Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1878-01-19
A SCIENTIFIC IGNoRAMUs.


port is out. and if that official knows as
little of the rest of the state as he does OF
the northern part, his report can be of
no value, but positive damage to the
state.
On page Is Of his report he says: 1.-THE
high plateau i'm the northern part of the
lower peninsula is covered with pine
forest to the exclusion of almost every
other kind of timber" A more stupid
blundcr could not have been made if the
DIR. had gone through i'm asIeeping Car.
On the high plateau in the northwestern
portion of the lower peninsula there is
more hardwood timber than ever existed
i'm the lower peninsula at any one time
south OF the Detroit & Milwaukee rail-
road, as any one knows who has ever
Travelled through the country.
Again he says, The soil, as long as
some humus is mixed with it. may givea
fair potato crop, or by careful attendance
garden vegetables can be raised, but its
productiveness is so soon exhausted and
its moisture so soon lost that it can new
er be used for agriculture OH large
scale with any prospect of success. This
is more stupidity false than the first ex-
tract. 1t is well established fact that
this S, csion of the state excels all oiht rs
In the production of potatoes, both in
quality and quantity to the acre. But
potatoes are not an exeeptien-the coun-
try is equally good for wheat. oats, bar
ley, rye, clover, timothy, and i'm fact
about all crops which can be grown any
where. The information compiled by
the Secretary of State shows that the
average crops to the acre of wheat are
much greater in this section of the state,
30 disp rlgingly spoken OF by This
scientist, than i'll the lower section of the
state. The same is true of oats and hay.
and in Il ct most crops. In fact there are
no better farms i'll the state than we
could name in this section of the state.
In addition to this, we know we are not
speaking at random when we say th.t
the percentage of profit OH the invest
ment is greater in this section than in
any other.
The Gi land Traverse Herald, in noticing
this matter, says pertinently: "Proies sor
"inchell, former state geoiogist, and a
man well-known as "a scientist, spent sew
eral weeks looking over this country,
and after careful study OF its soil pro-
nounced 1t one of the richest for agricu,-
tural purposes. DIR. Rominger, his sue
cessor, spent one day. and that Sunday,
and an Traverse city, and he says i'm eff
feet that WiDchell was a fool. When a
quack Is called to take the place of reg
ular physician he always begins by call
ing the physician fool, that his diagno-
sis was wrong and that some other and
more horrible disease affiicts the patient.
And so when scientific quack who does
not know that PetOskey is not the term
mus of the Jackson, Lansing s. Saginaw
railroad, rides through he country at
railroad speed and from the car windows
makes scientific examination OF the soil
sufficient to satisfy him that one-third of
the lower peninsula is worthless as "a
farming country, he calls his predecessor
fool. He passes his opinion upon the
fruit producing capacities OF the different
parts Of the state, and then shows his is-
norance of the whole subject of pomology
by CHASING peaches among small fruits.
de says, page 10, The west shore up as
far as Muskegon has become famous for
its peaches and other small fruits If
the DIR. means by this to compliment the
west shore of Lake Michigan below
MuskegOn, we doubt if the people of
Oceana, Mason, Manistee and Benzie:will
thank him tor calling their peaches small
fruits. Ii he means the counties south
OF MuskegOn, then he knows so little of
the geography of the state that he don't
know which way Lake Michigan runs. -
We don't know what it costs the state of
Michigan to control the services of such
scientific ignoramns, but we know that
the cost OF publishing his reports is large,
and that it is worse than thrown away.
1t Is disgrace to the state to have such
man occupying this position and we
trust that he will soon see cause to vacate
1t.