USA > Michigan > Van Buren County > A History of Van Buren County, Michigan: A Narrative Account of Its Historical Progress, Its. > Part 35
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FRUIT RAISING AT SOUTH HAVEN
Orcharding at South Haven dates from 1852 when Stephen B. Morehouse and Randolph Densmore set out apple orchards, and the former also set out a peach orchard.
Mr. Morehouse came to South Haven from Albion for the pur- pose of engaging in the fruit business His peach orchard stood in what is now the business district of South Haven city, in the block bounded by Center and Phoenix streets and the main ravine. His apple orchard was on the property now owned by E. B. Ket- cham along North Shore Drive, and many of the original trees are still standing and in bearing. The orchard set by Mr. Densmore was just south of that, its southern boundary being about where Wells street now runs.
These orchards were set only two or three years after the old Parmelee orchard of seven acres at St. Joseph, so that the birth of the industry in the two localities was nearly simultaneous. It grew more rapidly at St. Joseph for the first few years because of the greater extent there of lands already cleared and ready for trees and vines, while around South Haven were the forests that had first to be removed.
Among the other early orchardists of this section were James L. Reid, Joseph Dow, S. G. Sheffer and C. M. Sheffer. The first vineyards were set in 1858-one and one-half acres by Orris Church and one acre by A. S. Dyckman-and Aaron Eames was another early grape grower. Mr. Dyckman was also among the pioneer peach growers, having set an orchard of four acres in 1857.
In 1855 and 1856 L. H. Bailey set out the apple orchard that is notable not only as one of the first and one of the largest in this
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section but as the school in which his son, Liberty H. Bailey, Jr., received the practical training that started him on the way to be- coming the foremost authority on horticulture in this country if not in the world.
From these beginnings along and near the lake shore have spread the orchards and vineyards that cover so large a portion of the western part of the county. As the forests receded before the axe of the lumberman and the settler, fruit trees and vines sprung up to replace them and to provide the means through which the set- tlers should derive so much of their sustenance from the soil that had long been given over to the "forest primeval."
FRUIT BELT WIDENS
Receding from the lake the proportion of fruit to grain and stock lessened steadily. This was due in large measure to the belief in the earlier years that the beneficent influence of the lake only extended over a narrow strip, estimated by some to be as narrow as two miles in width, but with the gradual dispelling of this notion and the continuing prosperity of the fruit growers, the "Fruit Belt" has been increasing in width until it is now fair to say that the fruit industry is the leading one of the western half of the county.
It was just about the close of the Civil war that the fruit in- dustry began to compete with the timber business for supremacy in this section, and for a few years they kept on fairly even terms. But with the fruit steadily gaining and the other standing still or falling behind, it was only a few years before the former and securely established itself in the van where it has since remained.
Previous to 1865 the lands were mainly purchased for the tim- ber and the majority of the residents were more or less directly concerned in the various branches of the timber industry. Many of the small clearings made in the pursuit of the timber trade were set to fruit trees and vines, and as these came into bearing with their luscious and profitable crops, attention was turned to the possibilities of their culture. The example of the pioneers who have been named in a preceding paragraph was followed by scores of others, and the beginnings of permanent settlement really oc- curred in this period of the community's history.
Large tracts of land, particularly the cut-over parcels were pur- chased and set to fruit, mainly to peaches which have since been the leading crop, though in recent years the apple has closely pressed its less hardy sister fruit for first place in extent of or- charding, volume of product and profits derived. The peach has a record of more than half a century of annual crops, except for Vol. 1-21
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two or three years. Aside from the freeze of October 10, 1906, there has never been any loss of trees by severe cold, except from preventable causes, like poor drainage, over-fertilization, late culti- vation, and the like, and no loss of trees or fruit by extreme cold in winter, or by spring or fall frosts, when the air current has been off Lake Michigan which has tempered the winds before they reached the orchards and vineyards.
