Indian corn is one of the staple productions of Michigan, and can be raised with success in any suitable soil in the lower peninsula. According to the statistics of 1850 this State produced nearly 6,000,000 of bushels that year. It is probable that the census of the present year will show a vast increase in the amount. In 1850 the value of this crop in all the States amounted to nearly $300,000,000, being about equal to the united values of the wheat, hay, and cotton crops, and it has perhaps doubled since that date. In fact the value of the corn crop to Michigan and all the other States can not be estimated, as it is much used for the food of man and all the domestic animals, and to it the American farmer is indebted for much of his prosperity, for without it he would not be able to bring his cattle and hogs into the market at the right time and in proper condition.

Heretofore the amount of pork packed has always been insufficient to meet the demand, and the deficiency has been supplied by importations from other cities, chiefly from Cincinnati. This season not only has there been a considerable increase in the number packed, but the market opens a great deal duller than last year, when the Canada trade and the building of the Detroit and Port Huron link of the Grand Trunk Railway induced a fair demand.

Cincinnati is the greatest provision market on the continent or in the world. At that place speculation has been quite rife for the past two or three years, operators obtaining a controlling interest in the stock for the purpose of putting up prices. Last year the plan did not work well, owing to various causes, one of which was the small number of works in progress, such as railroads, etc., the supply of the laborers upon such works, being the life of the provision trade. Heavy losses were sustained, but it is said that the sufferers were a different class from that regularly engaged in the trade. This season the speculative fever has again prevailed. The issue has yet to be revealed.

Last year nearly 1,000 head of cattle were slaughtered here, all of which were forwarded to Lake Superior as soon as packed. The price of mess beef has ranged from $8.50 to $12.00. About the first of July prices reached their highest point. During the fall the range has been from $8.50 to $10.00.

When the marshy lands, skirting our watercourses in St. Clair, Macomb, Wayne, and Monroe counties, shall have been drained, (which will, no doubt, be consummated at no distant day,) a large tract will be rendered available for grazing, which will prove equal for that purpose to any in the Union. Butter and cheese will then become a leading article in our commerce.

Potatoes constitute another of our staple products, and, in seasons of scarcity elsewhere, large purchases are made for shipment, but being generally based on present demand, they can hardly be called speculative. The crop of 1857 was rather meagre, and last spring and summer prices ruled high, going up to $1.20 for a short time in June. Last year we had an abundant crop, since which, under a limited export demand, prices have ruled low. The receipts at this point, from all sources, did not vary greatly from 175,000 bushels, of which 80,500 bushels were exported, chiefly to Ohio and the upper country.

It is claimed, that southern Michigan produces more fine fruit than any other locality of the same extent in the United States, if not on the globe. At the same time almost every quarter of the State is constantly improving both in quality and quantity. This fact is creditable to the sagacity of our agriculturists, for probably in nothing else can an equal amount of profit be realized with the same outlay.

Our market is not an important one for live stock, much of the greater share of the receipts by rail being through freight. Our wholesale market is mainly governed by that at the East, buyers for shipment are always on the look-out, and whenever anything can be purchased that affords even a moderate margin, it is promptly taken. Extra cattle are always sought for by our butchers, and command full rates. A spirit of emulation on the subject of fine stock is pervading the minds of our farmers, and, as a consequence, its quality is rapidly improving. At the last State Fair, the display of cattle was such as to elicit the admiration of good judges from abroad. There are so many interests claiming the attention of our agriculturists, that the idea of becoming famous as to quantity, is perhaps precluded; if so, they may well rest content in the attainment of high rank in point of quality.

The raising of fine sheep is constantly attracting more and more attention, and from the progress already made by our State, she bids fair at no distant day to take a position in advance of all her sister States.

The year 1859 opened with rather flattering prospects for wool-growers. The last year's stock was nearly exhausted before the new clip came into the market. Prices of woolen fabrics were advancing, and bid fair to rule high. On the eve of the wool season prices declined in the Eastern markets, although there was no particular reason for this unfavorable turn. It was considered at the time, that the fall in prices was occasioned by a regular combination among buyers to break down the market. The news of the passage of the Ticino by the Austrians, and the actual commencement of hostilities in Italy, arrived in this country before the wool was brought into the market, and this circumstance was seized on as a pretext for lowering the price of the new clip. Buyers were very industrious in circulating reports that a general European war was commencing, and, as it was not known how affairs would terminate, it would be unsafe for American buyers to make investments in the wool trade, except at prices that would leave a large margin for profit. It was fortunate that farmers did not take the same view of transatlantic complications, for they refused to sell except at remunerating prices, a decision which caused some of the Eastern buyers to retire from the market in disgust. Almost the entire press of Michigan supported the views of the farmers on this occasion, and declared that they could see no reason why the war in Italy should affect the prices of wool in America, especially as all the domestic clip, and a very large quantity of foreign wool would be manufactured in this country. Michigan produces excellent wool. There are numerous flocks of French, Spanish, and Saxon Merinos in this State, which have been selected or bred with the greatest care, and the wool produced by them cannot be surpassed in any of the Western States. There are also flocks of coarse-wooled sheep which produce heavy fleeces, and when fattened for the butcher make excellent mutton. In 1840 the wool clip of this State was about 150,000 lbs., in 1850 something over 2,000,000 lbs., and 1859 it amounted to nearly 4,000,000 lbs. It will be seen by these figures that it has nearly doubled during the last nine years. There are but few woolen manufactories in Michigan, and the most of the wool clip of this State is purchased by Eastern manufacturers. A considerable portion of it goes to Boston and other parts of Massachusetts. We want a large woolen factory in Detroit, where everything that is necessary for its operation can be easily procured. We want more manufactories of every kind in Michigan.

Our city is largely interested in the shipping business, and its trade gives employment to a larger number of side-wheel steamboat lines than any other three cities on the entire chain of lakes. During the last season, the following regular lines of steamers were in successful operation:

Detroit and Cleveland. Detroit and Toledo. Detroit and Sandusky. Detroit and Saginaw. Detroit and New Baltimore. Detroit and Maiden. Detroit, G. Bay and Buffalo. Detroit and Lake Superior. Detroit and Port Huron. Detroit and Chatham. Detroit and Wallaceburg. Detroit and Gibraltar.

Two of the above routes sustain opposition lines, and to the list might be added the line of lake steamers to Buffalo, and the line to Goderich, which though not run last year, will probably be in successful operation the coming season, making in all sixteen lines. It is significant that the late financial revulsion, which fell with such crushing weight upon the shipping interest all over the country did not occasion the withdrawal of any of our steamboat lines, save one. As a still more striking fact, we may state that until last season none of the cities located in the vast region between the foot of Lake Michigan and the foot of Lake Erie, has for many years past supported a single line of steamers that did not make Detroit a terminus. Last year a line was put in successful operation between Buffalo and Cleveland, and another between the latter place and Toledo, but it ought to be added that both of these were established by Detroit enterprise.

In addition to the line above enumerated, we have daily lines of propellers to Ogdensburg, Buffalo, Dunkirk and to the Upper Lakes, which do an immense freighting business.

We are indebted to Captain J. H. Hall, the public-spirited proprietor of the Detroit shipping-office for following statement of the number of vessels that passed Detroit in 1859:

Number of Vessels passing Detroit, 1859.

No. Times.

Steamers passed up, 194 Propellers, " 492 Barks, " 273 Brigs, " 295 Schooners, " 1,811 ——- Total number up, 3,065

No. Times. Steamers passed down, 195 Propellers, " 503 Barks, " 284 Brigs, " 314 Schooners, " 1,825 ——- Total number down, 3,121

Greatest number passed up in one day, eighty-five; greatest number down, seventy-three.

The number of entries and clearances reported at the Custom House during the year is as follows:

Arrived. Cl'd. Jan. 48 70 Feb. 49 71 March 161 288 April 334 375 May 438 586 June 458 568 July 403 597 Aug. 461 519 Sept. 316 481 Oct. 288 319 Nov. 294 316 Dec. 45 71

During the past year the amount of total losses has been light, not greater, probably, than the number of vessels built, so that although the classification is slightly changed, there is no material change so far as concerns the aggregate tonnage. Detroit owns, therefore, nearly one-sixth of the entire tonnage of the lakes.

As a matter of some interest we present a comparative statement showing the tonnage, steam, and total, of a number of the more important maritime places in the country, taken from the report of the Register of the Treasury on Commerce and Navigation:

Steam tonnage. Total tonnage. New York 118,638 1,432,705 New Orleans 70,072 210,411 Philadelphia 22,892 219,851 Baltimore 18,821 194,488 Pittsburg 42,474 56,824 Cincinnati 23,136 26,541 Chicago 8,151 67,001 St. Louis 55,515 61,266 Boston 9,452 448,896 Buffalo 42,640 73,478 Detroit 35,266 62,485 Charleston, S. C. 8,230 60,196

The following exhibits the number and tonnage of vessels owned in this district—nearly all of them in this city—on the 31st of December, 1859:

Number Tons. 95ths Steamers 73 29,175 02 Propellers 32 6,090 81 Barks 4 1,337 08 Brigs 7 1,877 75 Schooners 131 19,671 56 Scows and all others 136 4,322 68 —- ——— — Total 383 62,485 05 In 1857 301 52,991 50 —- ——— — Increase in two years 82 9,493 50

The following was the aggregate tonnage of the lakes in December 1858:

AMERICAN. 69 Side-wheel steamers register tons 44,562 110 Propellers do. 45,562 70 Tugs (propellers) do. 6,880 46 Barks do. 18,788 79 Brigs do. 22,558 711 Schooners do. 166,725 109 Scows do. 11,848 —— ———- 1194 Total 316,923

CANADIAN. 67 Side-wheel steamers, register tons 25,966 16 Propellers do. 4,631 4 Tugs (propellers) do. 388 19 Barks do. 5,697 16 Brigs do. 2,988 186 Schooners do. 19,311 13 Scows do. 609 —— ———- 321 Total 59,580

The Michigan Central was the first railroad built in the State, and since its completion has been known as one of the best managed in the West. Its beneficial effects to the region of country through which it passes, is incalculable. On its line, have sprung up a number of beautiful towns and villages as if by magic, while many of those that had an existence prior to its construction have grown into flourishing cities. Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, Jackson, Marshall, Battle Creek, Albion, Kalamazoo, Niles, and others that might properly be included, all located upon this road, are beautiful places, noted for their thrift and enterprise as well as for their rapid advances in all that pertains to well-regulated cities. Their commerce is rapidly increasing and the country along the entire route will vie with that traversed by the great thoroughfares of any of the older States along the seaboard.

