136 A.GBICULTURAL M AN UAL 



DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRY 



Lumbering was the leading industry of this section for many 

 years, the lumber being formed into rafts and floated down the 

 Allegheny River. At one time as much as 30,000,000 feet annu- 

 ally floated to Pittsburgh. Those engaged in the business were 

 compelled to purchase supplies at Pittsburgh, which were brought 

 up the river in flat boats. This laborious process was so expensive 

 that the cost of transportation of 100 pounds of merchandise from 

 Pittsburgh to Olean was $1.25, while in the opposite direction it 

 was done for twelve and one-Jialf cents. 



When patches of land were cleared, cither by burning logs for 

 the ashes or by floating them away to the lumber market, cereals 

 were planted, including wheat, rye, buckwheat, corn, and oats. 

 Potatoes were also raised in abundance for home use. As oats 

 and corn could be produced most profitably, these formed the chief 

 crops, finding a market in the lumber camps in the southern part 

 of the county and in Pennsylvania. From 1850 until the last 

 quarter of that century these products were shipped to distant 

 markets ; but they have since been consumed principally at home 

 by the large dairies. After the completion of the railroads, large 

 quantities of buckwheat and potatoes found markets in Buffalo, 

 Rochester, and eastern cities. Buckwheat is now shipped from 

 practically every town. 



In localities where maple trees were abundant, the manufacture 

 of maple sugar was an important industry until about 1870 ; since 

 then, although it is still of local importance, the business has 

 become gradually less. Maple timber is fast disappearing in the 

 county because of the fact that large quantities are being made into 

 last blocks and shipped to our eastern markets and to Europe. 

 Boxes for local cheese factories are all made within the county. 



Having come from an orchard country, the pioneers lost no 

 time in planting fruit trees, generally choosing the lowlands for 

 this purpose, which usually proved unsatisfactory. Later, apple 

 orchards were set on the higher ground, which established the 

 reputation of Cattaraugus as an apple-producing county. Grapes 

 are not extensively grown, except in the town of Perrysburg, a 

 portion of which, lying within the Chautauqua grape belt, pro- 



