GENERAL HISTORY. 



Occasionally an adventurer found his way into the southern part of the 

 Lower Peninsula, immediately after the close of the last war with Great 

 Britain, and the transfer of the government to the United States authorities; 

 but not nutil after the extinguishment of the Indian title to a considerable 

 portion of the lands in the three or four more southern tiers of counties, did 

 immigration tend very decidedly in this direction. 



The first feeble pulsations of this movement are preceptible as early as 

 1823, increasing slowly, and then more and more rapidly, till they culminated 

 in the great speculative avalanche of 1836 and '7. 



Aside from the locations of missionaries and Indian traders in the counties 

 of Wayne, Macomb, St. Clair, Berrien, and Grand Traverse, settlements 

 were commenced for agricultural purposes in all the counties in the first 

 four tiers between 1823 and 1836. 



Although, as will be seen from the histories of the several counties, settlers 

 almost without exception made orchard planting the first business after the 

 preparation of suitable ground, this was generally done mainly to secure a- 

 home supply of fruit, as there was as yet no market for orchard products 

 beyond a merely local one, while the special adaptation of the soil and cli- 

 mate to horticultural pursuits was a problem yet unsolved. The wonderful 

 growth of the more western States and cities was yet to occur, and their 

 comparative unfitness for the growth of orchard fruits yet to be manifested ; 

 the plum, the peach, the cherry, and the pear were all successful; the 

 curculio, leaf blight and rot had not yet attacked the plum and cherry; the 

 peach was successful throughout tlie country, and injury of fruit trees or buds 

 from the cold of winter was unthought of for many years thereafter. 



The winter of 1832-3 was exceptionally mild ; so much so that in January 

 many of the smaller shrubs in sunny situations were nearly in full leaf, only 

 to be sadly nipped, however, by unusual cold before the final opening of 

 spring. 



The earliest particulars of a horticultural character pertaining to the his- 

 tory of Michigan are connected with the origin of the trees and the planting 

 of the orchards of the French "habitans" and the Indian traders at various 

 points in the State. These will be (|uite fully noticed in the histories of the 

 several counties, for which reason we only quote an extract from Bela 

 Hubbard (page 355, Pioneer Collections, vol. 1), bearing upon the general 

 subject • 



"Though many of the farms so closely crowded along the (Detroit) river 

 banks had orchards, comprising several hundreds of these fruit trees, and 

 few were entirely destitute, it is singular that little is known of their history. 



