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almost equally well with good cultivation. A yield of 80 busliels of 

 corn per acre and 40 of wheat have frequently been obtained, and a few 

 extra farms have exceeded these figures. About one-fourth of the farms 

 are now for sale. Eeally good farms in the best limestone districts 

 command $88 to $90: in clay soils, generally, $65 to $70; red lands 

 and slate soils, $8 to $40 ; mountain and hill lands, $10 to $20. 



Howard belongs to the northern division of the State, lies west of 

 Anne Arundel, between the rivers Patapsco and Patuxent. It has an 

 undulating surface, a variety of soils, and quite a sufficiency of worn- 

 out lands, which might be improved by judicious farming and made 

 profitable. They can be had at $10 per acre. Mr. D. Lawrence, of 

 Howard, thus describes the farming-lands of that county : 



Sandy soil with poor capabilities, except under very expensive and protracted and 

 nuremnnerative treatment; these are, of course, prohibitory in their operation. Such 

 lands are practically out of the market ; too poor to live on — not much of this kind, 

 though — and being near railroads, has some value, $8 or -f 10 for sites, but no agricul- 

 tural value. 2. Sandy loam clay subsoil, capable by judicious treatment, clovering, plas- 

 tering, boning, green manuring, of yielding maximum crops — 30 bushels wheat, 2| tons 

 hay, 10 to 15 barrels of corn, 2 hogsheads tobacco, 70 bushels oats, 250 to 300 bushels 

 potatoes. This is the micaceous soil, and includes the old fields and three-fourths of 

 the county under cultivation. It is, in my judgment, the best soil in the world when 

 properly treated. Old fields worth $10 or $12 per acre ; good land and buildings, $50. 

 There is not much of the latter, however, comparatively, which makes the average low, 

 as given in my answer to the llrst question. The third quality is the gneiss-rook soil. 

 This rock contains hornblende, whose decomposition affords lime and feldspar, yield- 

 ing potash by decomposition ; naturally a richer soil than the micaceous, but more 

 difficult to work ; a heavier soil, and wherever found in our county showing good cul- 

 ture, good buildings, rural adornment, agricultural life, and refinement. Its location, 

 however, near the railroad and city, acts, of course, powerfully in producing this con- 

 dition of things. Worth from $30 to $100 per acre, according to location. Oae-half 

 the owners would sell at an average of $50 per acre for gneiss soil within three miles 

 of railroad; $20 per acre for old fields, (micaceous ;) $20 per acre far sandy soil ; $30 

 per acre for micaceous soil, improved. These represent owners' average prices, what 

 tliey would take, but there are very few sales. 



Coming to the western counties, Washington stands very prominently 

 at the front, its best lands worth $80 to $100 per acre, and medium 

 farms about $50 ; while the unoccupied and unimproved lands of poorer 

 quality command but $10. Some timber-lands are quite valuable. The 

 limestone soils are the most productive. This county extends from 

 the ridge of South Mountain westward, between the Pennsylvania and 

 Virginia lines, the narrowest portion of the State, at one point but a 

 few miles in width. This county and Frederick, which adjoins it on the 

 east, are the best wheat-counties in the State, and it would be difficult 

 to excel them in the United States. 



Alleghany is a mountain county, with lands of rough surface, low 

 in price, and productive of hay and grain, and all farm-products of New 

 England and New York. It is a region noted for its "glades-butter" 

 and " mountain-mutton." Some of the valleys are broad and fertile. 



Garrett County occupies the northwest corner of the State. It is a 

 new county, its area having been detached from Alleghany. Farms in 

 good cultivation are worth $20 per acre, and wild lands about $8. The 

 postmaster at Oakland, Mr. Ralph Thayer, thus writes of the soils : 



We have black mold, the red or chocolate-colored soil, also the pale slate-colored, 

 and in certain sections limestone clay, and on our rivers alluvial formations partaking 

 largely of sand. All the above-described soils produce satisfactory returns whea 

 properly cultivated. Wheat from 20 to 30 bushels per acre, rye from 16 to 25, oats 

 from 30 to 40. Buckwheat same as last estimate. Corn from 30 to 50 bushels per acre. 

 Potatoes from 200 to 300 bushels per acre. Timothy and clover thrive and produce 

 well. In the middle and northwestern portions of the county some good tracts are for 

 sale, but what i^roportiou those bear to the amount not for sale I cannot answer. 