COOPERATION THROUGH SOCIETIES
Cooperation has, from the outset, been a dominant principle of the fruit-growing interests of this section. Possibly no one factor outside of the natural conditions previously mentioned, has con- tributed so much to the rapid and healthy growth of this industry in this community as the willingness of the growers to share with each other the lessons learned by experience and observation and the study of successful methods in other fruit sections.
The existence of this spirit of cooperation led to the organization in December, 1870, of the South Haven Pomological Society, now known as the South Haven and Casco Pomological society.
This society extends its influence and benefits not alone over the townships mentioned in its title but over a wide section of the west- ern portions of Van Buren and Allegan counties. It has an un- broken record of holding weekly meetings part or all of the year for the forty-odd years of its life, to its discussions have contributed the foremost fruit growers of this section, many of whom can justly claim a like preeminence in state and nation, and it is fair to say that the story of the society is the history of the fruit industry in the section from which the society draws its members and over which it spreads its benefits.
Concerning the purposes of the society and the record of its first year, let us quote from the report made by its secretary, C. T. Bryant, in December, 1871, to the secretary of the State Pomological Society. Mr. Bryant says: "By way of introduction, it falls to me to write briefly of our organization and its work. Convinced that our superior advantages of climate and soil for growing fruit and facilities for shiping to the best markets, indicated that fruit culture was to be the principal business of this community and justified us in striving for the highest attainments and in expecting the greatest possible success and profit in this branch of agricul- ture as a reward for well directed effort, those interested, in Decem- ber, 1870, organized the South Haven Pomological Society; the specific object of which is, 'to develop facts, promulgate information as to the best methods of growing the best varieties of fruits for our vicinity, and for our own profit and improvements.'
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"This society has steadily increased in members and interest. The meetings are well attended; the discussions are spirited ; the expressions of opinion, and statements of experience, candid; the feeling harmonious; and we are more and more assured that our interests are mutual and that the greatest obstacles in the way of making fruit growing a constantly profitable business may be overcome by cooperation."
Such a paragraph as the last night be written is summarizing each year the efforts of the members to carry out the concisely stated but comprehensive purposes set forth in the preceding paragraph.
The first officers of the society were: President, Norman Phil- lips; vice president, C. H. Wigglesworth ; secretary, C. T. Bryant ; treasurer, C. J. Monroe; executive committee, I. S. Linderman, John Williams, H. E. Bidwell and J. Lannin.
From the formation of the society South Haven and its tributary territory took increasing prominence in the field of horticulture. Among the features that contributed toward making the society and its efficiency and energy well-known throughout this state and to a considerable extent over the nation was the meeting at South Haven of the State Pomological Society September 3 and 4, 1872.
Within two weeks the local society raised the funds and built complete the hall in which the meeting was held, an example of energy and enterprise that received much comment from the visitors in their addresses and discussions at the sessions, and was com- plimented in the resolutions adopted at the close of the meeting.
"MASTER L. H. BAILEY"
Just a year later to a day, the State Society again met at South Haven and at that meeting there was read an essay on "Birds" by "Master L. H. Bailey, a lad of fifteen years," as noted in the reports of that meeting. This was probably the first appearance before the state society of this young man who was to become so great an authority on horticulture. His essay is published in full in the annual reports of the state society, and it shows throughout the combination of the practical and the poetic that has so char- acterized his work as gardener, farmer, educator, lecturer, author and adviser. In recognition of his interest in horticulture and particularly in the relation of birds thereto, the local society elected "Master" L. H. Bailey as its Ornithologist in 1873. The discus- sions of the local society for 1873, as recorded by the secretary, are published in full in the report of the state society for that year, the only instance of the kind in which any local body has been thus honored in the history of the state organization.
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The society and its members have taken awards at many of the international expositions, commencing with the Centennial in 1876, and continuing through the Paris exposition to its triumphs at the more recent exhibitions.
A. S. DYCKMAN AND T. T. LYON
Space forbids individual mention of the many persons who have contributed so much to the development of the fruit industry and to the work and influence of the society. But no sketch of the industry and society would be complete that did not pay tribute to the service of A. S. Dyckman and T. T. Lyon.
