The following is an excerpt from “A History of Leelanau Township,” published by the Leelanau Township Historical Writers Group.
In 1853 on Nov. 26, the Rev. Smith recorded in his diary that “ ... Mr. J.S. Barker came with fruit trees,” and on Nov. 28 bought 8 cherries.”
In 1866 Alexander Winchell’s “A Report on The Grand Traverse Region” mentions cherries flourishing on Mr. Smith’s place in Northport.
Early pioneers plated cherries on their homesteads and when they began to produce more fruit than could be consumed locally, a market for the surplus was found in nearby cities and across the lake in the Upper Peninsula and in northern Wisconsin. Charles R. Thomas tells about his uncle Joseph Thomas, an early fruit grower.
“I recall that harvesting for market was done by clipping the stems to keep them from bleeding during shipment and catching them in an open umbrella hung upside-down on a branch.”Charles R. Thomas wrote.
The cherries were packed in two-compartment ventilated crates, each side holding eight quart boxes, for shipment.
In 1906 Steiner Garthe, another early orchardist, bought crates from Kehl Brothers. A record of his accounts in 1908 show one purchase of 100 crates at a cost of $15. The pickers were paid 20 cents for clipping a 16-quart crate of cherries.
In 1905 Charles A. Nelson and Ed Charter purchased Windsor cherry trees from a traveling peddler nursery-man. When they began producing they resulted in many varieties.
Charles Nelson’s orchard had one tree with mammoth, firmly fleshed sweet and juicy fruit; it out-classed the others. He tried to have it identified at various agricultural colleges but it wasn’t in any of their categories. It was referred to as “that Nelson Sweet.” This parent tree was used for propagation and nurseries and began to grow the new variety from its scions. It became known as “Nelson ‘s Black Sweet Cherry” and many orchard began planting these trees, some of which are bearing fruit.
When the older folk were asked “Who had the first cherry orchards?” Among the names recalled besides those mentioned, are Julius Brace, John VonHolt, Antoine Bartlett, and A.A. Lasch, with partners Drs. Dayton and Williams, all from Lincoln, Nebraska, who purchased a section of land near the “Bight.” These orchards were started before Cherry Home orchard. Other orchards in the “teens” were the Hawley & Snyder on Omena Heights; the Hugh Scott orchards which began in 1913 with nine acres of both tart and sweet cherries, and that of J.W. Bowels. In the Aug. 16 1914 “Detroit Tribune” there was a write-up on “Michigan’s Finest Orchard.” It was that of J.W. Bowles on “Poke-a- Moonshine Farm” one mile west of Northport, just to the north of the cemetery’s first addition. He had 1,4000 trees.
In was in the 1920s to 1930 that cherry farming began to grow rapidly with plantings made on a larger scale throughout the township. In the Gill’s Pier area, Joseph T. Jelinek was the only pioneer commercial fruit grower; he planted his first block of Montmorencies in 1922-23 and added more in succeeding years. But it was not until later, around the 1940s, that more of the fertile, well-kept acres in that area began to be planted with blocks of sweet and tart cherry trees.
There were nearly 50,000 cherry trees in Leelanau County in 1918, and Leelanau Township had 32,000 of them. The number of acres of trees in the county in 1930 was 3,647, representing an investment of $924,525. Figures were also tabulated by townships showing Leelanau as being the largest producer at that time.
The Cherry Growers Institute of Leelanau County was active in advancing the interest of the cherry growers. In the summer of 1930 they had put up a successful fight against the cherry fruit fly that during the last few years had been threatening the cherry industry.
The officers of the organization were R.E. Flood, president; Hugh Scott, vice president; Howard Ferguson, treasurer; and Julius Chapin, secretary. Directors were Theodore Esch. H.C. Thomas, Nels Fredrickson and Gust (cq) Wernquist. This organization later merged with the Horticultural Society.
The prices of cherries per pound varied from 6 cents to 12 center during the 1920s to 1930 and production costs were remarkably low at this time. Fertilization was an almost unheard-of practice and spraying was not done often. By 1932 the price to the grower was 1 cent per pound. The price for picking was a low of 10 cents per lug, and Florence Hanes, who worked at the Cherry Factory on the sorting belt, recalls that women received 15 cents per hour. If meals were eaten there was a 5 cent per hour reduction.
By 1945 the price had risen to 15 cents per pound for the cherries because heavy frosts had reduced the crop. That year a high of $1 per lug was paid for picking.
