USA > Michigan > Monroe County > History of Monroe County, Michigan : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people, and its principal interests Volume I > Part 41
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Discarding entirely the masses taken for trap-shooting, wasted by losses from heat, lack of cars, or other causes, and considering only recorded shipments, taking the Shelby traffic as a normal one, and allowing three nestings a year, for the ten years of organized slaughter, there is accounted for the killing of no less than 9,270,000,000 passenger pigeons. But a few years ago a few live birds were taken from Michigan by Professor Whitman of Chicago, for the purpose of propagation, and a few pairs were raised from these birds. They did not thrive, however, outside their natural environments, and the wild life, and in 1910 only two birds were left. The oldest of these birds attained the age of twenty- six years. It is believed that one bird only, a female, survives, of this beautiful and typical American game bird, which is now in the Zoological Gardens at Cincinnati, Ohio.
CHAPTER XXIV NATURAL PRODUCTS
EARLY TRIALS OF AGRICULTURE-SOILS AND SUBSOILS-FRUIT GROWING FAVORED-OLD FRENCH PEAR TREES-FARM PRODUCTS-STATISTICS FOR 1910-BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY-TIMBER GROWTH AND CONSERVA- TION-IMPROVEMENT OF SOILS-NATURAL GAS AND OIL-MINERAL SPRINGS-MARL BEDS-FARMERS' FENCES-GENERAL STATISTICS.
A keen appreciation of novelty, a readiness to adopt improved pro- cesses, and the extensive application of machinery constitute the most important elements of industrial successes in the twentieth century. Conditions have undergone a wonderful change and many farming methods of half a century ago are but a memory. The farming utensils of that period are curios today, while the farm buildings, dwellings, barns and cattle sheds reveal comfort, sanitary conditions, convenience, regard for the welfare of stock that are a surprising evolution from the conditions existing in the fifties, and make for the betterment of the general communities.
The change does not stop here; the telephone, rural free delivery of the United States postal department, improved stone roads, automo- biles, electric railroads, daily weather reports, circulating libraries, vast improvements in educational facilities, all these have been added to make the intelligent farmer's lot one to be envied rather than com- miserated, and places him on the plane of his urban fellow citizens, in many cases indeed above him in the contributory means for comfort, rational enjoyment and intellectual improvement.
EARLY TRIALS OF AGRICULTURE
Monroe county is fortunate in the quality of its farming element of population. The original settlers in the country about the River Raisin and the small lakes and water courses and creeks were, as we know, French, and they were a good, kind-hearted and industrious people, though not having the same inclination to thorough farming and the development of the new country as that class of pioneers who followed them during the period before and after the admission of the state into the Union, who came from the eastern and middle states.
Agriculture was not encouraged in this neighborhood in the early days of the last century and no considerable grants of land were made during the English possession, from 1760 to 1796. A few traders had a substantial monopoly of the traffic in furs and with the Indians, and they secured an equal monopoly in government influence. Instead of encouraging the growth of a free and manly yeomanry like that which had made the other colonies prosperous and self reliant, an influential number deliberately planned, as well as they could, to keep this whole region from improvement. And, under the combined influences of
312
313
HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
avarice and hate the time came when they did not hesitate to encourage the extermination of civilized families to keep it as an asylum for sav- ages and wild beasts. If the people of the district had all grown up under the free system of English law, the monopolies must have been shut out or controlled, and settlements would have been extended. But when the traders found a state of things which favored their selfish plans, they had no desire to change it. Michigan, as we know, was well adapted for hunting and trapping. The traders and authorities in their interest, desired to retain it as it was; and they were too far off from the seat of authority to be prevented from doing as they pleased, with impunity. Men of the present day, or up to a comparatively recent period can remember how, even in their manhood days, we were cut off during the winter from all intercourse with the rest of the world, except by means of the irregular mail arrangements that gave occasional glimpses of things beyond, through the thickets of the "black swamps." But early in the last century there were no railroads nor steamboats nor canals, nor roads of any kind. There was complete isolation. The woods were full of Indians, in the pay and friendship of Great Britain ; and encouraged by the unscrupulous emissaries of some very unscrupu- lous men to prevent American settlers and especially farmers from coming north of Ohio, by slaying without mercy or compunction, men, women and children. The importance of gaining possession of Detroit, and cutting off this malign influence was apparent to all of the public men in this portion of the northwest, and Washington himself, at various times, made efforts to bring it about.