Mr. Dyckman was, as has been seen, one of the pioneers in the business, and was for many years the most extensive grower and shipper of this section. He served the state and local societies as president and in many other capacities.
Before coming to Van Buren county from Wayne county, Mr. Lyon had won a national reputation as a pomologist, and that repu- tation he greatly enhanced during the years that he dwelt in Van Buren. He, too, served the state society as president, and that for a period of fifteen years, through successive annual re-elections. He was the first director of the sub-experiment station established at South Haven in 1889 by the State Board of Agriculture, and arranged its facilities and organized its work on the practical, scientific basis that has enabled the station, despite inadequate space, to be of the greatest benefit to the fruit growers of Michigan.
CROPS OF THE COUNTY
Over one hundred staple products of farm, orchard, garden and forest have been raised in Van Buren county with remarkable regularity for many years, a considerable number of them for fifty or sixty years. The leading crops are thus summarized and classified in a late official report :
Fruit Products: Apples, peaches, pears, plums, cherries, other tree fruits, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, goose- berries, other fruit and grapes.
General farm products: Hay, corn, wheat, oats, barley, rye, buckwheat, clover seed, grass seed, potatoes, beans, peas, other crops, maple sugar, maple syrup, sugar beets, other roots, cabbage, toma- toes, sweet corn, onions, cucumbers, celery, melons, poultry sold, eggs sold, honey and wax, flowers, vegetable seeds, nursery prod- ucts, wood, logs and other timber products.
The state census of 1904, the latest official figures yet available, gave some interesting statistics about some of the crops that might
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be deemed of minor importance. For instance, on six and one- quarter acres of flowers and foliage plants, there was produced in the year preceding, the value of $8,091, or at the rate of $1,293 per acre. The "busy bees" with 1,544 swarms, valued at $6,187, produced in honey and was $6,379. To this every fruit grower would add a very liberal percentage for their services in aiding the fertilization of the fruit blossoms. Poultry valued at $72,801, produced eggs worth $136,360, and poultry sold amounted to $105,- 654, or the total product worth nearly three and one-third times the value of the "producing plant."
SEMI-AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES
Indicative of how largely Van Buren county is devoted to agri- cultural pursuits, the state census of 1904, above mentioned, con- tains no statistics of any manufacturing establishments within the county. Since that time there have been started at South Haven two piano factories, a wood-working factory, and a pipe organ factory, now in process of erection.
There are within the county many industrial concerns whose products directly relate to the agricultural and horticultural in- terests of the county. Included among these are canning and preserving plants; crushed fruit, grape juice, cider and vinegar factories; pickle factories; basket and package factories; butter and cheese factories and creamery stations; plants for making spraying outfits and preparing spray materials; grist mills, saw- mills, planing mills, sash and door factories; manufactories of cement blocks, fence posts, brick and tile; also shops for black- smithing and the mending of all sorts of farm and orchard tools, wagons, carriages ; besides packing houses, warehouses, depots and docks, with special equipment of cars and boats for handling the various products amounting annually to hundreds of thousands of dollars and giving employment to thousands of men, women and children.
The compiler is pleased to acknowledge his indebtedness to Hon. Charles J. Monroe, one of his associate editors, for the foregoing able and interesting article on the agricultural and horticultural interests of Van Buren county. No man is better qualified to speak authoritatively concerning these important industries than Mr. . Monroe.
AGRICULTURE IN EASTERN VAN BUREN' By Jason Woodman
Very few, if any, of the counties of Michigan can show so great a diversity of soil and timber as the county of Van Buren. Beauti- ful "oak openings," heavy timbered lands, pine lands, thousands
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of acres of fat black muck, clay and loam, sand and gravel, with all the varying types of soils composed of these materials; plains, hills and valleys; lakes, streams and woodlands, give an infinite variety to the landscape and furnish the foundation for as diversi- fied an agriculture as can be found anywhere in the United States.
