[ Document EE.] 
 
 BY THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES, 
 
 March 23d, 1865. 
 Read, and 8,000 copies in English and 2,000 in German 
 ordered to be printed. 
 
 REPORT 
 
 SELECT COMMITTEE 
 
 A P P O I N T K D TO 
 
 PREPARE A STATEMENT 
 
 IN RELATION TO TUK 
 
 Resources of Maryland. 
 
 ANNAPOLIS: 
 
 Richard P. Bayly, Printer. 
 
 18G5. 
 
n^\(xn^?a^A. Q^U A^L^<J? qjM^^ EE.] 
 
 BY THE^HOUSE OF DELEGATES, 
 
 March 23d, 1865. 
 Read and 8,000 copies in English and 2,000 in German 
 ordered to be printed. 
 
 REPORT 
 
 OP THE 
 
 SELECT COMMITTEE 
 
 APPOINTED TO 
 
 PREPARE A STATEMENT 
 
 IN RELATION TO THE 
 
 RESOURCES OF MARYLAND. 
 
 ANNAPOLIS: 
 
 RICHARD P. BAYLY, PRINTER. 
 1865. 
 
By' transfer 
 
 
REPORT. 
 
 To the House of Delegates of Ma^-yland : 
 
 The Select committee appointed by the Speaker of this 
 House, under the order adopted by the House on the loth 
 of January, respectfully 
 
 KEPOKT: 
 
 That the order adopted by the House was as follows : 
 
 "Ordered, That a committee of seven be appointed by the 
 Speaker, whose duty it shall be to prepare or have prepared 
 a succinct statement of the soil in different sections of this 
 State, and of its peculiar adaptation to the various productions 
 of agriculture, the proximity to market, the course and 
 capacity of our navigable streams, the water powers and 
 facilities and material for manufactories, and the mineral 
 resources and description of the country; that in the execu- 
 tion of these duties they have power to avail themselves of 
 any assistance they may require ; that said committee report 
 to this House, at as early a day as practicable the result of 
 their labors, said report to be printed in English and German, 
 for extensive circulation throughout the Northern and Western 
 States." 
 
 Under this order the committee, as soon as practicable 
 after its adoption, placed themselves in communication with 
 gentlemen of intelligence, and upon whose statements full 
 reliance could be placed, in various parts of the State. It 
 was their wish and earnest effort to make the statement which 
 they might issue perfectly authentic, to raise no expectations 
 which the result would not fully justify. 
 
 They have of course experienced many difficulties and 
 embarrassments, and u})on some points would desire opportu- 
 nity for still further inquiry and investigation if the duration 
 of the session of the House permitted it. In such cases if 
 serious doubt remained, they have preferred to pass over the 
 subject rather than to be inaccurate in their statements. 
 
From the great mass of information placed in their hands 
 they have caused the subjoined statement to be compiled, 
 omitting nothing of real importance, yet condensing every- 
 thing to the smallest possible compass, and repeating general 
 facts known to everybody only so far as seemed necessary to 
 illustrate the topic immediately in hand. 
 
 JOSEPH HARRIS, Chairman. 
 
RESOURCES OF MARYLAND. 
 
 The State of Maryland has just effected one of those great, 
 though peaceful, revolutions, which divide the world's his- 
 tory into epochs. On the 1st of Novemher, 1864, more than 
 eighty-five thousand persons, who were born, and had passed 
 all their lives till that day as slaves, hecame free. The persons 
 thus emancipated constituted a large portion of the agricul- 
 tural labor of the State; and the Act of Emancipation, in ad- 
 dition to all minor changes, thus necessarily involved the 
 great economical question of the system of labor, and all the 
 important results dependent upon the labor of the State. 
 
 Nor, did this change stand alone. The same Constitution 
 which made Maryland free, established also a system of free 
 public instruction for all. 
 
 With the adoption of these radical changes in her institu- 
 tions, at once the cause and the effect of the changes them- 
 selves, is manifest a new spirit and purpose and tendency 
 among the people. 
 
 It was not of course to be expected that the work of a day 
 could obliterate the attachments^ the aversions, the habits of 
 a century. At the same time, among those who most 
 earnestly deprecated the changes that have occurred, and 
 most zealously strove to prevent them, are found many who 
 most cheerfully accept the change as a thing accomplished, 
 and will give their best efforts to make the future prosperous 
 and happy. 
 
