92 



The exact cause of this decrease is not known, but to the student of 

 foi'estxy conditions, it seems that deforestation, is, in part at least, re- 

 sponsible. 



By far the most susceptible of our crops to the changed condition is 

 the apple. Though our statistics on this subject are very limited, yet the 

 memory of every person of mature years will testify to the great decrease 

 in our apple crop. The raising of perfect apples in this county is very 

 difficult and yields such poor financial returns that the growers have al- 

 most entirely abandoned the pursuit. However, the decline in yield is by 

 no means proportional to the decline in the number of trees. The follow- 

 ing figures are taken from the statistician's reports for Indiana and ex- 

 press approximately this condition: 



1879 42,007 bushels apples. 



1880 37,781 bushels apples. 



1881 20,476 bushels apples. 



1885 14,544 bushels apples. 



1886 08,03.3 bushels apples. 



1897 3,084 bushels apples. 



The yield has so decreased that at the present time we are com- 

 pelled to import almost all of our apples. The immoderate ravages of 

 hordes of insect pests is mainly responsible for this condition, though the 

 apple rust is also very inj;n-ious. The disastrous effect of the latter, 

 however, is probably no greater now than at previous times and will not 

 account for the remarkable decrease in our apple crop. 



Besides a decrease in our soil productiveness, the county has also lost 

 many valuable wood industries. Until recently there was located at Craw- 

 fordsville a heading anTl stave factory which used large quantities of 

 timber and furiiislied employment to many men. The scarcity of avail- 

 able timber made furtlier operation unprofitable and the concern was 

 moved to Arkansas. At one time the county was liberally dotted with 

 sawmills, but now scarce a half dozen remain, and these are compelled 

 to import a large proportion of their logs, in some cases nearly one-half. 



Crawfordsville at present has but two important wood industries. The 

 Indiana Match Company iiscs large quantities of cottonwood and bass- 

 wood and the supply of this county was soon exhausted. For some time 

 past the company has purchased these woods in different districts, chiefly 

 in lower Illinois, but the new Chicago drainage canal has flooded so much 



