Vintage Photos – 1943 Potato Planting in Aroostook County
These photos tell the story of potato planting season on a family farm in northern Maine in May 1943.
Photographer John Collier of the Farm Service Administration was in Aroostook County and paid a visit to Acadian farmer Leonard Gagnon in Fort Kent..
Starting out for the fields...
Young Ben Gagnon hitches a ride on the planter.
Leonard Gagnon and hired man load the hopper.
Adding fertilizer.
Planting potatoes in the rocky soil of northern Aroostook...
The hired man pours seed potatoes into a tub to re-fill the planter.
Planting straight rows...
The farmer's children help with the planting operation.
Leonard Gagnon's daughter, Marianne.
A family affair.
Burning fertilizer bags.
Long days on the farm.
Field dog.
The rolling fields of Fort Kent, near the Canadian border.
You can find more of John Collier’s photographs in the Library of Congress.
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