 The feeling is wide spread that the state of society must 
 undergo changes as great as the system of labor has under- 
 gone ; and that, to a greater or less extent, its tone is to be 
 modified — not to say controlled by the great producing class 
 of the population. And the people of the State look theie- 
 fore with most intense interest to the progress of events, and 
 the developments which shall determine the direction of the 
 restless tide of migration in our land. The time has gone 
 past when the people of the State preferred that it should 
 flow past them. They now earnestly desire that it should 
 bring no stinted measure of its burden to their doors. In 
 former times there was too much reason for the feeling, often 
 expressed by immigrants, especially from the North, that 
 
6 
 
 they were regarded and treated as intruders — suspicious 
 characters to be watched. But those times have passed, and 
 ijow whoever comes bringing either capital or labor, to build 
 his home among us, receives a most cordial welcome. We do 
 not know the term '^social toleration" which has sometimes 
 been used in this connection, but our people accord considera- 
 tion and welcome to all who come to cast their lot with them 
 and be of them. 
 
 The farmers of Maryland have never been believers in the 
 doctrine that "ten acres" was "enough," but, on the con- 
 trary, have been disposed, however large their farms or 
 "plantations," to add to them all the land that joined them, 
 so that, in parts of the State the lands are held in larger 
 bodies than can be profitably conducted, and the owners have 
 no reluctance to dispose of parts of them; and tracts suitable 
 for desirable farms can readily be bought at reasonable 
 prices. Already considerable quantities have changed hands, 
 probably not le?s than a hundred thousand acres within the 
 last four months, and indications are not wanting, that with 
 the opening spring, the demand for lands for actual settlers 
 will be far larger than ever before. 
 
 The State has an area of about 9,500 square miles of land, 
 while the Chesapeake Bay covers more than 4,000 more; and 
 these last are a most important element in the resources of 
 the State, for they are productive of food beyond much of the 
 cultivated land upon our continent, and at the same time 
 they afford unrivaled facilities of transportation for the thou- 
 sands of acres of market gardens which deck the shores of this 
 bay, and its numerous and prolific estuaries. So frequent 
 are these estuaries and navigable arms of the bay, that there 
 are large counties bordering on the bay no point of which is 
 more than four miles from a good "landing." This enables the 
 inhabitants of those counties, whenever disposed, to raise for 
 the markets of Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia and 
 New York, all the more delicate fruits and vegetables — such 
 as are ruined by any considerable amount of land carriage. 
 Two hundred miles of this bay from the place of consumption 
 of these products is practically less remote from the market 
 than ten miles by ordinary roads. This great advantage is 
 shared by all of the shore counties of the bay, and those 
 which are penetrated by its arms, for though the actual sea 
 coast of Maryland is but little over thirty miles, i\re tide 
 water margin is over 400 miles and if the islands be included 
 over 500 miles. The largest vessels which float ascend the 
 bay, past St. Mary's, Calverf and Anne Arundel counties to 
 Annapolis — and the Potomac river past St. Mary's, Charles 
 and Prince Georges' counties to Washington. Smaller craft, 
 ranging up to about 250 tons, ascend the rivers according to 
 their respective capacities and the requirements of the peo- 
 
pie ; the Choptank and its tributaries for 40 miles, the Nan- 
 ticoke to the Delaware line, the Patiixent for about 75 miles, 
 and not less than fifty others are navigable to a greater or 
 less extent. 
 
 * 
 
 The bay is so nearly land-locked, the outlet between Capes 
 Charles and Henry being but fifteen miles wide, that navi- 
 gation is neither difficult nor dangerous, and it has long been 
 customary for persons having bay residences or farms to have 
 their yacht, pungy or schooner for pleasure or for the tran^ 
 portation of their products. These with the aid of thei^ 
 farm hands they can load at their own doors, navigate to the 
 best markets in the country, and return with manures or 
 supplies for their farms, family or neighborhood. 
 
