11 
to a large extent, clearing, increasing the manure pile by feeding of stock, and 
the greater value placed upon the grass and hay crops. Some farms have been 
very much improved by the turning of the little creeks on the high lands for 
the purpose of irrigating, and the low lands are bettered by under-draining. 
In Chautanqua county, many farms that, seven years ago, could have been 
bought for $50 per acre, would sell now for $150 per acre. 
2. The reports of local averages of unimproved lands reduced to a general 
average, give $32 as the value of such lands in the State. In some cases they 
are more valuable than cultivated lands; in the mountains of the Adirondack 
region, and other mountainous localities, tracts of wild lands are found at low 
prices. In the more populous sections unimproved lands, with the exception of 
wood and timber preserves necessary to each farm, are either very hilly or 
swampy. Inthe northern part of Oneida the north woods, a wild tract of 
spruce with a very poor soil, is worth but $5 per acre. In the Catskill moun- 
tains, land valued only for bark and timber is held at the same rate. As near 
New York city as Dutchess county are mountain lands valued at only $10 to 
$20 per acre. There isa wild tract in Herkimer containing about one hundred 
thousand acres, worth from fifty cents to five dollars per acre, very billy, full 
of lakes, and wooded with hemlock and spruce—a great resort for hunters and 
fishermen in appropriate seasons for such game. In Suffolk (on Long Island) 
is a large tract which produces quantities of cord-wood, 100,000 cords having 
‘been shipped from a single town (Brookhaven) in a single year, estimated at 
$8 per acre. In Washington county unimproved lands are valued at $3 per 
acre. Woodlands, in counties supplied only with wood lots reserved upon 
farms, are often the most valuable portions of farms, as in Livingston and other 
counties. In Monroe such lands are worth from $60 to $200 per acre. 
3. ‘The peculiarities of soil and minerals are too well known for particular 
mention. ‘Timber that is conveniently accessible is getting-scarce and valu- 
able. In the western part of the State prices of wood and timber are rapidly 
increasing ; in Ontario courty the best lumber is worth $40 to $50 per M, and 
wood $4 per cord. Lumbering operations are rapidly reducing the supply. Mil- 
lions of feet of the most valuable ship timber were hauled to the St. Lawrence 
river from Jefferson, rafted down to Montreal and Quebec, and sold to England 
for a trifle, and now the want of building timber is, or soon will be, felt severely. 
In Westchester marble for building purposes is largely quarried and shipped 
to New York; and peat is also abundant, though unworked. <A large amount 
of labor is employed in Warren in procuring bark for tanneries, aud logs are 
floated down the branches of the Hudson for manufacture at Glenn’s Falls, 
Sandy Hill and. Fort Edward; there are also marble quarries successfully 
worked at Glenn’s Falls. In Livingston and Greene plaster beds have been in 
process of excavation for several years, greatly to the advantage of agriculture 
in their vicinity. Cement and plaster beds have recently been discovered in 
Schoharie. In Ulster 700,000 barrels of cement were manufactured during the 
season. At least $1,000,000 capital is invested in quarrying Hudson river 
bluestone, which is shipped to all parts of the United States. Silver and lead 
are found in Dutchess county. Lime and building stone are valuable resources 
of Jefferson county. 
4. A few items concerning special industries are extracted from returns of 
correspondents. During the war the flax interest became prominent, and some 
thirty mills were erected in Washington county ; the business has greatly de- 
clined. In the central and eastern portions of the county potatoes are made a 
specialty, the yield being estimated at 1,000,000 bushels, of which 800,000 
reached a market before winter set in, at 80 cents to $1 per bushel. Winter 
cars are fitted with stoves,and farmers were receiving $1 10 per bushel in 
December. The cost of culture is reckoned at $20 per acre, and the yield 
varies from 100 to 300 bushels. Some farmers have made almost fabulous 