The Central was commenced and partially built by the State, but in 1844, passed into the possession of the company now owning it, who completed it to Chicago. A telegraph line has been in use for some years past along the entire line of the road, with an office at each station, by which means the exact position of each train may be at all times known at each and every point. To this admirable system may be attributed in a very great degree the extraordinary exemption of the road from serious accidents, while its advantages are very great in every point of view respecting the general management. The eastern terminus of the road being at Detroit, it has the full advantages of the numerous connections at this point, the Great Western and Grand Trunk Railways, the important steamboat route from Cleveland, the lines of Detroit and Buffalo propellers with their immense freight traffic, as well as the numerous other steamboat routes of which our city is the nucleus. At Chicago it has the advantages of connection with all the roads radiating from that flourishing city. Freight is now taken from Chicago to Portland without breaking bulk but once. An important "feeder" is the Joliet Cut-off, by means of which it has a direct connection with St. Louis, via the Chicago, Alton, and St. Louis Railroad. An important arrangement was consummated last summer with the latter road, for the direct transmission of freight between this city and St. Louis. Fifty cars have been diverted to this route, under the name of the "Detroit and St. Louis Through Freight Line." The time between the two cities is thirty-eight hours. The advantages of this line to shippers are very considerable, and the arrangement is adding, and will continue to add, materially to the commerce of our city.

A commendable progressive spirit has latterly been evinced by the managers generally, of our railroads, in the transmission of freight, especially live stock and grain. The improvement is a most grateful one to shippers, who have ordinarily quite enough anxiety and vexation to suffer in the fluctuations of the market and subjection to unlooked for and onerous charges, without having superadded unreasonable exposure and deterioration of their property while en route to market. In this movement the management of the Central has fully sympathized. Their stock and grain cars have received high commendations from those for whose benefit they were intended. The entire equipment of the road is such as to comport with them; the safety, comfort and convenience of the public, being constantly kept in view, regardless of the cost incurred.

The three staunch and magnificent steamers belonging to the company, the Plymouth Rock, Western World and Mississippi, owing to the hard times have been laid up at their dock since the fall of 1857, to the great regret of the public generally, as well as to the detriment of the business interest of our city. With the return of a more prosperous era they will doubtless be again placed in commission. The line formed by these boats is the most pleasant and expeditious medium of communication between the East and the West and Southwest, and cannot fail to be well patronized, especially now that the Dayton and Michigan Railroad is completed, which will bring a large amount of both freight and passenger traffic by way of Detroit that formerly sought other routes.

The rolling stock now on the road consists of ninety-eight engines, seventy first class passenger cars, twelve second class cars; twenty-nine baggage cars, and two thousand seven hundred and seventy-eight freight cars, making a total of two thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine cars and all of which were built in the company's own shops.

This road is one hundred and eighty-eight miles long, and has been in operation throughout its whole extent since November, 1858. It is deserving of the distinctive appellation of the Back Bone Road of Michigan, having been of incalculable value in developing the resources of the region through which it is located, decidedly one of the richest and most important in the West. The principal towns and cities upon its line are Pontiac, Fentonville, St. Johns, Ionia, Grand Rapids and Grand Haven. The growth of these places has received a great impetus since its completion, while numerous villages have also sprung into being as if by magic at various points along the line. These changes are plainly visible in the improved trade of our city, and the increase from the same cause, must continue to be strongly marked. Last season over one-fourth of the wheat and wool received here was by this new route, and a number of vessels loaded at the company's noble and spacious wharf for European ports direct.

Within the year past, the company have completed one of the finest railway wharves in the world. It is 1,500 feet long by 90 broad, the west end of which is occupied by the freight house, the dimensions of which are 450 by 132 feet.

One of the most important events to Detroit and the entire West, that has transpired for many years, is the completion of this great thoroughfare. The link from Port Huron to this city was opened to traffic on the 21st of November, since which date the businesses crowding upon it has fully equaled its capacity. It is the Minerva of railways, having reached at a single bound a condition of prosperity outrivaling many of the oldest established roads on the continent.

It possesses important advantages over any other road both for freight and passenger traffic. Being of uniform gauge, no change of cars will be necessary from Sarnia to Portland; and being also under the management of one corporation, it affords better facilities for the protection of passengers and the preservation of their baggage than where they are required to pass over lines under the control of different and perhaps conflicting corporations. Having only one set of officers quartered upon its exchequer, it can afford to do business at lower proportionate rates, than a number of shorter lines, each having a different set to salary, while the delay and vexation which not unfrequently arise from short routes, being compelled to wait upon each other's movements, will all be avoided, which is certainly no small consideration both to passengers and shippers.

The harbor of Portland is one of the finest and most eligible in the world, and our immediate connection with a point of such importance is of itself a matter deserving particular mention. Portland district, as appears by the official statement of the tonnage of the United States, made to June, 1857, then owned 145,242 tons of shipping, being the ninth port in the Union in point of tonnage; she is very largely interested in the West India trade, her annual imports of molasses exceeding those of any port in the United States. She offers, therefore, to the Western States, peculiar facilities for procuring at a cheap rate the products of the West Indies. The harbor is without any bar, and so easy of access that no pilots are required, and strangers, with the sailing directions given in the American Coast Pilot, have brought their ships into it with safety. There are no port charges, harbor dues, or light-house fees, excepting the official custom house fees.

The Grand Trunk Railway is likely to become the avenue through which an immense tide of immigration will pour into Michigan. It will be a favorite route for emigrants, who will thus avoid the rascally impositions of the swindlers and Peter Funks of New York, who have given that city an unenviable notoriety throughout the world. It is predicted that more immigrants will hereafter come by the new route than by all others put together. There is no valid reason why this prediction should not prove strictly true. This is therefore a matter likely to be of vast importance to our State, with a large share of her territory as yet an unbroken wild, offering tempting inducements to the hardy settler.

The completion of this stupendous bond of connection between the Eastern and Western States, Canada and Europe, will render markets available which were before difficult of access, and enable far-distant countries to exchange their products at all seasons. The Grand Trunk may be called the first section of the PACIFIC RAILROAD, as it already communicates with the Mississippi through Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin Railroads, and we expect to see the line completed from the Mississippi to California. It is not easy to form an estimate of the amount of traffic and intercourse that the 1,150 miles of Grand Trunk Railway will bring to Michigan and the neighboring States. A junction has been already formed with that model of western lines the Michigan Central by which freight and passengers reach Chicago and the numerous lines which diverge from that great commercial city. It is probable that another junction will be made with the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway by means of a branch from Port Huron to Owasso. In this case there will be a direct line across Michigan connecting with the Milwaukee railroads by the ferry across the lake, and penetrating into Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Oregon by lines which have not yet been traced on the railway maps of the United States.

The ostensible western terminus of this road is at Windsor, opposite our city, but it is practically as much a Detroit road as any that can be named. The connections with the other routes centering here is made by a number of ferry boats of the most staunch and powerful description. The receipts by this route of general merchandise consigned to the cities and points westward of us is immense, and it enjoys a large and growing local traffic.

The main line of the Southern Michigan and Northern Indiana Railroad, which taps a rich and important portion of Michigan, is 461 miles in length. The business on this line has recently shown a decided improvement.

The D. and T. Road, which is 65 miles in length, was opened to traffic in January 1857. It was built by the "Detroit, Monroe, and Toledo Railroad Company," who leased it to the Michigan Southern Road. It is now an important link in the great railway system extending from the East to the Great Southwest, of which system, Detroit, from its favorable position, has become the centre and soul. Since the opening of the Grand Trunk, in November, a large amount of freight has passed through, billed for Liverpool direct, a species of freight which must steadily increase.

L. P. Knight is agent at Detroit. The office is in the depot building of the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway.

The Dayton and Michigan Railroad was completed last fall, placing us within a few hours' ride of the Queen City of the West. This is justly regarded as a most important route to our city, and will develop new features to some of our leading business interests. The consumer of our State will have the benefit of lower prices for the products of Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, and the West Indies. The want of direct communication between Detroit and New Orleans has long been felt. Sugars and molasses can now be laid down here for fifty cents per 100 lbs., including all charges from New Orleans, via the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, and D. and M. Railway, giving us, in a word, the benefits of as low freights in winter as in summer. With the cost of transportation thus reduced to a merely nominal standard, prices of Southern products will be upon an average no higher here than in Louisville. It is more than probable, nay, quite certain, that the advantages which must ultimately accrue to the State from our connection with Cincinnati per se, if not so general, will be even more marked and important than those to which we have above referred. The prices of provisions will be equalized, giving our lumbermen and miners the benefit of reduced rates throughout most of the year, and when speculation is rampant, and the price of pork, the great staple of our neighbors, reaches an extreme figure—as has been the case for two successive seasons, and will be the case again—our farmers will reap the benefit of the movement. The growth of Cincinnati is altogether without parallel in the world, taking into account the character of that growth—its quality, so to speak. All its great interests, particularly its manufactures, have kept pace with its numerical increase. It is indeed difficult to determine whether manufactures or commerce is most intimately identified with its prosperity. The connection with her will give us new and desirable customers for some of our surplus products, particularly our choice lumber.

