Summary and Conclusion 



There is no better way of summarizing the foregoing discus- 

 sion on the effect of climatic and soil conditions upon agriculture 

 than by showing a chart of land values. This was made from the 

 state tax commission figures and while it does not give actual price 

 of land or show the changes in prices since the figures were collected, 

 yet the relative values are plainly discernible, and for our purpose 

 this is what is wanted. At first, the writer tried dividing the land 

 values into eight classes and using a large scale map. While this 

 gave much detailed information, the map appeared "patchy." Six 

 classes and two classes were subsequently tried and discarded. The 

 present chart (Fig. 14) was obtained by using the eight-class chart 

 but combining the classes 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8, making 

 a new chart of four classes. This chart, obtained entirely independ- 

 ent of physiographic, climatic or geological conditions, nevertheless 

 brings out some of these quite strongly, thus emphasizing their 

 bearing upon agriculture. 



In the first place, the glaciers have the most important influ- 

 ence upon present day values of farm land. The Illinoisan (earliest) 

 glaciation was the most extensive. All of the land of lowest value, 

 (lightest shading) lies south or east of this glacial line, except for 

 the undrained bog land in the extreme northeast comer of the state. 

 The bog land probably has more potential farm value for cultivated 

 crops than most of the unglaciated territory. Except where cut 

 by the Miami Valley in the southwestern part of the state, the 

 once-glaciated terrain is separated from the several-times- 

 glaciated. The boundary of the Wisconsin drift is seen in the 

 southwestern part of the state and between it and the Ohio River, 

 the land is in the second class of values. The two glacial bound- 

 ary lines meet somewhere near Chillicothe. Running south 

 from Lake Erie through the central part of the state is the 

 line separating the Waverly formation on the east from the De- 

 vonian and Silurian on the west. Some of the Ohio river counties 

 in eastern Ohio show the influence of limestone outcrops in raising 

 land values, for the second-class values appear in a region of low- 

 est values. The third class constitutes our average or better farm 

 values. This class makes up the bulk of the state's area. The 



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