72 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OP FISH AND FISHERIES. 



throughout, gradually chauge into beaches of pure sand, the barren belt 

 often extending several miles inland before soil suitable for agricultural 

 purposes is found; both the agricultural and commercial interests be- 

 come more extensive, and the population of many of the towns is largely 

 interested in manufactures. The eastern shore contains the famous 

 fruit belt of Michigan, and a large acreage is devoted to orchards, whose 

 products find a ready sale in the larger cities. 



Traces of the Indians are still abundant at the northern end of the 

 lake, where numerous half-breeds of Indian and French-Canadian blood 

 are found. Along the entire northern half of the lake, and even further 

 south, the Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, Germans, and emigrants from 

 other European countries have gathered in large numbers. Along the 

 southern end there is also a large foreign element, though the native- 

 born Americans form a very much larger percentage. 



The principal cities and, in fact, the only ones of any considerable 

 commercial importance are Chicago, near the southern end of the lake, 

 and MiLwaukee, 85 miles to the northward, on its western shore. 

 Numerous smaller cities, varying from 5,000 to 15,000 inhabitants, occur 

 at intervals in different portions of the lake. The principal business in 

 the northern half, as already mentioned, is lumbering, which furnishes 

 employment to a majority of the population, while in the southern half 

 the fruit-growing, agricultural, and manufacturing interests predomi- 

 nate. 



Location of the fisheries. — The fisheries are not confined to any one 

 locality, but are scattered throughout the entire lake, the most impor- 

 tant interest at present centering along the north shore, in the vicinity 

 of the Beaver Islands and in Green Bay, though in other localities, 

 both along the east and west shores, a large amount of capital is em- 

 ployed in this industry. The early fisheries were carried on principally 

 from the southern and western shores of the lake, though fishermen from 

 the lower lakes located temporarily at other points and made large 

 catches of whitefish, which they salted and shipped to the fishery 

 centers of Lake Erie. 



Fishermen. — The business was formerly prosecuted by American fish- 

 ermen and by the Indians, but as the country has gradually filled up 

 with foreigners many of these have engaged in fishing, and the in- 

 dustry is now practically in their hands, the Germans, Scandinavians, 

 Irish, and French Canadians predominating. The few remaining Amer- 

 icans are men who became interested in the work at an early date, or 

 members of their families who have grown up in the business. 



Pound-net fisheries. — The first pound-net in the lake was set in 1856 

 or 1857. In 1858 apparatus of this kind was introduced at Menom- 

 inee, Michigan, and Little Suamico, Wisconsin, both on the western 

 shore of Green Bay. The next year it appeared in Whitefish Bay, 

 Door County, Michigan, in the Big Bay de Noquet, and at the Beaver 

 Islands. It then spread rapidly to all parts of the lake, and was soon 