The entire line of the Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad, as located, is 172-1/2 miles; track laid and completed, 7-3/4 miles; additional length graded 24-1/2 miles, the ties for which have all been delivered.

It is thought that hereafter twenty miles per year will be completed without difficulty until the whole is completed. This road will be important in developing the resources of a very rich tract of country.

On the line of Amboy, Lansing, and Grand Traverse Railroad, the entire distance from Owasso to Lansing, twenty-six miles, is ready for the iron, except three miles. On the division from Lansing to Albion, thirty-six miles, the work of grading and furnishing ties is progressing, and some one hundred men at work. Between Owasso and Saginaw, thirty-three miles, arrangements are nearly completed to start the work. The work of grading and preparing for the iron is done by local subscriptions, of which $3,000 per mile has been subscribed and is being paid.

The existence of copper on the shores of Lake Superior appears to have been known to the earliest travelers, but it has been only a few years since it has entered largely into Western commerce. But the country had long been a favorite resort for fur traders, and as long ago as 1809, and perhaps still further back, the Northwest Company (British) owned vessels on Lake Superior. This organization was at that period the great trading company of the region in question, the operations of the Hudson's Bay Company being confined chiefly to the region further north. At the period of which we speak, the bulk of the trading was done by means of birch canoes, some of them large enough to carry two or three tons. With these, the traders passed up to the Indian settlements in the fall, with goods, provisions, and trinkets, usually returning to the trading posts during the month of June with the furs which they had procured in exchange. Mackinac and the Saut were trading posts at an early day. At a somewhat later period, the Northwest Company had an agency on an island in Lake Huron, not far from the month of Saut river. The formation of the American Fur Company was of more recent date, that company dating its origin during the war of 1812, or soon after.

Prior to the building of the canal, a number of steamers had been taken over the portage to Lake Superior, but so far as our knowledge extends, only one or two craft larger than a canoe were ever taken over the rapids, one of which was the schooner Mink. She was built of red cedar, on Lake Superior, about the year 1816, and was of some forty tons burden. She became the property of Mack & Conant, who had her brought down the rapids. In making the descent she suffered some injury by striking against a rock, but, notwithstanding this mishap, she lived long enough to ride out many a stormy sea, running for several years in the trade between Buffalo and the City of the Straits. Shubael Conant, Esq., at this day an honored citizen of Detroit, was one of the firm that purchased the Mink.

In the spring of 1845, the fleet on Lake Superior consisted of the schooner White Fish, belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, the Siscowit, belonging to the American Fur Company, and the Algonquin, owned by a Mr. Mendenhall. The same year the schooners Napoleon, Swallow, Uncle Tom, Merchant, Chippewa, Ocean, and Fur Trader, were all added. In 1845, the propeller Independence, the first steamer that ever floated on Lake Superior, was taken across the portage, and the next year the Julia Palmer followed her, she being the first side-wheel steamer. In the winter of 1848-9, the schooner Napoleon was converted into a propeller. In 1850, the propeller Manhattan was hauled over by the Messrs. Turner, and the Monticello in 1851, by Col. McKnight. The latter was lost the same fall, and Col. McK. supplied her place the next winter with the Baltimore. In 1853 or 1854, E. B. Ward took over the Sam Ward, and Col. McKnight took the propeller Peninsula over in the winter of 1852 or 1853.

In the spring of 1855, the Saut Canal was completed, since which date the trade with that important region has rapidly grown into commanding importance. It will be seen by the table below that the importations of machinery, provisions, supplies, and merchandise, for the past year amounted to $5,298,640, while the exports of copper, iron, fur and fish amount to $3,071,069.

The following are the names of the steam craft now regularly employed in this trade:

S. B. Illinois. Prop. Mineral Rock. S. B. Lady Elgin. Prop. Montgomery. S. B. North Star. Prop. Northern Light. Prop. Marquette. Prop. Iron City.

A number of other steam-craft made occasional trips last year, and next season it is expected that another line will be placed on the route permanently. The Detroit shipping-office has published the names of ninety-six sail vessels that have been engaged in the iron trade the past year.

Rapid as this trade has increased, it is destined, no doubt, to yet undergo a still greater transformation. The latent resources of the Upper Peninsula are of a character and magnitude that defy all estimates of their future greatness. With regard to the importance of the trade to our city, and the steps to be taken to retain it, ample comments have already appeared in the Tribune, both editorially and in the form of communications, to which we can add nothing.

The aggregate amount of tolls collected in May, July, August and September, was $10,374.18, a large increase over the corresponding months last year. Including the probable amount for the months not reported, and we have at the lowest not less probably than $16,000, as the tolls for 1859.

Number of passengers: May, 2,493; June, 1,764; July, 2,116; August, 2,617; September, 1,538; October, 1,015.

It is now almost universally admitted that the State of Michigan possesses in her soil and timber the material source of immense wealth. While in years past it has been difficult to obtain satisfactory information concerning the real condition and natural resources of a large portion of the surface of the Lower Peninsula, the re-survey of portions of the government land, the exploration of the country by parties in search of pine, the developments made by the exploring and surveying parties along the lines of the Land Grant Railroads, and the more recent examinations by the different commissions for laying out the several State roads under the Acts passed by the last Legislature, have removed every doubt in reference to the subject. The universal testimony from all the sources above mentioned, seems to be that in all the natural elements of wealth the whole of the northern part of the Peninsula abounds.

The pine lands of the State, which are a reliable source of present and future wealth, are so located and distributed as to bring almost every portion of the State, sooner or later in connection with the commerce of the lakes. The pine timber of Michigan is generally interspersed with other varieties of timber, such as beech, maple, white-ash, oak, cherry, etc., and in most cases the soil is suited to agricultural purposes. This is particularly the case on the western slope of the Peninsula, on the waters of Lake Michigan and along the central portion of the State. On the east and near Lake Huron, the pine districts are more extensively covered with pine timber, and generally not so desirable for farming purposes. There are good farming lands, however, all along the coast of Lake Huron and extending back into the interior.

A large proportion of the pine lands of the State are in the hands of the Canal Company, and individuals who are holding them as an investment, and it is no detriment to this great interest, that the whole State has been thus explored and the choicest of the lands secured. The developments which have thus been made of the quality and extent of the pine districts, have given stability and confidence to the lumbering interest. And these lands are not held at exorbitant prices, but are sold upon fair and reasonable terms, such as practical business men and lumber men will not usually object to.

It is a remarkable fact that almost every stream of water in the State, north of Grand River, penetrates a district of pine lands, and the mouths of nearly all these streams are already occupied with lumbering establishments of greater or less magnitude. Those lumber colonies are the pioneers, and generally attract around them others who engage in agriculture, and thus almost imperceptibly the agricultural interests of the State are spreading and developing in every direction. The want of suitable means of access alone prevents the rapid settlement of large and fertile districts of our State, which are not unknown to the more enterprising and persevering pioneers, who have led the way through the wilderness, and are now engaged almost single-handed in their labors, not shrinking from the privations and sufferings which are sure to surround these first settlements in our new districts.

The Grand Traverse region, with its excellent soil, comparatively mild climate, and abundance of timber of every description, is attracting much attention, and extensive settlements have already commenced in many localities in that region. The coast of Lake Michigan, from Grand River north, for upward of one hundred miles to Manistee River, presents generally a barren, sandy appearance, the sand hills of that coast almost invariably shutting out from the view the surrounding country.

North of the Manistee, however, this characteristic of the coast changes, and the hard timber comes out to the lake and presents a fine region of country extending from Lake Michigan to Grand Traverse Bay and beyond, embracing the head waters of the Manistee River. This large tract of agricultural land is one of the richest portions of the State, and having throughout its whole extent extensive groves of excellent pine timber interspersed, it is one of the most desirable portions of the Peninsula. Grand Traverse Bay, the Manistee and the River Aux Becs Scies are the outlets for the pine timber, and afford ample means of communication between the interior and the lake for such purposes. The proposed State roads will, if built, do much toward the settlement of this region.

A natural harbor, which is being improved by private enterprise, is found at the mouth of the River Aux Becs Scies, and a new settlement and town has been started at this point. This is a natural outlet for a consideration portion of the region just described.

The lands here, as in other localities in the new portions of the State, are such as must induce a rapid settlement whenever the means of communication shall be opened.

The valley of the Muskegon embraces every variety of soil and timber, and is one of the most attractive portions of the Peninsula. The pine lands upon this river are scattered all along the valley in groups or tracts containing several thousand acres each, interspersed with hard timber and surrounded by fine agricultural lands.

The Pere Marquette River and White River, large streams emptying into Lake Michigan, pass through a region possessing much the same characteristics. This whole region is underlaid with lime rocks, a rich soil, well watered with living springs, resembling in many features the Grand River Valley. Beds of gypsum have been discovered on the head waters of the Pere Marquette.

The unsettled counties in the northern portion of the State, the northern portion of Montcalm and Gratiot, Isabella, Gladwin, Clare and a portion of Midland, are not inferior to any other portion. There is a magnificent body of pine stretching from the head of Flat River in Montcalm county to the upper waters of the Tettibiwassee, and growing upon a fine soil well adapted to agriculture.

This embraces a portion of the Saginaw Valley, and covers the high ground dividing the waters of Lakes Huron and Michigan. The eastern slope of the Peninsula embraces a variety of soil and timber somewhat different in its general features from other portions of the State. The pine lands of this region are near the coast of the lake, and lie in large tracts but with good agricultural land adjoining. There are in the Lower Peninsula, in round numbers, about 24,000,000 acres of land.

Taking Houghton Lake, near the centre of the State, as a point of view, the general surface may be comprehended as follows: The Muskegon Valley to the southwest following the Muskegon River in its course to Lake Michigan. The western slope of the Peninsula directly west, embracing the pine and agriculture districts along the valleys of several large streams emptying into Lake Michigan. The large and beautiful region to the northwest embracing the valley of the Manistee and the undulating lands around the Grand Traverse Bay. Northward, the region embraces the head-waters of the Manistee and Au Sauble, with the large tracts of excellent pine in that locality, and beyond, the agricultural region extending to Little Traverse Bay and the Straights of Mackinaw. To the northeast, the valley of the Au Sauble, and the pine region of Thunder Bay. To the east, the pine and hard timber extending to Saginaw Bay. To the southeast, the Saginaw Valley; and to the south, the high lands before described in the central counties.

