37 



tumpka, for which I promised $2,000 iu two payments. I and my children went to 

 work ; myself, and one son big euouuh to plow, and four small ones not large enough 

 to plow, were my force. We made 400 bushels of corn, and $1,400 worth of cotton. I 

 h,ad corn, pease and meat to do me for the year 1869. My eldest son quit me and went 

 to work for himself. I had one above eleven years of age and put him to the plow, and 

 we have this year made 114^ bales of cotton, 300 bushels of corn, 300 bushels of oats, 

 55 bushels of wheat, and some potatoes, and 1,600 jiounds of pork. During the last 

 five years I have lost four head of horses ; still I have not bonded any cotton. My 

 neighbors that went to making cotton to buy corn and meat with are still at it, and 

 they are just one year beliind. They have to sell their cotton before they make it at 

 ten or twelve cents per pound, iu order to buy meat and bread, and just as long as men 

 pursue that coiu'se they will always be behind. I have not worked any freedmeu at 

 all, and I tliink I came out best, for tliose Avho do work them in this neighborhood gen- 

 erally come out losers, with difficulties and lawsuits. During the five years since the 

 surrender I have not used any manures, as my means have been limited. If everybody, 

 both white and black, would go to raising tlieir own corn and meat at home we would 

 be a happy people. 



THE MICHIGA]^^ FEUIT EEGION. 



Henry S. Clubb, publisher of the Grand Haven Herald, a journal 

 published in the fruit region of Michigan, furnishes the following facts : 



The " Michigan fruit region," popuLirly so called, extends the whole length of the 

 east shore of Lake Michigan. The peach belt may be said to vary in width from five 

 to twenty-five miles, and its length is about 225 miles. Taking ten miles as its aver- 

 age width, it comprises an area of 2,250 square miles. Estimating that one-third of 

 this area is high enough for the successful culture of the peach and the grape, there 

 are 750 sections, or 480,000 acres of land, capable of producing these popular fruits for 

 market. Of this tract it is probable that not more than 10,000 acres are yet planted to 

 jteaches, and perhaps 2,000 to grapes, and only five per cent, of these are yet in full 

 bearing condition. The same land that will produce peaches and grapes will also pro- 

 duce cherries, plums, pears, and certain kinds of apples, while the low lands interspers- 

 ing the peach and grape ridges, and the swamp lands, so called, are well adapted to 

 the small fruits, especially the cranberry, strawberry, &c. 



The accompanying tables exhibit an approximate statement of the amounts of jfruit 

 shipped from ports in this region during the year 1869. The largest amounts named 

 have been obtained from the books of the forwarding merchants and shipping com- 

 panies as well as from the returns in the custom-house in Grand Haven City. The 

 smaller amounts are estimated, there being no retiu-ns or record kept. The amount 

 shipped by railroad and teams, to the interior of the State, and to eastern markets, 

 together with the local consumption, would probably add twenty-five per cent, to 

 these figures. All the places mentioned iu the table are shipping points for Chicago, 

 Milwaukee, Racine, Sheboygan, K«nosha, and other lake ports. 



Since the invention of what are called " fruit safes," the finest peaches produced at 

 Spring Lake, in the county of Ottawa, have been shipped to Boston, Massachusetts. 

 These safes consist of a series of cases similar to ty}ie cases, but large enough for each 

 compartment to hold a peach. These cases are stacked in a ventilated chest, and will 

 travel any distance by rail without injury to the peaches. 



With regard to the rise in the value of real estate, this is most remarkable in loca- 

 tions nearest to sliipping points, and in the vicinity of harbors. In addition to those 

 points which are on record, in the accompanying table, there are numerous piers and 

 second-rate harbors, where fruit can be, and is, shipped to some extent, and even at 

 these points land which formerly was considered valuable only for ties and wood is 

 now salable at from ten to fifty dollars an acre when all the valuable timber is stripped 

 oif, and before it is cleared for cultivation. The increase in the price of real estate has 

 kept an eveu pace with the confidence which each succeeding year inspii'es in the suc- 

 cess of peach culture. 



Tlie location of Grand Haven being central with regard to north and south, perhaps 

 the increase here may be regarded as a fair average of the whole region. It is unques- 

 tionably greater at St. .Joseph on account of the longer time the business has been in 

 operation there, while the increase north is proportionate with the time it has been 

 discovered practicable to grow peaches at Manistee and Grand Traverse. 



Planting peaches and gravies for market commenced in the vicinity of Grand Haven 

 and Spring Lake in 1859-60. At that time only four or five orchards were commenced. 

 They were planted on land which had been stripped of the pine, and was regarded as 

 of very little value, although in close proximity to the villages of Ferrysburg, Mill 

 Point, (now called Spring Lake,) and Grand Haven City. In its wild state this land 



