PICKAWAY COUNTY. 589 
in Salt Creek township, and may be traced in diminished numbers for a 
considerable distance down the Salt Creek valley. This Salt Creek pre- 
sents to the geologist some very interesting features. It rises in Salt 
Creek township, within the proper basin of the Scioto valley, but leaves 
the basin and curves to the eastward for many miles among the high 
hills of Hocking and Vinton counties, to cofne back into the narrowed 
valley of the Scioto in the south-east corner of Ross county.. To make 
this distance it has been obliged to work out a deep channel for itself in 
the Waverly sandrock. In some places it flows in a narrow gorge, with 
scarcely room enough upon the banks beneath the cliffs for highways. 
Some of the wildest and most picturesque scenery in the State is to be 
found on the waters of Salt Creek. 
Beneath the surface in the lower valleys of the county we find blue 
and yellow Drift clays. In the blue clays are often found fragments of 
wood. I am indebted to G. W. Hurst, M.D., of Williamsport, for a fine 
specimen of coniferous wood taken from a well forty-four feet deep. The 
wood is in fine preservation. Iam also under obligations to Dr. Hurst, 
who takes no little interest in these matters, for a sample of fine yellow 
clay, which he thinks of promise as a material for paint. It is entirely 
free from grit, and was deposited as a sediment in very quiet waters. 
The soil of Pickaway county is of great fertility, and this is probably 
the richest county, agriculturally considered, in the Second Geological 
District. The alluvial lands along the Scioto River, Darby and Deer 
creeks are remarkably rich, while the terraced plains, with their lime- 
stone gravels, are scarcely less so. On the uplands the soil is also good. 
So far as I have seen, there is less waste land than in any county in the 
district. Indian corn is, perhaps, the staple crop, and in the summer we 
may ride for miles with scarcely a break in the continuity of the corn- 
fields. With such soil, with clear and beautiful streams, and with such 
a fine climate, the farmers of Pickaway have a “goodly heritage,” and 
may consider themselves well compensated for the want of the more im- 
portant minerals. 
GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS. 
The leading features of the geology of the county are simple, and 
easily understood. The Waverly sandstone, Huron shales, and Cornif- 
- erous limestone are all found within the county. The Waverly forma- 
tion, which underlies nearly the whole of Fairfield county, has its line 
of western outcrop along the eastern border of Pickaway. Probably 
nearly all of Salt Creek township is within the range of the Waverly; 
and wherever along the eastern borders of Washington, Walnut, and 