On the plains east and north of the village of Paw Paw, the pioneers found unmistakable evidences of fields or "gardens" that had once been cultivated, although again grown up with forest timber. The real agricultural history of the county, however, begins with the spring of the year 1829, on the northern boundaries of Little Prairie Ronde, section thirty-five of the township of Deca- tur. There, eighty-three years ago, settled Dolphin Morris; on lands still owned by his descendants he turned the first furrow and raised the first crop ever grown in the county by a white man. For two or three years Mr .. Morris enjoyed the distinction of being the only settler in the county; but the years 1833, 1834 and 1835 wit- nessed the beginning of the tide of immigration from the east.
"OAK OPENINGS" FIRST CULTIVATED
The new comers found a broad, well-beaten Indian trail, running diagonally across the townships of Almena, Antwerp, Paw Paw, Lawrence, Hamilton and Keeler. The old Territorial road, when first laid out, generally speaking followed this trail, and along its course the tide of immigration flowed. Nearly all the way, this road ran through oak openings.
According to the accounts of early settlers, these openings, in a state of nature, were beautiful beyond description. The surface of the land was level, or gently rolling. The trees grew scattering, some in groups, others standing alone, with wide "openings" or vistas between. The timber was mostly of the various varieties of oak, with low broad-spreading tops. There was little or no under- growth, and one could see for many rods in any direction. The ground was carpeted with grass and, during the summer months, sprinkled over with flowers. These "openings were great natural parks," wrote one of the early pioneers. Another said: "Coming from the bleak New England hills, the country looked to our eyes like the Garden of Eden."
The land was easily cleared and had natural underdrainage. It was fertile and produced abundantly, and twenty years from the time the first settlers made their appearance, while the heavily timbered portions of the county were yet sparsely settled the "oak openings" were dotted over with well improved farms and with substantial, well built, commodious farm houses and barns.
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PIONEER FARM IMPLEMENTS
The farm operations of those early days were primitive. Hay was mown, raked and gathered by hand. Wheat was cut with a "cradle," bound by hand and threshed with a flail, or the grain trodden out underneath the feet of cattle or horses. The first threshing machine made its advent about 1850, and was operated by David Woodman. It is described by his son, Edson Woodman, who in his boyhood worked with this machine many days, as "a cylinder mounted on a platform and operated by horse-power." The bundles of grain were fed through the cylinder ; the straw was raked from the rear of the machine by hand, while the grain and chaff were shoveled to one side, to be afterwards run through a fanning-mill, thus separating the grain from the chaff. Later, a device for separating the grain was attached to the cylinder and this was considered a great improvement. This threshing outfit was used, not only in this county, but in Kalamazoo and Cass counties as well ; being for years the only implement of its kind in this immediate part of the state. It was last operated on the farm of the late J. J. Woodman about the year 1861, where it was broken by a too violent pull on the part of a team of fractious horses and never repaired. It was succeeded by a new and improved machine, owned and operated by Mr. A. R. Wildey, the father of E. A. and W. C. Wildey. This new threshing outfit was considered remark- able because of the fact that a bundle of wheat could be run through it whole, with the band uncut, and not stop the machine.
AFTER THE CIVIL WAR
With the close of the Civil war, Van Buren county agriculture entered upon a new era. In 1864 the population of the county, mainly agricultural, numbered about eighteen thousand, an in- crease of ten thousand in ten years. The giant forests that covered the heavier, more fertile lands of the county, were rapidly disap- pearing before the woodman's axe; the age of American invention was on and modern agricultural machinery was replacing the prim- itive implements of husbandry. Mowers, horse hayrakes and horse forks, grain drills and reapers, improved machines for threshing grains and hulling clover, radically changed the methods of the husbandman. All farms were fenced into fields and carried live- stock; clover grew abundantly, furnishing hay and pasture; the farmer sold wheat, wool, mutton, beef and pork. For many years, it is said, more wheat was shipped from Decatur than from any other station on the line of the Michigan Central Railroad between the cities of Chicago and Buffalo. Many thousand pounds of wool
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were marketed by the farmers every spring, and the annual ship- ment of sheep, cattle and hogs amounted to hundreds of carloads.