That portion of the State south of Saginaw and the Grand River Valley is so well known that a description here would be unnecessary.

Thus we have yet undeveloped over half the surface of this Peninsula, embracing, certainly, 12,000,000 to 15,000,000 of acres, possessing stores of wealth in the timber upon its surface, reserving soil for the benefit of those, who, as the means of communication are opened, will come in and possess it, and thus introduce industry and prosperity into our waste places.

We have not the figures at hand, but it is probable that at least one-tenth of the area north of the Grand River is embraced in the pine region. The swamp lands granted to the State will probably cover nearly double the area of the pine lands proper. The remainder for the most part is covered with a magnificent growth of hard timber suited to the necessities of our growing population and commerce.

The statistics herein furnished will give some idea of the importance and value of the lumber traffic in this States. The trade in pine timber, lumber, shingles and other varieties of lumber, with the traffic in staves form one of the most important branches of manufacture and commerce in our own State, and this trade alone is now accomplishing more for the development and settlement of the country than all other causes in operation.

The lumber manufactories in Detroit and its suburbs are eleven in number. The following are the names of the proprietors and the amount cut last year by each:

FT. LUMBER. PCS. LATH. H. A. & S. G. Wight 6,500,000 2,220,000 Samuel Pills 3,500,000 482,000 — Moffat (est) 1,500,000 H. B. Benson 3,254,029 W. Warner & Co. 194,370 Brooks & Adams 3,800,000 Baughman, Hubbard & Co. 3,378,080 1,043,300 Kibbee, Fox & Co. 3,000,000 800,000 N. Reeve 800,000 20,000 Davis & David 2,000,000 Copeland 1,000,000 ————— ————- Total 29,426,479 4,745,300

The aggregate of capital employed by these mills is $1,440,000. The above amount is no criterion of their capacity. The same mills cut 46,000,000 feet in 1856, and nearly the same in 1857, and their probable capacity is 54,000,000. Warner & Co., run their mill only about five weeks last year, and are now about retiring from business. One of the others sustained a temporary loss of business by fire. The product will in the aggregate be doubled next season.

The logs sawed in Detroit are procured from St. Clair River, Black River, Mill Creek and, Belle River. As a large share of that sold here has been on contract, there has been no great fluctuation in the market at this point. On the first of July the rates by the cargo were $25a$26 for clear and $19a$20 for second clear; on the first of October, $24 for clear, and $18 for second clear.

Last winter and spring were very unfavorable for lumbering. Owing to the small quantity of snow, but few logs were got out, and many of them being on small streams, owing to the failure of the usual spring freshets, were not sawed, so that upon the whole the mills of the State turned out only about half the amount of their capacity.

The market opened in the spring with flattering prospects. Buyers from a number of important points in the Eastern States, previously deriving their supplies from Maine, visited our State, anxious to secure contracts for choice lumber, and the opinion prevailed that the demand would exceed the supply. The prospect encouraged manufacturers to make unwonted exertions in turning out all the stock that could be rendered available, which involved increased expense. In some places, as was the case at Saginaw, a very large amount was got out in the early part of the summer. About the close of June, the market experienced a sudden and unlooked-for depression, after which prices tended speedily downward, falling to such a low point before the close of the season that manufacturers on the west coast generally suspended their shipments. Those on the east coast continued to ship, but their shipments to a very great extent still remain unsold. We are cognizant of 7,000,000 feet held in that way by only four manufacturers.

The accounts this winter are very favorable, but the idea that obtains, fixing the amount at a very high figure, is vague and erroneous. The true state of the case is, that manufactures, as a general thing, in view of the depressed condition of the trade, have been making calculations to do a light business, and got out their logs sooner than they expected, and will on the whole do rather more than they had anticipated, having gone into the woods lighthanded. The most experienced judges concur in fixing the amount of logs got out this winter on River St. Clair, at Port Huron and Saginaw Bay, but not including the rivers above, at 175,000,000 feet. In the Saginaws, it is ascertained that about 100,000,000 will be got out. Taking the entire east coast, it is thought the logs this winter would exceed those of last by fifteen to twenty per cent.

By Custom House statements of shipments, added to actual receipts at one of the receiving points—Chicago—it will be seen below that for 1859 a little over 269,000,000 feet is the amount of shipments arrived at. These figures, taken in connection with the estimates of those competent to judge, render it certain that the actual amount shipped out of the State did not vary materially from 400,000,000 feet. There being no penalty involved in the failure of masters of vessels to report, there is great carelessness in the matter. The Cleveland, Toledo and Sandusky shipments, are at the outside, not more than half reported. Those reported to Buffalo, Oswego, etc., are a little nearer the truth, but they fall considerably below the mark.

The amount made in 1859, did not vary materially from that shipped. In the district embracing the River St. Clair, Port Huron and the Lake Shore, 6,000,000 feet more were wintered over last year than this. On the west coast it was different generally, so that the variation in the aggregate cannot be much either way. The capacity of the mills in the pine lumber region is 900,000,000 feet, or possibly a little more.

As regards the amount of shingles made, even dealers are much in the dark. To add 50 per cent. to the Custom House returns would certainly be within bounds for the eastern coast. This would give 120,000,000 as the amount. For the west coast, if we take the amount received at Chicago, say 165,000,000, with an additional twenty-five per cent. for that received at Milwaukee, and then estimate that two-thirds of the whole amount were from the west coast of Michigan, which is doubtless true, we have 137,500,000 as the amount shipped by the coast, making 267,500,000 for the whole State.

The improved demand for staves has greatly stimulated the production, and in localities where the production of pine lumber is decreasing, that of staves is taking its place. At Saginaw 2,500,000 were got out last year, and this year there will be full as much, or more. The greatest activity prevails, and dressing by machinery has been started. At Lakeport, Burchville, Lexington, Port Sanilac, Forester, Point aux Barque, and Foresterville, 850,000 were got out last year; from Port Huron and St. Clair 750,000. The amount turned out in the whole State could not have been short of 20,000,000.

An immense amount of lath were turned out. A mill that can turn out three millions of lumber, generally makes one million of lath. On this basis about 133,000,000 must have been turned out. The supply generally exceeds the demand.

The lumber on the east coast is worth at the mills $9 per M.; that on the west coast $7. At the average of $8, the amount made last year would be worth $3,200,000. The value of shingles at $2 per M., was $515,000, and the lath at $1 per M., are worth $133,000.

We are enabled to present a nearly complete list of names of owners, with the amount of capital respectively, which will be of some interest, both at home and abroad. So far as the east coast is concerned, the figures are in the main entirely reliable, being upon the authority of one of the best men in the State who knows whereof he advises. Those for the west coast, thought not perhaps so strictly correct as the others, will as a general thing be found within bounds. We hope the statistics will prove an incentive to lumbermen to be more particular hereafter in furnishing information:

BLACK RIVER.

Name. Capital. J. & J. Bayard $15,000 Sweetser & Bayard 7,000 Comstock mill 7,000 Davis' mill 8,000 R. Wadham's mills 10,000

MILL CREEK. Bunce's mill 4,000 L. Brockway 2 mills 5,000 John H. Westbrook 4,000

PORT HURON. G. S. Lester 24,000 Haynes & Baird 24,000 Howard & Bachelor 15,000 Fish, two mills 35,000 Welles 24,000 Avery 75,000 Bunce 24,000 Hibbard 40,000 Black River mill 35,000

LOCKPORT. Farrand 10,000

BURCHVILLE. Woods, two mills 30,000 John S. Minor 7,000

LEXINGTON. Hubbard 8,000 Jenks & Co. 20,000 Stevens & Davis 10,000 Hitchcock & Co. 30,000

BARK SHANTY. Oldfield 10,000

FORESTER. Emely 50,000

GIBRALTAR. Colin Campbell 10,000

ALGONAC. Daniels & Ripley 15,000 Smith 24,000

NEWPORT. E. B. Ward 20,000 Rust 10,000 B. S. Horton 10,000

ST. CLAIR. Moore & Scott 20,000 W. Truesdale 2 mills 60,000 E. Smith 15,000 Smith & Chamberlin 5,000 Oaks & Holland, two mills 40,000 St. Clair 30,000

FORESTVILLE E. B. Ward 50,000 Breckinridge 2,000

VICKSBURG. Williams & Mills, three mills 55,000

CHEBOYGAN. Three mills 100,000

CHERRY CREEK. Peninsular Bank 15,000

HURON COUNTY. Luddington 12,000 Hubbard & Co. 50,000 Donahue 30,000 Armstrong & Co. 10,000 Smith & Co. 50,000 W. R. Stafford 15,000 Pt Austin Company 100,000 Crawford & Co. 10,000

BAY CITY. Clark, Ballou & Co. 35,000 Moore & Smith 30,000 Geo. Lord & Co. 24,000 Saml. Pitts 30,000 Beeson & Wheeler 24,000 Beebe & Atwood 10,000 Henry Doty 35,000 McEwing & Brother 30,000 Bangor mills 35,000 Drake mills 24,000 Henry Raymond 30,000 Catlin & Jennison 10,000 Miller & Butterfield 14,000 Frost & Bradley 35,000

PORTSMOUTH. J. J. McCormick 10,000 Portsmouth mill 15,000 Budd's mill 14,000 Partridge mill 24,000 H D Braddack & Co. 14,000 Watson & Southard 14,000

ZILWAUKEE. J. J. Westervelt 35,000

CARROLLTON. Name Unknown 35,000

EAST SAGINAW. Garrison & Co. 24,000 I. Hill 20,000 Holland 10,000 Copeland & Co. 10,000 Cushing & Co. 36,000 L. B. Curtis 24,000 Wm. Gallagher 14,000 Atwater mill 30,000

