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Harrisville, Michigan
Photo credit: George Thomas Some rights reserved: Link
Located sixty three miles north of Bay City on the main line of the Detroit & Mackinac Railroad and bounded on the north by Alpena county, on the east by Lake Huron, on the south by Iosco county, and on the west by Oscoda county, is Alcona, county rich in opportunities for the homeseeker, the man who wants to be independent and is searching for the proper location. Alcona is not an old county when we reckon in the age of the state, yet in her infancy, the call of her good lands has attracted many who pioneered those hardy settler his wife and children. Here that settler finds a clean environment where true domestic happiness is assured Many men have come into the county's domain with but real intentions of making good and have wrought fine farms elegant homes and a splendid competency for their children. The progress of the county has been steady not a quick jump from the remote to the lime light with all the pit falls that such a growth insures. The principal objects of interest to the modern home seeker are soil and climate. In Alcona county can be found all kinds of soil from the heaviest clays to the lightest sands, but the greater portion of the soil is clay, clay loam, and sand loam. These soils combined with the climate of Alcona, has made possible the growing of all the crops common to the temperate zone. Wheat, oats, rye, beans, peas, timothy, clover, corn, speltz, vetch, alfalfa, barley, millet, potatoes, apples, plums, pears ,cherries all the small fruits and every kind of a vegetable. Apples are coming to be a staple product and of a quality which has commanded the attention of big shippers to the fancy markets throughout the United States. The climate is exceedingly healthful and many who have suffered the dreaded asthma fever and maladies have found relief from their troubles here. One who is interested in the farm and its possibilities, is desirous of what has been and what can be in the way of production in community, he is considering in the market community he is considering. He is also interested in the market possibilities. Taking the latter, first we will state that the markets here for grasses and grains and the like will be about the same as anywhere in the country and there is a market for practically everything the farm produces. Now for production figures, we will give from the books of one of the most prominent threshermen the average covering a period of several years in order that a fair average may be obtained. Wheat will average about twenty-five bushels per acre, with the high yield at fifty, Richard Slaght, of Harrisville township, threshed four hundred ninety-five bushels of wheat from a ten acre field, no commercial fertilizer was used. Oats run from forty to fifty with a high yield of 1100 bushels from a ten acre field owned by Capt JH Henderson, of the Sturgeon Point life saving station.
Source: "Extra" Alcona and Oscoda Counties: "the Land of Diversified Agriculture.," pp. 11-12