LIVE STOCK
Aside from the practice, usual on practically every farm, of fat- tening home-grown stock for the market, during the three decades following the close of the Civil war a considerable stock feeding in- dustry was built up. John and William Lyle and Albert R. Wildey were the pioneers in this business. Others followed after and the feeding of sheep and cattle purchased for that purpose became common. A large portion of this stock came from the west and many thousands of bushels of "Chicago corn" were consumed every year in addition to the hay and grain grown on the "feed- ers' " farms. In 1892 seventy-three carloads of stock in car lots were fed for the market within three miles of the writer's home. In the main this business was profitable and the acres of the stock- feeding farmer grew more and more fertile.
During the years from 1876 to 1890, Van Buren county became one of the great horse breeding sections of the state. In the former year Mr. Edson Woodman purchased the "Duke of Perche," one of the first six Percheron stallions imported by M. W. Dunham of Illinois. The "Duke" proved to be a remarkable foal-getter and while he was owned by Mr. Woodman sired about 1,700 colts. The uniform excellence of his progeny did much to popularize the Per- cheron breed in this part of the state. Other breeds of horses also had their advocates, and the introduction of many stallions and pure bred mares, of the Percheron and other breeds, followed. Thousands of colts were raised by the farmers. This industry, for many years, was a most profitable one, and the county became famous for its fine horses. Like the sheep and cattle industry, the raising of horses not only added materially to the income of the farms but also aided in maintaining them in the highest condition of fertility.
GOLDEN ERA (1865-90)
As one looks back on the eighty years of the history of Van Buren county, this period, from 1865 to 1890, seems to stand out as the "golden era" of its agriculture. The soil was fertile and the farm methods practiced tended to maintain its fertility. Clover grew, blossomed and matured its seed, unhampered and unimpaired by insect enemies. As compared with the cost of production, the prices received for farm products were profitable. There was an abundance of competent and reliable farm help. The more profit- able city industries, paying rates of wages with which the farmer
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could not compete, had not yet drawn the larger part of competent, skilful young men away from the rural neighborhoods; large num- bers of farmers' sons, well trained by industrious fathers, when not needed at home, worked by the day or month for neighboring hus- bandmen. The intelligent, steady-going, hardworking "hired men" of the sixties, seventies and eighties, not only earned substantial profits for their employers, but, in very many cases, laid for them- selves the foundations of future substantial competence. Many of those, who are today among our most successful farmers, profes- sional and business men, were farm laborers in those days.
THE LEAN YEARS OF THE NINETIES
It is said that misfortunes never come singly. Beginning with 1890, excepting the year 1892 Van Buren county farmers suffered from a series of disastrous droughts. Year after year they saw their crops shortened or destroyed by rainless weather. In 1893 came the clover seed midge and the clover root borer, and a little later the clover leaf beetle, which in the spring destroyed the young clover plants. This latter insect was especially disastrous to young spring seedings. For years, there were practically no clover fields, and as a consequence the soil rapidly deteriorated. During the same years the prices of farm products fell to a ruinous level. Wheat sold as low as forty cents per bushel, wool at eight cents per pound, fat wethers at seventy-five cents per head and hogs at $2.40 per hundred. The best heavy horses sold for from seventy-five to one hundred dollars per head, and in 1896 corn of the best quality sold for seventeen cents per bushel of seventy-five pounds. The prices of other staple crops dropped to the same level; good agri- cultural lands were offered at from twenty to forty dollars per acre, with few sales even at those prices. The breeding of horses ceased, the fattening of stock for the market came to a sudden termination, while sheep and beef breeds of cattle practically disap- peared from the farms.
After a time, however, the situation began to improve; the rain- fall increased, parasites preyed on the clover insect enemies and clover again grew on well managed farms, although not with its old-time luxuriance; prices of farm produce improved, but live- stock farming has never regained its former importance, nor, as a rule, its former profit.
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