SAGINAW CITY. V. A. Payne 30,000 Curtis & King 30,000 New mill 20,000 G D Williams & Son 20,000 D. Rust & Brother 50,000

TITTIBIWASSEE, PINE RIVER AND SWAN CREEK. Eight mills 65,000

CASS, BAD, AND SHIAWASSEE RIVERS. Seven mills 50,000

LAPEER. D. Farrer 8,000 W. Williams 15,000 Crofoot & Baldwin 15,000 Manwaring & Co. 21,000 Wm. Peters 14,000 Thorp's mill 14,000 H. D. Torner 8,000 Lawrence & M'Arthur 7,000 Wm. Peter 30,000 Sixteen small mills 85,000 N. H. Hart 21,000 Rogers & Jenness 24,000 Smith & Jenness 15,000 Smith 14,000 J. B. Wilson 14,000 James Farrell 10,000 White & Peter 10,000 W. H. Crapo 60,000 H. L. Hemingway 6,000

PINE RUN. McFarren 20,000

MONTROSE. Name unknown 30,000

ALPENA AND VICINITY. G. N. Fletcher & Co. 35,000 Lockwood & Miner 25,000 Harris & Co. 35,000 Smith & Chamberlain 15,000 D. D. Oliver 5,000 Whitmore & Co. 25,000

SANILAC COUNTY. J. L. Woods & Co. 5,000 Mason & Luce 17,500 Stevenson & Davis 20,000

AU SAUBLE HIGHLANDS. Harris's mill 24,000

RIFLE RIVER, SAGANIN, COQUALIN, AND SAND BEACH. Six mills 85,000

TUSCOLA COUNTY. A. Watson 10,000 W. A. Hart 10,000 Perry 5,000 Others 30,000 Edmunds & North 14,000 Richardson & Bro. 14,000 Holmes 5,000

FLINT AND VICINITY. Eleven mills 715,000

There are also others on the east slope of the lower peninsula, representing a capital of say—$120,000.

Beyond the lower peninsula, there are some very heavy manufactories, particularly around Green Bay, (Michigan) generally estimated at $1,000,000, but which it would be safe to put at—$750,000.

Total capital, including Detroit,— $5,360,000

WESTERN SLOPE—OTTAWA COUNTY. Name. Capital. Ferry & Co. 50,000 W. M. Ferry, Jr. 50,000 Joseph Weld & Co. 30,000 T. W. White & Co. 50,000 Becker & Spoons 40,000 Richard Roberts 24,000 Jno. Haire 24,000 E. Jewitt 15,000 Plugger & Nyn 24,000 Howard & Co. 14,000 Ryerson & Morris, 2 mills 65,000 Chapin, Marsh & Foss 50,000 Smith, Forbes & Co. 35,000 Trowbridge, Way & Son 65,000 J. B. Bailey 14,000 Porter & Slyfield 14,000 C. Davies & Co. 50,000 Durkee, Truesdell & Co. 40,000 George Ruddmain 40,000 Lewis & Davis 24,000 Eldridge & Co. 24,000 Carleton & Co. 24,000 Ferry & Son 40,000 Lind & Slater 50,000 Young, Savedge & Co. 30,000 Amos Norton 40,000 Benj. Smith 30,000 Rhodes, Cloyn & Co. 24,000 Hatch & Merritt 15,000 C. Hart 10,000 L. G. Mason & Co. 35,000 Beidler & Co. 40,000 Mears & Co. 24,000 Hill & Co. 24,000 Colgrove & Co. 18,000 Wm. Thompson 14,000 Harris & Co. 8,000 Jno. Ford 8,000 Denton & Co. 14,000 Carleton & Co. 10,000 Jos. Dalton & Bro. 10,000 S. Lawrence 12,000 Edward Dalton 8,000 E. W. Merrill & Co. 14,000 Reed & Co. 10,000 Brown & Grist 8,000

KENT COUNTY. Jennison & Bro. 14,000 W. T. Powers 2,000 Seymour 24,000 Gooch & Webber 5,000 A. McFarland 4,000 Thos. Myers 21,000 George Funck 8,000 S. Lapham 5,000 A. House 5,000 Farrell & Sons 10,000 J. C. Clements 15,000 T. Spencer 8,000 Dewey & Co. 14,000 Reed & Plum 5,000 N. H. Withey 5,000 Knickerbuck 4,000 Robert Konkle 10,000 A. Roberts & Son 25,000 White, Worden & Co. 25,000 C. C. Comstock 9,500 D. Porter 5,000 Chase, Harris & Co. 8,000 C. W. Taylor 6,000 D. Caswell 12,000 Hubbard, Hitchcock & Co. 16,000

NEWAYGO COUNTY. Newaygo Company 80,000 Name unknown 24,000 J. M. Wood, 2 mills 25,000 James Botchford 10,000 R. P. Mitchell 5,000 Weaver 3,000 Amos Bigelow, 4,000

STONY CREEK, OCEANA COUNTY. Campbell, Wheeler & Co. 25,000

PERE MARQUETTE, BLACK CREEK AND BIG SAUBLE. C. Mears & Co., 3 mills 95,000

SPRING CREEK. Hopkins & Co. 24,000

MANISTEE. Coles 80,000 McVicker &Ingleman 24,000 One near Manistee 24,000 John C. Haines 55,000 John Stranch 40,000

GRAND TRAVERSE. Hanna, Lay & Co. 32,000 A. S. Wadsworth 15,000

WHITE RIVER. Amos Rathbone 24,000

MECOSTA. Leonard, Ives, & Co. 20,000

MONTCALM COUNTY. Bruce 10,000 Slaght 14,000 E. Gregory & Co. 20,000

LELANAW COUNTY. Averill & Son 2,000

BEC SCIE'S RIVER. R. Gardner 15,000 Chamberlin & Co. 20,000 Name unknown 2,000 Harris & Co. 10,000

IONIA COUNTY. Estimated Aggregate 100,000 All others, on West Slope, estimated 350,000 Capital Western Slope 2,669,500 Total Capital of State $8,029,500

An intelligent gentleman who, at our instance, visited all the establishments around Saginaw, and procured statistics, reports the amount of lumber manufactured as follows:

Place. No. of Mills. Feet. Bay City 11 20,000,000 Portsmouth 4 5,000,000 Zilwaukee 1 3,000,000 Carrollton 1 2,800,000 East Saginaw 8 19,750,000 Saginaw City 4 14,000,000 Bad River 2 4,500,000 Rafted Lumber 4,000,000 ————— Total 73,050,000 Valuation, at $8.50 per M. $620,925

Of the above lumber, 63,000,000 has been shipped; the rest is now on the docks.

Shingles manufactured 25,000,000 at $2.50 $62,500 Lath " 5,000,000 at 1.00 5,000 Oak Staves and shipped 2,000,000 at 30.00 60,000 Add Lumber 620,925 ———— Total $748,425

The supply of pine in some few localities is becoming exhausted, and some few mills have ceased operating. This is the case at Lexington, but the machinery and capital have been taken elsewhere. At the present ratio of consumption, the supply of pine must rapidly become diminished, but profitable employment will then be found in the manufacture of hemlock and hard-wood. Some little has already been done in the way of turning out hemlock. The manufacture of hard-wood lumber is increasing very rapidly.

The copper interest of Michigan was first brought into public notice by the enormous speculations and the mad fever of 1845. The large spur of country which projects far out into the lake, having its base resting on a line drawn across from L'Anse Bay to Ontonagon, and the Porcupine Mountains for its spine, became the El Dorado of all copperdom of that day. In this year the first active operations were commenced at the Cliff Mine, just back of Eagle River harbor. Three years later, in 1848, work was undertaken at the Minnesota, some fifteen miles back from the lake at Ontonagon.

The history of the copper mines on Lake Superior shows that even the best mines disappointed the owners in the beginning. We give the facts relative to the three mines at present in the Lake Superior region to illustrate this. The Cliff Mine was discovered in 1845, and worked three years without much sign of success; it changed hands at the very moment when the vein was opened which proved afterward to be so exceedingly rich in copper and silver, producing now on an average 1,500 tons of stamp, barrel, and mass copper per annum.

The Minnesota Mine was discovered in 1848, and for the first three years gave no very encouraging results. The first large mass of native copper of about seven tons was found in a pit made by an ancient race. After that discovery much money was spent before any other further indications of copper were found. This mine yields now about 2,000 tons of copper per annum, and declared, for the year 1858, a net dividend of $300,000. The dividends paid since 1852 amount to upward of $1,500,000 on a paid-up capital of $66,000.

The same has been experienced at the Pewabic Mine. That mine commenced operations in the year 1855, with an expenditure of $26,357, which produced $1,080 worth of copper; the second year it expended $40,820, and produced $31,492 of copper; in 1857 $24,484 of expenses produced $44,058 worth of copper; 1858, the amount expended was $109,152, and the receipts for copper $76,538; the total expense amounts to $235,816, and the total receipts for copper to $153,168, leaving an excess of expenses amounting to $82,648, which is, however, amply covered by the extensive works established above and below ground at the mine.

The Pewabic will undoubtedly take its place among the dividend-paying mines of the present year.

It is scarcely ten years that mining has been properly commenced in that remote region. At that time it was difficult, on account of the rapids of St. Mary's River, to approach it by water with large craft. Being more than a thousand miles distant from the centre of the Union, destitute of all the requirements for the development of mines; every tool, every part of machinery, every mouthful of provisions had to be hauled over the rapids, boated along the shores for hundreds of miles to the copper region, and there often carried on the back of man and beast to the place where copper was believed to exist. Every stroke of the pick cost tenfold more than in populated districts; every disaster delayed the operations for weeks and months.

