Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/255

Rh MICHIGAN 239 some of the largest and finest mills of the world. In 1854, when the first effort was made to collect statistics of this industry, it was found that there were only sixty-one mills in operation, and that the entire annual product was only 108,000,000 feet. Eighteen years later, in 1872, it was estimated that the annual product was not less than 2,560,000 feet of oak, 12,700,000 of staves, 300,000,000 lath, 400,000,000 shingles, and 2,500,000,000 of sawed pine. The number of saw-mills had already reached about 1500, the number of persons employed 20,000, and the capital represented $25, 000,000. In 1881 the manufacture of pine lumber amounted to 3,919,500,000 feet, the value of which exceeded $60,000,000. The aggregate value of the forest products of the State was estimated in 1881 to have reached more than $1,000,000,000. Forestry Bulletin, No. 6, issued December 1, 1881, estimated the amount of standing white pine of merchantable quality at 35,000,000,000 feet, and the amount of standing hard wood at 700,000,000 cords. Besides these amounts, the same authority estimates the amount of hemlock at 7,000,000,000 feet, with 7,000,000 cords of bark, and an aggregate of 70,000,000 of cedar and tamarack. It is probable that before many years the hard wood produced by the State will approach in value the figures representing the value of the pine now sent to the markets of the world. It is probable that Michigan for many years to come will maintain its precedence as a lumber-producing State. Mineral Resources. Of the mineral products of Michigan the most important is iron. As early as 1842 the report of the first State geologist, Dr Douglas Houghton, called attention to the presence of haematite ore, though for a considerable time after this it was not found in such quantities as to make it certain that mining could be made profitable. Before 1860, however, it became known that iron in the Upper Peninsula not only existed in vast quantities, but also that it was of superior quality. From that time iron-mines were rapidly developed, until in 1881 they had come to exceed in value, though not in amount, even the products of Pennsylvania. In 1880 the product was 1,834,712 tons, with a value at the mines of $6,034,648, as against the yield in Pennsylvania of 2,185,675 tons, with a value of $5,517,079. The product of Michigan in 1882 was 2,948,307 tons of ore, with a market value of about $25,000,000. The Michigan minerals are of extraordinary richness, 62 9 per cent, being the average of the first-class ores, while the furnace books often show a much higher yield. Next in importance to the iron-mines are those of copper. These are also situated in the Northern Peninsula, in the mountain range of trappean rocks which crown the point of land extending northwards into Lake Superior. This secondary peninsula or cape, known as Keweenaw Point, rises to an average height of about 600 feet above the lake, the highest pinnacles reaching nearly double that altitude. This point contains what are believed to be the richest copper-mines ever discovered ; the metal is not found as an ore, but as virgin copper almost chemically pure. It has only to be separated from its rocky matrix, when it is ready for the market. The largest of the copper-mines, that at Calumet, has built up an industry which employs 2000 men, and its total product of refined copper in 1882 was no less than 50,770,719 BE), or one-eighth of the annual production of copper in the world. In quality the copper of the Lake Superior district is such that it com mands the highest price at home and abroad. Its tenacity is remarkable, and therefore it is eagerly sought after for cartridges by all the great military powers. In 1882 the copper-mines paid dividends amounting to $2,900,000, making an aggregate of $28,248,000 since they were opened. Within a few years the salt-works of Michigan have also come to exceed those of any other State in the Union. The first well was sunk in 1859-60, but in 1882 the pro duction was found to have exceeded that of the famous works in New York, and to have amounted in that year to no less than 3,204,921 barrels. The extraordinary development of this industry is due to several causes. A careful system of inspection by State authority has kept its salt unsurpassed in purity. The salt basin is not only accessible by navigable waters, so as to have the advantage of cheap transportation, but the wells are situated in the great lumber-producing districts, and the manufacture is thus carried on at very small expense, in connexion with the saw-mills. The power is furnished by the same engines, the exhausted steam is used for the evaporation of brine during the day, and during the night evapora tion is still carried on by means of refuse wood and saw dust, while the staves for barrels are made from rejected timber. By this system the best quality of salt is obtained at a minimum expense. The chief reservoir of salt is the series of sandstones and shales constituting the Waverly group. This salt-producing rock covers no less than about 8000 square miles, and it is safe to presume that the supply is inexhaustible. The average depth of the wells is about 800 feet, but in some localities wells sunk to nearly 2000 feet have been remunerative. Important salt-works have recently been developed in the western part of the State. There are also certain other minerals of considerable importance. Deposits of gypsum, easily accessible, prac tically inexhaustible in quantity, and superior in quality, are found in several localities both in the eastern and in the western parts of the Lower Peninsula. In the outskirts of Grand Rapids the deposit crops out at the surface, and at an average depth of from 40 to 70 feet extends over an area of 10 or 12 square miles. The rock is easily quarried, and is either ground for use as a fertilizer or calcined into plaster of Paris. The deposits of coal are supposed to cover about 8000 square miles, but as yet the product at any one point has not been very considerable. In quality the coal is highly bituminous, and is not sufficiently pure to be useful for smelting or for the manufacture of gas. For these reasons the stock of coal in the State is practically untouched. If future explorations and experi ments should make these deposits available, a new era in the manufacture of iron will be the result. At present the coal for smelting the Lake Superior ores is brought chiefly from Ohio and Pennsylvania. Quarries of lime stone and of sandstone have been opened in various parts of the State. The brown stone of the Upper Peninsula is of excellent quality, and is capable of receiving a high finish. The supply is inexhaustible, and the accessibility of the quarrie.; by water gives promise of a thriving industry. The grindstones taken from the Huron county quarries are of superior quality, and the slates found in unlimited quantities on the shores of the Huron Bay are unsurpassed in point of durability and colour. Clays and sands of commercial value are found in great abundance. Though the manufacture of glass is yet in its infancy, sands in large quantities have been discovered in Monroe county suitable for the manufacture of plate glass of excel lent quality. Brick and tile clays are found in all parts of the State. Though native silver has been found in small quantities in the Upper Peninsula, the systematic mining of this metal has not yet been carried on with successful results. The Report of the commissioner of mineral statistics for 1882 shows that, except as to coal, Michigan is the foremost of all the States in mineral wealth. Fisheries. The geographical position of Michigan explains the fact that its fresh-water fisheries are the most productive in the United States. The most important varieties of fish are lake-trout.