50 RURAL MICHIGAN 



SO far as is known, the butternut grows wild in 

 abundance, as does the wild cherry, indicative of 

 conditions favorable to the domesticated types. 



It is quite impossible to generalize concerning 

 soil conditions in the northern peninsula, since fre- 

 quently within a very few miles one traverses vary- 

 ing types of soil. On the copper range, for example, 

 areas of rugged country, with naked outcrops of 

 greenstone, pass quickly into fertile valleys of clay 

 soil, of lake sand, or of swamp. The general im- 

 pression of the whole region gained from a cursory 

 journey by railroad from Sault Ste. Marie to Iron- 

 wood, is that of a barren undeveloped land, whereas, 

 some miles off the line areas of great natural fertility 

 exist and in some instances (as in the "Green (Tar- 

 den" district southeast of Marquette, in the Ford 

 Eiver country, and on the "Garden" peninsula) pre- 

 sents a well-established and productive agriculture. 



If the geology and topography of the eastern and 

 western sections of the northern peninsula present 

 contrasts to each other, so does their normal ele- 

 vation. Thus Newberry and McMillan, in the heart 

 of this eastern area, have an elevation above Lake 

 Superior of 154 and 123 feet respectively. To the 

 westward, Chatham, where an experiment station 

 of the Michigan Agricultural College is located, is 

 265 feet above the same datum. But when the Mar- 

 quette iron range is reached, at the eastern edge of 

 the high western table-land, Negaunee stands from 

 763 to 817 feet above Lake Superior, and Ishpeming 

 close by 868 feet at the maximum recorded point. 



