AGRICULTURE OF JACKSOX COUNTY. 
79 
AGRICrLTI’RAL 11IST0RY 
Agriculture in its early stages followed close on the heels of 
the lumberman. Pine forests lined the Black River and cov¬ 
ered the east half of the county. During the process of mar¬ 
keting this timber, railroads were built, sawmills established, 
and towns grew up around the sawmills and lumber camps. 
Roads were opened fn m town to town, and the land seeker was 
attracted to the locality. 
The first settlement began about 1850. Wheat was the popu¬ 
lar crop at first because it always found a market. Many farm¬ 
ers hauled their wheat twenty to forty miles or more with ox 
teams to the nearest railroad point. The grain raising was 
confined to the western half of the county where most of the 
soil is heavy and better adapted to grains than the soil of the 
east half of the countv. 
* 
Bv 1880 there were 1600 farms which have increased to about 
2500 at the present time. Since 1880 wheat raising has de¬ 
clined two-thirds while oat growing has increased four, and rye 
seven times. Due to the too continuous raising of wheat, the 
yields were reduced for a time and because also of low prices 
and plant diseases the raising of this crop fell off. As commu¬ 
nication and marketing facilities became better, live stock and 
dairy farming came to the front. At present much more live 
stock is sold from the farms than formerly and cheese factories 
and silos are becoming generally distributed in the Avest half 
of the county, though grain raising still holds a large share of 
the agricultural activity of several of the townships. 
Agricultural development in the eastern half of the county 
has been very slow, and by far the greater proportion of this 
land is unimproved. Future progress in this region will depend 
upon the drainage of the marshes and in the development of 
methods through which the farming of the sandy soils and 
marsh lands can be made profitable. 
