given such a description, and have considered our State as one of the most prosperous agricultural States in the Union, due in part to the industrious character of our farming population as well as to the fertility of our soil and to the congeniality of our climate for all sorts of crops raised in temperate zones. The present sketch is therefore mostly a repetition of statements formerly made.

GEOGRAPHICAL CONFIGURATION OF THE STATE.

The State of Michigan consists of two different districts of a peninsular character, surrounded by great inland lakes. The so-called Lower Peninsula has its longitudinal axis in a north and south direction; it is inclosed within a horse-shoe-like arch formed by the connection of Lake Michigan with Lake Huron. The Upper Peninsula, extending in an east and west direction, is separated from the Lower by the channel connecting the two before named lakes which form its southern border; its northern side is surrounded by Lake Superior. The eastern part of the peninsula forms a comparatively narrow strip of land, whose apex is cut off from the Canadian territory by a lake arm called St. Mary's river, which forms the outlet of Lake Superior into Lake Huron, the latter being about 20 feet lower than the former.

The west side of the Upper Peninsula is connected by a broad base with the north part of the State of Wisconsin; the bed of the Menominee river and of its main branch, the Brulé river, and the bed of Montreal river are adopted as the boundary line between the two States; the Menominee and Brulé form the drainage channel southward into Lake Michigan; the Montreal river leads the waters north of the watershed into Lake Superior.

THE CLIMATE AND SEASONS.

The climate of the southern parts of the State is considerably milder than that of the northern, proportionate to their respective difference in latitude and for other reasons which have a bearing on the climatic character of countries.

In the southern parts, not only all kinds of cereals are raised in abundance and superior quality, but also apples, pears, cherries, plums, and the more delicate peach trees and grapevines are cultivated with decided success. The climate in the northern parts of Michigan is nowhere so severe as to prevent the cultivation of winter wheat and the principal ordinary farm and garden products. There is a difference of about two or three weeks in the setting in of the spring, and the same time earlier the hibernal weather sets in in the fall in the most northern parts of the State, compared with the most southern districts, but the growing season in the north parts of the State is sufficiently long to bring all the ordinary farming crops to maturity, excepting Indian corn, and even this in some seasons ripens there before the frosts appear. Potatoes planted in the northern districts not only yield prolific harvests, but are generally considered as of superior quality to the tubers raised in the south part of the State; turnips, carrots, radishes and cabbages attain in the virgin soil of these northern frontier lands a really astonishing size, rarely observable in the best manured gardens in the south.

SURFACE CONFIGURATION.

The surface of the Lower Peninsula, which has an approximate width of 200 miles from east to west and is about 300 miles in length, gradually rises in gentle undulations from both sides of the surrounding lakes towards the centre to an elevation which in the southern part is about 400 feet and never exceeds 600 feet above Lake Huron. In the northern part of it the ordinary hight of the central plateau lands is about 800 feet above Lake Huron and some summit points reach to an elevation of 1,100 feet. The outlines of these hills are always rounded and scarcely any of them are too steep

for tillage.

Most of the country was originally forest land with only few interspersed prairie openings or marsh bottoms. We find also a large number of fine inland lakes from a few acres to several square miles in extent, which often form the head waters of one of the numerous creeks and rivers which flow in an east or west course either into Lake Huron or into Lake Michigan. These rivers are not large enough to be navigable, but they become very important by furnishing ample water power for mills, and particularly as transporting mediums for the logs in the lumbering districts.

FORMATION OF THE SOIL.

The soil covering the Lower and also the greater part of the Upper Peninsula is most generally formed of drift or else of alluvial material; that is to say, it is composed of more or less finely comminuted and triturated fragmental rock masses and of larger blocks, of the most various formations, transported there from the north by moving glaciers and floating icebergs, or washed to the spot by currents of water, as according to all evidences the entire country under consideration was deeply submerged at a time subsequent to the glacier period. This loose material covers the surface of the Lower Peninsula almost universally, often amounting to a thickness of 200 and 300 feet; it has likewise in the Upper Peninsula a large surface extent.

The drift soil is pre-eminently adapted to the growth of plants; its composition of a great variety of mineral substances furnishes an inexhaustible supply of the various mineral constituents necessary for vegetable life. We find sometimes limited areas covered with a light, rather sterile, sandy drift soil; in other places a heavy but quite fertile clay soil occurs, but in most instances the drift soil in Michigan is composed of a mixture of clay with sand and gravel, which combines all the properties requisite for the production of a rich vegetation. It is easily tilled, sufficiently retentive of moisture in dry times, and porous enough in wet seasons to prevent the drowning of crops.