George Rogers Clarke organized an expedition for that purpose, and captured Governor Hamilton at Vincennes, whence he was sent to Virginia in irons, as an offender against the rules of war, and as an instigator of savage cruelties. Those few settlers who were scattered along the River Raisin, the Huron, the Rouge or Ecorces, were ter- ribly harassed by savages and found it difficult to do any farming- scarce enough to raise supplies for their own families and animals. It was certainly a discouraging outlook for the farmer, and not a few utterly gave up the attempt, depending upon hunting, fishing and trapping for their food and upon the traders for flour and tea. Tea must be had at any cost !
SOILS AND SUBSOILS
The different townships have each their own characteristics of soil and subsoils. (It is said, by the way, by our state geologist that there is no sharp line of division to be drawn between soil and subsoil, but by the latter term is commonly meant those loose deposits, which are beyond reach in the ordinary process of cultivation, say from eight to twelve inches deep.) The subsoil of Monroe county consists very largely of clay, with more or less silica and iron gradually growing darker and heavier towards the northwestern part of Milan. Without attempting too fine a classification, it may be said that the farmers of Monroe county have to deal with five types of soil, which possibly shade into each other by imperceptible gradations ; sand, clay, loam, silt and muck. The sand varies in different localities, in its commercial value, very greatly ; "building sand" in some localities, is of the best quality and highly valued ; in others, although it is used to some extent the "sharp" characteristic is absent, it is practically valueless for the builders' use. Sand and gravel, which are great belts of sand with limited patches of gravel have been produced by the wave action of the various bodies of water which covered the region after the withdrawal of the great ice
314
HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
sheet, of the glacial period. The beach ridge of sand was formed by the action of the waves, wherever found. Its loose particles after dry- ing, would be seized by the winds and gradually moved landward, until the belt of sand would increase to a width of from three to seven miles broad. This is seen (to a less extent) along the western shores of Lake Erie, where a high, broad ridge intervenes between the waters of the lake and the marsh. While the action just mentioned, was in progress in the littoral or shore region of the lakes, the finer particles of sand and alumina was taken in suspension and carried lakeward by the waves and currents. This material would settle very slowly into the deeper and quieter portions of the waters and from the clay deposit, covering the bottom of the lake. The vegetable growth on the bottom of the lake became imbedded in the clay and gave it a dark color. This deposit would be thinner in the western, and thicker in the eastern part of the country, where it covers the surface boulders. This clay is very sticky when wet. The term loam is applied to a mixture of sand and clay, which, owing either to the proportion of the ingredient, or to the size of the constituent particles, is looser and less compact than clay itself. When wet it is not so sticky and upon drying does not bake and crack. As the proportions of clay and sand differ, varieties are distinguished which graduate into one another, and into other types of soil. Narrow strips of this soil occur along the margins of the clay and sand belts where the two have become mechanically mixed through the action of wind and water.
When the plant food products are present it forms an ideal soil, because of the ease with which it can be worked, and of its ability to conserve just the proper amount of moisture for plant growth. The fourth type of soil alluded to, is Silt; along the margins of all the streams constituting their food plains is a deposit very similar in its physical properties to loam. It differs from it, usually, in having a much greater variety of material present, since it represents the surface wash from all the regions drained by each particular stream. It is distinctly stratified and contains the shells of both water and land snails and other molluscs. Owing to its great fertility it supports an abundant vegetation, which gives it a dark color. The larger streams furnish the broader areas of this type of soil, and in some localities dykes have been constructed around the fields to shut out the streams completely, at times of flood. In composition the typical river silt con- sists of 50 to 70 per cent of sand and about 10 per cent each of alumina and organic matter, with varying quantities of iron, calcium magne- sium, potash, soda and phosphorus. This general nature is shown by two analyses, given below from the bottom lands of the Raisin, just over the western boundary of the county at Deerfield. The first, (No. 1) analysis is of silt which had been under cultivation for forty years without artificial fertilization; the second (No. 2) represents "virgin soil." The timber in both cases is ash, basswood, hickory, walnut and oak.
