300 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Oct. 
and benignity of the climate, the natural fertility of 
the soil, and its adaptation to the various crops desi¬ 
rable to the practical agriculturist, the proximity to a 
steady and permanent market, at which all the pro¬ 
ductions of the farm and the garden may readily and 
promptly be exchanged for amply indemnifying prices, 
the length of the season during which cattle and stock 
of every description may find their own support, inde¬ 
pendent of the special care of the husbandman, the 
presence of all those elements of civilization and com¬ 
fort, which the vicinity of a large capital and its 
suburbs can afford, and of a society than which none 
in America or Europe can be superior—in these, and 
amid those associations of rural beauty, grandeur and 
sublimity which abound on every hand, it surely can¬ 
not be difficult to find all those sources of enjoyment 
and of individual and social well-being which render 
the cultivation of the soil—the noblest employment of 
humanity—a luxury and a pleasure unsurpassed, at 
least, if not unequalled in any other portion of the 
Union. S. S. R. 
Lake Borgne Place, Prospect Hill, Va., Aug., 1847. 
MICHIGAN AS AN AGRICULTURAL STATE.—No. III. 
Timbered Lands of Michigan. —It has been 
already stated that nearly all the border counties of 
the peninsula, and considerable tracts in the interior, 
may be designated as timbered lands, in distinction 
from the openings, plains, and prairies, already de¬ 
scribed. These border tracts are underlaid by thick 
deposits of yellow and blue clay, the extent of which 
conforms nearly with the characteristic growth of 
timber above mentioned, and it will also be generally 
found that the timber tracts, wherever they occur, have 
a foundation or subsoil of clay. These blue and yel¬ 
low clays are of a marly character, and highly fertile, 
but as they do not readily absorb the rains, the soils, 
where constituted of them, are more cold and wet, and 
less adapted to wheat than the porous, dry soils, de¬ 
scribed in my last communication. In general, how¬ 
ever, these clays have a covering of gravel and sand, 
of the same or similar character to those there de¬ 
scribed, and varying in depth from a mere covering of 
a few inches, to many feet. Throughout most of the 
eastern border counties, the slight depth of the latter 
allows the clay greatly to influence the soils; so that, 
in connection with the plane surface, origin is given to 
some extensive swampy lands. These, in the early 
history of the country, when nothing was known be¬ 
yond them, gave an unfavorable impression abroad of 
the whole state. 
The timbered tracts in general, and particularly on 
the western side of the peninsula, are of a very differ¬ 
ent character. They consist of fine rolling tracts of 
sugar maple and beach, with intermixture of white- 
wood, black walnut, white ash, oak, elm, and white 
pine; the soil being a deep gravelly loam, resembling 
that of the openings. In the early settlement of the 
state, the openings and prairies were usually first se- ' 
lected, because of the ease with which they could be 
brought into crops, and from the admiration excited 
by their beauty and singularity. Since the timbered 
lands have become better known they have been found 
to possess some advantages over the openings, besides 
being, in many respects, decidedly superior to most of 
the timbered lands of the' eastern states. These ad¬ 
vantages I will endeavor to sum up as briefly as pos¬ 
sible. 
The soils are of more lasting character than those 
of the openings, not commencing to degenerate until 
after much cropping. They are better adapted to the 
cultivated grasses, wdiich do not flourish well on the 
dryer soils of the openings. These timbered lands'are 
easily cleared, there being but little underwood, and a 
large proportion of the timber being clean maple and 
beech, often sufficiently open to admit a team to be 
driven through the woodland without much difficulty. 
Some of the lands are not more densely wooded than 
what are called “ timbered openings.” 
Slashing is done for $1.50 per acre, after which the 
tops are burned, and a crop got in among the logs, 
which are allowed to become thoroughly dry, and are 
then consumed. This first crop is often as large as 
that obtained elsewhere after the most thorough im- 
rovement. The whole cost of clearing complete may 
e estimated at from $6 to $10 per acre. No “ break¬ 
ing-up team ” is required, and the work may be pro¬ 
ceeded with by those w v ho have only their hands for 
capital. It has become an extensive practice, for the 
past few years, to collect the ashes produced by the 
burning, which are found, with little additional trouble, 
to pay the whole cost of clearing. 
As the sugar maple is abundant, this source of profit 
is also extensively resorted to, and adds much to the 
gains as well as comforts of the farmer, without with¬ 
drawing his labor from the ordinary operations of agri¬ 
culture. 
The pine of this region generally occurs intermixed 
with the maple, beech, and other hard timber, and is 
of the very largest size. It is to be remarked that 
where pines are found under these circumstances, they 
are not only superior to those which grow in the 
“ pine districts,” so called, but are not, like the lat¬ 
ter, indicative of a light soil. On the contrary, they 
flourish here upon strong sandy or gravelly loams, 
which are capable with'ease of the highest degree of 
cultivation. An acre will frequently contain from five 
to thirty of these trees, and, as mills are not wanting, 
any one of them is often worth to the settler more than 
the cost of the acre that produced it. 
This country is abundantly supplied with springs 
and water-courses, varying in size from considerable 
mill streams to small but permanent rivulets, which 
are seldom or never marshy. Fine lakes, well stocked 
with fish, are also numerous; so that during a very 
dry summer, the inhabitants never suffer from destitu¬ 
tion of water, as is sometimes the case on the openings 
and prairies. 
The soil of this region, and its undulating surface, are 
well adapted for dry and permanently good roads. It is 
also decidedly a wheat soil, easily tilled and very pro¬ 
ductive, yielding from 20 to 40 bushels per acre. I 
except, of course, those timbered lands which have a 
decidedly clay soil, and which are best adapted to pas¬ 
turage. All the large streams have rich bottoms, 
which yield the most abundant crops of maize, oats, 
and potatoes. The black walnut on these bottoms, 
frequently attains to 18 feet in girth. 
Every year is giving increased importance to the 
timbered lands of this state, and when we reflect that 
the majority of immigrants are from education and 
habit accustomed to timbered districts, and consider 
the advantages possessed by the one here described, in 
durability of soil, ease of tillage, privileges of markets, 
water, mills, and lumber, and the comparative cheap¬ 
ness of the lands, I feel convinced that the day is not 
