498 



MICHIGAN. 



however, some exceptions must be made. The 

 low price of wool induced the killing off of 

 many sheep, and it is not probable that the 

 wool-clip of 1868 exceeded that of 1867. The 

 crop of apples was also very poor, and that of 

 peaches less than the preceding year. The 

 shipments from St. Joseph, however, were 

 larger. The following is a statement of the 

 shipments of fruit from that port for the year : 

 strawberries, bushels, 17,000 ; raspberries, do., 

 6,500; blackberries, do., 10,600; peaches, bas- 

 kets and boxes, 508,082. St. Joseph is a small 

 town of three thousand inhabitants or there- 

 about, with a poor harbor, but the land imme- 

 diately about it sells at almost fabulous prices 

 for the planting of orchards. The mean differ- 

 ence in the winter temperature of the western 

 and eastern shores of Lake Michigan is from 

 twelve to fifteen degrees in favor of the former. 



The production of salt in the Saginaw valley 

 for the year reached 555,690 barrels, against 

 474,721 for 1867. The capital invested in the 

 business is $2,217,000. Amount on hand at the 

 end of the year, 59,284 barrels. 



The following is the estimate of the Saginaw 

 Enterprise of the quantity of lumber cut within 

 the State in 1868 : 



Feet. 



White River... 95,000,000 



Manistee 155,000,000 



Grand Traverse 30,000.000 

 Pere Marquette. 50,000,000 

 Other places ) . 

 on Western V 205,000,000 



Slope ) 



Other points I Kn mn nna 

 in the State, f 50,000,000 



Total 1,656,708,635 



This is a considerable increase on the pro- 

 duction of any former year. The single mill 

 of H. W. Sage & Co., at Winona, cut 32,291,907 

 feet. 



The plaster-beds at Tawas City, on Saginaw 

 Bay, are being rapidly developed. The ship- 

 ments for the year amounted to more than 

 20,000 tons of crude gypsum, and toward the 

 end of the year the shipment of calcined 

 plaster, &c., also commenced, and reached 

 2,000 barrels. Above the first stratum of gyp- 

 sum, which is 10 to 12 feet in thickness, there 

 are 6 to 8 feet of earth. Beneath is a stratum 

 of slate 2$- feet, then one of gypsum 5 feet, 

 then a second of slate 2 feet, and then for 18 

 feet nothing but gypsum of very superior qual- 

 ity is reached. The beds are immediately 

 upon the shore, and the prospect of a large and 

 remunerative business in this mineral at this 

 point is exceedingly promising. Of Grand 

 Rapids plaster there were shipped from Grand 

 Haven 41,720 tons of crude and 116,630 bar- 

 rels 6f prepared, which is probably equal to 

 the total production of the beds for the year. 



The Grand River Valley Railroad, from 

 Jackson in the direction of Grand Rapids, was 

 put in operation for 61 miles at the eastern end, 

 and upon the Kalamazoo, Allegan, and Grand 

 Rapids road the cars were running to Allegan, 



and the remainder of the line nearly finished. 

 At the end of the year there were within the 

 State 1,260 miles of railroad completed and in 

 actual use. 



The business of the Sault Ste. Marie Falls 

 Canal showed a considerable falling off. The 

 following is a comparative exhibit : 



The falling off was mainly due to the depres- 

 sion in the copper business, but somewhat also 

 to a great fire at Marquette in June, which 

 lessened the facilities for shipping iron. The 

 mineral which passed down the canal was as 

 follows: copper, tons, 12,222J; iron ore, tons, 

 191,939 ; pig iron, tons, 21,471. The following 

 are some of the principal articles passing up- 

 ward: 



Pork,bbls 4,837 



Flour, bbls 27,572 



Beef,bbls 1,926 



Salt,bbls 4,624 



Coarse grain, bush. .285,123 



Merchandise, tons . . 8,561 



Ground feed, tons . . 2,155 



Iron mining at Marquette was prosperous, 

 and would have been more so but for the fire 

 in June. The following is a comparative ex- 

 hibit for eleven years : 



Coal, tons 25,814 



Powder, tons 346 



Sugar, Ibs 1,027,376 



Butter, Ibs 469,927 



Lard, Ibs 229,652 



Tobacco, Ibs 76,843 



Malt, Ibs 



Two new furnaces are in process of erec- 

 tion, and the prospect of increased business in 

 1869 is regarded as exceedingly favorable. 



Copper-mining was depressed throughout 

 the year. Up to April, 1868, one hundred and 

 four copper-mining companies, in the Lake 

 Superior region, had made assessments upon 

 shareholders to the amount in all of $14,409,- 

 500, and paid no dividends. The showing of 

 eight other companies was as follows: 



The complete statistics of copper production 

 for the year are not yet attainable. That for 



