384 Agricultural Manual 



neeticut, and within the next ten years the country between Tug 

 liill on the west and the river on the east, including much of the 

 best land in the county, was taken up by a laborious, intelligent, 

 and enterprising population. With the exception of an attempt 

 made by Brown to settle his tract, little improvement was made 

 east of the river until about 1820. The power plants that furnish 

 the northern part of Lewis County and much of Jefferson County 

 with power and electric lighting are located above Belfort on 

 Beaver River, in the town of Croghan. 



DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRY 



At about the middle of the nineteenth century several large 

 tanneries and lumbering establishments were built. The tannery 

 business has since entirely passed; lumbering is confined to hard 

 woods and the cutting of spruce, poplar, and other soft woods 

 suitable for paper making. At about 1862 the growing of hops 

 was commenced and its cultivation was steadily increased until 

 the industry reached a large magnitude. There has been a steady 

 decrease since 1900, and at present the industry is of very little 

 importance. 



The dairying industry was successfully established in the cen- 

 tral portion of the county more than 100 years ago. when ihe 

 butter and cheese was drawn to Albany to market, and. after the 

 Erie Canal was built, to Rome. Today dairying is the prominent 

 and chief agricultural pursuit throughout the county. All milk 

 that is within a reasonable distance of the railroad is delivered tc 

 milk establishments and shipped to the New York market. Tak- 

 ing this fact into consideration, it is not surprising that fewer 

 hogs are raised now than in former years. Cheese making is ex- 

 tensi\ sly followed in the territory not adjacent to the milk- 

 shipping stations. 



Nearly the whole of Lewis County is particularly adapted to 

 manufacturing maple sirup and sugar. 



CLIMATE AND RAINFALL 

 Climatological records for Lewis County, on account of the 

 differences in elevation in different parts of the county, have been 

 taken from two stations. The first station is Lowville, in the 