Soils
Cultivated
Uncultivated
Sand and silicates
58.17
62.42
Alumina
6.48
10.64
Oxide of iron
7.62
3.42
Lime
1.92
2.10
Magnesia
1.43
1.59
Potash
1.84
2.05
Soda
1.20
1.19
Sulphuric acid
.32
.24
Phosphoric acid
.40
.41
F
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
Soil
Cultivated
Uncultivated
Organic matter
*10.97 +9.39
Water
9.45
6.08
*Nitrogen .42.
+Nitrogen .37.
The fifth and last of the soils of Monroe county, alluded to, is muck, to which the geological authorities and agricultural writers attach much importance and of interest to our county. The following excerpt from the Geological Report on Monroe county by Prof. W. H. Sherzer ably discourses upon the matter in an interesting paper as follows: "One characteristic of a glaciated region is the presence of innumerable basin like depressions, in which spring and surface water may accumulate, but from which it cannot readily escape, except by evaporation. Many such spots are found in the sand belts, where the sand is thin and underlain by clay. Small lakes are here formed in which plants, draw- ing their sustenance from the water and air, get a foothold and eventu- ally add their remains to the soil of the bottom and margin. Coarse varieties of moss presently start, which dying beneath and growing above prepare a bed for the rushes, the water lilies, and the water- living shrubs. Through the agency of water fowl animal life might be introduced, the decay of which would furnish other ingredients to the soil accumulation upon the bottom. Some clay and sand would be washed in from the surrounding region, so that through all these agencies the lake would be slowly filled and converted into a marsh. New types of plant life would now find suitable conditions, the filling process would continue and a meadow finally result, capable of cultiva- tion. The black, spongy, carbonaceous mass, resulting from the alter- ation and partial preservation of the organic matter, is called peat when practically pure. Usually it is mixed with clay and sand and is then known as muck. It is rich in nitrogen and phosphorous, but does not contain sufficient body to serve as a soil for most plants. The total amount of such soil in the county is not great although small areas are numerous in certain regions. A cranberry marsh covering 112 acres is located in the S. E. 1/4, Sec. 24 of Summerfield township. This is flooded in the spring, but is drained and later irrigated by numerous wells, from which the water is pumped by windmills. An extensive peat bed occurs in Sec. 9 of London township, 60 acres of which belong to the Ilgenfritz Nursery Co., of Monroe. A crop of sphagnum, the moss concerned mainly in the production of peat, is harvested from it each season and used in packing about the roots of nursery stock for ship- ment. It holds moisture well, is light and does not 'heat.' In 1838 Hubbard reported a soil of fibrous peat one to two feet thick as cover- ing 18 section in Ida, 9 in Summerfield and 5 in Whiteford."
The failure of a soil to produce certain crops in not due necessarily to the absence of essential constituents in available form, but may be due to some physical disability. Some harmful ingredient may be pres- ent in disastrous amount, as an acid in the case of muck.
FRUIT GROWING FAVORED
The soils of Monroe county are rich in calcium carbonate, owing to the prevalence of limestone in this county and to the north of it with the favorable climatic conditions, the grape grows luxuriantly in such soils and in a high degree of richness. One variety especially, the Concord, appears to thrive better than most others, and it is grown extensively in almost every township in the county, but more abun- dantly in those lying along the River Raisin.
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
With such a variety of soil and a favoring climate, conditions are found suitable for the growth of other fruit besides the grape, but the statistics of the State Agricultural Department show that in aver- age years, the best fruit producing townships are in the southern part of the county, notably Erie, Bedford, Whiteford, Raisinville.
This does not necessarily follow, however, as indicating special natural advantages over some other townships; other considerations may influence the published facts in certain years, and the efforts to produce large crops of good fruit
It is probable that the nearness of the Toledo market stimulates the grower in the townships contiguous to it. No doubt other townships could make equally as good showing with intelligent handling of soils, and selection of the best sorts of fruit popular in large city markets. The natural conditions are favorable.
