Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1914-07-18

The amount of new land brought
under cultivation in the last twenty
years is but 5 per cent greater than
the number of acres titled twenty-five
years ago, and the abandoned farms
of New England, Michigan and many
other states where farms have been
either totally abandoned or the acre
age titled greatly decreased because
Of the lack of labor, have more than
offset the production from the new
land. The result is that instead of
our exporting millions of bushels of
wheat and other foodstuffs, our ex-
port business is practically at stand
still, and today we are importing
foodstuffS from foreign countries.
with the development of Michigan
went her wonderful forests. The
growth of the cities demanded the
lumber, and the fortunate men who
could buy these lands at $1.25 an acre,
and take from them $4,000 and $780,
900 worth of lumber, became wealthy.
In their greed to get the most for
nothing, they took only the best logs,
leaving the tops and down logs for
fire trap, and soon the spark was
added which produced the awful con-
1agration which swept over the state,
and which has followed time and time
again, destroying the young growth,
eating the humuS out of the SOIL and
leaving the once fertile ground but
bare sand and charred stumps, which
which have stood for years as the
blackened tombstones of the ancient
forests. The very men who had
gained by the ruthless waste of tim
Der, now proclaimed that the Michi-
gan pine barrens'-which they had
produced-were valueless, and as soon
as their logs were cut they moved into
the city, or to the far West, to enjoy
the wealth they had gotten from the
Michigan soil, and for which they had
paid but a pittance.
For years these sandy lands were
considered worthless, the owners re-
fusing to pay taxes on them, and al
lowing them to go back to the state,
the state occasionally selling some Of
them, and spending large sums Of
money advertising the sales.
"As the Sand Farmer travelled
through the western part of Michigan
to his new home in Muskegon, leav-
ing New York City, where he had re-
sided for twenty years, and his birth
place in the Berkshire Hills, the sight
of these waste lands depressed him,
and he asked the question:: why are
not these lands tillable?' He re-
ceived the reply that they were
WORTHLESS; even white beans would not
grow on them if sprouted.
lone day a lecturer from the State
University made the statement that
there were thousands of acres of these
lands adjoining Muskegon, which
could be bought for ST 90 or 81 25 an
acre The Sand Farmer could not be-
lieve it, but upon inquiry found that it
was only too true, and thereupon he
began to purchase these lands from
individuals, and from the state, until
his friends thought him insane, and
his neighbors were sure he was a
fool; but not until he had acquired
more than thousand acres did he
stop buying
Being a manufacturer of under
wear and hosiery, and having only
general knowledge of farm methods,
he began to study by reading books,
agricultural papers, and making in
quiry of those who were supposed to
know, but mostly by asking questions
of the soil. He accepted all state
ments-but proved them out under
actual conditions before believing
them. He travelled from Canada to
Southern Mexico, studying methods
and seeking plants especially adapted
to these sandy soils. He employed ag-
ricultural experts, and soon discov-
cred that the methods and crops
adapted to other soils were not nee
essarily good for the Michigan pine
barrens.' He assumed certain facts to
be true and then went about proving !
them true or false, until at last his
inquiries have been rewarded, and to-
day on the Sand Farm can be seen
as fine field of rye, alfalfa, clover,
and corn, as can be seen anywhere in
the United States; and as many BUSH !
els of wheat, rye, and corn as the |
government average for the best |
states, is being raised on these pine
barrens,' and the accompanying pic
ture shows a clover field which pro-
duced / q tons of clover hay to the |
acre, at the first cutting, on the 18th |
day of June, 1914.
at is with some reluctance that this |
picture is shown, and these statements |
made, because there are certain UNI
scrupulOus men-properly termed |
land sharks who are attempting TO |
sell these lands at comparatively high |
prices, to poor men in the cities who |
wish to get back to the country, and |
are investing their life's savings in |
land contracts which they are unable |
to complete because they cannot pro-
duce a living from these soils for the |
first three years, and are forced to re-
turn to the city, discouraged, and |
cursing the Michigan sand lands. To
any who may read this article the
Sand Farmer would hold up a warn
ing, for these lands are not profitable |
unless the men who buy them knows
how to till them, and has enough |
capital to carry him through for at
least three years.
with this statement let us consid-
er the Vacation Farm There are
many men in the city who are APP
Il A. n n Al