East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1866-02-07
che q ourier.
Fruit Raising. in Michigan.

The Grand Rapids Eagle, predicat
ing an article upon recent item il
the Free Press, giving an account o
fruit raising in Berrien county, add
some interesting facts, as follows;
Peaches sell readily at from twic,
60 three times the price of wheat pei
bushel, when they can be marketed
without bruising, as they can from
most of the places on the shore OF
lake Michigan, while the expense Of
raising them is not near as much, and
they can be made to produce from
1--we to ten times as much per acre.
1t has been generally supposed that
the vicinity of st Joseph was the only
district in the State where the peach
was sure crop. This has been found
20 be a great mistake, as it does
equally well at all points along Lake
Michigan where sufficiently near the
shore to get the mo flying influences
of the lake winds 10 protect it from
the severe cold of winter and the
the sharp frosts of spring. In the
vicinity of Muskegon are thousands
of acres of excellent fruit lands, well
adapted to peaches and grapes, as
well as the harder fruits, aud for a
hundred miles further down the lake.
we are told that the peach crop rare
" if ever fails. All along our west
ern coast, from that cause, the country
is destined to a future of untold
wealth, which no agricultural region
of the West can possibly eclipse.
From Muskegon, fruits gathered
and placed on vessels at night can be
marketed the next morning in any of
the cities of Sheboygan, Milwaukee,
Racine, Kenosha and Chicago, as
fresh as when gathered from the tree
or vine. 1t is consideration worth
from fifty to a hundred per cent to
he able TO market it fresh and free
from bruises. And, although there
is a choice of several good markets,
Chicago alone will furnish an ample
demand for the fruit of this region
for a quarter of a century, if not for
oil time to come.
TO the fruit-grower, no region in
all the Northwest promises so rich re-
turns as Western Michigan. This
may he set down as a fixed fact. 1t
is already demonstrated, and less than
five wears will witness demand for
the coast lands at what would now be
deemed fabulous prices. Mark that.
Already extensive peach orchards are
started, and some of them will COM
mence bearing next season, at the
mouths of Grand, Muskegon and
White rivers, and as far down the
coast as Mason county.
Although not as yet generally
known, it is fact, demonstrated by
actual experiment, that the Eastern
shore of Saginaw Bay is peculiarly ia
vorable to the production of fruit
of all kinds, and there is no doubt
that it will soon become one of the
loading fruit growing sections of
Michigan. The soil is of excellent
character, land the trees being protect
ed both from frosts and premature
termination, have, as far as the expert
ment has been tried, invaria oily turned
out robust. and thrifty. Persons in
this vicinity whose tastes run to
fruit culture, the most profitable of all
occupations under favorable circum-
stances, have the facilities at their
own doors for gratifying such taste,
with the sure prospect of rich re-
turn. This is fact worthy Of con-
sideration, and ought to elicit tho at
tention of some of our people who are
so keenly on the alert for desirable
opportunities to invest elsewheao.