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KENTUCKY. 



KENTUCKY. 



The winters are long and severe : they begin about Christmas and 

 laet three months. The thermometer annually descends as low as 

 23°, and has been known to sink as low as 14° of Fahr. Snow falls 

 every winter, but not in great quantities. In summer the heat is 

 sometimes very great, and the thermometer rises to 94° and 95°. In 

 spring and autumn south-west winds prevail, and the weather is 

 deligbtfuL The north-west wind produces great cold in winter, but 

 it seldom continues many days. Uain falls abimdantly in winter and 

 spring, but in the other seasons the weather is rather dry and constant. 



The soil varies greatly in different parts of the state, but on the 

 whole Kentucky is blest with a large proportion of fertile land; 

 though not more than half the surface of the state is under cultiva- 

 tion. The best soil is that of the blue-limestone districts, in the 

 neighbourhood of Lexington and towards the Ohio. An area of 

 above 100 square miles occupied by this soil is said to be one of the 

 finest and most fertile tracts in North America. The southern 

 districts are somewhat less fertile; and much of the Barrens is 

 ohiefly adapted for grazing. Great flocks of sheep pasture on the 

 Barrens ; the breed of sheep has been improved by crossing them 

 with merinoes. 



The cereals which are most extensively cultivated are maize, of 

 which a larger quantity is grown than in any other state except Ohio, 

 wheat, rye, and oats. Rye and oats are said to thrive better than in 

 the states on the shores of the Atlantic : only two states grow a larger 

 quantity of oats ; rye is commonly used for the distilling of whisky. 

 The staple products are however hemp and flax, which are generally 

 cnltivated. Five-eighths of the entire hemp crop of the Union, and 

 four-eeventbs of that of flax, are grown in Kentucky. In the 

 ■oatb-westem districts, along the Tennessee, Cumberland, and Missis- 

 ■ippi rivers, cotton is raised in abundance. The tobacco which is 

 grown in these districts and the rich lands farther east supplies a 

 oonaiderable article of exportation. Kentucky yields mora than one- 

 fourth of the aggregate quantity of tobacco raised in the United 

 States. The principal fruit trees are apples and peaches ; from the 

 former cider is made, and from the latter peach-brandy, of which 

 there is a great consumption. 



There are still very extensive forests in the state, and trees of very 

 large size abound. In the mountain and upland region are chiefly 

 tuUp-trees, elm, oak, hickory, black-walnut, cherry, tc ; those of the 

 Barrens are commonly oaks, chestnuts, and elms. Among the more 

 generally diffused and most useful trees are the sugar-maple, the 

 honey -locust, and coffee-trees, with the pawpaw, which bears an 

 excellent fruit, in shape and size resembling a cucumber, but of a 

 very sweet flavour. The extensive cane-brakes afford most nutritious 

 feeding for cattle. 



The following are the principal resnlta of the inqniries made 

 respecting the agricultural statistics of the state at the last Census. 

 The number of farms under cultivation in the state on the 1st of 

 June 1850 was 74,777; the extent of improved land in farms was 

 6,968,270 acres; of unimproved, 10,981,478 acres. The cash value 

 tS farms was returned at 155,021,262 dollars ; of farming implements 

 ■nd machinery 6,169,037 dollars. The total produce of the principal 

 crops in 1850 was as follows :— Wheat, 2,142,822 bushels; rye, 

 415,073 buobela; maize, 68,672,591 bushels; buckwheat, 16,097 

 bushels; oats, 8,201,311 bushels; barley, 95,343 bushels; rice, 

 6688 lbs.; potatoes, 1,492,487 bnabels; sweet potatoes, 998,179 

 bnohels; peaa anil bcona, 202,574 bushels; tobacco, 55,501,196 lbs. ; 

 gianed cotton, 303,200 lbs. ; wool, 2,297,438 lbs. ; bay, 113,747 tons ; 

 cane-eugar, 284,000 lbs. ; molasses, 30,079 gallons ; maple-sugar, 

 437,405 Ibe. ; hemp, dew-rotted, 16,432 tons, wuter-rotted, 1355 tons; 

 flax, 2,100,116 lbs. ; flax-seed, 76,801 bushels; grasa^eeds, 24,741 

 boaiiels ; wine, 8093 gallons ; hops, 4309 Ibai The value of orchard 

 products was 106,230 dollars; and of maricet-garden products, 

 803,120 dollars. 



