OHIO 



434S 



OHIO 



above the sea. There are no mountains in the 

 state, but there are many hills. The highest 

 point is Hogues Hill near Bellefontaine, a little 

 west of the center of the state, with an altitude 

 of 1,540 feet; the lowest, only 425 feet high, 

 is at the mouth of the Great Miami River, in 

 the extreme southwestern corner. Many of the 

 rivers flow through deep valleys, and their 

 hanks have a remarkably bold aspect, adding 

 givatly to the charm of the landscape. The 

 Ohio River flows through a narrow valley which 

 is nowhere more than two miles wide. In this 

 valley there are many hills or bluffs which rise 

 abruptly to a height from 200 to 500 feet above 

 the bank of the river. The most picturesque 

 of the valleys in Ohio is that of the Muskin- 

 gum. 



Rivers. The rivers of the state flow either 

 north into Lake Erie or south into the Ohio 

 River. A height of land, formed by a series of 

 hills with an average elevation of only a few 

 hundred feet above the surrounding country, 

 constitutes the divide. This extends in an ir- 

 regular direction across the state from near the 

 northeastern corner to a point a little north of 

 the middle of the western boundary. The chief 

 rivers flowing into Lake Erie are the Maumee, 

 the Sandusky, the Cuyahoga and the Grand. 

 The chief streams flowing into the Ohio, which 

 are longer and wider than those flowing north, 



are the Great Miami, the Little Miami, the 

 Scioto, the Hocking and the Muskingum. 



The Muskingum is the longest river lying 

 wholly within the state, and it is navigable for 

 100 miles. Many of the streams are rapid and 

 furnish water power, a fact which has contrib- 

 uted largely to the establishment and develop- 

 ment of manufacturing industries. Near the 

 village of Cuyahoga Falls the Cuyahoga River 

 has a descent of over two hundred feet in three 

 miles. During a portion of its course, called 

 "the glen," this river flows swiftly between 

 steep walls of sandstone which are in pi 

 over a hundred feet high. 



Climate. Ohio has a continental type of cli- 

 mate, with great extremes of temperature, the 

 summers being very hot and the winters cold. 

 The climate, though varying in different parts 

 of the state, is on the whole healthful. Lake 

 Erie exercises a moderating influence, making 

 the summers cooler and the winters warmer in 

 the counties along its shores. The average 

 temperature for the year is about 51 Fahren- 

 heit, and the southern part of the state is 

 about 4 warmer than the northern section. 

 The rainfall averages 38.5 inches a year, but 

 the greatest amount falls in the south. On the 

 other hand, the snowfall is much heavier in 

 the northern parts of the state, so the precipita- 

 tion is fairly even. 



Resources of the State 



Agriculture. Ohio is one of the foremost 

 agricultural states in the Union. It ranks 

 fourth in the value of its crops, these amount- 

 ing to over $230,000,000 yearly. This high 

 rank is due to favorable physical conditions. 

 It has a gently-rolling surface, broken by river 

 valleys; a fertile soil, especially in the western 

 part of the state; ft suitable climate, and am- 

 ple rainfall. As a result of these advantages 



92.5 per cent of the total land area of the state, 

 which is 26,073,600 acres, is included in farms, 

 and of this amount about four-fifths is im- 

 proved land. The total value of farm prop- 

 erty, excluding domestic animals, is about 

 2,000,000,000. The average size of a farm is 



88.6 acres, and the average value of farm land 

 is $53.34 per acre, according to census reports. 

 The products of the state are varied, but the 

 chief crops raised are corn, hay, oats, wheat 

 and potatoes. By far the most important crop, 

 both as regards area under cultivation and 

 value of product, is corn, which covers an 

 area of over 3,750,000 acres and yields a crop 



of 156,000,000 bushels a year. Next in im- 

 portance comes hay, producing over 4,000,000 

 tons. Oats, with an acreage of 1,680,000 acres 

 and a production of over 69,000,000 bushels; 

 wheat, with an acreage of 1,980,000 acres and 

 a production of 40,200,000 bushels; and pota- 

 toes, with an acreage of 153,000 acres and a 

 production of 12,550,000 bushels, are the other 

 chief crops. 



Great quantities of vegetables and garden 

 produce are raised, which find a ready market 

 in the industrial towns. Nearly 125,000 acres 

 are devoted to these products; in this respect 

 Ohio is surpassed only by New York, but Mis- 

 souri and Texas have nearly the same acreage. 

 In 1910 Ohio had the largest acreage devoted 

 to onions of all the states of the Union. To- 

 bacco is an important crop in the southwestern 

 counties, and in this respect Ohio ranks first 

 among the Northern states and fourth among 

 all the states of the Union. The production 

 varies from about 60,000,000 pounds to 90,- 

 000,000, with a value of from $6,000,000 to 