OLD FRENCH PEAR TREES
The earliest French settlers upon the River Raisin brought with them from Quebec, Montreal and other established communities along the River St. Lawrence, from which so many of the earlier inhabitants came, cuttings from the wonderful fruit trees of their forefathers in Southern France and Lombardy. The pears and apples of that favored land were the finest in size and most delicious in flavor of any in the world. The old French pears were affectionately remembered for their hardy growth and their prolific crops of luscious fruit. These found a hospitable home along the banks of the Rivière aux Raisins and the Rivière De Troit and for more than one hundred years their fame has been much more than local. Giants in size among trees, they became worthy children of noble sires, they sturdily withstood the rigorous climate in their youth, they reached a vigorous old age. Year succeed- ing year they have continued to yield abundant crops, delighting thou- sands of the new and repeated acquisitions to the settlements and still continue their beneficent contributions to the multitude of things that make life pleasant in the valley of the Raisin, and many of the trees keep up a brave front after arriving at the venerable age of a hundred and thirty years. No other name has ever been found for this tree. "The old French pear" seems good enough and appropriate enough and distinctive enough.
From notes which were prepared some years ago in connection with the subject by the Honorable Edwin Willitts, of Monroe, who was at the time, president of the Michigan agricultural college, in which the author of this work was also interested, an article was written which excited very general interest and discussion. It treated the history of this pear tree in Monroe, covering a period from 1784 to 1849, and up to the present generation. The Francois Navarre farm as well as the farms of Lacroix, Roberts, La Tour, Robert Navarre, La Salle, Caldwell, and many others along the Raisin, boasted either large orchards, or small groups of these fine trees of great height and size. Many of these are still standing. The writer in the summer of 1911, saw a row of five thrifty trees on what was known as the old Robert Navarre farm (now in the third ward), not, it is true, in their robust appearance of their youth, but unmistakably shrinking in the lapse of years, and after the buffeting of storms, yet as luxuriant in foliage as in their lusty growth of younger days, and still exhibiting an astonishing virility in the loads of fruit which ripened on their branches. One of these trees was cut down soon after, necessitated by the opening through the premises of a new street; the concentric rings of the trunk indicated an
317
HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
age of one hundred and twenty-eight years, confirming the belief that they were among the first planted by the original settlers in Monroe. So, also, in the yard of Miss Sawyer, whose premises, covering nearly a block, once formed a part of the Francis Navarre farm, having been included in the large grant of land from the Indians of the Pottawot- tamie tribe, mostly in consideration of their great friendship, there re- mained until recently the remnant of a once flourishing pear orchard .* Among the trees planted soon after the close of the war of 1812, upon the return of the refugees to their old homes, and the arrival of new settlers, there were a few standing in the garden of Judge Warner Wing, now the Wilder place; others in the old Colonel John Anderson lot, once owned by Talcott E. Wing, now occupied by the fine home of Mr. Theodore Ilgenfritz; in the Dansard lot, which was formerly the home of Honorable Robert McClelland, the ninth governor of Michigan, and secretary of interior, in the cabinet of President Franklin Pierce, who then resided in Monroe; others on the premises of the old Macomb street house ; of Dr. Harry Conant, and of the Cole homestead. After- wards, scores of the young trees and seedlings were brought from their original homes on the farms along the river, the Labadie, the Roberts, the Navarre's and others, and started on their new life in various parts of the city as well as on farms west and south, further up the river. Many of these trees measured, at the time the data alluded to was gath- ered, eight feet four inches in circumference at a height of four feet from the ground. These particular trees were set out by Stephen Down- ing soon after 1812. A singular circumstance in regard to the career of these trees now spoken of is related. They, at one time, appeared to be dying from some unknown cause, but were saved by a heroic remedy as strange as it was accidental. Mr. Downing's people were one summer accustomed to making ice cream under the shade of these trees, and the salt and melted ice used in the process were thrown upon the ground around the roots. The progress of decay was at once arrested, new life seemed to be imparted to the fading foliage, and the whole tree became in a short time restored to perfect health and vigor.
