Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/254

Rh 238 MICHIGAN natural divisions, known as the Upper and the Lower Peninsula. The Upper or Northern Peninsula is bounded on the N., E., and S. by Lakes Superior, Huron, and Michigan, and on the W. by the river St Mary and the State of Wisconsin. The Lower Peninsula is bounded on the W., N., and E. by Lakes Michigan, Huron, St Clair, and Erie, and the St Clair and Detroit rivers, and on the S. by the States of Ohio and Indiana. The general contour of the Lower Peninsula approaches that of a horse-shoe, with an average width of about 200 miles from east to west and a length of about 300 miles from north to south. Its surface gradually rises in gentle undulations from the surrounding lakes to an elevation of about 400 feet above Lake Huron, no point reaching an altitude of more than 600 feet. The Upper Peninsula is much more rugged in contour and surface, at some points reaching an elevation of about 1100 feet. The territory was originally covered with forests, with only here and there a small open prairie. It abounds in fine inland lakes, with areas varying from a few acres to several miles. The rivers are not large enough to be navigable, but they afford ample water-power, and are particularly valuable for floating down the logs of the lumbering districts. The coast-line of the State is not less than about 1600 miles in length ; and along the whole of this distance vessels of 2000 tons may pass without losing sight of land. Geological Formation. The Lower Peninsula occupies the central part of a great basin, the borders of which extend to the east as far as London, Ontario, and to the west as far as Madison, Wisconsin. Within these limits the traveller starting in any direction from the centre of the State encounters successively the outcropping edges of older and older strata. The whole series has been likened to a nest of wooden dishes ; it embraces not only the Laurentian and Huronian systems but also the numerous groups that go to make up the Silurian, the Devonian, the Carboniferous, and the Quaternary systems. These several formations are covered almost universally with a drift of finely comminuted and triturated rock, borne thither by moving glaciers and floating icebergs, or washed to its present position by currents of water, while the surface was still submerged. This loose material varies in thickness, sometimes extending to a depth of 200 or 300 feet. While the lower formations contain almost inexhaustible deposits of copper, iron, gypsum, and salt, the surface soil is pre-eminently fertile, uniting all the mineral constituents necessary for the most luxuriant growth of plants. There are limited areas of light and somewhat sterile drift soil ; but even these have shown themselves under proper treatment to be capable of yielding a rich vegetation. For the most part the drift soil is composed of a mixture of clay with sand and gravel. It is easily cultivated, is retentive of moisture, and is sufficiently porous to prevent the injury of crops by excessive rains. Climate and Natural Products. The mean temperature of Lansing, the capital of the State, as determined by observations extending through eighteen years, is 46 71 Fahr., or about the same as that of Berlin. During the summer months the mean temperature is nearly the same as that of Vienna ; in the winter it is nearly that of Stockholm. The annual rainfall during the eighteen years previous to 1882 was about 31 inches. This is very evenly distributed throughout the year, though a little more than half the amount falls in the five months from May to October. The average snowfall in the centre of the State is about 4 feet, though it is seldom that more than 1 2 inches lie on the ground at any one time. The winter temperature is much modified by the open water of the adjacent lakes. The severe winds are commonly from the west and north-west ; but in sweeping across the open waters of Lake Michigan they are so far softened as to make the climate much milder than that found in the same latitude on the western side of the lake. This peculiarity is specially favourable to the growth of fruits. Peaches are grown successfully along the 45th parallel, and figs thrive in the open air in lat. 42|. The modifying influence of the lake winds also gives great variety to the flora. The predominant woods are oak, maple, beech, elm, ash, cherry, hickory, walnut, basswood, and pine. All these grow luxuriantly in the vast forests of the State, and afford an abundant supply of the best timber. There are 165 species of trees and shrubs indigenous to Michigan; and the entire flora of the State makes a list of 1634 species. Cereals and Fruits. The most important crop of Michigan is wheat, and the average yield per acre, as shown by the latest census, is greater than that of any other State in the Union. The acres sown in 1879 were reported as 1,822,749, and the amount produced as 35,532,543 bushels. These figures show that Michigan is fourth in rank of the wheat- producing States, the number of bushels grown being exceeded by the crops of Illinois, Ohio, and Indiana. In 1879 the yield in bushels of the other principal cereals is shown by the following figures : Indian corn, 32,461,452 ; oats, 18,190,793; barley, 1,204,316; rye, 294,918; buck wheat, 413,062; clover seed, 313,063; pease, 538,332. The crop of potatoes in the same year was 8,025,475 bushels, and the hay amounted to 1,051,115 tons. Of the fruits grown in the State apples are the most important, and these are believed to be unsurpassed in excellence in any country in the world. The sales in 1880 were 4,834,936 bushels, a considerable quantity going to the markets of Europe. Next in importance is the peach crop, annually gathered from more than fifty of the counties of the State. In 1880 the peach orchards were reported as covering 12,908 acres, and the fruit sold as amounting to 413,418 bushels. The long coast-line of Lake Michigan affords easy access to market even for the most perishable fruits. Besides the facilities thus afforded, the railroads that now thread the State, with an aggregate length in March 1882 of 4332 miles, afford abundant means of rapid transportation. As the fruit belt extends from north to south more than 200 miles, the danger of disastrous competition in the markets is obviated by prolongation of the season of ripening. At the meeting of the State Horticultural Society held in 1881 it was. reported that the average value of the peach crop per acre was above $125. The ten volumes of the Transactions of the State Horticultural Society published since its organization in 1870 show that the development of fruit culture within the last decade has been much more rapid than in any other State. Lumber. The timber produce in Michigan is of superior quality, and the amount is so great that about two-thirds of the best lumber sold in New York, Philadelphia, and Boston go out from its mills. The logs are borne along the lakes, rivers, and small watercourses to the booms of mills situated at convenient points, where the lumber is sawed and shipped for the different markets of the world. Of these manufacturing districts those known as the Saginaw, the Grand Eiver, and the Muskegon valleys are the most important. The Saginaw receives the waters of the Tittabawasse, the Cass, the Flint, the Shiawasse, the Bad, the Pine, the Chippewa, the Tobacco, and their numerous tributaries, draining a vast region that still yields an undiminished supply of pine. The forests of the western parts of the State are easily accessible by the Grand River and its tributaries, while those still farther north find a natural outlet through the numerous streams that flow into Lake Michigan. On the banks of these watercourses are