MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 699 



this fruit belt region to Lake Michigan that come in to change its vege- 

 table and fruit growth as to temperature, while the humidity is as stated. 

 There is no fruit belt region like this on the west shore of Lake Michigan 

 — the Wisconsin shore — because the vast continental stretch of land, 

 lying west of Lake Michigan, and south-west and north-west of the 

 Rocky Mountains produces different conditions in climate both in sum- 

 mer and in winter, and we cannot find a similar fruit belt section along 

 the other shores of these Great Lakes. This fruit belt section comes 

 from these climatic conditions which are caused by the interposition 

 of this vast body of Lake Michigan between it and the great western 

 continental territory. Lake Michigan is a buffer to the hot winds that 

 come off the prairies in the summer, for the prevailing winds are from 

 the south-west: also to the cold storms of the prairies in the winter, and 

 the artic winter winds from the north-west. When these winds strike 

 this great body of water they absorbe a large amount of humidity, so 

 the temperature is also changed by them, and the effect is felt all over 

 this narrow tongue of land lying along this east shore. Owing to Lake 

 Michigan not being of the same width, this fruit belt secton not being in a 

 straight line along this Lake, these south-west winds, laden with humiditv 

 are not at all portions of this fruit section, similar as to dampness, besides 

 other climatic changes. It is found that the counties that project further 

 into the Lake have climatic conditions not found in other counties, 

 situated farther east. The original timber in this section is not the same. 

 In some portions it ran to pine, oak, and hemlock; while in other por- 

 tions of counties it was largely hard-wood. And the strength of the 

 soil is not the same through this section, some counties having more 

 clay than others. 



In the summer-time, Lake Michigan is a cooler of the temperature that 

 comes into this section, and cool nights are the result, with more or less 

 fog or dew. In the winter-time it is a thrower-off of heat, so that often 

 the temperature is above zero in this section, when forty to sixty miles 

 inland, it is to be found ten to fifteen degrees below zero. 



We have not yet got to the full analysis of the results produced by 

 these south-west winds coming across Lake Michigan and absorbing this 

 moisture, nor the full effects of the climatic situation of this fruit-belt 

 region. What would have been the effect if this fruit-belt strip of land 

 was heavy clay, the same as the west shore of Lake Michigan in Wis 

 consin? It is my conviction that this section would then have been a 

 heavy grass country and fruit would have been a failure. From the 

 excessive moisture there would have been a tendancy to fevers and ma- 

 lerial sickness. Whereas this excessive moisture here found in this 

 region is the counterpoise of the drift soil which furnishes a warm, drv 

 surface for the rapid growth of fruit and wood. 



The early farmers of the fruit belt section were employees of lumber- 

 men, largely unskilled in the growing of fruit and having but little desire 

 to learn the peculiarities of this section, of which they were ignorant 

 in the other parts of the country that they came from. The result is 

 that these pioneer farmers are rapidly going out, giving way to fruit- 

 growers who have educational skill and knowledge of ho in to handle this 

 drift soil in this section to the best advantage. The heavy wood and 

 timber growth of this fruit belt section is a sufficient argument that the 

 wood necessary to form orchards receives a rapid growth. As this 