 An almost universal adjunct of every shore farm also is its 
 oyster beds, from which at almost any hour in the year may 
 be taken an unlimited supply of the most delicious bivalves 
 which the world produces. Fish in abundance and of excel- 
 lent quality are also caught at all points for home consump- 
 tion. Nor is all the richness of this bay drawn from beneath 
 its waters. The numerous flocks of wild ducks, which fre- 
 quent its surface and breed in its islands and marshes not 
 less than the abundance and flavor of its oysters, its terrapins 
 and crabs^ have given a fame to the bay as wide as the coun- 
 try. Its canvass back ducks are the pride of the New York 
 restaurants, and the hermetically sealed fruits and oysters of 
 Baltimore alone, annually amount to $5,000,000. Nor is 
 this to be estimated as the capacity of the Chesapeake, but 
 rather as a measure of the size of the market. 
 
 It would be unfair to leave this subject without mention of 
 the beauty of the Chesapeake. A sail upon its waters is 
 never tiresome. Its half built forts, its quaint white light- 
 houses on the shore, interspersed with iron ones rising from 
 the midst of the waves, the continual whirling and plunging 
 of the huge flocks of wild ducks which never desert its waters, 
 the constantly varying outline of its jagged shores, dotted by 
 dark lines of forest with here and there a handsome home- 
 stead; the flitting white sailed schooners, the clusters of oys- 
 ter boats, the hurried dash of the miniature steamers_, all 
 these joined to the balnjy airs that love to linger on the 
 Chesapeake, combine to make it one of the most beautiful 
 bodies of water in the world. 
 
 Geographically, Maryland is divided into three sections, 
 two of which, parted by the Chesapeake, are similar in forma- 
 tion, while the third is marked by the ledge of primitive rocks 
 which runs from the left bank of the Potomac, in Montgome- 
 ry county, N. E. to the Susquehanna river. 
 
 The soil of the plain, or tide-water district, as it is called 
 embraces nearly one-half of the territory of the State. 
 
8 
 
 This great region (for it stretches through Delaware and 
 along the coast of New Jersey, and is supposed to have formed 
 the bed of an ancient ocean) is composed of strata of the terti- 
 ary formation — proven by the fossils found in its cliifs and 
 banks. The chalk or cretaceous formation, similarly indica- 
 ted in New Jersey and Carolina, probably underlying more 
 recent deposits — throughout the extent of Maryland. 
 
 In this tertiary formation Maryland is rich in deposits of 
 wealth for the farmer ; beds of marl, of shell lime, of eocene 
 or green sand being distributed throughout its entire extent. 
 
 The surface of this tide-water district is level, save in the 
 northern part, and but slightly elevated above the sea, and its 
 soils are above the average in their adaptation to agriculture. 
 
 The forest growths are mostly, oaks of various kinds, hick- 
 ory, chestnut, walnut, gum, cedar, pine and beech. Few 
 rocks are found, but gome of the mineral deposits are rare. 
 The chromes, corundum or emery, and the tripoli, being al- 
 most the sole deposits of the kind in the civilized world. Bog 
 iron ore is found, and also, aluminous and magnesian salts. 
 The clays, which have never been developed by experienced 
 artisans, are known to embrace the kaolin or porcelain clay, 
 and the grey, red and blue clays, which have already contrib- 
 uted to our mechanic arts, in potteries of stone- ware, queens- 
 ware, glazed red-ware and bricks. From the pure sands 
 glass has been manufactured in considerable quantities, but 
 hitherto its manufacture has been carried to no great perfec- 
 tion. Red ochre, the cheapest material lor common painting, 
 forms subordinate beds in the lower clays, and is ground to a 
 fine powder in great quantities for the markets. Oyster-shell 
 lime is produced in large quantities by calcining the shells of 
 the oysters annually harvested, and also from deposits of shells 
 found upon the banks of our tide-water rivers and creeks. 
 These deposits are known by the name of Indian shells; which 
 people seem to have made abundant meals upon the oysters^ 
 if we are to measure them^by the quantity of shells re- 
 maining. These deposits are so far decomposed that they 
 can be applied to the soil without burning or sifting. The 
 recent oyster shells are also of great service in making roads, 
 for when broken and ground in their natural state upon the 
 high way, the surface becomes as hard and smooth as a mac- 
 adamized road, and is very durable. 
 
