These counties present the singular condition of having fifty per cent. more arable pasture and meadow land than they have woodland. They are almost as well supplied with railroad facilities as the Miami Valley in proportion to the area they occupy, and if we include river navigation, there are no other four counties which enjoy such facilities for transportation of surplus products as these do. The following table presents at a glance the average product, product per acre, &c., of these counties: There is scarcely a crop grown in these counties which is not fully up to the average. The protecting influences of the Ohio river, so far as the effects of frost and drought are concerned, have no doubt done much towards securing such good crops. Some crops appear to be failures, or at least much below some other portions; this is no doubt owing to the fact that the soil was not adapted to such crops. The following table exhibits an analysis of the live stock in these counties: a sheep to every 100 acres in crops.. ................................................................ 158-73 "sheep to every inhabitant...... 3.90 100 inhabitants 390-60 47,873 No. of CATTLE................................59,879 No. of SWINE.................... As these counties may be regarded, so far as similarity in population is concerned, as a continuation of the Muskingum Valley, it therefore is to be expected that the general system of agriculture, and the relative apportionment of soil for crops, will not vary materially from that of that valley. We find the following to be the apportionment of every 100 acres in crops in 1863, viz: The yield in grain and root crops is 18.58 bushels per acre. The amount of live stock to every 100 acres in crops is ten horses, nineteen head of cattle, one hundred and fifty-nine sheep, and sixteen hogs. The average agronomic condition of every family of five persons is as follows, viz: Acres of land to each family.............54·05 Sorgho and maple syrup to each family 7.25 |