TRANSFORMATIONS AND POSSIBILITIES.

The southern portion of the Lower Peninsula, 40 or 50 years ago an unbroken, desolate, forest land, is now transformed into a mosaic work of carefully cultivated farms interspersed with hundreds of opulent cities and villages; the land has become very valuable and immigrants generally seek for cheaper homes than they can find there. The northern half of the Lower Peninsula is not inferior in fertility to the southern; it is only thinly populated and much of the land is in its primitive forest condition. These forests are the great stores of pine timber, which is exported from Michigan to all parts of the United States. The value of this timber has hitherto chiefly attracted the attention of wealthy, enterprising capitalists to these lands, which by their peninsular position are somewhat aside from the great highways to the west and few immigrants have stopped there to look for homes, access to these districts being formerly rather difficult. Moreover their reputation as being pine lands has been, in the eyes of the agriculturist, a poor recommendation, for pine is generally believed to grow only on a sterile sandy soil; this is true with exclusively pine forests, but these occupy only a small part of the district, and the most valuable pine in Michigan grows scattered through the hard wood, which forms much the larger proportion of the forests and is a sure indication of a good quality of soil.

OPENINGS FOR THE ENTERPRISING.

Large tracts of this better class of land from which the pine trees have been cut but on which the hard wood is left untouched, or of fertile lands cleared of their timber, lie idle and can be bought at reasonably low prices from their present owners; there is also some government land to be had yet at the original price of $1.25 per

acre.

Thousands of industrious farmers could go there and lay the foundation of a home with very little expense of money. The difficulty of access to these lands is at present largely removed, as several railroad lines intersect that country. I see no reason why in another period of 40 or 50 years this northern part of the State should not fill up with as dense a population as the southern half has done within the same time; soil and climate are nearly the same and other conditions are more favorable than ever. The first pioneers of the country had to go through all the hardships of frontier life; the settlers of the present day can begin their work in the very centre of civilized society and participate in all its advantages.

THE UPPER PENINSULA AND AGRICULTURE.

Turning our eyes from the Lower Peninsula to the Upper we find also here immense tracts of land covered with hardwood timber of unusually large size, which certainly also indicates a very rich soil. Only few, however, of the thinly scattered inhabitants of that country are found engaged in agricultural pursuits, but the few I met with doing so raised prolific crops of oats and sometimes also of wheat. Grass and potatoes are the best remunerating staple products of these farmers, and their smaller gardens with luxuriously growing peas, beans, turnips, cucumbers, cabbages, and even Indian corn and tomatoes, plainly demonstrate that the climate is not too severe for the culture of all the ordinary farming products, and that even sometimes the Indian corn and the tomatoes ripen there in well protected positions.

As at present various railroads are under construction which intersect a large portion of these rich hardwood lands of the Upper Peninsula, I do not hesitate to recommend them to the attention of the immigrant farming population, and feel confident that they will not be disappointed by selecting such lands for a home, provided they are a diligent and energetic people.

SEPTEMBER, 1881.

Respectfully yours,

C. ROMINGER,

State Geologist.

SOIL, PRODUCTIONS, AND CLIMATE.

BY R. C. KEDZIE, PROFESSOR OF AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY IN THE STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE.

To the Commissioner of Immigration:

In compliance with your suggestion I have prepared a brief statement of some of the facts which will enable a person to make an estimate of the agricultural capabilities of the State. For any person who has visited it, and seen them, no statement of this kind is necessary, for "to see is to believe." But to those who have never visited this part of our country, and whose ears are filled with the groundless assertions of parties who are interested in hurrying the stranger to the far west, a candid and reliable presentation of the natural resources and advantages of Michigan will be of real worth.

SOIL.

The soil of Michigan is of drift formation, and secures the benefits incident to this intimate intermixture of the residues from decomposition of the rock formations. A small part of the soil is prairie, but the greater portion was originally covered with a dense forest. The soil varies in composition from strong boulder-clay to light sand, shading by slight gradations from tile clay loam, to sand; but the great body of soil inclines to clay and loam, though drifting sand is occasionally found.