 The grains most largely cultivated in this plain are wheat, 
 Indian corn and tobacco, with cotton in the lower part. 
 
 Having premised these few statistics common to both the 
 Eastern and Western Shore, we will now proceed to consider 
 some characteristic features which distinguish the first geo- 
 o-raphical section, or, 
 
EASTERN SHORE. 
 
 The Eastern Shore, proceeding in order from the sonth, 
 embraces the counties of Worcester, Somerset, Dorchester, 
 Talbot, Caroline, Queen Anne's Kent and Cecil. The Atlan- 
 tic coast of this "^shore" has no harbors, and is bordered 
 throughout by a sandy beach, from a few yards to more than 
 a fourth of a mile in breadth, enclosing a shallow lagoon, 
 which now, owing to the blocking up of several passages by 
 which it formerly communicated with the sea, may almost be 
 termed a bay or lake. The surface of the Eastern Shore, 
 which forms part of the Peninsula lying between the Chesa- 
 peake and Delaware bays is low and level, except in the north- 
 ern part, where it is somewhat broken and hilly. The soil is 
 generally sandy. A variety of soil denominated "white oak" 
 soil, may be distinguished by the color of its sand, which is 
 white,, very fine, feeling but slightly gritty, of compact tex- 
 ture, with great retentiveness of moisture. It is usually good 
 corn land. 
 
 The soils of the Eastern Shore, except the sand plains, 
 were originally among the most fertile in the country. A 
 long course of improvident agriculture sadly impaired their 
 productive value. Improved systems of farming have, how- 
 ever, restored the fertility of large portions of it, and demon- 
 strated the possibility of a complete restoration of the whole. 
 
 The crops of the Eastern Shore vary, according to their 
 access to market. On the bay and river shores are large 
 farms, devoted to the production of "truck," a term applied 
 generally to the perishable products designed for the city mar- 
 kets. As has been already intimated, their transportation by 
 water is infinitely preferable to land carriage and fruits and 
 vegetables thus transported have a finer appearance, can be 
 longer preserved, and consequently command better prices 
 than those which come by wagons. Not only is it exempt 
 from the dust and bruises incident to land transportation, but 
 the moist, cool air of the bay preserves its freshness, and in 
 many instances it is actually better when it reaches the mar- 
 ket than when taken from the tree or vine. Steam power 
 may be employed, ad libitum, to secure the benefit of prompt 
 and regular transportation. In many instances heretofore a 
 single producer has found it to his interest to own and run 
 his own vessel — steam or sailing — for the transportation of 
 his own products ; and no obstacle whatever can exist, no in- 
 convenience arise, from a neighborhood arrangement, by 
 which a few smaller producers should unite, and the produce 
 of their adjoining farms, together find transportafion to their 
 common market. It can hardly be doubted that under the 
 2 
 
10 
 
 new and more self-reliant system of labor sucli arrangements 
 will become almost universal. 
 
 In the portions removed from tide-water, the cereals, wheat, 
 corn &c., are the staple products. In the southern portion, 
 flax and cotton (and upon the whole "Shore" wool) to a lim- 
 ited amount have always been raised. This is done chiefly 
 for home consumption, and only about in sufficient quantities 
 to meet the wants of the people. The cotton is ginned with 
 the fingers, carded with the liand cards — so generally obso- 
 lete in the active world — and spun by hand, all in the most 
 primitive manner. 
 
 The draught labor of the farms is performed by mules, hor- 
 ses and oxen ; the mule here, as everywhere, being found most 
 hardy, capable of performing great labor, and of being kept 
 mcfte economically than any other animal performing the 
 same amount of labor. The prevailing breeds of both horses 
 and oxen are diminutive in size but very active, and are 
 believed by intelligent residents to do more work and last 
 longer than the heavier and stronger animals sometimes 
 brought there from more nx)rthern States. The little oxen 
 are seldom used for plowing, btit for the general hauling of a 
 farm are very valuable. They are gentle and easily controlled, 
 and their customary gait is a sort of dog trot, into Avhich the 
 heavy drau^ght oxen used in other parts of our country could 
 be forced only with great difficulty. 
 
