42 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY 



drained. Alter crossing the Great Back Bone mountain, the 

 south-west termination of which forms the extreme Jimit of 

 the state in the same direction, the streams liave a directly- 

 opposite course, emptying into the Youghagany, which 

 through Maryland, runs nearly due south. 



Besides the vast mineral wealth possessed by this portion of 

 the state — to be more particularly alluded to presently — its 

 agricultural resources are abundant, and need only the induce- 

 ment which an increased population will soon afford to bring 

 them into full operation. Whenever the soil is cultivated it is 

 found to produce kindly in rye, buckwheat {Polygoriiutnfago- 

 pyruni) and oats, the latter very heavy and highly esteemed. 

 On the new lands tobacco is raised with success, and its quality 

 represented as superior, being of the bright leaf kind that always 

 commands a high price. The more mountainous districts^ 

 present broad valleys that bear the evidences of having been 

 the beds of extensive lakes now dried up or drained, the waters 

 of which have left behind them deep deposites of a clayey 

 loam. These beautiful tracts of country have received the 

 name of Glades. From their elevated position and their con- 

 stantly moist condition, they form very productive meadows 

 and the most luxuriant pastures. Nothing in this way can 

 surpass the beauty of these glades during the flowering season, 

 Avhen they are covered with numerous showy plants ; the 

 golden lily (Lilium Canadense^) and the Lobelia cardinalis, 

 blending their rich hues, with the lively colours of several 

 species of Phlox and Aster. The forests afford also a great 

 many species of the most valuable kinds of timber — the white 

 and black oaks, beech, white and black walnuts, the mag- 

 nolia {M. accummata,) called here the cucumber tree, over- 

 shadowing a luxuriant growth of large herbs, as the Collinso- 

 ?iia Canadensis, (Enothera grandijlora, several species of 

 Monarda, Helianthiis and Rudhoekia. This is likewise the 

 region of the sugar maple, {Acer sacchariuum,) annually 

 tapped in the spring for its saccharine juice, which when con- 

 centrated yields a wholesome sugar. 



The abundant pasturages afforded by the glades, and other 

 parts of Allegany county, render them peculiarly well suited 

 to grazing and dairy farms ; the glades-hutter being already 

 celebrated for the delicacy of its flavour. Some farmers also 