The opening of the Saut Canal has changed all this and added a wonderful impetus to the business, the mining interests, and the development of the Lake Superior country. Nearly one hundred different vessels, steam and sail, have been engaged the past season in its trade, and the number of these is destined largely to increase year by year, an indication of the growth of business and the opening up of the country. For the growth in the copper interest we have only to refer to the shipments from that region year by year. These, in gross, are as follows:

1853 2,535 tons. 1854 3,500 " 1855 4,544 " 1856 5,357 " 1857 6,094 " 1658 6,025 " 1859 6,245 "

The same facts of development would hold generally true, with regard to the other industrial interests of that vast country.

It remains yet almost wholly "a waste, howling wilderness." At Marquette, Portage Lake, Copper Harbor, Eagle River, Eagle Harbor, and Ontonagon, and the mines adjacent, are the only places where the primeval forests have given place to the enterprise of man, and these in comparison with the whole extent of territory embraced in this region, are but mere insignificant patches. What this country may become years hence, it would defy all speculations now to predict, but there seems no reason to doubt that it will exceed the most sanguine expectations.

The copper region is divided into three districts, viz., the Ontonagon, the most northern, the Keweenaw Point, the most eastern, and the Portage Lake, lying mostly below and partially between the range of the two. In the first are situated the Minnesota, the Rockland, the National, and a multitude of other mines of lesser note, profit, or promise. In the Cliff, the Copper Falls, and others. In the last are the Pewabic, Quincy, Isle Royale, Portage, Franklin, and numerous others. Each district has some peculiarities of product, the first developing the masses, while the latter are more prolific in vein-rock, the copper being scattered throughout the rock.

There have been since 1845 no less than 116 copper-mining companies organized under the general law of our State. The amount of capital invested and now in use, or which has been paid out in explorations and improvements, and lost, is estimated by good judges at $6,000,000. The nominal amount of capital stock invested in all the companies which have charters would reach an indefinite number of millions. As an offset to this, it may be stated that the Cliff and Minnesota mines have returned over $2,000,000 in dividends from the beginning of their operations, and the value of these two mines will more than cover the whole amount spent in mining, and for all the extravagant undertakings which have been entered upon and abandoned. While success has been the exception and failure the rule in copper speculations, yet it must be admitted that these exceptions are remarkably tempting ones. Doubtless there is immense wealth still to be developed in these enterprises, and this element of wealth in the Lake Superior region is yet to assume a magnitude now unthought of.

The copper is smelted mainly in this city, Cleveland, and Boston, the works in this city being the largest. There is one establishment at Pittsburg which does most of the smelting for the Cliff Mine, we believe; one at Bergen, N. Y., and one at New Haven, Conn. There are two at Baltimore, but they are engaged on South American Mineral. The Bruce Mines on the Canada side of Lake Huron have recently put smelting works in operation on their location. Prior to this the mineral was barreled up and shipped to London, being taken over as ballast, in packet ships, at low rates.

The amount of copper smelted in this city we can only judge by the amount landed here, but this will afford a pretty accurate estimate. The number of tons landed here, in 1859, was 3,088. The copper yield of Lake Superior will produce between 60 and 70 per cent, of ingot copper, which is remarkably pure. The net product of the mines for 1859, is worth in the markets of the world nearly or quite $2,000,000. This large total shows the capabilities of this region and affords us some basis of calculation as to the value and probable extent of future development.

Beside the amount already noticed as landed here there were 1,268 tons brought to this city from the Bruce Mines, and sent on to London. The mineral of this location is of a different quality from that of Lake Superior and not near so productive of pure copper. The price of ingot copper in New York the past season has arranged from 20-1/2 to 23-1/2 cents per pound, averaging full 22-1/2 cents.

There are indications that Michigan is slowly but surely taking the rank to which she is entitled in the manufacture as well as production of iron. The first shipment of pig iron of any consequence was made by the Pioneer Company in the fall of 1858. Dr. Russell, of this city, is turning out large quantities. His works went into operation about two years and a half ago, but were burned after running sixty days. They were immediately rebuilt by the enterprising proprietor.

The Lake Superior iron has been proclaimed the best in the world, a proposition that none can successfully refute. Its qualities are becoming known in quarters where it would naturally be expected its superiority would be admitted reluctantly, if at all. It is now sent to New York and Ohio, and even to Pennsylvania—an agency for its sale having been established in Pittsburg. For gearing, shafting, cranks, flanges, and, we ought by all means, to add, car-wheels, no other should be used, provided it can be obtained.

A large amount of capital is invested in the iron interest in Michigan, as the following figures prove:

Pioneer $150,000 Jackson 300,000 Collins 150,000 Cleveland 300,000 Lake Superior and Iron Mountain R. R. Co. 700,000 Northern Michigan Iron Company 110,000 Wyandotte Rolling Mills 236,000 Eureka Iron Company 117,000 Dr. G. B. Russell's 60,000 Ford & Philbrick's Steam Forge 25,000 ————- 2,148,000

Marquette is the only point on Lake Superior where the iron ore deposits have been worked. There are deposits of iron in the mountains back of L'Anse, but this wonderful region leaves nothing more to be desired for the present. At a distance of eighteen miles from the lake, are to be found iron mountains named the Sharon, Burt, Lake Superior, Cleveland, Collins, and Barlow, while eight miles further back lie the Ely and St. Clair mountains. Three of these mountains are at present worked, the Sharon, the Cleveland, and the Lake Superior, and contain enough ore to supply the world for generations to come. The mountains farther back embrace tracts of hundreds of acres rising to a height of from four to six hundred feet, which, there is every reason to believe, from the explorations made, are solid iron ore. The extent of the contents of these mountains is perfectly fabulous, in fact, so enormous as almost to baffle computation. The ore, too is remarkably rich, yielding about seventy per cent. of pure metal. There are now in operation at Marquette three Iron Mining Companies, and two blast furnaces for making charcoal pig iron, the Pioneer and Meigs. The Pioneer has two stacks and a capacity of twenty tons of pig iron per day; the Meigs one stack, capable of turning out about eleven tons. The Northern Iron Company is building a large bituminous coal furnace at the mouth of the Chocolate River, three miles south of Marquette, which will be in operation early in the summer.

Each of the mining companies, the Jackson, Cleveland and Lake Superior, have docks at the harbor for shipment, extending out into the spacious and beautiful bay which lies in front of Marquette to a sufficient length to enable vessels of the largest dimension to lie by their side and to be loaded directly from the cars, which are run over the vessels and dumped into chutes, which are made to empty directly into the holds. The process of loading is therefore very expeditious and easy.

The amount of shipments of ore for 1859, from Marquette to the ports below, reaches 75,000 gross tons in round numbers, and the shipments of pig iron, 6,000 gross tons more. To this must be added the amount at Marquette when navigation closed, the amount at the mines ready to be brought down, and the amount used on the spot. This will give a total product of the iron mines of Michigan for the past year of between ninety and one hundred thousand tons. These mining companies simply mine and ship the ore and sell it. Their profit ranges between seventy-five cents and one dollar per ton.

The quality of the iron of Lake Superior is conceded by all to be the best in the world, as the analysis of Prof. Johnson, which we reproduce, shows. The table shows the relative strength per square inch in pounds.

Salisbury, Conn., iron 58,009 Swedish (best) 58,184 English cable 59,105 Centre county, Pa. 59,400 Essex county, N. Y., 59,962 Lancaster county, Pa. 58,661 Russia (best) 76,069 Common English and American 30,000 Lake Superior 89,582

The manufacture of pig iron at Marquette will probably be carried on even more extensively as the attention of capitalists is directed to it. The following may be considered a fair statement of the cost of producing one ton of pig iron at the Pioneer Iron Co.'s works:

1-1/2 tons iron ore, at $1.50 per ton $2 50 125 bushels charcoal at 7 cents per bushel 8 75 Fluxing 50 Labor 2 50 Incidental expenses 1 00 ——— Cost at the works 15 00 Freight on R. R. and dockage 1 37 ——— Cost on board vessel $16 36

The quantity of wood required for charcoal for both furnaces, is immense. The pioneer furnace requires 2,500 bushels of coal in twenty-four hours; and in blast as they are, day and night, for six months, and at a yield of forty bushels of coal to a cord of wood, it would require 15,000 cords of wood to keep them going. The company has had 120,000 cords chopped this season. This vast consumption of wood will soon cause the country to be completely stripped of its timber. Coal will then come into use. The business of manufacturing pig iron may be extended indefinitely, as the material is without limit, and the demand, thus far, leaving nothing on hand.

These facts exhibit the untold wealth of Michigan in iron alone, and point with certainty to an extent of business that will add millions to our invested capital, dot our State with iron manufactories of all kinds, and furnish regular employment to tens of thousands of our citizens, while our raw material and our wares shall be found in all the principal markets of the world.

The superior fish, found in such profusion in our noble lakes and rivers, while they afford a highly-prized luxury for immediate consumption, from one of our leading articles of export, and are very justly regarded as constituting one of our greatest interests.

It is estimated by men of intelligence that the value of our yearly catch of fish is greater than that of all taken in fresh waters in the thirty-two remaining States of the Union. This may at first blush seem like a broad assertion, but it is no doubt strictly within bounds. If the claim be not too much of the nature of a truism, we may add that so far as quality is concerned the superiority of our finny tribes is even more strongly marked than in regard to quantity. In the sluggish streams that abound in "ten degrees of more effulgent clime," the fish partake of the slimy properties of their native element; it is only in the limpid waters of the North that they are found of flavor so unexceptionable as to please an epicurean taste, or exalt them to the dignity of a staple of commerce. Fish possess peculiar qualities to commend them as an article of food, independent of the arbitrary preference of the epicure. They are universally esteemed as a wholesome and nutritious diet. In that pleasant work, Irving's "Astoria," a tribe of Indians are described who subsisted entirely on fish, whose rotund appearance contrasted strongly with the physique of their brethren of the forest. The profusion with which the finny tribes propagate their species is a peculiarity said to be imparted to those who partake freely and regularly of them for food, a supposition which would seem to be strongly supported by facts. Fishermen are proverbial for the number of their descendants. One of the tribe who dries his nets in Sarnia, is the happy father of nineteen children, and we can cite numerous proofs almost equally striking in support of this theory.

