the south slope. Although the temperature remains pretty steadily below the freezing point for at least three months of the year, many of the harbours remain unobstructed; for the tides and the prevailing off-shore winds break up and drive off the ice. The precipitation is about 42 in. annually, and is distributed very evenly throughout the year, 10-11 in. of rain or its equivalent in snow falling each season. During 4½ months about 44% of the precipitation is in the form of snow; but the snow-fall varies from about 60 in. on the coast to more than 100 in. on the north slope. The winds are variable; at no season of the year is it usual for them to blow from the same direction for many days in succession. But, with the exception of those from the west, they are maritime and consequently moisture-bearing. In summer, especially in the latter part of it, the cool and moist N. or N.E. winds often cause a considerable part of the state to be enveloped in fog for several days in succession.

_Agriculture._--The soil is for the most part glacial drift, containing a large mixture of clay with sand or gravel, and the subsoil is mostly "hard-pan," i.e. mingled clay and boulders which have been so much compressed by glacial action as to make the mixture hard and ledge-like. Except in the valley of the Aroostook and along the Kennebec, the Penobscot, and some other rivers, the soil is generally unfit for cultivation, there being too little alluvium mixed with it to make it fertile. In the Aroostook valley, however, is the largest undivided area of good arable land in all New England, the soil being a deep, porous, yellow loam well adapted to the growth of cereals and to market gardening. The most sterile regions are on the mountains and along the coast. Because of the cold climate, the large areas in which there is little or no good arable land, the growing demand for timber land, and the large and constant supply of water-power afforded by the principal rivers, agriculture in Maine, as in all the other New England states except Vermont, is a smaller industry than manufacturing; in 1900 there were 87,932 people engaged in manufacturing and only 76,932 engaged in agriculture. Only 32.9% of the state's land area was in that year included in farms, only 37.9% of this farm land was improved, and only 16.3% of the improved land was in crops other than hay and forage. Nevertheless, as indicated by the unusually large proportion of farmers who either own their farms or pay cash rent for them, farming usually is profitable. The number of farms in 1900 was 59,299; of these 18,644 contained between 50 and 100 acres and 17,191 contained between 100 and 175 acres, the average size being 106.2 acres; 54,263 (or 91.5%) were operated by their owners, 775 were operated by part owners, 2030 by cash tenants, and only 745 by share tenants. Beginning with the middle of the 19th century, the increasing competition of the more productive soils of the West, the growth of urban population in the state, and the number of summer visitors effected the reforesting of much poor land and the more intensive cultivation of the better arable land. The cultivation of cereals, for example, has given way to a marked extent in nearly all the farming districts except in Aroostook county to market gardening, dairying, and egg and poultry production. The number of dairy cows increased from 157,240 in 1890 to 183,000 in 1908, and the annual production of milk increased from 57,969,791 gallons in 1890 to 99,586,188 gallons in 1900. The number of other neat cattle (180,878 in 1900; 151,000 in 1908) decreased during every decade from 1860 to 1900; the number of sheep in 1900 was 427,209 (31.9% less than in 1890), and in 1908 it was 267,000; but the number of horses in 1890 and 1900 was about the same (140,310 in 1960, but only 116,000 in 1908). Hay is still by far the largest crop, the acreage of it and of forage in 1899 being 1,270,254 acres, or 76.5% of that of all crops, and the yield was 1,133,932 tons; in 1907 the acreage was 1,400,000 acres, and the crop was 2,100,000 tons. The acreage of cereals decreased from 187,013 in 1880, when agriculture in Aroostook county was little developed, to 166,896 in 1899, when the cereal acreage in Aroostook county alone was 82,069. Maine potatoes are of a superior quality, and the acreage of this crop increased from 49,617 in 1889 to 118,000 in 1907. Sweet Indian corn, cabbages, turnips, cucumbers and tomatoes are grown in large quantities. The fruit crop consists very largely of apples and strawberries (1,421,773 bushels of apples and 1,066,860 quarts of strawberries in 1899). The output of eggs increased from 9,369,534 dozen in 1889 to 13,304,150 dozen in 1899. The most productive dairy section of the state is a belt extending from the south-west corner N.E. entirely across the state and embracing the whole or parts of the counties of York, Oxford, Cumberland, Androscoggin, Kennebec, Penobscot and Aroostook.