 The soil and surface combine to render the labor of road 
 making very slight, and probably no part of the country has 
 so good roads at so little expense. The chief drawback in that 
 respect hitherto has been the numerous creeks and streams 
 that intersect the whole region, and which hitherto have not 
 been provided with any suitable ferries or bridges, so that a 
 long storm at any season would lay an embargo upon travel 
 by the ordinary and shortest routes from point to point. This 
 difficulty of course may easily be removed. 
 
 The custom in hiring labor, both male and female, has been 
 to make annual contracts during the christmas holydays for 
 the ensuing year. No obstacle however exists to such change 
 of custom as the new system of labor may require, and the 
 convenience of employer and employed will of course control 
 the future. 
 
 No where are melons and sweet potatoes raised in greater 
 perfection than in the sandy portion of the Eastern Shore, 
 when those sands have been enriched by the abundant marls 
 of the same region. Thjs application at the same time in- 
 creases the crop, and so improves it that they readily com- 
 mand from a half dollar to a dollar a barrel more than those 
 not so produced. Lime is also used with the happiest effect 
 upon these soils, snd its free use, coupled with improved gen- 
 
11 
 
 eral culture and drainaj^e, have greatly improved the health- 
 fulness of the whole region. Chills and fevers, formerly com- 
 mon, have almost disappeared, save in limited malarious dis- 
 tricts ; and these not more numerous or extensive than in most 
 regions under the same degree of cultivation. There has been 
 very little scientific attention hitherto to the subject of manures, 
 and besides what I have named above and tlie plowing in of 
 clover, or similar crops to a limited extent, but little manure 
 has been used. Tlie grand manure mine, the hog pen, has 
 been almost unknown, and the swine that have been raised 
 have been permitted to roam at large in the forests and 
 SAvamps ; a nuisance so great and a crop so small that many 
 farmers have preferred to buy their bacon rather than to raise 
 and catch it. 
 
 Numerous and extensive beds of green shell marl are foiind 
 and though used to a limited extent, their value has never 
 been fully improved. In the judgment of scientific men it is 
 pronounced superior to the green sand of New Jersey, and 
 that is so highly prized by the farmers of that State and of 
 Pennsylvania, that it is extensively used at places so remote 
 from the beds where it is found, as to cost the consumer twen- 
 ty-five cents a bushel. When a trade shall be opened up in 
 this, so extensive as to justify the use of steam excavators, 
 with suitable appliances, and transportation by water, it 
 might profitaVjly be furnished at a fourth of that sum, and 
 bring wealth both to consumer and producer. 
 
 There are several "Gum Swamps" of considerable extent 
 which have never produced any thing of more value than 
 gum trees for fuel. This tree, the Nyssa multiflora, is the 
 same that is known in the north as the peppcridge, and 
 northern men will rearlily uwderstand the character of the 
 soil from whicli it springs. In the swamp and marshes, as- 
 paragus grows wild in great quantities and considerable per- 
 fection, and in the fields tomatoes are equally indigenous. 
 
 In the northern part of Worcester county and extending 
 across into Delaware, is a high table land known as the 
 '.'O^'pross Swamp," far the most extensive of the swamps of 
 the State. It lias an area of about 50,000 acres, and has 
 been com])arativcly worthless. The cyjiress timber has from 
 time to time in'on cut off by the manufacturers of ce^^a?- ware, 
 but no other use has been made of the land, which has been 
 regarded as a worthless quaking morass. Of late years many 
 fields have been redeemed from the margin of the waste, de- 
 veloping an underlying soil of surpassing richness and fer- 
 tility. Being the highest hind upon the Eastern Shore, the 
 source of the Pocomoke river, and numerous smaller streams 
 which flow into the St. Martin's river and Sinepuxent bay, 
 the feasiblity of draining and redeeming the whole swamp 
 
12 
 
 cannot admit of a doubt. The work is a great one, "but not 
 too large for science and enterprise to undertake ; and if the 
 accomplishment of the work should enhance the value of the 
 lands but five dollars an acre it would repay the expenditure 
 of a quarter of a million of dollars. 
 
