48 RURAL MICHIGAN 



yields good crops, but the soil is too light, and the 

 amount of energy necessarily expended in cultivation 

 is much greater than in heavier soils. On the worst 

 sand plains, originally covered with very open stands 

 of jack pine and scarlet oak, tillage is almost out of 

 the question. With constant manuring and cultiva- 

 tion this sand can be held in place and made to pro- 

 duce fair crops, but the expense, in time and energy, 

 if not actually in money, make such crops cost more 

 than they will actually bring on the market. Some 

 of this land is so situated that irrigation would be 

 possible, and this may sometime become a practical 

 line of investment. The grazing of cattle on the 

 Norway and jack pine plains is practicable, and is 

 being carried out successfully by several holders in 

 Roscommon County. Several forms of bunch grass 

 and the shade of the scrubby oaks and pines are 

 the valuable features. But it requires many acres 

 for a few cattle, and it is doubtful whether the small 

 land-holder can ever accomplish much in this direc- 

 tion. The swamps which are abundant in the region, 

 would all make excellent garden land if properly 

 cleared and drained." 



THE UPPER PENINSULA 



That part of the Upper Peninsula lying east of 

 the latitude of Marquette is relatively flat and, be- 

 cause of insufficient natural drainage, contains much 

 land unfit for agriculture. Much of it is underlain 

 with limestone, and where other conditions are favor- 



