Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 13.djvu/490

MICHIGAN. of apple trees is still in excess of any other variety, there being, in 1900, 10,927,899. The most marked recent gains have been in the counties bordering on Lake Michigan. The soil is well adapted to beet culture. Michigan surpasses every other State in the acreage of sugar beets. While the industry began as early as 1880, its chief development has been since 1890. Large additions have been made to the beet-growing area since the census year shown in the table.

The following figures show the acreage of the leading crops for the census years indicated:

. The increased interest in mining and fruit and vegetable raising has tended to lessen the attention paid to stock-raising. There were, however, noteworthy increases in the number of dairy cows and other neat cattle from 1890 to 1900. The number of horses and of swine has increased every decade since 1850. The number of sheep reached a maximum in 1890, the following decade showing a decrease of 32.3 per cent., but the number in 1900 was exceeded in only one State east of the Mississippi River—Ohio. The following table gives the number of domestic animals on farms in 1890-1900:

. Michigan's prominence as a manufacturing State is largely due to its enormous timber resources, a description of which with their products will be found below. The percentage of the population engaged in the manufacturing industry was 2.3 in 1850, and 7.1 in 1890, but declined to 6.7 per cent. in 1900. The number engaged increased 91.6 per cent. between 1880 and 1890, but only 9.2 per cent. in the following decade, the actual number of persons employed in 1900 being 162,300. The smaller growth of the latter decade is due to the diminishing forest resources. The employment figures are noteworthy because of the small number of children included, the result of the State law which forbids children from working in any establishment. After the timber products the most important are those which depend on the agricultural resources of the State. The flouring and gristmill industry is quite extensive. In recent years it has shown a tendency to centralize at points convenient to water-power or superior shipping facilities. Other industries which belong to this group are slaughtering and meat-packing, the manufacture of malt liquors, beet sugar, and the tanning, currying, and finishing of leather, all of

which are in a flourishing condition. The State facilities for the leather industry are full of promise, inasmuch as it is found more economical to transport the hides to the tanning-bark region in Michigan than to transport the bark to outside centres. The State ranks second in the production of beet sugar, the industry having developed wholly from 1890 to 1900.

The abundant high-grade iron ores obtained in the northern peninsula are within easy reach of the manufacturing centres in the south, but the inferiority of the State's coal resources greatly hinders the development of those industries which the local wealth of iron ore would otherwise guarantee. The iron and steel industry gained very little from 1890 to 1900, but the products of the foundry and machine shop increased 54.3 per cent. during that period. The industry is well distributed throughout the State, and is the third largest of the State's manufactures. The manufacture of cars is another of the State's leading industries, and a thriving chemical manufacturing business is located in Detroit. The advantages of Detroit for transportation, being located conveniently for lake navigation, and at the point of union between the railroad systems of Canada and the States, make that city the largest manufacturing centre in the State. The other manufacturing points are also in the older developed southern portion of the State, where the access to the country's markets is easiest. A decided tendency toward centralization is evident in a number of industries.

The table on the following page shows the relative importance of the leading industries for the years indicated.

. From the table on the following page, it may be seen that the lumber industry and those which use its products constitute together the most important group of manufactures in the State. The greater portion of the forests were formerly conifers, though hard woods were intermingled with these in the south. The white pine was originally the most usual variety, but has been so extensively drawn upon that the estimated stand of timber in 1896—6,000,000,000 feet—was less than one-sixth the amount of the estimate in 1880. Hemlock is the most important of the other conifers. Maple, elm, basswood, ash, and white oak are the most important hard woods. The lumber and timber product had not acquired large proportions until about 1870, but from that date until 1890 the State ranked first in the value of its product. It suffered a heavy decline in the following years, and was exceeded in 1900 by Wisconsin. The total forest area, including stump land, was estimated in 1900 at 38,000 square miles. The method of exploiting the forests has been extremely wasteful, but a sentiment has developed in the State in favor of the application of approved methods of forestry, and a commission has been created to secure better protection for the forests.

In the earlier lumbering period the logs were usually floated to the mills located on the rivers and lakes. With the extension of railroads into the lumbering region the mills were established closer to the supply of timber. It will be seen from the following table that, although the value of lumber and timber products decreased from 1890 to 1900, all the industries using these products made noteworthy gains, particularly the manufacture of carriages and wagons and