448 RURAL MICHIGAN 



Hillsdale, Ingham, Ionia, Jackson, St. Joseph, Shia- 

 wassee, Genesee, Lenawee, Livingston, Monroe, Oak- 

 land and Washtenaw, also southern, but with a more 

 northerly trend than appear in the list of wheat- 

 producing counties. Eight southern counties pro- 

 duced more than 1,000,000 bushels of oats: Gratiot, 

 Huron, Saginaw, Sanilac, Tuscola, Clinton, Genesee 

 and St. Clair. The large yields of rye and barley 

 are also in this territory. While the only counties 

 producing over 1,000,000 bushels of potatoes are also 

 southern, large yields are reported for the northern 

 counties. It should be understood, however, that, 

 while the northern counties are usually larger in 

 total area than those in the southern portion, their 

 farm areas are much smaller. It is interesting to 

 observe that, where northern counties make any 

 showing iu the production of a croja, the acre yield 

 runs higher frequently than for the most southerly 

 counties, as, for example, in the case of potatoes, 

 whose yield in 1920 was reported at 134 bushels to 

 tlie acre in Houghton County and GO bushels in 

 Branch County (taking the extremes of the State). 

 The yield of oats in ]\Ienominee County was 27.3 

 bushels to the acre, and Hillsdale County 23.4 bush- 

 els. The hay output in Chippewa County was 1.57 

 tons to the acre and 1.3G in Lenawee County. Corn 

 yielded 39 bushels to the acre in Delta County and 

 36 in Clinton, but it should not be supposed that the 

 aggregate corn crop is large in northern Michigan. 

 Since the beginning of the State's history, agri- 

 culture has received its greatest development in the 



