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portion. Forest and Elk counties report no increase since the date named, while 
Lycoming reports as high as 100 per cent. advance; Susquehanna, Luzerne, 
Lancaster, Cumberland, Clearfield, Erie and Lawrence, from 40 to 50 per cent. ; 
Wayne, Wyoming, Bradford, Tioga, Columbia, Union, Berks, Perry, York, 
Delaware, Franklin, Cambria, Westmoreland, Somerset, Beaver, Armstrong and 
Warren, from 25 to 35 per cent.; Crawford, Alleghany, Dauphin, Juniata and 
Bucks, from 15 to 20 per cent.; McKean, Washington and others, from 2 to 15 
per cent. 
2. The value of unimproved or wild lands is returned at prices ranging from 
$2 to $45, varying according to location and timber and mineral resources, 
averaging from $10 to $12 in the State. In Berks county nearly one-fourth of 
the surface is hilly and timbered, and is valued at $45 per acre for the timber. 
York county gives an average of $30; Bradford, Perry, Crawford, Erie, Law- 
rence, $20; Susquehanna, Wayne, Tioga, Dauphin, Clearfield, Armstrong, 
Greene, Elk and Warren, $10 to $15; Franklin as low as $2; Lancaster, Dela- 
ware and Montgomery, report no wild lands, but tracts of woodland, worth the 
value of the wood above the value of the land, $100 to $200 per acre. Much 
of the wild land is mountainous, and valuable only for the mineral deposits or 
growing timber, while portions are susceptible uf the highest cultivation and 
improvement, or adapted to grazing and dairy purposes. 
3. The mineral wealth of Pennsylvania is well known. Our returns are full 
of references to the rich iron ores, in many places extensively worked, of the 
entire length of the Susquehanna valley, of the Schuylkill and Lehigh regions, 
and of the western slope of the Alleghanies. The anthracite coal, of the east- 
ern and northeastern sections of the State, is of great value; and the bitumin- 
ous varieties, of the northwestern and western sections, are not excelled in yield 
and quality by any coal of that character in any coal lands of the United 
States. In Elizabeth township, Alleghany county, our correspondent estimates 
$365,000,000 worth of coal at four cents per bushel, and that at one cent per 
bushel the coal finding an outlet from the Monongahela river would suffice to 
pay the national debt. The following description of mining here is thus given : 
“The principal vein is called the ‘six foot vein,’ and dips towards the south, so 
that at Pittsburg it is about 400 feet above low water, and at Brownsville is at the 
water’s edge—the distance being 60 miles. The coal is taken from the miner’s 
rooms by wagons, containing usually 25 bushels, and hauled by mules to the mouth 
of the pit and let down the hill by cable on a railway constructed for the purpose; 
the loaded wagon drawing an empty one up to the pit. A mine in good orderand 
well worked will produce about 8,000 bushels per day. Four cents per bushel is 
paid for digging. Many things conspire to prevent constant and regular work, 
such as very low water, very high water, ice in the river, and occasionally dull- 
ness of sale at Cincinnati and other markets below. At the present time, owing 
to the low water, we have millions of bushels in boats awaiting the ‘moving 
of the waters.’ It is estimated that there are $3,500,000 worth. I consider 
that our coal trade is as yet in its infancy, and this results from the want of 
capital as much as from anyother cause. Good coal lands vary in price 
from $50 to $500 per acre, owing to their situation in regard to the slack-water.” 
Large quantities of chrome have been mined in Delaware county. A Phila- 
delphia company is sinking a shaft in the southeastern part of Greene county, 
for gold-bearing quartz. Limited quantities of lead and copper are found in 
Bucks. Building-stone is quarried with profit. The State is still rich in timber, 
in great variety, from which large revenues are derived. Williamsport, on the 
west branch of the Susquehanna, has a large population almost exclusively en- 
gaged in the lumber business. Lime is abundant, and is relied upon, particularly 
in the eastern section of the State, as a feriilizer. The soil is various in quality, 
and generally quite productive. The famous farms of Lancaster are not only 
sustained, but improved, by means of cattle-feeding and liming the soils. 