The number of horses in the state in 1850 was 315,682 ; asses and 

 mules, 65,609 ; milch cows, 247,475 ; working oxen, 62,274 ; other 

 cattle, 442,763; sheep, 1,102,091; swine, 2,891,163. The value of 

 livestock was 29,661,436 dollars; of animals slaughtered, 6,462,598 

 dollars. The products of animals were: — Butter, 9,947,523 lbs.; 

 a heeso , 213,954 lbs.; bees'-wax and honey, 1,153,019 lbs.; silk-cocoons, 

 ISSllbo. 



Manufactura, Commerce, <tc. — Kentucky is mainly an agricultural 

 •tote. The number of free males above 15 years of age employed in 

 agriculture in 1850 was 115,017 ; in commerce, trade, manufactures, 

 mechanic arts, and mining, 36,598. The whole number of manu- 

 facturing establishments producing to the value of 500 dollars and 

 apwordt, in 1850, was 3471. Of these, there were 8 cotton factories, 

 •mploying a capital of 239,000 dolLirs, and an average of 181 males 

 and 221 females ; 25 woollen-factories employing a capital of 249,820 

 doUan, and an average of 256 male* and 62 females ; 275 tanneries, 

 eaiployiog a capital of 763,455 dollars, and 879 persons ; and 45 iron- 

 works, including 20 for castings, which employed a capital of 602,200 

 dollars, and .'J78 Lands ; 21 for pig-iron, employing a capital of 924,700 

 dollars, and 1855 hands ; and 4 for wrought-iron, employing a capital 

 of 176,000 dollars, and 183 bands. Tlie other manufactories are 

 •hteiy toboeoo-bcioriei, rope-walks, bagging-factories, distilleries, 

 ■tllllillillil implsinent works, and the various works connected with 

 Ml •gdoataml diatriet, aod the production of the ordinary articles 



of domestic consumption. The home-made manufactures of the year 

 were valued at 2,459,128 dollars. 



The state has little direct foreign commerce ; mo3t of the foreign 

 exports being through New Orleans, but some go by way of tho 

 Atlantic ports. The imports in 1852 were valued at 185,559 doUai-s, 

 all in American vessels ; no exports are returned. The shippiug 

 owned in the state (collection district of Louisville) in 1850 aiaouutud 

 to 14,820 tone, the whole navigated by steam, and employed in river 

 navigation. In 1852 there were 27 steam-vessels built in the state 

 of an aggregate burden of 7312 tons. 



DivitioM, Toum, ttc. — Kentucky is divided into 101 counties. 

 Frankfort is the political capital, but Louisville is the commercial 

 metropolis, and by far the largest town of the state. There are few 

 other towns with any large amount of population : all the towns which 

 require notice are mentioned below ; the population is that of 1850 : — • 



J'ranlfort, the capital, is built on high ground on the right bank of 

 the Kentucky River ; South Frankfort, its suburb, on the left bank, 

 being connected with it by a suspension-bridge ; in 38° 14' N. lat., 

 84° 40' W. long., 551 miles W. by S. from Washington : population 

 3308, or with the suburbs, 4372. The river is here 80 yards wide, 

 flows in a deep limestone bed, and after very heavy rains rises 50 or 

 60 feet. Steamboats of considerable burden ascend the river to 

 Frankfort, which is the centre of a considerable commerce, being the 

 mart of a very rich district ; the city has great railway facilities. 

