MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 275 



THE AGRICULTURAL CAPABILITY OF THE SAGINAW VALLEY. 



BY HON. ISAAC MARSTOX. 



Such is the very comprehensive subject so thoughtfully furnished me for 

 discussion by the gentlemen who so kindly invited me to be present and par- 

 ticipate in the proceedings of this meeting. I presume I am expected to con- 

 line myself closely to the subject whether I know anything about matters 

 properly pertaining thereto or not. Had the gentlemen gone farther and sup- 

 plied me with the proper material, or better still, with a properly prepared 

 article, I should have been better pleased, and my hearers would have beeu 

 benefited thereby. 



In one respect my friends were kind. The subject is sufficiently comprehen- 

 sive to suit. I have not only the past and present to revel in, but I am to look 

 into the future years, yea, centuries, I suppose, and from the dim shadows of 

 coming events, give you all such accurate information, that in reliance thereon 

 you may engage in business, purchase wild and unimproved lands, lay out vil- 

 lages and cities, buy and sell, and all with absolute certainty of success. Were 

 ever mortals so favored before? Ah ! kind friends, can I do all this? Kemember, 

 '"Tis the sunset of life that gives mystical lore," and I fear, notwithstanding 

 the rapid progress that has been made in this valley during the past few years, 

 that still more rapid must be made hereafter, or, ere my prophecies are ful- 

 filled, you and I will have passed beyond, and, I trust, entered into possession 

 of fairer lands. 



My view of this subject will undoubtedly be far different from that which 

 most of you, if called upon, would adopt. I can, however, but present my 

 own ideas, many of them must necessarily be dry and uninteresting, and within 

 the proper limits of this article 1 cannot argue each proposition in detail, I can 

 but suggest food for thougut, leaving you, each for himself, to follow and work 

 out his own conclusions. 



The subject seems to direct attention to that portion of our state drained by 

 the Saginaw and its tributaries, or by enlarging the area, as one of your citi- 

 zens in a previous article has done, including that jiortion drained by the 

 rivers emptying into tiic Saginaw bay. 



I have not, perhaps unwisely, adopted either of the above. I have thought 

 that what most concerns us, are the facts and the circumstances with which we 

 must deal from this time forward — as we are all most interested in those things 

 most likely to contribute to our direct benefit. We take more interest in the 

 affairs of our neighbors with whom we have, and are likely hereafter to remain 

 in close business relations, than with those who although locally close yet are 

 drawn in other directions. 



At present and for years yet to come the tributaries of the Saginaw are and 

 will be public highways for the transportation of the rough products of the for- 

 est. VViien that business ceases, as cease it must, they will no longer be of any 

 practical benefit. As highways for the transportation of agricultural products 

 they are not likely to be used. Our navigable waters upon which steam and 

 sail can be used will iiave a controlling interest npou our agricultural affairs, 

 but those not navigable will not, except as used for manufacturing purposes. 

 As highways they will be of no commercial importance whatever. 



Railroads not only assist in developing the resources of a country, but they 



