456 GEOLOGY OF OHIO. 



has been high and dry land ever since its Carboniferous era, excepting a 

 temporary submergence in the Quaternary period, it will be seen that 

 there has been time enough for the removal of the summits of all the 

 anticlinal ridges by the simple action of such eroding agencies as are 

 now at work degrading the hills. It is true that the direction of streams 

 is, for limited distances, determined by the character of the strata of 

 rocks in which they flow, the softer strata yielding a passage, while the 

 harder resist. This will explain many of the crooked ways of our 

 streams, which would be otherwise utterly inexplicable. But this 

 cause could not have determined the general direction of the streams in 

 Washington county. 



Soil. — The immediate valleys of the Ohio and Muskingum are very 

 rich and productive, and equal in fertility to any lands in the State. 

 There are in the county about fifty-four miles in length along the Ohio 

 River, and about thirty-two miles along the Muskingum. This county 

 has, therefore, a large aggregate area of the finest alluvial soil. In these 

 valleys alone we find the sandy Drift terraces, which are generally at an 

 elevation of from seventy to eighty feet above the streams. While the 

 soil of the terraces is not so rich as that of the lower alluvial ground, it 

 is, nevertheless, generally fertile, and being a warm and early soil and 

 easily cultivated, it is the favorite one for many crops. There is in the 

 gravel and among the pebbles of these terraces a considerable quantity 

 of limestone, which adds greatly to the fertility. The valleys of Duck 

 Creek and Little Muskingum are generally much narrower, and show no 

 Drift terraces. The alluvial soil in these valleys is composed of sedi- 

 mentary materials derived from the Carboniferous strata of this county 

 and of Noble and Monroe. From the nature of the strata, we should not 

 expect, as a rule, a soil as rich as in the longer valleys of the Ohio and 

 Muskingum, where there is a larger variety of soil-producing materials 

 in the strata traversed, and especially more of limestone. The soil on 

 the hills and hill-sides in the county is determined in quality by the 

 nature of the strata composing the hills. It is richest where there is an 

 abundance of limestone, and poorest when derived from disintegrated 

 sandstone. In some cases I have found strata of highly soluble lime- 

 stone of great fertilizing value situated half way up the hill-sides, while 

 above are sandrocks and sandy shales. Yet the more sterile sandstone 

 soil is often cultivated and the rich limestone soil neglected. It has 

 been estimated that the alluvial valley of the Muskingum is three- 

 fourths of a mile wide. If so, there would be 15,360 acres of land in the 

 immediate valley. If we estimate the average width in both bottom 

 and terrace land of the north bank of the Ohio at one-half mile, we have 



