506 



MICHIGAN. 



in making chairs, under the direction of the 

 prison officers, instead, of being hired out to 

 contractors. The income account for the past 

 year showed receipts from chair account, $60,- 

 078.55; other sources, $5,134.93. Total, $65,- 

 213.48. Cotal expenditures, including salaries 

 and $5,161.88 for repairs, $45,186.98. Net in- 

 come for the year, $20,027.50. The number 

 of convicts received during the year was 1,109, 

 of whom 719, by their own admission, were in- 

 temperate persons. 



The amount of salt manufactured in the 

 Saginaw valley was 474,721 barrels, against 

 407,997 barrels in 1866. This is a larger quan- 

 tity than has been produced in any preceding 

 year except 1864 and 1865. Small quantities 

 are produced in other places. 



The production of iron in Marquette County 

 was considerably in excess of the preceding 

 year. Iron-ore produced, 469,320 tons ; val- 

 ue, $2,345,600. Pig-iron, 30,911 tons; value, 

 $1,130,120. Increase in iron-ore, 172,448 tons. 

 Increase in pig-iron, 12,474 tons. 



The copper mining interests of Lake Superior 

 were greatly depressed during the year. The 

 total amount of copper mined, according to 

 the reports to the Auditor-General, was about 

 5,060 tons. The complaint is general that 

 nothing can be made at the present prices of 

 labor and mineral, and there were indications 

 at the close of the year that labor would be 

 suspended wholly, or in part, during the win- 

 ter. Congress has been petitioned to give 

 greater protection to this interest. The pro- 

 duction of Michigan coal and plaster is extend- 

 ing gradually and steadily, but with no new 

 features. 



The wheat crop of the State was better than 

 the preceding year, and not far from an aver- 

 age crop. The spring crops were also fair. 

 The clip .of wool increases regularly, the 

 amount transported by railroad being 8,661,- 

 059 pounds, against 7,797,663 for 1866. The 

 total clip for the year is estimated at 10,500,000 

 pounds. 



The apple crop was a poor one; and the 

 shipments by rail were not far from 200,000 

 barrels. The peach crop, on the other hand, 

 was greatly more abundant than the preceding 

 year, and, along the eastern shore of Lake 

 Michigan, was very good. Peach-orchards at 

 many localities in the interior also bore good 

 crops. The shipments by lake from St. Joseph, 

 in the vicinity of which the principal orchards 

 are, was 325,385 boxes, nearly the whole of 

 which was produced in a district of country 

 ten miles long by five miles wide, contiguous 

 to that port, and from trees planted within the 

 last three or four years. It is believed by parties 

 who are beginning to cultivate to a very consider- 

 able extent, that the immediate vicinity of the 

 lake shore, as far north as Kalamazoo River, is 

 as favorable as the vicinity of St. Joseph, ex- 

 cept the absence of equal facilities to reach the 

 market on the west side of the lake; and 

 this difficulty is likely to be obviated in a great 



degree by the improvements now going on at 

 the mouths of the Black and Kalamazoo Eivers. 

 .Peaches are also produced profitably in the val- 

 ley of the Grand Rivjer, and along the lake 

 shore to Grand Traverse. The cultivation of 

 the small fruits along the shore of Lake Michi- 

 gan is also increasing rapidly. The shipments 

 from St. Joseph are estimated at grapes, 50 

 tons ; strawberries, 1,200 bushels ; raspberries, 

 600 bushels ; blackberries, 800 bushels. As the 

 culture has but just commenced, the promise is 

 favorable for large and prosperous production 

 in the future. The cultivation of grapes along 

 the Detroit River is also being greatly extended, 

 especially in the vicinity of Monroe. The 

 favorite varieties are the Delaware and the 

 Concord. 



The sorghum crop is now becoming a very 

 large one in Michigan, and, though not yet cul- 

 tivated very much for market, it is a very im- 

 portant article of home consumption. The 

 Otaheitan is the favorite variety. Sugar is 

 made to some extent, and experiments are going 

 on to test its manufacture on a large scale. 

 The syrup produced from it is slowly but gradu- 

 ally supplanting that from cane. 



The production of lumber was much more 

 extensive than any prior year, and it is believed 

 the quantity cut will reach 1,400,000,000 feet. 

 Nearly one-third of this was cut in the valley 

 of the Saginaw, and one-half on the shore of 

 Lake Michigan. The sales of lumber on the 

 Michigan shore of that lake are estimated to 

 have brought $10,000,000 into the State during 

 the. year. One hundred million feet were cut at 

 Manistee, and more than twice that quantity at 

 Muskegon. The chief marts for the lumber of 

 this part of the State are Chicago and Milwau- 

 kee, while from the Saginaw valley large ship- 

 ments are made to Toledo and Cleveland. 



The State has made arrangements, by volun- 

 tary subscriptions, to erect, on the Grand Cir- 

 cus at Detroit, a beautiful monument in honor 

 of her dead soldiers, after a design by Randolph 

 Rogers. The monument, when finished, will 

 stand about forty-six feet high, to be crowned by 

 a colossal statue of Michigan, ten feet high ; a 

 semi-civilized Indian queen, with a sword in 

 her right hand and a shield in her left, the 

 figure in motion as if rushing forward in de- 

 fence of her country. The costume and acces- 

 sories will be very beautiful and effective. Be- 

 neath the plinth on which she stands are stars 

 and wreaths. On the west section in front is 

 the dedication : " Erected by the people of 

 Michigan in honor of the martyrs who fell and 

 the heroes who fought in defence of Liberty 

 and Union." On the left are the arms of the 

 State; on the right are the arms of the United 

 States. On the projecting abutments below are 

 four allegorical figures seated, which, if stand- 

 ing erect, would be six and a half feet high. 

 These figures represent Victory, Union, Eman- 

 cipation, and History. Victory holds in her 

 lap a sheathed sword, and with her right hand 

 is offering the palrn to the defenders of the na- 