_Lumber Industry._--Except in the remote parts, the valuable white pine, for which Maine was long noted, has been cut; but the woodland of the state was estimated in 1900 at 23,700 sq. m. or 79% of its area. The tendency is for this area to increase, for the establishment between 1890 and 1900 of large paper and pulp mills on some of the principal rivers of the south slope greatly increased the value of forests, especially those of spruce and poplar. The state makes large appropriations for preventing and extinguishing forest fires, and in 1903 established a department of forestry in the university of Maine. Good spruce, which is by far the most valuable timber in the state and is used most largely for the manufacture of paper and pulp, stands in large quantities in the St John, Penobscot, Androscoggin and Kennebec basins. Poplar, also used for the manufacture of paper, abounds in several sections of the south slope, but is most abundant in the basin of the Kennebec. White birch, used largely for the manufacture of spools, is found throughout a wide belt extending across the middle of the state. There is much cedar on the north slope. Oak, maple and beech are rather scarce. A new growth of white pine and other timber is gradually becoming valuable. The value of the timber product increased from $11,849,654 in 1890 to $13,489,401 in 1900, and to $17,937,683 in 1905.

_Fisheries._--Fishing has always been an important industry in Maine. From 1901 to 1904 inclusive, the average annual catch amounted to 195,335,646 lb., and its average value was $5,557,083. In 1908, according to state reports, the catch was 185,476,343 lb., valued at $3,849,900. Herrings are caught in largest quantities (in 1908, according to state reports, 68,210,800 lb., valued at $450,665), and Maine is noted for the canning of the smaller herrings under the name of "sardines." In 1908, according to state reports, the take of lobsters was 17,635,980 lb. valued at $1,558,252. Maine markets more clams than any other state in the Union, and the catches of cod, hake, haddock, smelt, mackerel, swordfish, shad, pollock, cusk, salmon, alewives, eels and halibut are of importance. The scallop fishery is becoming more and more valuable. For the protection and promotion of the lobster fishery the United States government has established a lobster hatchery at Boothbay Harbor; and the state legislature enacted a law in 1895 prohibiting the taking of lobsters less than 10-1/2 in. in length (one effect of this law being to drive the lobster-canning industry from the state) and another law in 1903 for the protection of lobsters with eggs attached. This latter law directs the state fish commissioner to purchase such lobsters whenever caught and either to liberate them or to sell them to the United States for keeping in a fish hatchery.

_Minerals._--The principal mineral products are granite, limestone, slate, clay products and mineral waters. In 1905 Maine held first rank among the states of the Union as a producer of granite, the value of the output being $2,713,795. In 1907 Maine's granite was valued at $2,146,420, that of Massachusetts at $2,328,777, and that of Vermont at $2,693,889. The stone is of superior quality, and the largest part of it is used for building purposes; much of it is used as paving blocks and some for monuments. It abounds all along the coast east of the Kennebec and on the adjacent islands, and is found farther inland, especially about the Rangeley lakes in Franklin and Oxford counties, and, near Mt Katahdin, in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties. The principal quarries, however, are situated in positions most convenient for shipment by water, in the vicinity of Penobscot bay and in Kennebec county, and these have supplied the bulk of the material used in the construction of many prominent buildings and monuments in the United States. The Fox Island granite comes from the quarries on Vinalhaven Island and the surrounding islands, and on Vinalhaven were quarried monolithic columns 51.5 to 54 ft. long and 6 ft. in diameter for the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York City. Black granite was quarried in 1907 at 12 quarries, in York, Lincoln, Waldo, Penobscot and Washington counties. Limestone abounds, especially in the south-east part of the state, but it is quarried chiefly in Knox county. As its colour--blue and blue-black streaked with white--renders it undesirable for building purposes, nearly all of it is burned into lime, which has become a very important article of manufacture in the city of Rockland; the industry dates back to 1733 in Knox county. In 1907 the quantity of lime burned in Maine was 159,494 tons and its value was $747,947. Slate is quarried chiefly in Piscataquis county, most of it being used for roofing, but some for blackboards; in 1907 the amount quarried in Maine was valued at $236,106. About 1896 some remarkably white and pure feldspar began to be quarried in Androscoggin, Oxford and Sagadahoc counties, but afterwards the spar mined in Maine was of less excellent quality; in 1907 the production in Maine was valued at $157,334, the total for the entire country being $499,069. Clay is obtained in various places, and in 1905 the total value of the clay products was $619,294. In Oxford county tourmaline, spodumene (or kunzite) and beryl occur, the tourmaline crystals being notably large and beautiful. Mineral water occurs in many localities, particularly in Androscoggin, York, Cumberland and Oxford counties; the most famous springs are the Poland Springs in Androscoggin county. Most of the mineral waters bottled in the state are chalybeate and slightly alkaline--saline; their average temperature is about 43°. In 1908 27 springs were reported, their aggregate sales amounting to 1,182,322 gallons. Copper, gold alloyed with platinum, iron ore, barytes, graphite and lead occur in small quantities in the state. In 1908 the total mineral product of the state was valued at $7,044,678.