 Let improved farming implements take the place of those 
 brought over by the early colonists, and skill and care direct 
 their use ; the land be fed by scientific manuring instead of 
 being turned out to fallow two years in five, and not only 
 will two blades of grass grow where one grew before, but it 
 will create a necessity for more and better craft to sail up its 
 rivers and bring the products of its wide and teeming gar- 
 dens to the markets of all the Atlantic cities. 
 
 No surface is better adapted for the construction of rail- 
 roads, and the same necessity will extend the Delaware road 
 to the limits of Virginia, with paying branches to every con- 
 siderable town upon the Eastern Shore. 
 
 WORCESTER COUNTY. 
 
 Worcester county, the southermost county of the Eastern 
 Shore, extends along the Atlantic coast, from Delaware to 
 Virginia, the State lines of which form its boundaries North 
 and South, while Somerset county bounds it on the West. 
 
 This county is one of the largest in the State but contains 
 much waste land at present unfit for any agricultural purpo- 
 ses. The Cypress Swamp in the North occupies as has been 
 already remarked an area of 50,000 acres, and is the source 
 of many streams. It is a high and level basin, very wet 
 though undoubtedly the highest land between the sea and 
 the Chesapeake bay. It might be reclaimed by a systematic 
 drainage, and would greatly augment the wealth of the coun- 
 ty. The experiments upon portions of its soil which have 
 been drained and planted, amply demonstrate its unsurpassed 
 fertility. It is in this morass that the Pocomoke river takes its 
 rise, and from thence it flows southward receiving the whole 
 drainage of the middle portions of the county. There are 
 also many other outlets to this swamp, which flow eastward, 
 and pour their waters into St. Martin's river or estuary, on 
 the Atlantic shore. 
 
 The Atlantic coastof Worcester county, is a long narrow sand 
 beach from a few yards to one-fourth of a mile in width inclosing 
 a shallow bay, which is accessable only to small water craft. 
 This bay is more prolific in wild duck and oysters than any 
 other water in this country. It is known in Maryland by 
 the name of Siuepuxent bay, but on the Virginia coast, near 
 
13 
 
 the inlet, whicli connects it with the ocean, it bears the 
 same name as the inlet, and is there called Chincoteac[ue 
 hay. 
 
 The prevailing soil of Worcester county is sandy, mixed 
 ■with red and white clay. Black "Gum Swamps," are fre- 
 quent, and afford rich pasturage. In numerous localities, 
 bog iron ore is found in irregular beds, varying from six 
 inches to two feet in thickness, lying just under the surface 
 of the bog or marsh. It is found by probhig the ground 
 with iron bars, which sink in the muck, but cannot penetrate 
 the ore. This ore is seldom smelted alone, because of the 
 phosphoric acid it contains, but judiciously mixed with other 
 kinds, the fusibility is increased, and also the smoothness of 
 the castings. The ore contains from 30 to 35 per cent of 
 iron. 
 
 Besides the ample supplies of marsb-muck and peat, tbis 
 county has a large supply of oyster sbell lime suitable fur 
 agricultural purposes. The "Indian shells" as they are 
 termed, are found in deposits covering an extent of from one 
 to 40 acres, with a depth varying from six inches to as many 
 feet. They are always near the waters edge, on the slope of 
 a hill, and from long exposure to atmospheric influence have 
 become so far disintegrated that they crumble readily, on 
 free exposure to the air, and are in fit condition to apply to 
 the soil without burning or grinding. In many cases these 
 banks are covered with the most luxurious vegetation, and 
 support large trees. From the frequency and abundance 
 of these shell deposits, we may safely conclude that the 
 Indians appreciated an oyster supper as highly as his white 
 brothers. 
 
 The average price of good land in this county is $25.00 
 per acre. Wood land $50.00, according to location. Worn- 
 out lands from $8.00 to $10.00 per acre, and the average size 
 of farms has been about 200 acres. Some parts of the county 
 are subject to chills, but not more so than any tract of land 
 in Maryland and Virginia where uncultivated swampy dis- 
 tricts occur. 
 
 There is water power throughout the county, improved 
 only with grist and saw mills. The manufactures are exclu- 
 sively for home consumption. The productions are corn, 
 wheat, oats, beans, peas, sweet potatoes, flax and cotton. 
 The sandy soil, and the equable sea air, make the cultiva- 
 tion of sweet potatoes a most profitable employment. Those 
 harvested here, are very generally sold under the name 
 of "Carolina potatoes," and command the best prices in 
 market. 
 
