MERCER COUNTY. 413 



near the opening are porous, and bleached nearly white. This stone 

 here affords a quicklime of superior quality. Stone was formerly taken 

 from the bed of the St. Mary's at Mendon, but the place is now inaccess- 

 ible, and no inspection of its characters could ^be made. It is, however, 

 believed to be the same as that seen near Shanesville, in the quarry of 

 Mr. Work. 



The Drift — The characters of this deposit are such as prevail through- 

 out the Black Swamp generally, although much of the southern part of 

 the county is more broken and gravelly. Its chief constituent is clay, 

 which, below ten or twelv3 feet, is blue, but to that depth is of a yellow- 

 ish or light brown color. The original color of the whole was probably 

 blue, the brown or yellow colors being due to oxidation from above. No 

 distinct, constant characters, or line of demarkation separating the 

 brown from the blue, indicative of different or successive origins or 

 deposition, have been seen in the' county, nor in north-western Ohio. 

 On the contrary, the colors have been seen to gradually fade into each 

 other in a great many instances. This clay' is usually a compact, un- 

 stratified mass, impervious to water, and embracing stones and bowlders 

 of all sizes up to several tons weight. At Mercer, in Dublin township, 

 and throughout a radius of four or five miles, it acts as the confining 

 stratum for a number of artesian wells which flow from sand at the depth 

 of thirty- five or forty feet, the water rising from five to eight feet above 

 the surface. Such wells may be seen on the farm of Mr. J. Keith. Near 

 Celina, on the north side of the Big .Beaver River, it has afforded a great 

 number of bowlders of the Lower Corniferous, some of which have been 

 worked into stone for building. They are met near the surface in plow- 

 ing the field. One was worked up on the land of Mr. Petre, which fur- 

 nished eight or ten wagon-loads of good blocks, suitable for common 

 building purposes. The ridges which cross the county consist of gravel 

 and sand in glacial stratification, usually overspread by a few feet of this 

 clay. The thickness of the Drift can not be stated. A well at Shanes- 

 ville was in the blue clay, at a depth of sixty feet, without water. 



MATERIAL RESOURCES. 



The soil of Mercer county will necessarily always be the source of its 

 greatest material wealth. It will, however, reach its highest develop- 

 ment and yield its greatest revenue only when it has been subjected to 

 thorough artificial drainage, and to careful and skillful tillage. Much of 

 the county is still covered with forest, while the soil of that which has 

 been occupied by farmers is not infrequently too damp and cold to bear • 

 a high market price. There is no doubt that the agricultural develop- 



