54 RURAL MICHIGAN 



to yield farm crops. The presence of this great 

 tract of wet land is primarily due to the formation 

 of ledges of rock near the lake shore which inter- 

 fere with river drainage. Throughout the northern 

 section of the State, lower temperatures and the 

 normal absence of hot drying winds retard evapora- 

 tion and decomposition of peat-forming material. 

 p]ventually these peat deposits may become of great 

 commercial importance as fuel. Already a begin- 

 ning has been made in the manufacture of fer- 

 tilizer. In the northern peninsula little attention 

 has been given to the extensive muck-lands of the 

 district, since there remain large areas of as yet 

 undeveloped cut-over lands. Celery of excellent 

 quality but not of a large quantity has for some 

 years been marketed from the region of the Taqua- 

 menon swamp east of Newberry. Here the soil is 

 reported to be clay of considerable depth. To the 

 westward, on the Seney swamp experiments have 

 been undertaken to ascertain the practicability of 

 here growing mint and cereals. The soil has a sub- 

 stratum of sand. Along the Sturgeon River in 

 southern Houghton County an extensive drainage 

 operation was rendered abortive, it is said, because 

 of the non-reduction of the vegetable deposits to a 

 condition suitable for plant growth. More recently 

 attempts have been made to convert these deposits 

 into fertilizer. 



In the southern peninsula, large areas of muck- 

 lands are now under cultivation. The celery and 

 mint production on these lands in the southwestern 



