384 



The annual production per acre, as deduced from the aggregate valae 

 of all farm products and betterments of stock in the several counties is 

 th us presented, each being named in the order of precedeuce : 



Per acre. 



Prince George's $10 72 



Alleghany 10 68 



Queen Anne 10 63 



Dorchester 10 53 



Somerset 8 65 



Charles 



8 42 



St. Mary's . - : 8 38 



Wicomico 7 78 



Caroline 7 64 



Calvert 7 58 



Worcester 7 53 



Per acre. 



Cecil-, $16 77 



Baltimore 15 25 



Kent 15 07 



Harford 14 34 



Washington 14 32 



Frederick 14 22 



Carroll 13 49 



Howard 13 23 



Anne Arundel 13 03 



Talbot 11 70 



Montgomery 11 38 



The last assessment of Baltimore County by the local authorities, in 

 1865, made the valuation of farms and unimproved lands about 

 $40,000,000. Prices have greatly advanced near the city of Baltimore 

 ■within a few years. Within a distance of ten to fifteen miles the range 

 is from $100 to $2,000 per acre. Improved farms beyond this limit, 

 with convenient buildings, orchards, &c., command $70 to $200 per 

 acre. Some dilapidated farms are selling below their value, at $30 to 

 $75 per acre. Timber-lands are worth from $50 to $200. Sedge-fields 

 or worn and neglected lands, if not too near towns and railroads, can be 

 got for $30 to $50 per acre. The best soils are of limestone origin, fine 

 for cereals, and worth $75 to $200 per acre. A sandy loam predomi- 

 nates near Baltimore, and is found very suitable for gardening and 

 fruit-growing. A third class is a sandy soil adapted to sweet potatoes 

 and peaches. 



From $15 to $20 per acre for medium lands, in 1870, the rates 

 for Montgomery lands have advanced to $20 and $25. Some wild 

 lands can be obtained at $8 to $10. These are in pines or sedge, 

 generally a clay soil, susceptible of improvement at a reasonable outlay. 

 The following description of this county is by Mr. Henry C. Hallowell : 



Montgomery County, Maryland, embraces an area of 315,000 acres. It is bordered 

 on the west by the Potomac Eiver, and nearly encompasses three sides the District 

 of Columbia. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Metropolitan Branch of the 

 Baltimore and Ohio Railroad run through it, and the main stem and Washington 

 branch of the same road are near its northern and eastern borders. Its climate is a 

 pleasant intermediate between North and South, there being sufficient cold to secure 

 an abundant supply of ice and to remove all miasmatic influences from the air. The 

 average of the winters is about 32*^, of the summer abgut 74°, and of the year about 

 52°. The rain-fall is 44 inches, and the county is remarkably free firom hail-storms 

 and tornadoes. Cattle are housed near the last of November, and are turned out to 

 pasture the latter part of April. The surface is rolling, without being hilly. Parr's 

 Kidge gives rise to many fine streams, and throughout there is abundance of water. 

 The Great Falls of the Potomac possess a manufacturing power of vast extent, as yet 

 unused. The soil varies from gravelly, through sandy, to clay and a red loam. In some 

 portions a magnesium-loam crops out, which in other parts is covered by quartz and 

 clay. Fine timber abounds, consisting of oak, chestnut, poplar, walnut, hickory, and 

 maple, the roots of the trees penetrating to the loam. Quarries of sand and other 

 stones are abundant, and some copper and chrome have been mined. It is adapted to 

 fruit of all kinds. Apples, peaches, pears and grapes thrive admirably. 



The soil is generally thin, and twenty-five years ago a large portion of the county 

 was uninclosed and uninhabited. It has proved, however, remarkably susceptible to 

 improvement, and a wonderful revolution has been effected. Sections which had been 

 worn out by the cultivation of corn and tobacco, barren and untenanted, washed into 

 gullies and abandoned to pines, scrub-oaks, and sedge, now blossom like the rose, sup- 

 porting a busy and prosperous population, presenting scenes of rural beauty to the 

 eye, and yielding comfortable incomes to the industrious owners. 



