REPORTS OP AUXILIARY SOCIETIES. 251 



FRUITS. 



It is to fruit culture tliat particular attention is called, more especially grapes 

 and berries. Tlie afrgregate value of the yield of the latter in the six townships 

 in this county bordering on Lake Michigan having been upwards of thirty 

 thousand dollars the past season, and the number of acres of these berries is 

 rapidly increasing each year. 



"STUMP LANDS." 



The lands in the middle and western parts of the county to which attention 

 is called as being suitable for the raising of grapes and berries are, for the most 

 part, "slump lands;" they can be purchased at from three to fifteen dollars per 

 acre, in an unimproved condition. 



CLIMATE. 



The climate is very good. The season is later in spring and fall than in the 

 interior of the State, owing to the influence of Lake Michigan. 



LOCAL INDUSTRIES. 



There are about sixty large saw mills in the county, besides numerous other 

 manufacturing industries. In these saw mills an immense amount of lumber 

 is manufactured, aggregating at least 800,000,000 feet annually, and employing 

 a large number of men. More than this, Muskegon is a city with a population 

 of 15,000, and has a suburban population of at least 3,000 within a radius of 

 two miles, affording one of the best local markets to be found in the West. 



CLIMATIC INFLUENCES. 



Particular attention is called to that portion of this county lying along the 

 shore of Lake Jlichigan, and within a distance of six miles of the lake, for the 

 reason that the climate of this locality is materially improved by being so near 

 to this body of water. This is indicated by the therniumeter, which scarcely 

 ever sinks lower than ten degrees below zero, aud often does not fall below zero 

 at any time during the entire winter, as was the case in the winter of 1881-8:^. 

 The advantage peculiar to this locality is fully demonstrated by any of the 

 isothermal tables of the northwestern states, from which it will be seen that 

 the climate of the central portion of the eastern shore of Lake Michigan is as 

 mild as that of a latitude 100 miles farther south ; and, further, that the cli- 

 mate of the vicinity of Muskegon county is even more mild in winter than that 

 of the southern portions of this shore of the lake. 



This is to be accounted for by the fact that the south part of this shore does 

 not have the advantage of the long sweep of the wind over the lake when it 

 comes from the west, and particularly the southwest, that is enjoyed further 

 north; and it will be remembered that many of the coldest days of winter are 

 those when the wind is in the southwest. As an instance of this we will call 

 attention to the record of the thermometer on the 8th of December instant, as 

 published in the daily newspapers: Cleveland, 0., 9 below aero; Lafayette, 

 Ind., 10 below; Coldwater, Mich., 15 below; Peru, Ind., 15 below ; Lincoln, 111., 

 18 below; Champaign, 111., 12 below; Kansas City, Mo., 12 below% and Atchison, 

 Kas., 16 below, while at Muskegon the coldest point indicated during the cold 

 weather of that day, by the thermometer, was not quite down to zero, although 

 within a degree of that point. The above is not an unusual instance, and it 

 serves to explain why it is that peaches, grapes and small fruits can be grown 

 successfully in this county. There is also fully ten degrees of difference between 



