Chautauqua County 167 



emigrants to reach the Connecticut reserve lands in Ohio. Trans- 

 portation facilities generally were poor for a long time, and prod- 

 ucts would hardly pay for the cost of marketing. Development 

 did not progress rapidly until some years later, after railroads 

 had been built. 



Chautauqua is noted for the Chautauqua Assembly, which has 

 been held there for many years, and from which all Chautauqua 

 circles originated. 



DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRY 

 Most of the business of the county was carried on for many 

 years in the northern or lake towns, which were first settled and 

 possessed superior commercial advantages. Maple sugar, long 

 an important product, was brought in large quantities from the 

 southern towns. Ashes constituted the most important article of 

 trade, being almost the only one that could readily be turned into 

 cash. Corn, wheat, and pork were among the principal products. 

 Until about forty or fifty years ago general farming was followed 

 throughout the greater part of the county. Since that time the 

 Lake Erie valley has become a highly intensive fruit and vegetable 

 section. This region has come to be known as the Chautauqua 

 grape belt. The belt extends north into Erie County, New York, 

 and south into Erie County, Pennsylvania, but the grape industry 

 is centered mainly in Chautauqua, the county taking the lead in 

 grape production through the state. Small fruits are extensively 

 raised. The nursery business, especially the growing of grape and 

 small-fruit stocks, has grown to large proportions in the vicinity 

 of Fredonia and Silver Creek. In other sections dairy farming 

 takes the lead. There are also extensive poultry interests, Chau- 

 tauqua ranking second in the state. Apples, potatoes, wheat, buck- 

 wheat, and other cash crops are produced, the county ranking third 

 in the amount of buckwheat raised. It is an excellent hay country 

 and is also noted for maple products. In the towns of Kiantone, 

 Poland, and Ellicott considerable quantities of garden crops are 

 produced for the Jamestown markets. 



CLIMATE AND RAINFALL 



The climatological records here given for Chautauqua County 

 were taken at Volusia at an elevation of 1,560 feet by the present 

 observer, Benjamin Breads. 



