178 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 



such as has been displayed in no other county allotted to me. I bear 

 grateful testimony to the very general interest manifested in regard to 

 the Survey, and to the almost universal desire to aid in securing useful 

 and accurate results. 



The surface of the county is much diversified by erosion, the hills 

 rising sometimes nearly three hundred feet above the valley bottoms. 

 The average elevation of the uplands varies little from five hundred and 

 fifty feet above Lake Erie, though the "dividing ridge" east from Carroll- 

 ton is about one hundred and twenty feet higher. The strata exposed 

 in the greater portion of the county are principally argillaceous shales, 

 alternating with thin sandstones, which are usually soft. For this rea- 

 son steep hill-sides are not common, the country is rolling, with the em- 

 inences rounded off, so that, even at a considerable distance from any 

 stream, stretches of comparatively level land are to be seen. As one 

 might expect from the structure of the rocks, the soil on the uplands is 

 thin and not very rich. Where the sandstones predominate, it lacks 

 tenacity, and is apt to wash out and expose the subsoil, which readily 

 yields to form deep gashes in the hill-side. In the "bottoms" the soil is 

 much richer and yields very good crops of grain. It is probable that in- 

 telligent use of the subsoil plow would improve the upland; but at the 

 same time it is evident that this soil will not endure persistent cultiva- 

 tion without constant application of amendments. 



For some years the farmers have done much in wool-raising, and have 

 succeeded in producing a wool of superior quality, which has secured a 

 high reputation. As land is worth from forty dollars in the uplands to 

 sixty, and in some cases even one hundred dollars, in the "bottoms," it is 

 doubtful whether a staple so uncertain in price as wool can be regarded 

 as truly profitable. A surplus in Europe, or a diminution in the rate of 

 tariff, affects this interest with telling force. In 1872 the price fell from 

 seventy cents in the spring to forty cents in the fall. Intelligent farmers 

 assert that wool can not be raised to profit at less than fifty cents per 

 pound. Still there can be no doubt that wool-raising is, and for some 

 time will be, the most profitable business here, owing to the quality of 

 Carroll county wool. At the same time it would be well for farmers to 

 consider whether their soil, well fitted for grass, and their abundant sup- 

 ply of good, soft water, can not be put to some other use which will bring 

 in larger and more certain returns for labor. 



The streams of Carroll county are in two systems, separated by the 

 high dividing ridge running rudely north and south, about three miles 

 east from CarroUton. At the east the waters are drained by tributaries 

 of Yellow Creek, through which they empty directly into the Ohio. On 



