4 BULLETIN 694, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



DESCRIPTION OF AREA SURVEYED. 



The area selected for this study is typical of a comparatively wide 

 section of south central Michigan, a part of northwestern Ohio, and 

 northeastern Indiana. It presents conditions which exist generally 

 in that region situated on the northern edge of what is commonly 

 known as the corn belt proper. The region in general is well devel- 

 oped in growing general farm crops, dairying, and the production of 

 hve stock. (Fig. 1.) 



AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT. 



Lenawee County was one of the first counties in Michigan in which 

 agricultural development started. The tide of immigration into this 

 part of the State began on a large scale in 1836. From 1836 to 1860 

 the agricultural development of Lenawee County was rapid, and 

 since that time it has been very satisfactory. Statistics show that 

 there were 3,251 farms in Lenawee County in 1880, and that in 1910 



Fig. 2.— Typical farm scene, Lenawee County, Mich. 



this number has increased to 5,334. The comity in general now has 

 every evidence of a prosperous agricultural section. (See fig. 2.) 



During the early period of development oxen were quite generally 

 used for practically all kinds of farm work. ^In 1860 there were 2,247 

 work oxen in the county, but by 1900 oxen had been entirely dis- 

 placed by horses. During this time large numbers of sheep were 

 pastiu"ed on the cheap, partially developed land, which greatly 

 increased trhe farm income and materially assisted in the process of 

 land clearmg. The sheep industry in Lenawee Comity appears to 

 have reached the high-water mark in. 1880, at which time there were 

 116,508 head of sheep on the farms of the county. The following 

 figures taken from the United States census show the rise and decline 

 of this industry in the county from 1860 to 1910: 



