252 
For more than 20 years about 50,000 barrels of excellent salt have been made annually in 
Athens county. Salt water, varying in strength from six to nine per cent., is found 
in several localities by boring from 600 to 800 feet deep, and the brine thus obtained is 
speedily reduced to salt by the use of coal, generally conveniently at hand. 
In Morgan one salt well deserves more than a passing notice. The salt water is thrown 
up 16 to 20 feet above ground into tanks and reservoirs by the gas which is retained in a 
large inverted reservoir (above the salt water basin) and conducted in a tube beneath the 
furnace and salt kettles, furnishing the only fuel used for evaporating the salt at these works. 
It is just across the river from McConnellsville, near the lower ferry, and is the great curi- 
osity of salt-making in our county. The well has never required pumping. The gas was 
not much used as fuel until within 12 or 15 years. 
Sandusky county : 
We have large quarries around Sandusky and on the islands of a fine white limestone, 
which can be quarried almost any size used in building, and is shipped largely to other lake 
ports and burnt into lime. We have also large quarries of a good, hard blue limestone 
around Sandusky, which is suitable for range work, and is extensively used for building 
purposes. There is also an abundance of soft white limestone in Margaretta township, six 
miles from the lake, and fine sandstone in the eastern part of the county, valuable for build- 
ing purposes. 
John M. Milliken, of Butler county, writes : 
Our resources are found in our rich, productive soil, valuable timber, abundance of stone ; 
in the number of our creeks and rivers, affording abundance of water for stock and for the 
construction of extensive hydraulic works in our favorable geographical position and tem- 
perate climate, being generally exempt from extremes of heat or cold, excessive droughts or 
long-continued rains. Our resources are exceedingly well developed, having the advantages 
of three railroads passing through the county, the Miami canal, which extends from Lake Erie 
to the Ohio river, and some 15 turnpike roads, which thoroughly ramify the county. 
4, Theagriculture of Ohio is general and varied; the farmers generally produce 
the cereals, the domestic animals, and give some attention to fruits. While this 
is true, it is also patent that certain sections of the State give greater promi- 
nence to one branch of production than to others; thus the dairy interest is 
prominent in the first and second tiers of counties from Lake Hrie, from San- 
dusky eastward. Immediately upon the lake shore, and on the islands towards 
its southwestern borders, grape-growing is the prevailing industry, peaches also 
being abundant in favorable seasons. In the Miami and Scioto valleys corn 
is the leading product, sold principally in Philadelphia and New York in the 
form of beef. In the eastern and southeastern portions of the State a greater 
variety of production obtains, the leading interest now being wool-growing, 
which has for a few years past become an important branch of farming in all 
parts of the State. Wheat is grown in all portions of the State, but most exten- 
sively in the western and southwestern portions, the heaviest production being- 
found in Brown, Butler, Champaign, Clark, Clermont, Cuyahoga, Greene, Ham- 
ilton, Hancock, Highland, Huron, Miami, Montgomery, Muskingum, Pickaway, 
Preble, Ross, Seneca, and Warren. Many counties report corn and hay as the 
principal products, both fed to beeves. A weekly stock train of 10 to 20 ear- 
loads of eattle for Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York is reported as an 
agricultural incident common in Fayette. Lucas claims for her best farms a 
yield of 75 bushels of corn per acre, and two tons of hay. In Clarke “ the 
cereals are all profitable.’ In Lake potatoes may be considered a specialty and 
are very profitable. In Union “ one-fourth the land is in corn, and one-half in 
grass.” in Seneca the cost of growing corn is placed at 50 cents, and of wheat 
at $1 per bushel. 
Our Medina. correspondent says : 
Tons upon tons of hay were annually pressed into bales and shipped off to enrich other 
parts of the country, and our own fields sadly show the effects of such a course; but now, 
instead of exporting grain as we did then, we import our flour, some corn, and other feed for 
our stock. 
5. The kinds of wheat mentioned in returns are the White and Red bearded 
and bald varieties of the Mediterranean, “ Lambert or weevil-proof,” Lancaster, 
Tappahannock, Diehl, White Siberian, Soule, and Blue Stem. The prefer- 
