202 RURAL MICHIGAN 



fruit, in the region north from Houghton Lake in the 

 southern peninsula and throughout the northern 

 peninsula and on Isle T^oyale; and it remains a popu- 

 lar element in the wild fruit resources of the north- 

 country even now. Enormous quantities of these 

 wild berries are still consumed locally and exported. 

 In both peninsulas, also, the tiny delicious winter- 

 green was a favorite for gathering in the early spring, 

 both for the diminutive red berry and the leaves. 

 It must have been the French voyageurs, the mission- 

 aries, or some Johnny Appleseed who established the 

 apple in Michigan, but it is reported in many widely 

 separated sections of the territory and the State by 

 the pioneers: along the Detroit River, in Huron, 

 Eaton, St. Joseph, Shiawassee, Lenawee, on Scales' 

 Prairie in Barry County, in the Saginaw Valley and 

 in the vicinity of Escanaba in the Upper Peninsula. 

 Along the Detroit River, in the Grand Traverse 

 region and elsewhere appeared the pear, whose intro- 

 duction is credited to the French of the early eigh- 

 teenth century. 



Nurseries were established in the southeastern 

 settlements even before Michigan became a state, 

 and in the first decade of statehood. Throuijh their 

 agency improved varieties of fruit were introduced. 

 Among the varieties of apples thus brought into 

 Michigan at the outset of its history are the Baldwin, 

 Bellefleur, Tart Bough, Canada Red, Snow, Rhode 

 Island Greening, Fall Pippin. Sunmier Pippin, Green 

 Newton Pippin, Porter, Rambo, Golden Russet, Tal- 

 man's Sweet, Green Sweet, Esopus Spitzenburg, 



