54: STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



yenient station for Saugatuck is Richmond, at the crossing of the railroad over 

 the Kalamazoo river, and for Manlius township the station of same name one 

 mile farther south. * , 



A SPLENDID FKUIT COUNTKT. 



To the reflective mind the district here described is naturally endowed to 

 become one of the most populous and wealthy fruit regions of the United 

 States. Its climate, its soil, its surface and peculiar conformation to receive 

 lake influence, and its position to the vast non-frnit-bearing regions of the 

 "West, all point this out, but several events and influences have conspired to 

 retard this condition, the financial disaster of '37,_ just as eastern enterprise 

 had taken its first step towards its imi)rovement, driving all this back, and the 

 consequent depression woiked ill in many ways. Then the lumbering interests 

 lured men away from their farms, which were kept in slovenly occupancy for 

 long terms, and the habits of the lumber men begat a reckless slashing of 

 timber in a way that rendered clearing doubly expensive. A few men who 

 gave skilful attention to their farms, as J. McCormick of Manlius (section 31) 

 and McDoAvell of Casco, have acquired beautiful homes and wealth. 



THE COLD OP DECEMBER, 18T2. 



On Sunday morning, Dfcember 22d, the thermometer indication was gen- 

 erally 14*^ below zero ut 8 o'clock, and very gradually rose all day, reaching 

 14^ above at evening. — one or two observers reported no lower than 12*^ below. 



On Tuesday the 24th the mercury reached 20° below zero by quite a number 

 of reports for Saugatuck, — at Douglas 21 by Mr. Wiley's thermometer set in 

 the apex of a snow bank, — 16*^ by Mr. Owen's observations one-half mile nearer 

 the hike, and on more elevated ground. Three miles south on the lake beach, 

 Mr. Dressier contends no greater cold was experienced than 12'^ below. Mrs. 

 Corner, inlnnd over a mile, 16° below. S. E. Lewis on section 3, Ganges— 2 

 miles inlnnd, reports only 14*^; olhers still farther south and nearer the shore 

 report 18° below; at Fennville, 6^ miles inland, the thermometer indicated 

 23° below; at Richmond, 6 miles inland and back of Douglas, 26° below is 

 reported. The cold increased rapidly irom 5 o'clock that morning, reaching 

 the extreme at the earliest dawn of day, 7 A. M., and rose briskly, reaching 

 zero by noon. It is firmly believed that the greater part of the buds of a 

 number of varieties of peaches are killed,, that the tree and twigs are not 

 harmed by this cold in this vicinity. 



Very respectfully, 



C. A. ENSIGN, 

 Sedy L. S. Agricultural and Foniological Soc'y. 



Douglas, Mich., Jan. 21st, 1873. 



