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...
John Collier/Library of Congress
John Collier/Library of CongressYoung Ben Gagnon hitches a ride on the planter.
John Collier/Library of Congress
John Collier/Library of CongressLeonard Gagnon and hired man load the hopper.
John Collier/Library of Congress
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John Collier/Library of CongressPlanting potatoes in the rocky soil of northern Aroostook...
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John Collier/Library of CongressThe hired man pours seed potatoes into a tub to re-fill the planter.
John Collier/Library of Congress
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John Collier/Library of CongressPlanting straight rows...
John Collier/Library of Congress
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John Collier/Library of CongressThe farmer's children help with the planting operation.
John Collier/Library of Congress
John Collier/Library of CongressLeonard Gagnon's daughter, Marianne.
John Collier/Library of Congress
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John Collier/Library of CongressThe rolling fields of Fort Kent, near the Canadian border.
John Collier/Library of Congress
John Collier/Library of Congress