 The cultivation of fruit as a separate pursuit has recently 
 
14 
 
 begun, and is attended with marked success. The grape 
 grows to great perfection, and is entirely free from the blight, 
 while the mildness of the winters will permit the cultivation 
 in the open air, of many choice table grapes, which cannot 
 endure the winters farther north. Strawberries, which are 
 very prolific in the sandy soils, can he ripened for market 
 ten days earlier than in the more northern counties, or on the 
 Delaware coast. 
 
 Many farmers have flocks of sheep, which require but lit- 
 tle attention, and suffice for all the woollen clothing, which 
 is spun, woven and dyed in each family. The same is true 
 of cotton and flax. 
 
 The trade in fish and oysters is extensive. 
 
 The climate is salubrious, the winters short and mild, and 
 the proximity of the ocean ensures sea breezes which make 
 the summers very agreeable. 
 
 Near Berlin, sands are found, which are identical with 
 those in England from which the Bristol bricks are made. 
 
 The Pocomoke river, passing nearly midway through the 
 county, and navigable as far as Snow Plill, affords good 
 facilities for the transportation of tlie produce of the county 
 to market. Much time cannot elapse before the extension of 
 the Delaware railroad will afford it also the advantage of an 
 unbroken steam communication with Philadelphia. 
 
 SOMERSET COUNTY. 
 
 Somerset county, which lies between Worcester county and 
 the Chesapeake bay, is separated in part from Worcester 
 county by the Pocomoke river. The Nanticoke river sepa- 
 rates it from Dorchester county on the northwest, while the 
 northern boundary is the State of Delaware, and the South- 
 ern and Western boundaries are completed by the Chesa- 
 peake. * 
 
 Beside the two rivers which border it, it is watered by the 
 Wicomico and Monie creeks, the Manokin, Anneuiesix and 
 Little Annemcsix rivers. The Wycomico and Monie creeks 
 Dili into Fishing bay through a common estuary. Tiie Nan- 
 ticoke falls into the upper head of Fishing bay, and the 
 other rivers enter the Chesapeake direct. All these rivers are 
 navigable more or less, and afford commercial facilities to 
 their localities. 
 
 The upper or northern portion of the county has a soil of 
 light sandy loam, with occasional glades of meadow and 
 marsh. The middle of the county is a mixture of sand and 
 
15 
 
 clay, sometimes approaching to red clay, except near the 
 water courses, where the land is flat and sandy, especially on 
 the salt water. The lower section of the county is a stiff 
 clay soil, well adapted to the growth of corn and wheat, and 
 if cultivated would produce the finest grass. 
 
 The water of the uplands is pure, like that of all siliceous 
 soils ; and in the lowlands it is calcareous. 
 
 The fruits and vegetables which require sandy soils and 
 moist air, can nowhere be cultivated with more profit and 
 pleasure than in Somerset and the adjoining counties. The 
 mixed, disintegrated character of the soil, renders it suscept- 
 ible of improvement to a high degree. Melons, strawberries, 
 cantelupes, peaches and grapes, may be cultivated for the 
 markets, with greater certainty of perfection and remunera- 
 tion then in any other localities in the State. The fruits will 
 ripen earlier than in the upper counties, while the tender 
 varieties, which are more or less injured by hard winter* 
 elsewhere, are protected here by the adjacent salt waters of the 
 bay and ocean. 
 
 The location of Somerset and Worcester counties between 
 two large bodies of salt water, tempers the heats of summer 
 with the ever recurring sea breezes, and so far softens the 
 rigors of winter that plants "are not materially affected by 
 frost." 
 
 Sweet potatoes of the best quality are grown in this county. 
 They yield in remarkable abundance. As far back as 1850, 
 120,000 bushels being the annual crop. Wine is manufac- 
 tured for domestic use from the wild grape. Indian corn and 
 wheat are the principal grains. 
 
 The average price of cultivated lands, according to loca- 
 tion, improvements and quality, ranges from $10 to $30 per 
 acre. Wood land the same price. Farms are of all sizes, 
 from 1500 acres to 40 or 50. 
 
