Soil

 
Any country producing the enormous growth of timber that composes the forest of this county, cannot be other than rich in all the elements of plant food - especially that portion that is covered with maple, elm, basswood and beech; and so prolific is this country in the growth of timber that, when the original forest is cut down, the second growth of timber will be so formidable that in ten years after it is harder to clear than it was to remove the original forest.

The surface of the country is covered to a great depth with a rather peculiar kind of earth, which is said by geologists to have been drifted here in what is called the Galacial or Drift period, in which innumerable rocks were broken up and wrenched from the shores of the Northern seas by the drifting glaciers, and by their action ground and pulverized into a heterogeneous moss of sand, boulders, and in some places clay.

During the last hundred years there has been wuite a diversity of opinion in the minds of scientific writers, in regard to the fertility of the soil on this lake shore. But it has been demonstrated that there is nothing equal to experience. In opposition to the opinion and prediction of some who were governed more by theory than practice, this country has gained a national reputation for her fine fruits and vegetables.

There is about one-half of this county that is comparitively barren. There seems to be too great a predominance of sand, and not enough of loam and clay, and it will be some time yet before the means are found by which it can be utilized and made remunerative. But we have unbounded faith in the ingenuity of the American people, and these barrens will be made fertile when we learn to utilize some kinds of forage plants that will root deeper than the common grasses, and this, coupled with an improved system of packing the soil, will transform these barrens into fertile fields.

This, perhaps, will be done when we learn to make use of the common broad-leaved burdock, and the bull thistle, and perhaps the Canada thistle, and notwithstanding these plants have been under the ban for generations, yet they are rich in all the elements of food, and it only remains for us to devise the proper mode of utilizing them. Their roots penetrate the earth to a depth that the common grasses will not reach, and in the Ioose, porous soils of those barrens, the plant food is carried too deep to be reached by the common grasses; hence the necessity of utilizing some other forage plants. But it is well established fact that the more sandy soil is stirred, repeatedly exposing all parts of it to the action of the atmosphere and sun, the more fertile it becomes.

As it is now generally believed that the immense territory west and north of Lake Michigan will, in all time to come, have to depend almost entirely on Western Michigan for her supply of the tender fruits, it becomes a matter of the greatest importance to the fruit growers of this and other counties, bordering on the east shore of Lake Michigan, to perfect a systematic plan of transportation and marketing fruits. This can only be done when the Legislature of the several states, or the Congress of the United States, will pass suitable laws, regulating freight rates, with the necessary provisions for its enforcement. At present, the greatest drawback to the fruit business is that the shippers are left almost entirely to the mercy of transportation companies, and the result is that the fruit grower has frequently but little profit. The advantage of easy transportation, both by water and also by railroad, is every thing that could be desired by this country, save the uncertainty of freight rates, which in time, perhaps, will be so regulated as to do justice to both the shipper and the railroad companies.

The following will show something of the interest taken in the fruit business in 1881 adn 1882, showing the number of trees sold in the county by some of the leading fruit tree dealers in these two seasons:

L.G. Bragg, of Kalamazoo, apples, 6,335; peaches, 19,676; plums, 1,824; pears, 812; cherries, 704; grapes and other small fruit, 6,254. A. E. Souter, of Shelby, apples, 2,850; peaches, 17,000; plums, 425; pears, 640; cherries, 825; grapes and other small fruit, 875. George D. Lawrence, Pentwater, apples, 765; peaches, 10,625; plums, 180; pears, 80; cherries, 125; grapes and other small fruit, 310.

The following are a few of the leading orchards that are now coming into bearing:

Taylor Lee, of Blackberry Ridge, apples, 3,000; peaches, 15,000; plums, 2,000. Mr. Jay of Blackberry Ridge, apples, 1,000; peaches, 3,500; plums, 1,200; J. H. Sammons, of Blackberry Ridge, apples, 400; peaches, 4,000; plums, 700.

Of others having large orchards we may mention W. Swingle, Shelby, Section 9, with 500 peach and 600 apple trees; H. H. Pratt, of the same section, 600 peach, 900 apple, 320 cherry trees; Mr. Gebhart, in Hart, Section 30, with 5,000 peach trees planted, and who in 1882 sold 13,000 peach and 1,200 plum trees; also Mr. Wanmer, Section 30, Hart, with 800 peach and 1,200 plum trees; also Dr. Williams, of Hart, with 1,800 peach, and over 100 apple trees in his orchard.