398 GENERAL HISTORY. 



THE UPPER PENINSULA. 



Charles "Whittlesey, writing from Eagle Harbor, in 1853, (in the report of 

 the State Board of Agriculture) says : " The capacity of the soil along the 

 banks of the streams that discharge into Lake Michigan from the north is, 

 so far as I have seen it, not very great. The streams I refer to are the Pine, 

 Manistique, Whitefish, Escanaba and Ford rivers. Opposite these and head- 

 ing irith them, on the Lake Superior side, are the Tahquamenon, Miner's, 

 Twin and Chocolate rivers, on which there is very little good farming land. 



" "West of the Chocolate is a woody and broken range of highlands, extend- 

 ing to the sources of the Menominee, the Wisconsin and the Ontonagon, 

 known as the Huron range. It is one thousand to eleven hundred feet above 

 the level of the lake, with irregular valleys and slopes of good land. This 

 space includes the iron region, which extends from the vicinity of Marquette 

 to the twin falls of the Menominee. 



"All over the Lake Superior country the pine, balsam, white cedar, spruce 

 and hemlock may be seen. But over large spaces these evergreens do not 

 predominate, and this is the sign of a more fertile soil. Where the slopes of 

 the mountains are moderate and smooth there are birch, hard maple, elm, 

 lime and occasionally a Spanish oak. I never saw a chestnut or hickory and 

 rarely a beech. 



" The remaining portion of this peninsula, from Portage lake and L'Anse, 

 west, to the Montreal river, may be divided into two districts. That part 

 lying south of the mineral range, on the head waters of the Ontonagon, Stur- 

 geon and Menominee rivers is better adapted to agriculture than any other 

 €qual space of this peninsula. 



"The mineral range is less broken and abrupt west of Portage lake, and 

 offers a good proportion of farming land. The lands north of this range, 

 and between it and the lake, are generally good. This belt of country, 

 having navigable water and excellent fish on one side, and worked and work- 

 able mines on the other, offers the highest inducements to farmers of any 

 region I know. The slope is gentle from the foot of the mountains to the 

 water, with a soil of red clay and sand, containing lime. I am satisfied that 

 it will produce wheat. It produces better grass than I have seen elsewhere, 

 as well as oats, rye, peas, potatoes, turnips, beets, carrots and cabbages. Very 

 few varieties of corn will come to maturity. I am this season trying a little 

 buckwheat and millet. 



" The climate is not the same in all parts of the lake country, it being 

 influenced by position and elevation. It is, however, everywhere healthy, 

 resembling that of "\''ermont. Navigation is closed, on an average, five 

 months in the year." 



In an address before the State Agricultural Society at Detroit, in Septem- 

 ber, 1854, Bela Hubbard of that city remarks: — 



''The connection b3tween the geology of a country and its agriculture is 

 well understood. New England, composed mostly of rocks of the primary 



