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moderate depth by shafting, the latter, known as the “ Hocking coal,” claimed 
to be the most extensive and important coal-field in the State. A vein under- 
lies the city of Steubenville, in Jefferson county, and is supposed to extend over 
a large area, now in use for smelting purposes; the vein is four feet thick, and 
about 200 feet below the surface. ‘There are four shafts, one iu the city nd 
three immediately below, now taking out from 3,000 to 5,000 bushels of coal 
each per day, and two shafts, a short distance below the city, have recently been 
put in operation. In the vicinity of New Lisbon, Columbiana county, there are 
seven strata of bituminous coal, varying in thickness from one to seven feet, the 
coal being considered as good as the best Pittsburg coal. : 
Abundance of limestone is found in Fayette, Highland, Lawrence, Jackson, 
Holmes, Tuscarawas, Stark, Marion, Erie, Ottawa, Warren, Hardin, &c.; sand- 
stone, freestone, and other varieties of building stone are found in Columbiana, 
Jackson, Holmes, Erie, Butler, &c.; fire and potter’s clay in Jackson, Vinton, 
Holmes, &c.; salt in Jackson, Athens, Morgan, Tuscarawas, Columbiana ; salt- 
petre and copperas in Jackson; a superior quality of grindstone in Lorain; 
plaster of paris in Ottawa; chalybeate in Warren; peat in Logan, and ochre, 
now being worked, forming a body for paint and for exposed work, said to 
possess much merit. 
Our Henry correspondent says : 
The most marked peculiarity of our resources is in the fertility of the soil, its adaptation to 
the staple agricultural products of the temperate zone in the order named—maize or Indian 
corn, wheat, rye, oats, potatoes, clover, hay, buckwheat, fruits, (apples, pears, peaches, 
grapes, cherries, strawberries, and all the small fruits,) and the convenience of transporting 
all these products to a good market at Toledo, Ohio, where the price of wheat and corn is 
generally 15 cents per bushel less than at New York city. The modes of transportation are 
the Wabash and Erie canal, running through the centre of the county, six feet in depth, 40 
feet bottom, and 60 feet wide at surface of water, connecting the waters of the Wabash with 
Lake Erie; also by the Miami extension canalto Cincinnati. Freight per canal to Toledo, 
distance 40 miles: for corn 44 cents per bushel, in bulk; wheat 5 cents per bushel; other 
freights in proportion. The canal affords an unlimited water-power for all kinds of machinery 
at low-water rent. The other mode of travel and conveyance for freight is the Toledo, 
Wabash, and St. Louis railroad, 40 miles to Toledo, connecting there with numerous rail- 
roads to all points. Freight one cent more per bushel than by canal. One of the largest 
bodies of good oak timber in the State has been in great demand for ship timber and staves, 
As an evidence of the size of the trees, I need only say that the average number of squared 
feet in a tree is 90 feet. Our forests abound in elm, sugar-maple, shellbark hickory, black 
and white walnut, basswood, cottonwood, black and white ash, white wood or yellow poplar— 
the last three varieties pretty much used up. 
In Hardin great trade is carried on in timber, in the form of lumber (staves, 
spokes, railroad ties) and wood, (hoop-poles, &c.,) and there are but few better. 
places for steam saw-mills, shingle and lath mills. 
There are six iron furnaces in Vinton in successful operation ; also a number 
of saw-mills, making a good deal of lumber, which is worth from $1 50 to $2 
per hundred. There are also several potteries, where a large amount of stone- 
ware is made and sent in all directions. 
The Athens observer writes : 
Heretofore the Hocking canal has been the only outlet, and operations in coal, thus far, 
have been confined to a few parties situated in nearest’ proximity to the canal, by whom from 
80,000 to 100,000 tons of coal per annum have been sent to market since about the year 1860. 
The excellent quality of the Hocking coal is now well established, and the extent of the 
mines—six feet in thickness, accessible at a moderate depth by shafting—leads to the con- 
clusion that this is the most extensive and important coal field in the State of Ohio. The 
Mineral railroad, now about completed, from Mineral station on the Marietta and Cincinnati 
railroad, commands access to this extensive coal deposit, and preparations are already made 
for transmitting coal from this source to Cincinnati and intermediate points. The Hocking 
Valley railroad, from Columbus to Athens, which will be completed next season, will furnish 
another outlet for the central portion of this valley by the Marietta and Cincinnati railroad 
and its connections at Athens. Measures have been taken for the continuation of the Hock- 
ing eert railroad from Columbus to Toledo, furnishing direct communication with the 
northwest. 
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