270 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Sept. 
MICHIGAN AS AN AGRICULTURAL STATE.—No. II. 
Oak Openings or Michigan.— Those portions of 
Michigan which are classed as “ openings,” are usual¬ 
ly a beautifully varied country, sparsely timbered, chief¬ 
ly with oaks. Among the several species of these, the 
white is predominant, and has the largest growth ; 
next the black or yellow and burr oaks. Hickory is 
often intermixed to a considerable extent. What are 
called u plains,” resemble the openings, but have less 
timber, and are often almost destitute, approaching the 
character of il prairies.” Somewhat more than half of 
the peninsula consists of openings and plains, and these 
are occasionally varied by tracts of heavily timbered 
land, and by prairies destitute of timber. The latter 
are not frequent, and are of much less extent than the 
prairies of Illinois, comprising from a few acres only 
to 15,000 acres. “ Marshes,” or wet prairies ..frequent¬ 
ly occupy the hollow and level spots of the openings 
and plains, and consist of an accumulation of peat and 
- vegetable matter, producing a rank growth of wild 
grasses, beds of marl, or bog lime, are very common 
beneath the peat. These grasses are relished by all 
kinds of cattld, and are so abundant and esteemed that 
in many parts of the country they constitute the only 
winter fodder of cattle, horses, and sheep. Many far¬ 
mers think them preferable to any of the cultivated 
grasses, for all kinds of stock, and though most of the 
marshes are subject to drainage, prefer to leave them 
in their original condition. To new settlers these 
marshes have proved invaluable, by enabling them 
from the first to support their stock with scarcely any 
cost. A large proportion of these marshes are due to 
the labors of the beaver, and they are susceptible of 
being restored to their original dry state. Some of 
them have been made by drainage to produce an ex¬ 
ceedingly rich soil, for both grass and tillage crops. 
The immense accumulation of peat and lime which 
they contain, will, at a future day, furnish a rich trea¬ 
sure in these manures, which will be most needed upon 
the adjoining uplands. 
The soil of the openings is usually a dry porous 
gravel or sand, belonging to the drift deposit already 
alluded to in my general description of Michigan, but 
there are portions which have a considerable inter¬ 
mixture of clay. 
Local beds of clay are not uncommon at or near the 
surface, from which good bricks are made. At depth 
of from two to three feet, there is very generally a 
hardpan, sufficiently cohesive to prevent the too rapid 
absorption of the water which falls upon the surface. 
No difficulty is experienced in obtaining pure hard wa¬ 
ter, by digging, though the depth varies according to 
the local character of the drift. 
Many speculations have been originated to account 
for these peculiar features in the scenery of Michigan; 
among the most prominent of which is, the ravage of 
annual fires. As it is not desirable to involve the sub¬ 
ject in theoretical considerations, I shall only say, that 
no one cause which has been mentioned is sufficient 
to produce all the characteristic features of the open¬ 
ing country of Michigan. The fires, which were for¬ 
merly designedly created, kept down the underbrush, 
which otherwise would have sprung up thickly over the 
surface; but there is also direct evidence that the kind 
and character of the timber changes with the varying 
conditions of the soil. Thus, while the prevailing tim¬ 
ber of the openings is white, with intermixture of 
black oak, the latter occasionally predominates, and the 
growth is more or less dense or scanty as the combina¬ 
tion of causes has been more or less favorable to the 
particular result. The burr oak usually occupies level 
tracts, and the soil is coarse and gravelly. Some of 
tne best wheat farms are on these plains. Hickory oc¬ 
curs where there is a larger proportion of aluminous 
matter in the soil. A heavy and varied growth of 
hard wood timber frequently occurs over isolated tracts 
in the openings and along the banks of the streams, and 
this character of timber is almost invariably found 
wherever the extensive blue and yellow clay formations 
lie at small depth beneath the surface, as will be more 
particularly noticed in my next communication. 
When first turned up by the plow, the soil of the 
openings and plains is generally of a deep yellow color, 
and its appearance, in connection with the light growth 
of timber, is little indicative of the strong and lasting 
soil it is found to prove. These soils are well supplied 
with vegetable matter, which on exposure, soon con¬ 
verts this yellow color to a dark brown. But it is their 
mineral and mechanical characters chiefly, which have 
been already noticed, that so admirably adapts them 
to the culture of wheat, and renders that a staple pro¬ 
duct. 
The surface of the openings, when new, is generally 
filled with the roots and “ grubs” of oak, and requires 
to be broken up by strong teams. This is the chief 
expense of preparing them for cultivation, and costs 
from $2.50 to $4 per acre. It is common, when the 
timber is but moderately dense, to girdle the trees, 
without felling them, and thus a crop of wheat may 
be got in the first fall, and the timber cut or burned 
afterwards at leisure. The breaking-up teams consist 
of from three to six yokes of oxen, and every neigh¬ 
borhood furnishes one or more such teams, which may 
be hired for the purpose, or else a system of mutual 
exchange is adopted. 
For beauty and diversity of scenery, these portions 
of Michigan are unrivalled. Many parts of the coun¬ 
try abound with lakes of the purest water, which are 
always well stocked with bass, pickerel, and other 
fish. They repose in the midst of groves of oaks, 
which from their picturesque arrangement, seem as if 
planted by the nand of art, to adorn the landscape. 
Varied by hills, lawns, and grassy meadows, these fea¬ 
tures give to the openings that quiet beauty and diver¬ 
sity which is adapted to the most cultivated rural 
taste, to perfect which has so often elsewhere required 
the labor of ages. 
The chief advantages offered by the openings over 
the timbered lands, may be thus briefly summed up:—- 
The rapidity with which they may be brought into 
crops; their freedom from stumps; the cheapness and 
perfection of the roads ; the ease with which cattle 
find subsistence; and the abundance of those salts 
which adapt them to the growth of wheat. The disad¬ 
vantages are, the occasional scarcity of water in sum¬ 
mer, except by digging, and the absence of various 
large and abundant timber. B. Hubbard. 
Detroit , June 1, 1847. 
Iron-Water for Fowls. —A writer in the English 
Agricultural Gazette , recommends that a piece of steel 
be kept constantly in the water to which fowls have 
access. Iron-rust, he says, is an excellent tonic. A 
roll of brimstone is also recommended to be kept in 
the water. 
