West to Far Michigan: Settling the Lower Peninsula, 1815-1860

11. The Restructuring of Michigan Agriculture

11 The Restructuring of Michigan Agriculture A Focus ON MARKETABLE CROPS Successful commercial agriculture in the West depended upon the production of farm commodities for which there was demand sufficient to justify the costs of specialization. The transformation of the national economy, particularly the rise of urban markets in the East, brought about a geographical reorganization of production on American farms. Crops likely to yield the highest income per unit of land tended to gravitate toward urban markets, while those requiring greater acreage and fetching lower prices remained peripheral to them. This process not only altered the nature of eastern agriculture, but extended the production of less valuable commercial crops westward. Occurring at a time when the national population itself was growing rapidly, these changes opened a market for farmers on newly settled Michigan lands. Com for Food, Feed, and Drink Corn was the all-purpose subsistence crop in nineteenth-century America, and it was produced in greater quantities than any other crop in antebellum Michigan (table ILl). Its popularity had less to do with its commercial potential than its unique role in the regional economy of the frontier. As the basis for such staple foods as johnny cake, corn mush, hominy, and corn fritters, it became a mainstay of the farm diet. Corn was a major component of feed for work animals and was used extensively for fattening meat animals. Its wide range ofuses made it ideal for Michigan farmers, who required a crop adaptable to the varied needs of diversified production during the settlement period.) Although Lower Michigan lay at the northern edge of the corn-growing zone of North America, settlers perceived its land as suited for the production of corn, even though yields fell short of those realized in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Corn was sensitive to Michigan's climate, and a distinctive geographic pattern in its production emerged early and persisted throughout the antebellum period (figs. ILl and 11.2). Although extremely hot weather could injure or reduce its yields, corn was not affected by the diseases and insect pests that threatened other grains.2 Corn was an ideal frontier crop. Since it produced relatively large yields per weight in seed, settlers could bring enough seed with them to plant their first crop, using few tools, in land that was only minimally cleared. Corn seldom failed, could be harvested gradually at low cost, and was easily stored. These advantages made corn crucial to the survival of pioneers such as Henry Rowland 235 TABLE 11.1 PRODUCTION OF AGRICULTURAL CROPS IN MICHIGAN FROM 1810 THROUGH 1864. Product 1810 1836 1840 1850 1854 1860 1864 Wheat (bu) 12,000 1,014,896 2,157,108 4,893,141 7,027,932 8,171,688 9,687,627 Rye (bu) 21,994 34,236 102,260 525,716 Corn (bu) 10,000 791,427 2,227,039 5,704,172 7,630,658 l3,372,877 11,007,284 Oats (bu) 8,000 1,116,910 2,114,051 1,843,134 4,063,528 Barley (bu) 100 127,802 70,801 302,951 Potatoes (bu) 12,540 2,109,205 2,333,020 2,917,434 5,258,628 4,059,271 Wool (lbs) 153,375 2,007,598 2,680,747 6,929,113 7,249,934 Hay (tons) l30,805 424,070 496,041 843,346 Flour (bbls) 202,880 784,684 998,503 761,156 1,319,923 Buckwheat (bu) 1,308 64,022 476,811 523,687 Orchard Production $16,075 $l30,552 $1,116,219 Sources: Blois, Gazetteer, 392; U. S. Census, 1810, 1840, 1850, 1860; Michigan Census, 1854, 1864; Evans, Pedestrious Tour. THE RESTRUCTURING OF MICHIGAN AGRICULTURE 1 1 1 -~ 1 1 f---T'--T-- --I' 1 1 1 1 1 - - -f-- - - -r - - T - - 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 _~---~--L--+--+--1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 L 1 -L __ ..l- -T--,- -,---1- 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -1- - -1- - - r - - t- --, 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 1 1 1 J '-., , f-- - _.L -I-.J.. -I 4 1 1 1 1 1 1 r - L1 L_' __ - I 1 1 _.1..-, \---_ ~I !---r--r--\ 1 , , 1 ' , , , , , , I " --. I .1-_ -L_r-l-r.J- - - - , - , I I , 1 I , , 1 I I , I I -----r---;---,.... , , o No Data o...