COMPOSITION OF SOIL.

In order to have reliable data for estimating the agricultural capabilities of our soil three years ago I gathered 31 specimens of representative soils from different parts of the State and submitted these to careful chemical analysis. Specimens of all these soils with a statement of the results of analysis are in your office for inspection by all persons interested. Some persons will not readily interpret these results of analysis, and will need some suggestions to enable them to make up their minds concerning the value of a soil.

A large portion of every soil contributes little or nothing to the plants growing on it, acting only as a mechanical support to the plant, or affording it certain conditions for moisture and heat. But there are certain other substances present in small amount in the soil which are of the greatest importance in plant growth, and without which no plant will grow and arrive at maturity. These chemicals of plant growth are potash, lime, phosphoric acid, and sulphuric acid. Let us see how much of these substances must be present to make a productive soil, and how much is present in these representative soils.

(a.) Potash.

The amount of potash in a soil is often intimately associated with the quantity of clay, but even in deep sandy soils the amount should not fall below one part in a thousand. The smallest proportion found in any of these soils was five in a thousand, and in many of them there were more than twenty parts in a thousand.

(b.) Lime. In sandy soils the lime should not fall below one part in a thousand, and in heavy soils five parts. In the lightest sandy soil examined there were three and a half parts of lime, in clays from six to twenty parts.

(c.) Phosphoric acid is most intimately associated with fruitfulness in any soil

and less than 5 parts in 10,000 of soil would be regarded as a serious deficiency, and to secure good crops 10 parts should be present even in sandy soils. The smallest amount found in any of these soils is 13 parts in 10,000, and in clay and prairie soils it amounts to 30 to 44 parts.

(d.) Sulphuric acid should be present in a fertile soil to the amount of 2 to 4 parts in 10,000, while the smallest found in any of these soils was parts.

It is thus seen that the lightest of these soils contains enough mineral matter to sustain paying crops.

An examination of the physical properties of these soils, especially their capacity to imbibe and retain moisture, shows that most of them are capable of producing large crops.

WINTER WHEAT

can be grown in all parts of our State, and indeed Michigan is distinguished as the winter wheat State. The fact that the State averages not far from thirty million bushels of winter wheat each year, and that the average production for the whole State is 17 to 19 bushels per acre, is proof of the capability of the State in this respect. Corn, oats, barley, and potatoes can be raised in all parts of the State.

FORESTS.

With the exception of a few prairies in the southern part, and a few plains in the northern part of the State, Michigan was originally covered with a dense forest. The trees were mostly hard wood, consisting of oaks, elms, ashes, cherries, hickories, walnuts, maples, and beeches, with some basswood, whitewood, and soft pine. In some low grounds the tamarack is found. These tamarack swamps used to be held up as the especial opprobrium of Michigan, but it is now found that when cleared and drained they afford the best meadows, giving two to three tons of excellent hay to the acre. I know of some clear-headed men who have bought and subdued these tamarack swamps, and the first crop of hay yielded a net profit sufficient to pay for the land and all the improvements. They thus had good farms without cost save a shrewd foresight and the use of wide-awake brains.

Besides an inestimable blessing in the form of an abundant supply of timber and fuel, forests are a great benefit to the State in equalizing the rainfall, preventing floods, regulating temperature, and moderating the force of winds. I will again call

attention to the influence of forests when I speak of the climate of Michigan.

MICHIGAN PINE LANDS.

In the central and northern parts of the State are the most celebrated pine forests of the continent, and our pine lumber has a good reputation everywhere. Many persons suppose that these pine lands are valuable only for their lumber and have no agricultural value. In this they are seriously mistaken. Our pine lands differ from the hard-pine forests of the south in the fact that our soft pines are everywhere mingled with an abundant growth of hard-wood trees, and such forests grow on a soil of excellent agricultural capabilities.

I had a conversation with an intelligent member of our Legislature who gave a clear statement of how the lumber camps became farms. "We went there to lumber, and then to quit: we had no more thought of farming than of flying. We planted a

few vegetables in the cleared space around our lumber camps, and the yield was so remarkable that we cleared off a field and put it into grain, and the harvest was so bountiful that before we knew it we were farming. That's the way Sanilac county was settled. Here is my friend, the representative from Huron county, who will tell you the same story for his county." And the same story can be told for a dozen counties more.