_Manufactures._--Although Maine has no coal and only a very small amount of iron ore within her borders for the encouragement of manufacturing, yet the abundance of fine timber and the numerous coves, bays and navigable streams along or near the coast promoted ship-building from the first, and this was the leading industry of the state until about the middle of the 19th century, when wooden ships began to be supplanted by those of iron and steel. Until about the same time, when the Maine liquor law was passed, the manufacture of rum from molasses, received in exchange for lumber and fish in the West Indies, was also an important industry. It was not until early in the 19th century that the large and constant supply of water power afforded by the rivers began to be used to any considerable extent. The first cotton mill was built at Brunswick on the Androscoggin about 1809, and from 1830 the development of cotton manufacturing was rapid; woollen mills followed, and late in the 19th century were erected some of the largest paper and pulp mills in the country, which are run by water power from the rivers, and use the spruce and poplar timber in the river basins. The total value of the manufactures of the state increased from $95,689,500 in 1890 to $127,361,485 in 1900; and in 1905 the value of factory-made products alone was $144,020,197, or 27.5% greater than their value in 1900.[3] Measured by the value of the output, paper and wood pulp rose from fifth among the state's manufactures in 1890 to third in 1900 and to first in 1905; from $3,281,051 in 1890 to $13,223,275 in 1900, an increase of 303% within the decade, and to $22,951,124 in 1905, a further increase of 73.6% in this period. Lumber and timber products ranked second (1905)--$11,849,654 in 1890, $13,489,401 in 1900, and $17,937,683 in 1905. Cotton goods ranked third (1905) in value--$15,316,909 in 1890, $14,631,086 in 1900, and $15,404,823 in 1905. Woollen goods ranked fourth (1905)--$8,737,653 in 1890, $13,744,126 in 1900, an increase of 57.3% within the decade; and the value of the factory-made product alone in 1905 was $13,969,600, or 20.1% greater than in 1900. Boots and shoes ranked fifth (1905)--$12,295,847 in 1900, and $12,351,293 in 1905. Fish, canned and preserved, followed next, $1,660,881 in 1890 and $4,779,773 in 1900, an increase within the decade of 187.8%, most of which was in one branch--the canning of small herring under the name "sardines"; from 1900 to 1905 the increase was slight, only $275,358, or 5.8%. In the value of its manufactures as compared with those of the other states of the Union, in wooden ships and boats, Maine in 1900 and in 1905 was outranked by New York only; in canned and preserved fish by Washington only (the value of fish canned and preserved in Maine in 1900 was 21.7% of the total for the United States, and in 1905 19.2%); in the output of woollen mills by Massachusetts and Pennsylvania only; in the output of paper mills by New York and Massachusetts only. It ranked ninth in 1900 and tenth in 1905 in the value of its cotton goods. Portland, Lewiston, Biddeford, and Auburn are the leading manufacturing cities, and in 1905 the total value of their manufactures was 21.5% of those of the entire state. But from 1900 to 1905 the value of manufactures grew most rapidly in Rockland (especially noted for lime), the increase being from $1,243,881 to $1,822,591 (46.5%), and in Waterville, where the increase was from $2,283,536 to $3,069,309 (34.4%). Among the largest paper mills are those at Millinocket, in Penobscot county, at Madison on the Kennebec river, and at Rumford Falls on the Androscoggin river. Lewiston leads in the manufacture of cotton goods; Auburn, Bangor and Augusta, in the manufacture of boots and shoes; Bath, in ship and boat building; Eastport and Lubec, in canning "sardines."