The fisheries have always been a leading subject in the government policy of seaboard nations. They are a prime source of revenue, and have been the cause of numerous wars. The serious controversy between the United States and Great Britain concerning the Newfoundland fisheries, is still fresh in the memory of our readers. Recently the earnest attention of the French government has been directed to propositions for the artificial propagation of fish, as a means of affording good and cheap food to the people at a merely nominal cost. The gradual diminution of the species, as well as the ultimate extinction of the large birds and quadrupeds, is everywhere a condition of advanced civilization and the increase and spread of an industrial population. To provide a remedy for the evil, the science of pisciculture has latterly attracted no small degree of attention, and, at this time, gentlemen prominently identified with our fishing interest have it in contemplation to stock lakes in the interior of Michigan with a view to the prosecution of the science.

Most of the fish packed on Lake Huron, and rivers St. Clair and Detroit, find their way into the Ohio market. The trade with that State has rapidly increased, but in its early stages it had some difficulties to contend with, to one of which we will briefly allude. Some twelve or fourteen years ago, a large quantity of fish, not less than 8,000 to 10,000 barrels, which had been caught in Lake Superior, were in the possession of a single dealer, who had them stored in the large warehouse recently torn down at the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway depot. He had opportunities to dispose of them at $8 per barrel, but refused to sell them for less than $10, and the result was that they were kept so long that many of them spoiled. They were complained of as a nuisance, and 1,500 barrels were turned out into the river at one time. Part of the lot was, however, sent to Ohio, and the effect was, for a time, extremely prejudicial to our trade, requiring a great deal of explanation before the Cincinnati dealers could be again induced to stand in the position of customers. But when confidence once more became fairly restored, the circumstance seemed to have the effect to precipitate the trade between the two cities. At least it grew rapidly from that day, our neighbors purchasing freely of our staple articles and sending us sugar and molasses in return. Thus, as in Samson's time, honey was gathered from the carcass of the dead lion. Ohio has become a very large consumer of our fish, and her influence is being extended rapidly into Indiana.

The habits of fish are as interesting as anything in the animal economy, constituting a beautiful study for the lover of nature; but this branch does not come within the scope of our article, and we must content ourselves with a brief description of the principal varieties, particularly such as are held in highest repute for packing, with such statistics as we have been able to procure.

Whitefish are more highly prized than any other kind found in our waters, being decidedly the most delicious in a fresh state, and when packed command a higher price than any other by $1 per bbl. They are found in the Straits and all the Lakes. They spawn in the fall, in the Straits, and in shoals and on reefs about the Lakes. They are caught in seines, gill nets, trap nets, and with spears; never with hooks. Those found in Detroit river come up from Lake Erie regularly in the fall to deposit their spawn. They were found in our lakes and rivers in vast quantities when the white men first visited their shores. They constituted, with other kinds, the principal food of the white and Indian voyagers as they coasted around the lakes, and were invaluable to the first settlers of the country, who, perhaps in some cases, but for the assistance they afforded, would have been compelled to relinquish their settlements. They could catch a supply at any time, and they then had an unfailing resort when their crops failed. Whitefish were a great favorite with the Indians. They would give many times their weight in trout or any other species in exchange for them. It is said that a person can subsist longer upon them than upon any other kind.

Their ordinary weight is from 3 to 5 lbs, length 15 inches, though some have been caught weighing not less than 18 lbs. They are a beautiful fish, and when first taken out of the water and struggle and flounder in the sun, they exhibit all the colors of the rainbow, but they soon expire, and when dead they are of a delicate white color. The trout, pike, and muscalonge devour them without mercy. Some of these voracious kinds have been caught with the remains of six white-fish in them.

The Detroit River white-fish are more juicy and better flavored than those caught in the upper lakes, probably from the fact that they feed on more delicate food, but those found in Lake Superior surpass all others in size. They were once so numerous that eight thousand were taken at a single haul. At present a haul of one or two thousand is thought a very good one. In all the rivers they are growing scarce very gradually, but surely. The ratio of decrease cannot be arrived at with any degree of precision. A few years ago they were mostly taken with gill nets, and when they fell of in one place, a corresponding increase would be found in another. Now they are taken with trap nets along the shore. The trap nets are a decided advantage over gill nets. They allow the fish to be kept alive, and they are taken out at leisure; they are therefore of better quality.

Pickerel are also held in high esteem. They are good either fresh, or salted and dried, and for packing, rank next in value to white, although held nominally at the same price as trout when packed. They generally run up the rivers and lakes in the spring to spawn, where they are caught in considerable numbers. Average weight, 2 lbs; large, 20 lbs; common length, 15 inches.

Lake or Mackinaw trout are as voracious as pike. They are chiefly caught on Lake Huron with gill nets and hooks. Saginaw Bay appears to be a favorite resort with them. Some winters large quantities are caught in the Bay through the ice, with a decoy fish and spear. They spawn in the fall, generally in the bays and inlets. Average weight 5 lbs; large 75 lbs.

Siscowits are mostly found in Lake Superior, and are preferred by some to any other kind. They are of the trout family, and for fat are unequaled; they are mostly taken in gill nets. They spawn in the fall, and are very superior for packing. They are also of some value for their oil. Common weight 4 pounds, length 16 inches.

Large herrings are very good fish, found only in the straits and large lakes. They spawn in the fall; but few are caught. Average weight 1-3/4 pounds; common length 10 inches.

In addition to the above the muskelonge—a large and delicious variety—black and white bass, rock bass, perch, sturgeon, and at least twenty other kinds, abound in our waters; a minute description of which we are compelled to forego. Whitefish are taken both spring and fall, chiefly the latter; spring is the season for pickerel; trout are taken at all seasons.

Something over a year since some excitement was occasioned by a mode of fishing adopted by a party of fishermen on Detroit river, who stationed nets over a mile and a half in extent across the mouth of the stream, a proceeding that was not only calculated to destroy the value of the seine fisheries above, but which would ultimately have driven the fish out of the river altogether. A formidable opposition was of course arrayed against this unusual and unwarrantable proceeding, and the party found it expedient to desist, but the Legislature, which met shortly after, failed to pass an inhibitive measure. This action, or rather want of action, would have been considered extraordinary in a State less favored by nature.

We have fortunately been able to procure estimates of the amount of the catch at all the various fisheries, together with other leading statistics; and with the view of imparting to the subject a more general interest, we include two or three points beyond the limits of the State. The estimates are furnished by gentlemen of intelligence and experience, and may be relied on as substantially correct:

Sandusky fisheries, catch mostly sold fresh:

Whitefish, valuation $50,000 Pickerel, bass, etc 40,000 Value of seines and fixtures 16,000 Paid for wages 37,000

Maumee River, pickerel, white bass, etc., etc., mostly sold fresh:

Valuation $50,000 Seines and fixtures $15,000 Paid for wages 12,000

Maumee Bay and Monroe County, Michigan, white fish and pickerel:

Valuation $20,000 Pounds, seines, and fixtures 9,000 Paid for wages 10,000

Detroit River, nearly all white:

Valuation $75,000 Seines, fishing grounds, and fixtures 40,000 Paid for wages 20,000

St. Clair River and Rapids, mostly pickerel:

Valuation $11,000 Cost of fixtures 2,000 Paid for wages 1,200

Port Huron to Point au Barque, 3,000 barrels, mostly white:

Valuation $25,000

Au Sauble 6,000 barrels, 3/4 white, the rest trout:

Valuation $50,000 Boats, nets, etc. 13,000 Paid for wages 7,000

Thunder Bay and vicinity, above Sauble River, 6,000 barrels, mostly white:

Valuation $50,000

Saginaw Bay and River, 2,000 barrels pickerel and 1,500 white and trout:

Valuation $32,000

Tawas, 600 barrels, mostly white:

Valuation $5,000

Between Thunder Bay and Mackinac, 500 barrels, mostly white:

Valuation $4,500

Mackinac, including all brought there, 7,500 barrels, 3/4 or 7/8 white:

Valuation $62,000

Beaver Islands and neighborhood, 7,000 barrels, nearly all white:

Valuation $59,000

Green Bay in Michigan, 3,000 barrels, all white:

Valuation $25,500

Island between De Tour and the Saut, 1,000 barrels, 2/3 white, the rest trout:

Valuation $8,000

Green Bay in Wisconsin, 2,500 barrels white and 500 barrels pickerel, all packed:

Valuation $25,000

Of the catch of Lake Huron, only an inconsiderable amount are sold fresh. On Detroit River about 4,000 barrels were packed last year.

Having procured specific information of the cost of outfit and amount paid for wages at the Sauble fisheries, we have taken such expenditures as the basis for those of all the upper lake fisheries in proportion to the catch, which in the main will doubtless prove substantially correct. At the Sauble last season there were sixteen boats employed for two months, and eight for the rest of the season. The value of the boats was $200 each, and the nets, etc., cost an additional sum of $600 for each, making the aggregate value of the boats and their outfit about $13,000. About forty men were employed on an average during the season, receiving a probable aggregate of $7,000 for wages. Taking these outlays, etc., as a fair average, and we have the following result:

From Port Huron to the Beavers, inclusive, together with Green Bay in Michigan, and the Saut Islands:

Cost of outfit $83,500 Amount paid for wages 45,000 Average number of men 300

The amount shipped from Lake Superior, as appears from the report of the Superintendent of the Saut canal is 4,000 barrels. This is probably not a tithe of what might be done. The mouth of almost every stream in that region affords good fishing grounds, which is also true of most of the islands, particularly Isle Royale, where the siscowit is very abundant.

