The United States census of 1880 ascertained the actual yield of the State in the principal cereals for the year 1879 to be as follows: Wheat, 35,532,543 bushels, Michigan ranking fourth among the States in the amount produced, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio each leading. Indian Corn, 32,461,452 bushels. Buckwheat, 413,062 bushels. The "Farm Statistics of Michigan, 1879-80," based upon returns from the various counties and compiled in the office of the Secretary of State, show that in the same year of 1879 the State produced of Clover Seed, 313,063 bushels. Peas, 538,332 bushels. Potatoes, 8,025,475 bushels. Hay, 1,051,115 tons. The Other staples are produced in Michigan of which there are no late returns. census of 1880, when fully compiled, will supply this deficiency. The preceding census taken by the general government showed an annual product in the State of 828,269 pounds of Hops, and 280,325 pounds of Honey. The last State census taken showed among the productions of the preceding year 4,101,912 pounds of Butter, and 4,319,793 pounds of Maple Sugar. . Field Peas produce good crops in nearly all parts of the State, and show remarkable thrift in the northern counties, particularly in the upper peninsula. Many farmers, notably those who come here from Canada, consider them as valuable as corn for feeding stock. The United States Department of Agriculture, after a critical examination into the feasibility of raising Beet root for the manufacture of sugar, reports favorable conditions for its profitable cultivation in the most parts of the State. The Legislature, at the session of 1881, passed an act to encourage the culture of sugar cane and the sugar beet, and the manufacture of sugar therefrom, by exempting buildings and machinery employed therein from taxation for five years, and authorizing a bounty on the product. Tobacco, which figures so largely among the products of many of the States, and contributes so much to the manufacturing statistics of Michigan, must also be included among its agricultural productions. The census of 1880 shows that 173 acres were planted in 1879, and yielded 84,333 pounds. The total yield in 1869 was 5,385 pounds. The enumeration of the farming products of each county at the federal census of 1880 is only accessible yet as regards the cereals. The Statistics of 1879, collected and compiled at Lansing, furnish information concerning other results of agricultural labor. The table printed on pages 40 and 41, collected from these sources, shows the production of the State for that year, by counties, in the important articles of corn, oats, barley, peas, potatoes, and hay, together with the acreage devoted to each crop. The wheat returns are contained in the preceding charts. The number of acres of "improved land" in each county is shown in the table accompanying the map which prefaces this pamphlet. CURRENT PRICES IN DETROIT, OCT. 1, 1881. Wheat, No. 1. white, per bushel, $1.43 Flour, white wheat, per bbl., $7.25@7.50; @$1.43; Corn, 731c; Oats, No. 1 mixed, 47c; Potatoes, 85c@90c; Hay, per ton, $16@$18; $2.50@$3.00; Clover seed, $5.50; Timothy, $2.90@$3.00. SHEEP AND WOOL. In the census of 1870, Michigan ranked fourth among the States in the production of wool-Ohio, California, and New York, each leading. The census of 1880, according to advices not hitherto made public, showed that the State held the same relative rank ten years later, Texas being substituted for New York as one of the three States surpassing it. At the centennial exhibition of 1876, at Philadelphia, an award was made "to the State of Michigan" for its "collective exhibit of samples of wool produced in the State." These samples were contributed by 116 persons in ten counties, and included "461 of Merino and 196 of long combing wools of English blood." The subjoined table, however, giving the product of the year 1880 shows that sheep-raising is a common industry all over the State: The prices paid by dealers for Michigan wool of all grades on the 1st of October, 1881, ranged from 35 to 40 cents per pound. QUALITY OF THE WOOL. Experienced dealers state that about three-quarters of the wool produced here rates as fine Spanish, and the remainder is of mixed grades. Sheep-raising is a profitable pursuit in any part of the State. Increased attention is being given to the growth of cross-breeds which may be used both for wool and mutton, and with much success. OTHER LIVE STOCK. The compilations from supervisors' returns in the office of the Secretary of State show that in May, 1881, Michigan contained this live stock of the age of six months THE GREAT FRUIT STATE OF THE NORTHWEST. [Republished from a paper prepared by Charles W. Garfield, Secretary of the State Horticultural Society.1 When Father Marquette and his Jesuit brothers paddled around our beautiful peninsula over two hundred years ago, dropping here and there a few apple and pear trees along with the "seed of the word," they little dreamed of the great future that was indicated for Michigan in the thrifty growth of seedling fruit trees that were to spring up along their pathway. A few of these old trees, and some that were planted a few years later, are still found in various places on the shores of Erie, Huron, and Lake Michigan; they are healthy and strong, bearing regular crops of fruit, monuments of the adaptability of our State to the cultivation of the apple and pear. It was not until the discovery that peaches could be grown successfully, of the best quality, upon our western Michigan shore, that fruit-growing for market was given an impetus in the State. This was about 1840, and from that date until 1881 the development of fruit culture in our State is without a parallel. Facts have gradually been brought to light in the experience of orchardists that prove Michigan to be peculiarly adapted, on account of her climatic conditions, to a wide range of fruits, from the semi-tropical fig to the iron-clad Siberian crab. This rapid development has been due to two causes : First, the influence of the great lakes curves the isothermal lines well to the northward, so that a large area is rendered serviceable in the growth of the less hardy fruits; and second, in the rapid development of the Great West to which we are readily accessible, and in which these fruits can not be grown, we have a never failing market for all the surplus. Lake Michigan is truly a 'cherishing mother" to the orchardist. A body of water 345 miles in length and