The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1882-09-15
Lansing Letter to Chicago Inter o,

FARMERS ARE RICH AND PROSPEROUS.
Lansing Letter to Chicago Inter ocean,
The State of Michigan is 9,745 square
miles larger than the State of New
York. 1900 larger than Pennsylvania,
1859 larger than Ohio, %, 565 larger
than Indiana. 2,265 larger than Illinois,
and COS larger than England and Wales.
The entire area of the six New England
States is only 1850 square miles larger
than that of Michigan.
When the State was admitted into
the Union, less than fifty years ago, it
ranked twenty-third among the States
in the order of population. 1t Is now
the ninth.
II has coast line of 1000 miles
more than half the distance between
New York and Liverpool-along which
vessels of 1000 tons may sail without
losing sight of its territory.
The largest body of fresh water in
the world forms it's northern boundary !;
the second largest its western except
these two there are no lakes in Europe,
Asia or America larger than that which
washes it's eastern borders and it has
ports on two others. Lying in the en-
brace of these immense seas its climate
has no equal in the moderation of its
temperature in any State or Territory
situated on the same degrees of latitude
east of the Rocky mountains. To this
fact is due it's pre-eminence in fruit rails
ing. In this respect it surpasses all
Arth tot
The fruits of the Temperate zone
flourish throughout the Southern Pen
insula, whose western shore has become
famous as "the Michigan fruit-belt."
Even the semi-tropical fig has ripened
under favorable circumstances i'll the
open air in Berrien county.
Most of the Southern Peninsula of
the State lies between the same lines of
latitude as New York The shore line
of its Upper Peninsula on Lake Supe-
rior is mostly south of the latitude of
Quebec. No part of Michigan is as far
north as Paris.
1t has over 4,400 miles of railroad.
Fifty-three county seats out of
sixty-seven in the Lower Peninsula
have railroad connections; nine others
are large ports There are only five
which have no outlet either by rail or
water. and none of these il more than
twenty-five miles from railroad. In the
Upper Peninsula there is only one, and
in the Lower Peninsula there are only
eight counties which are not reached by
railroad connections already in opera
ton or in process of construction.
The farmers of Michigan have GER
tain assurance of permanent competi-
ton in the rates of transportation to
Eastern and seaboard markets, not only
by various rival lines of railroad, but by
natural and artificial waterways. Every
dollar saved in reaching the consumer
is added to the gains of the producer.
The reports of the United States De-
partment of Agriculture show that in
a series of six years previous to and in
Guiding 1880, the average cash value
per acre of eight leading productions of
the farm, taken together in ten princi-
pal farming States of the West, was
greater in Michigan than in any other
State. The following table gives the
average yield per acre Gas given in the
reports of the United States Department
of Agricultural, and the value per acre
of the four principal cereals of the West
ern States holding cheap lands.