Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1882-06-03
NORTHERN TRIBUNE.
SATURDAY. JUNE 3, 1882.
A BivaIvOus Experiment I'm the I'm
land Waters of Michigan.

land Waters of Michigan.
A correspondent of the Denver Tri-
bune, writing from Monmouth lake,
Michigan, says: began to hear about
Seth POwell's oyster bed before got to
Saginaw, on the Flint and Pere Mar
Quette railroad, in northern Michigan,
but no one could give any definite ac-
count of it. | am always looking for
curious things, and last week, being up
on the lower peninsula, above Saginaw,
where the oyster lake was said to be
located, determined to find out where
it was and visit it. The Michigan Cen
trail runs spur up through
the peninsula through hundreds of miles
of pine forest and wilderness to Che
bOygan and Mackinac City, OIL the straits
of Mackinac. Half way from the great
Saginaw salt wells and Mackinaw City
we passed through the upper half of
ROscOmmOn county. The county is too
wild and unsettled to have county seat
and the two stations in it are simply
two great lumber camps. The pOpula-
tiOn of the county is made up OF hard
working lumbermen and three or four
rich sawmill owners.
"Seth Powell, at No-MOuth lake, is
the man who's raising oysters" said the
conductor. "He's a rich lumber man,
and can do anything"
Six miles from the station, after
riding through pine wilderness,
came to Seth POwell's hOuse-per
haps the only nice house within 10
miles. find that many of the saw mill
owners IN Michigan, around Manistee
LudingtOn, Alpena and Kalkaska, are
wealthy, and have residences handsome
enough for Chicago or New York. Lum-
Der and labor are cheap, and, with city
architect and painter, wood palace
can be made for almost nothing.
"Icame over" l said to Mr.. Powell,
"tO see if it is true that you are raising
oysters here in Michigan"
"Then you've heard about it, have
you? Well, l guess you've struck the
truth this time. l have got an oyster
bed in Monmouth lake, and they seem to
be dong we'll. I'll take one of the boys,
If you say so, and we'll drag out some
oysters and show you"
Monmouth lake, should say, was
100 rods long and 60 rods wide. 1t is
very deep at one end-I suppose GO feet
while at the other it is shallow, with
a gravel and sand bottom. One peculi-
arity about the lake is that it has no
outlet Two brooks run into it; but the
water either sOaks into the sand or
evapOrates. Its depth never changes.
The whole county of ROscommOn is
situated on a divide. From the west
side the waters RIM west into Lake
Michigan; from the south side they run
sOutherly toward Saginaw bay; and from
the north side they run toward Grand
Traverse. The county is on the summit.
Mr.. Powell and the men rOwed out
about 20 feet from the shore, at the
mouth of one of the brooks, in water
about two feet deep, and dragged I'D
some oysters. They were as good look
ing oysters as | had ever seen i'm Oyster
Bay or along the Shrewsbury river.
They were fat and healthful. Noticing
the water was salt l was filed with
wonder
"HOw came the water salt?" asked.
ut is just about as salt as it is at the
mouth of Shrewsbury river"
"Well. oysters won't live in fresh
water. will theyp" asked Mr.. Powell.
smiling. "They say the ocean gets its
sail from the OYSTER
"Where did it come from ?" asked.
swell, I'll tell you the history of my
oyster raising in the center Of Michi-
gan. used to live at South Oyster Bay
on Long Island. We always used to
plant the oysters at the mouths of the
fresh water streams, where they ran in
to the bay. An oyster wants half fresh
and half salt water. Now. L found !
had lake here with no outlet that is, if
there is an outlet it is through the
sandy bottom. Now, salt won't run
through sand. knew this because we
had well at South Oyster bay in the
sand IL feet from the salt water, but it
was always fresh. So, | said, if / put
salt into this lake it will stay there. |
can make 1t just like Oyster Bay and
keep it so. My cars taking lumber TO
Saginaw had to come back empty. Salt
costs nothing but the pumping in Sagi-
nav; so shipped back so carloads of
| sent to Smith Robinson at Oyster Bay
and had him ship me ten barrels of
small oysters little fellows no larger
than marbles and some of them the
size of peas. put them in the lake at
the mouth of the two fresh water
streams. They have grown right along.
Now Pm putting in other salt water
fish, like clans and blue fish, and they'll
grow too. If l keep my lake just as
salty as Oyster Bay l know that any
fish living in Oyster Bay will live in
my lake."
"Then you propose to set up in Opposi-
ton to the Atlantic ocean," suggest
ed.
mo, but I'm off here in the woods, and
want little fun, and / want to show
the darned fools in the world who talk
about fish culture that they can 90 to
thunder with their theories. They may
talk and write, but will raise and eat
oysters, clans and soft she'll crabs in
Michigan"
But why can't they raise oysters in
CaIt abe Utah - 7 aakad "aud in Ofhpr