The fisheries on the east coast of Lake Michigan have for about six years past increased very rapidly in importance, some years gaining 100 per cent, on the year preceding. A few years since a party of Norwegians came on and embarked in the business, which they have prosecuted ever since with advantage and profit. Trained in the severe school of their rugged northern home, they exhibit the greatest daring, going out in their tiny craft during the heaviest gales. They frequently venture out twenty-five miles from shore, almost meeting their countrymen from the Wisconsin side of the lake, who are engaged in the same hazardous calling. We have the following returns:

Little Traverse, 600 barrels:

Valuation $4,000 300 nets and 6 boats, worth 1,800 Paid for wages 575

Big Point Sauble, 1,500 barrels:

Valuation $12,000 600 nets and 8 boats 3,600 Paid for wages 1,700

Little Point Sauble, 2,000 barrels:

Valuation $16,500 750 nets and 10 boats 4,500 Paid for wages 2,000

White Lake, 1,500 barrels:

Valuation $12,000 500 nets and 5 boats 3,000 Paid for wages 1,600

Grand Haven, 4,000 barrels:

Valuation $32,800 800 nets and 8 boats 4,000 Paid for wages 5,000

Saugatuck, 2,000 barrels:

Valuation $16,000 600 nets and 6 boats 3,600 Paid for wages 2,500

South Haven, 2,100 barrels:

Valuation $16,800 600 nets and 6 boats 1,200 Paid for wages 2,500

St. Joseph's 3,500 barrels:

Valuation $28,000 1,200 nets and 9 boats 7,500 Paid for wages

New Buffalo, 300 barrels:

Valuation $3,000 400 nets and 5 boats 2,600 Paid for wages 450

Michigan City, 3,000 barrels:

Valuation $30,000 1,020 nets and 18 boats 8,000 Paid for wages 4,400

Showing an aggregate of 21,000 barrels, of which about 18,000 barrels are salted; valuation $169,800; value of fixtures $43,600; estimated amount paid for wages, $22,000.

The fishing grounds of Michigan City are almost entirely within our State. The number of barrels include those sold fresh as well as salted, there being a considerable quantity of the former, in some of the fisheries last named, Michigan City and New Buffalo especially, from whence they are sent packed in ice to the different towns in Michigan; also to Lafayette and Indianapolis, Indiana, to Louisville, Kentucky, to Cincinnati, and also to Chicago, where they are repacked in ice, and some of them find their way to St. Louis, Cairo, etc. From St. Joseph and Grand Haven there are large quantities sent fresh to Chicago and Milwaukee, where they are repacked in ice.

At a fair estimate for the few small fisheries on this coast from which we have no return, together with those on the west coast of Lake Michigan, they are worth at least $60,000, but we have no data by which to form an estimate of the proportion packed.

The number of men employed, and the consequent expense, varies according to the method employed. With seines the occupation is very laborious, and requires a much stronger force than pound nets. One set of hands can manage a number of the latter. Some of the fisheries on Detroit and St. Clair rivers use seines altogether, to draw which, horse-power is brought into requisition in some cases. A double set of men are employed, working alternately day and night, and the exposure is a most disagreeable feature of the business, particularly in bad weather. The great bulk of the aggregate catch continues to be taken with seines or gill nets, but pound (or trap) nets are on the increase. They have been in use below Lake Huron more or less for the past four or five years, but it is only about two years since their introduction in the upper lakes. With these nets 100 barrels of white-fish have been taken at a single haul. Of course their general use must produce a material diminution in the supply.

As regards capital invested, there is in particular instances a wide difference. George Clark, Esq., nine miles below Detroit, has $12,000 invested in his grounds, owing mostly to the cost of removing obstructions. But this is an exception.

The barrels for packing constitute no inconsiderable item of this vast and important trade. Their manufacture is a regular branch in Port Huron, but most of them are made by the fishermen when not engaged in their regular vocation. They are made at all the villages and fishing stations on Lake Huron, pine being generally easy of access. The barrels are worth 62-1/2 cents each; half-barrels, 50 cents. Over two-thirds of the packages used are halves, but our estimated totals of the catch represent wholes.

Formerly the nets used also to be made almost entirely by the fishermen, who usually procured the twine from Detroit. Latterly, many of them have been brought from Boston already made.

Salt is another large item. For packing and repacking, about one-fourth of a barrel is used to each barrel of fish. For the amount packed, therefore, in the fisheries we have described, about 20,000 barrels are used.

Total proceeds of Michigan fisheries $620,000 Total proceeds of all enumerated 900,000 Total capital invested 252,000 Paid for wages 171,000 Aggregate of barrels salted, say 80,000 bbls. Cost of packages 70,000 Cost of salt 22,000

The catch at the Sauble and Thunder Bay showed a falling off last season, owing not to the want of fish, but to the unfavorable weather. At these points they congregate only from October to the close, and the weather being very rough last fall, the catch was comparatively light.

Mackinac has been famous as the greatest fishing point on the lakes. Gill nets are mostly in vogue. The work in that locality is mostly done by half-breeds, in the employ of the merchants, the latter furnishes the salt, and paying them in trade, of which the outfit generally constitutes a part. But with the late general depression, prices declined some thirty or forty per cent., and consequently the business, previously quite lucrative, lost its attraction for the time being. The merchants advanced the means in summer, and could not realize until the ensuing year. Small holders were obliged to sell, some of the time by forcing the market, and this added to the difficulty experienced by large holders in obtaining returns.

Much has been said in reference to the coal fields of Michigan, and within the past two or three years, explorations, with a view of developing these deposits, have been conducted in different portions of the State. There is no longer any doubt of the existence of a valuable field of coal in central Michigan. There have been openings at different points in the State; at Jackson and Sandstone, in Jackson county; at Owasso and Corunna in Shiawassee county; at Flint in Genesee county, and at Lansing, coal has been found deposited in veins of from twenty inches to four feet in thickness. Most of the openings have been upon veins outcropping at the surface of the ground, and there has been little difficulty in procuring samples of coal from these veins in many localities in the State. These deposits of coal found at, and near the surface, are producing coal in limited quantities in different localities, but no works have been prosecuted with a view to supplying any but a limited local demand. From the surface evidences of a coal field on the line of the Detroit and Milwaukee Road near Owasso, and from explorations and developments already made, some specimens of the coal having been produced and shipped to Detroit, it has been determined to prosecute the work at that point.

In Jackson county, however, the matter of mining has become an enterprise of some magnitude, and we are enabled to give some facts and figures which exhibit in some measure the importance to the State of this new branch of industry. There are several "workings" of coal in the vicinity of Jackson, and several companies have been formed for the purpose of mining coal. Considerable coal has been mined and sold from these different workings and mines. The principal mine, and one which in all its arrangements and provisions is equal to any mine in the country, is that of the Detroit and Jackson Coal and Mining Company. The works of this Company are at Woodville station on the line of the Michigan Central Railroad, about three and a half miles west of Jackson city.

The mine is situated on the north side of the Railroad and about half a mile from the main track. The Coal Company have built a side track from the Central Road to the mouth of their shaft. The shaft from which the coal is taken is ninety feet deep, and at the bottom passes through a vein of coal about four feet in thickness. This vein has been opened in different directions for several hundred feet from the shaft, and with a tram-road through the different entries the coal is reached and brought from the rooms to the shaft, and then lifted by steam to the surface. This coal has been transported to different points in the State and is rapidly coming into use for all ordinary purposes, taking the place of many of the Ohio coals and at a reduced cost. The mine to which reference is made is within four hours' ride of Detroit, on the Central Road, and a visit of two hours (which can be accomplished any day, by taking the morning train, leaving the city at 9 45 and returning so as to reach here at half past six in the evening,) will repay any one for the trouble. The station is called Woodville, and is only three and a half miles west of Jackson.

Michigan, hitherto a heavy importer of salt, is in a fair way not only to have amply sufficient for her own wants, but something perhaps to spare. To aid in developing our saline resources, the Legislature wisely provided a bounty upon the production, which has already brought forth good fruits. At Grand Rapids, salt water has been discovered much stronger than that of the Syracuse springs, requiring only twenty-nine gallons to produce a bushel.—Arrangements have been almost perfected for commencing the manufacture upon a very extensive scale.

At Saginaw, within a few days, at the depth of 620 feet, copious volumes of brine were revealed. This is also stronger than any in New York. From some cause, it is sought to keep this information a secret, but it is fair to presume it would soon have leaked out. The salt both at Grand Rapids and Saginaw, is a beautiful article, of great purity.

When Nature formed the Grand River and Saginaw valleys, she seems to have been engaged in an animated contest with herself. The developments are such as to warrant the conviction that other and perhaps equally valuable salt springs lie hidden in the intervening space between those valleys. These and other discoveries plainly indicate that the employment of a large amount of capital in developing the latent resources of Michigan would amply "pay."

The inexhaustible plaster beds of Grand Rapids constitute one of the prime sources of prosperity of that enterprising metropolis of the Grand River Delta. Our whole State has also a great interest in the trade, the material being, it is admitted, a better fertilizer than the imported article.



CHAPTER XV.

Desirableness of a trip to the Lakes — Routes of travel — Interesting localities — Scenery — Southern coast — Portage Lake — Dr. Houghton — Ontonagon — Apostles' Islands — Return trip — Points of interest — St. Mary's River — Lake St. George — Point de Tour — Lake Michigan — Points of interest — Chicago.

A trip to the northern lakes, for variety and beauty of scenery to such as are seeking enjoyment and pleasure, possesses advantages over every other route of travel in the United States, and with the exception of the works of art and the classical associations of the old world, is unsurpassed by any on the globe. To such as are in quest of health, no comparison can be instituted, as it has been demonstrated that the Northwest, especially in the region of the lakes, possesses the most invigorating climate in the world. A reference to the mortuary tables removes all doubt on this point. In the town of Marquette, on Lake Superior, containing a population of over three thousand, there were during the last year but eight deaths, and only a portion of that number was from disease.