414 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 



ment of Mercer county has been, and still is, retarded by the lack of rail- 

 road communication. The common roads are almost impassable in the 

 wet seasons of the year, and the shipment of the products of the farm 

 through the Miami Canal is not only difficult, but also expensive. Thus 

 the income of the farm is often not pushed beyond the necessities of the 

 occupant. Improvements are retarded, and the growth of the county 

 correspondingly slow. The rock which underlies the county will answer 

 for common use in foundations and walls, and will be a great conveni- 

 ence in the manufacture of lime for the local market. When the facili- 

 ties for shipment become greater, there is no reason why the Niagara in 

 Mercer county may not be extensively and profitably burned into quick- 

 lime. It will certainly compare favorably with any manufactured in 

 north-western Ohio. At the present time the quarries in the Niagara at 

 Piqua furnish most of the building stone used in the county. Gravel 

 and sand are taken from the St. John's Ridge, near Fort Recovery, and 

 from the St. Mary's Ridge, near Shanesville. At the latter place it is on 

 the land of Jeremiah S. Decker. At the same place a bed of bog ore is 

 said to occur on Squier Dilbone's land. 



For brick, tiling, and common red pottery, the surface of the Drift is 

 generally well adapted, and a number of establishments of that kind are 

 already in existence. The following were noted in the survey of the 

 county : 



Gast and Gake, St. John's Brick. 



John Hargedorn, section 20, Marion township Tiling. 



Antony Horst, section 30, Marion township Brick. 



Herr Von der Bush, section 24, Granville township Brick and Tiling. 



Jacoh Myers, section 22, Eepublic township " 



Edward Jones, section 16, Gibson township Brick. 



S. P. Shipley, Celina " 



Baker and Larner, Celina " 