 Frankfort is regularly laid out and well built. Many of the public 

 buildings are constructed of white marble, which is found abundantly 

 in this neighbourhood. Of these buildings the chief is the state- 

 house, 86 feet by 54 feet, with a handsome Ionic portioo ; the other 

 public buildings are the state penitentiary, court-house, and jail ; 

 market-house, churches, &c. Ships of considerable size are built 

 here, and there are several mimufacturing establishments. One daily 

 and four weekly newspapers, with a semi-monthly and a monthly 

 periodical, are published here. 



LouitviUe, a city, port of entry, and the capital of Jefferson county, 

 is the chief commercial and manufacturing city in Kentucky, and the 

 third in commercial importance ou the Ohio. It occupies a sloping 

 plain on the left bank of the Ohio, 70 feet above low-water mark ; 

 and is 65 miles by railway W. by N. from Frankfort, and 394 miles 

 above the mouth of the Ohio : the population in 1850 was 43,194 ; 

 in 1840 it was 21,200; in 1800 it was only 600. The town was 

 founded in 1780; it is regularly laid out and well built, consisting of 

 10 broad streets running parallel to the river, and 30 others interseit- 

 ing them at right angles. Along the river are spacious wharfs. The 

 town is lighted with gas, and well supplied with water. Some of the 

 public buildings have conaiderable architectural pretensioni). There 

 are 17 Methoilist, 5 Baptist, 5 Presbyterian, 3 Kfiiscopal, 6 German 

 Protestant, 4 Roman Catholic, and 4 other churches, and 2 Jewish 

 synagogues ; Louisville University, and numerous public schools ; im 

 orphan asylum, a school for the blind, a general and a marine hospitul, 

 and several other benevolent institutions; literary, scientific, ami 

 agricultural societies ; the usual county buildings ; a city hall ; 

 market-house, and numerous hotels. As a commercial town Louis- 

 ville is a place of great and constantly increasing trafiic : the value 

 of ita commerce is stated to be 70,000,000 dollars annually. Its im- 

 ports are all the ordinary foreign goods required for home consump- 

 tion, in return for which it receives the various products of the 

 state for export by the river. Among its chief exports are tobacco, 

 hemp, flax, bagging, rope, cordage, live stock, pork, spirits, cotton, 

 flour, machinery, &a Its trade in pork and bacon i^ very largo; in 

 1850 it received 197,150 hogs for slaughter, and 75,500 barrels of 

 pork ; in addition to which many thousand tons of bacon are annually 

 sent in by waggons, &c., and packed in the establishments in the city 

 for exportation by the river steamers. Louisville has also extensive 

 manufactures, consisting of iron-foundries, steam-engine, locomotive, 

 mill, and machine shops; steam-bagging factories and rope-walks; 

 cotton and woollen factories; flour- and saw-mills; distilleries, 

 breweries, tobacco factories, agricultural implement-works, boot anil 

 shoe manufactories, and various other large establishments. A con- 

 siderable trade is carried on in building steamers and other river 

 craft. Constant communication with other leading towns on tho 

 Ohio is maintained by steamers, about ten of which leave the port 

 daily, Louisville stands at the head of the natural steam-navigation 

 of the Ohio, but the Louisville and Portland Canal, which is carried 

 round the rapids, enables steamers to ascend much higher. With the 

 interior Louisville has communication by a very complete system of 

 roads, which radiate from it in all directions. It is now being also 

 made a centre of divergence for the state railways. The Jefferson- 

 ville railway, which has its terminus at Jeffersonville on the Ohio, 

 immediately o])porite Louisville, affords ready commuuieation by way 

 of Indianapolis with all parts of Indiana and the adjoining states. 

 Six newspapers are published here daily, each issuing also editions 

 once, twice, or thrice a week : there are besides three weekly news- 

 papers, and four monthly magazines. 



Covinglon city, on the left bank of the Licking River, at its con- 

 fluence with the Ohio, opposite Cincinnati, 60 miles N.N.E. from 

 Frankfort, population 9408, or with the suburbs about 12,000, is 

 one of the most rising places in Kentucky. The city is regularly laid 

 out and well built. It contains 8 churches, a Baptist theological 