nearly 100 miles in breadth, it would float the three States of New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland; and it is deep enough almost any where to bury Mount Holyoke beneath its surface. With its 3,400 cubic miles of water in one basin, it maintains a very even temperature throughout the year; and this, with the fact that about sixty-five per cent of our winter winds are westerly, gives the key to our peculiar success in horticulture. We grow peaches successfully along the 45th parallel which bounds Vermont on the north, and raise figs in the open air in latitude 421°, about on a line with Boston, Massachusetts. It is true that this lake influence is not felt so largely in the interior as along the shore; still, in a large measure, the whole southern peninsula is modified in extremes of weather by this great equalizer. The fact that the western shore from St. Joseph northward to Grand Traverse is especially favored with immunity from frost has given rise to the term MICHIGAN FRUIT BELT. This is a strip of territory with a shadowy interior boundary in which peaches are grown with a smaller percentage of failures than elsewhere in the State. Within this belt there is great choice of location for purposes of peach culture; still the purchaser is not compelled to give the same relative importance to altitude that he would farther in the interior. A very large percentage of the peaches grown in Michigan for shipment abroad has been, until very recently, raised within the fruit belt; but from the high grounds in Kent, Kalamazoo, Hillsdale, Washtenaw, Lenawee, and other interior counties, large quantities have been shipped in late years. RAILROADS, WATER LINES, MARKETS. Michigan is now threaded with lines of railroads; several trunk lines extend across the State from east to west, while others reach into the undeveloped but rapidly growing regions of the north. Thus the fruit-grower who wishes to reach the great markets can readily do so; or if he desires to supply the pioneers and the lumbermen who are, as yet, without the luxury of good fruit, ample facilities are at hand. Not only this, but a great lake on either side gives abundant means, with easy carriage, of reaching great markets independent of the railroad systems. Immense quantities of fruit are shipped daily from the ports along Lake Michigan from St. Joseph to Traverse City, furnishing the great distributing market of Chicago with fresh fruit, only twelve hours picked, each morning during the entire fruit season. It must be remembered also that as one traverses this shore for the 200 miles of the belt, he will find in all the perishable fruits there is no danger of disastrous competition in the markets, because of the variation in date of ripening; while the purchaser of these fruits in the markets reaps the benefit of an extended season for each variety. SOILS. In the whole of Michigan one can certainly find the exact character of soil he seeks, for every shade of variation seems to be represented. Mistaken notions have obtained, at different times, concerning the soil upon which Michigan peaches are grown; in truth the remark has often been made that "up in Michigan you grow peaches on your sandy land that will grow nothing else." We can assure people at the outset that good peaches are only grown upon good land. The fruit belt is not uniformly sandy, and is by no means poor land. Upon the blowing sands where dunes are formed, it is common to find the most thrifty trees bearing luscious fruit in large quantity. Such land cannot be poor. It is also true that in many localities heavy soil can be found immediately upon the shore. In the interior the best fruit lands are clay and sandy loams, and, if the location pleases the purchaser, there is little doubt but he can obtain the quality of soil that will satisfy his taste. The low lands, in many places in which vegetable matter predominates, are being utilized by the horticulturist, and often are very valuable when fitted for market gardening or cranberry culture. CHEAP LANDS. The almost fabulous prices at which well developed fruit farms have exchanged hands in western Michigan have led many to believe that it requires a large investment to enter the realm of successful fruit culture. It is only in cases where orchards have come into successful bearing and are returning a large income that the lands command extravagant prices. The fruit region of Michigan is extensive, and only a small part of the land available for the production of even the more tender fruits has been improved. As good locations can be secured to-day at rates varying from ten to twenty-five dollars per acre, as those which have exchanged hands at from $200 to $1,000 dollars per acre after the plantations were in full bearing. Those who contemplate building homes in our State should give time to their selection. A few weeks spent in examination of locations and prices will, in the end, be money in the pocket. It is impossible, in a short paper, to give much light concerning special localities, but by means of recent correspondence we have gathered some locality statements which will answer the questions that are most commonly asked. MONROE COUNTY. Monroe county is at the head of Lake Erie, and along its shores are the most extensive and successful vineyards in the State. In this county more grape wine is produced than in all the rest of the State. A large nursery interest centers at Monroe city, and excellent pears are grown which find a ready market, at high prices, in the large markets of Detroit and Toledo. Railroad and water communication makes this an exceptionally good point for the market horticulturist. The calcareous soil Wine gives a higher quality to the grape than in most other places in the State. makers give two or three cents more per pound for grapes grown on this lime soil than for the average grapes in the market. BRANCH, HILLSDALE, AND LENAWEE. The above named counties raise excellent apples and pears, and upon the high lands peaches are grown nearly every year. These counties are upon a high level, and the streams flow rapidly, giving good land and atmospheric drainage. This section is an old settled farming country in which all ordinary fruits do well. The inhabitants are cultured, and farmers' clubs, horticultural and agricultural societies flourish there; it is a region of pleasant homes. ST. JOSEPH AND CASS. This is the region of large farms, and horticulture is only an accompaniment of |