STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 485 



with the extent of :i crop with which they are comparatively unacquainted, and that 

 is field peas. One farmer in Antrim county had 2;{ acres sown to peas the last sea- 

 son, and the yield was about 30 bushels to tiie acre. In a somewhat extensive tour 

 through the newer portions of the State I noticed many fields of peas, and the crop 

 seems to be a favorite one, especially with the settlers from Canada, They prefer 

 peas to shelled corn for stock feeding, bushel per bushel, and they claim that the 

 former is the more easily cultivated of the two. If this is a fact, it is certainly a 

 most important one, which Michigan farmers should be the first to profit by. The 

 cultivation of millet, fiax, hemp, iiops, broom corn, sugar cane, and other articles too 

 numerous to mention must all be taken into account as making up the grand aggre- 

 gate of Michigan's farm products. To what extent they will in future be cultivated 

 will depend on the tastes of the cultivator or the state of the market, and not on the 

 soil or climate, which are adapted to them all. 



FRUITS. 



Secretary Garfield, of the State Fomological Society, has prepared so full a report 

 of the fruit exhibited at the Fair and of the fruit interests of the State at large, as 

 to leave little to be said upon that subject. The orchards of Michigan were never 

 more numerous and thrifty or more promising of rich returns in future than they are 

 to-day. The subject of growing apples for the European market is attracting atten- 

 tion and may have an important bearing on the fruit trade in future. Several ship- 

 ments were made from this State to Liverpool in the fall and others will follow in 

 the spring. Experience shows that only the most hardy varieties can stand the 

 long voyage uninjured, the tender fleshed varieties most popular at home being 

 scarcely marketable when they reach tiie other shore. The fact must be borne in 

 mind by orchardists, and must determine their selection of trees where they plant 

 with a view to profiting by the foreign trade. 



HORSES. 



The number of horses in the State increased from 58,506 in 1850 to 281,594 in 1874, 

 and must now considerably exceed 300,000. The Improvement in blood and quality 

 has more than kept pace with the increase of immbers, and Michigan now boasts of 

 some of the finest thoroughbreds in the country. The great demand is for servicea- 

 ble roadsters which combine nimbleness with strength and toughness, and not the 

 qualities which would make the animal first choice on the race course, nor conspicu- 

 ous as a draught horse. On our level lands and easily tilled soils, size is not so essen- 

 tial in a farm horse in 3Iichigan as among the hills of Pennsylvania, or on the hard 

 clay soils of some other States, and it is a question whether the society has not fixed 

 its standard of weight too high. What is gained in size is more than lost in quick- 

 ness, and for most farm i)urposes a medium-sized horse will be found cheapest and 

 most serviceable. 



CATTLK. 



The ntnnber of neat cattle one year old and over in Michigan increased from 

 119,471 in 1850 to 307,554 in 1874. The present number of neat cattle in the State is 

 probably not far from 350,000. At the present ruling prices for beef this branch of 

 husbandry is not remunerative, as Micliigan farmers are finding to their cost. The 

 remedies are to be found in an exchange of the native mongrel stock for improved 

 grade animals; in improved methods of fattening; in killing at an earlier age, and 

 in taking advantage of the rapidly developing foreign market. Short-horns, 

 Ayrshires, Herefords and other thoroughbred bulls are becoming so common, and 

 ■when crossed upon good native cows, give stock so much larger and better adapted 

 for the market than native animals, that the raising of the latter is an excusable 

 waste of time and feed. But the price realized for the beef's carcass is not the sole 

 profit of stock raising to the farmer. Cattle return to the soil the elements taken 

 from it by the crops, and so maintain or restore its fertility. In connection with the 

 Michigan wheat map referred to above, Prof. Manly Miles, of Lansing, has prepared 

 alive stock map of the State, showing that there is a nearly constant ratio between 

 the number of horses, cattle and sheep in any county, and its yield of wheat. The 

 more cattle the more wheat, or, as Prof. Miles expresses it: " The lesson of the dia- 

 gram is, that to grow wheat successfully, you must keep stock." 



The number of milch cows in the State in 1874 was 321,832, and the product of 

 butter is given at 27,972,117 pounds, and of cheese at 4,104,942 pounds. The dairy in- 

 terest is thus seen to be a large one, but is still far out of proportion to the grain 

 raising and stock raising capabilities of the State. It has, moreover, grown up as a 

 weed, by suflerance, rather than a useful plant which needs constant and intelligent 