On the premises of the late Caleb Ives, now included in the St. Mary's Church property, were two huge trees of the 1812 epoch, which were planted by Jacques La Salle, the trunks of which measured over seven feet in circumference. Another large tree of the same family stood on the farm of Samuel M. Bartlett, three miles south of Monroe. It was a fine specimen and greatly admired for its stately beauty. It was blown over during a heavy gale in 1849, and found to be sound to the heart. Mr. Bartlett counted eighty-five concentric rings indicating its age at that time of eighty-five years. On the farm of George Wakefield in Raisinville, a short distance west of Monroe, stood a grand old tree more than eighty years old, and there were evidences that an extensive pear and apple orchard existed there as long ago as 1796. In 1876, one of those trees yielded thirty-five bushels of excellent apples. The old apple orchards do not appear to have survived in their pristine beauty and fruitfulness. Most of them have passed away, doubtless from neglect, and very few ragged and unlovely ones are now seen.
FARM PRODUCTS
In the production of the staple farm products, Monroe county ranks well, both as to the number of bushels produced, and the average yield
* A row of these famous old pear trees is shown in the small illustration (see p. 14) similar to those which stood in the yard of the Col. Francis Navarre house, removed some years ago.
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY
per acre; the heavier soils being well adapted for the complete develop- ment of cereals. Some favored localities are capable of yielding thirty to fifty bushels of wheat to the acre, yet the average yield is but little over half that amount. In 1898 for instance, the average for the whole county was a fraction over twenty-one bushels, when Erie township was at the head of the list with nearly twenty-five bushels. In 1897, the average was 20.80 bushels, giving Monroe county sixth place in this state, having eighty-three counties reporting. The author has the tabulated statistics for 1898, the latest obtainable, which will indicate a fair average of Monroe county farm products :
Corn
Township
Soil
Wheat Bushels
Bushels Shelled
Oats Bushels
Potatoes Bushels
Ash.
Clay, sand.
50,072
78,805
64,947
10,299
Bedford
Sand, clay
42,113
85,642
59,892
78,896
Berlin.
Clay.
23,097
41,127
33,304
2,265
Dundee.
Clay, sand, silt.
75,000
175,000
210,000
2.000
Erie.
Clay, sand
56,641
78,201
50,633
14,352
Exeter
Clay, sand.
51,936
77,363
63,430
10,346
Frenchtown. . Clay, sand.
64,621
110,832
84,675
15,157
Ida.
Sand, clay
58,649
101,305
70,733
42,873
La Salle
Clay, sand.
60,522
121,450
59,825
15,703
London.
Sand.
33,656
64,136 110,600
67,715
9,414
Monroe.
Clay, sand, silt.
32,923
51,425
34,988
8,449
Raisinville.
. . Clay, sand, silt.
87,745
140,930
96,842
19,633
Summerfield. . Sand.
42,890
106,245
52,474
59,930
Whiteford. .. Clay, sand.
59,133
135,825
92,627 *
60,656
Totals.
793,157
1,478,886
1,089,381
372,002
48,256
22,029
Milan.
Clay.
54,159
In various townships of the county there were also produced 17,826 bushels of rye, 1,743 bushels of beans, 912 bushels of clover and 47,125 tons of hay.
The county produces annually, approximately, about one million bushels of wheat, one million five hundred thousand bushels of shelled corn, and one million two hundred and fifty thousand bushels of oats. The sand belts furnish desirable conditions for growing potatoes, and in the sand loam sections, they are of the very finest quality and often sell at fancy prices; beans and buckwheat also are successfully raised in the townships where the sandy soil is conspicuous. The experiment has been tried of raising sweet potatoes which would seem to find favorable conditions here, but the result has been discouraging. Hubbard squash has been a profitable product, and large shipments have been made to eastern markets. Some remarkable crops of this vegetable have been reported. In the township of Bedford not long since, three-fourths of an acre of heavy sand yielded twelve tons of this squash.
Marsh land in irregular patches, has been utilized to some extent in the cultivation of cranberries, celery and peppermint. The late Morrison Paulding, a few years ago, engaged in the business of peppermint raising and distilling the oil on a tract of muck and sand, at a time when the price of this herb and its oil was very high, and the demand good. Mr. Pauld- ing's experience at the beginning was very encouraging, but after a few years, a combination of untoward circumstances rendered it unprofitable and the enterprise was discontinued. The cultivation of celery has been attempted here in the vicinity of Monroe and Dundee by truck farmers, and excellent qualities have been raised, and found a ready market.
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