 The county is not subject to chills and fevers to any consid- 
 erable extent. The water power of the county is not used to 
 one-fourth of its extent. Bog iron ore is found in the upper 
 and middle parts of the coimty, but is not worked. 
 
 Banks of "Indian shells" or oyster-lime are abundant, and 
 the marsh muck, which is remarkable for its black color_, 
 light porous texture, and large amount of vegetable matter, 
 as well as sea-weed and turf, are employed as fertilizers. 
 
 DORCHESTER COUNTY. 
 
 Dorchester county occupies a peninsula lying between the 
 Choptank and Nanticoke rivers, and extends from the Dela- 
 
I 
 
 16 
 
 ware State line to Chesapeake hsiy. Almost surrouncled by 
 navigable streams, and drained by the Chica-ma-comico, the 
 Transquakin and Black water rivers, and Marshy Hope 
 creek, it possesses unusual facilities for the transportation of 
 its products. 
 
 The soil is variable, partaking of the same character which 
 marks the entire Eastern Shore. Some of the land is stiff 
 clay, some light and sandy, and some black loam. 
 
 The value of the lands depends entirely on the quality and 
 location. Farms are most highly prized when located upon salt 
 water. If highly improved, and beautifully located upon 
 salt water, with fine fish, oysters, terrapins, crabs and wild 
 fowl in their season, the price will average $50 or $60 per 
 acre. Lands of equal merit, removed from the water, would 
 not exceed $15 per acre. Exhausted lands, located on saltwater, 
 would bring $20 per acre ; but if remote from water, will 
 average $5 per acre. Wood land, when thickly set with large 
 white oak, suitable for ship building, bordering wpon naviga- 
 ble water, would sell at $100 per acre, while the same, re- 
 mote from water, would not exceed $15. An abundance of 
 shell manure is obtained from the waters, and it has been 
 found very effective in improving the lands. 
 
 The grazing is excellent. Wheat and corn are the princi- 
 pal grains cultivated ; live stock is abundant ; every farmer 
 raises wool for his own use, and a considerable quantity for 
 sale. Every variety of vegetable is cultivated ; and of late, 
 excellent crops of sorghum have been raised. A mill for 
 grinding the sorghum has been established. The culture of 
 peaches has increased much of late, and yielded very large 
 profits. 
 
 In the upper part of the county water power is abundant, 
 and is improved by grist and saw mills. The lower parts of 
 the county are without water power, and substitute windmills 
 for grinding their cereals. 
 
 There are muddy creeks, bogs, marshes and swamps, bor- 
 dering upon the fresh water rivers ; and all such locations 
 are subject to malarious diseases. 
 
 The shad and herring fisheries in the lower part of the 
 county are thriving. Nearly every river and creek furnish 
 throughout the year an ample supply of fresh fish for home 
 consumption. 
 
 Oak, hickory, pine and walnut, which are the natural 
 timber, and abundant, are shipped as lumber, staves and 
 wood to Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. 
 
 The transportation of the products of Dorchester to the 
 markets ot our great cities by means of schooners, sloops and 
 Bieamboats, can be increased ad infinitum. 
 
n 
 
 CAROLINE COUNTY. 
 
 Caroline county whicli is of small extent, is bounded by 
 Dorcl) ester on the South, and lies between the Choptank river 
 and the Delaware State line. Several branches of the Chop- 
 tank, and "Marshy Hope creek," the principal tributary of 
 the Nanticoke river, convey the drainage from its surface. 
 
 Some of its soils are pure sand, of considerable depth, with 
 claye}'' subsoils ; some is low meadow land, composed of a rich 
 black earth, very "drainable," which would, under proi)er 
 treatment, produce good crops of oats, corn, and the most lux- 
 uriant grass. By far the largest portion of the land is loam, 
 with clay bottom. This soil will produce grains, grasses, 
 vegetables, cotton and tobacco. These two last are always 
 r.iised in small quantities for domestic use. "They come to 
 perfect maturity, yield well, and cultivated as a crop would 
 pay." The sandy land is very productive in sweet potatoes ; 
 in fact, evt^ry variety of vegetable and root crop, peaches, 
 berries and fruits grow well on it. Most of the farms are 
 composed of all the varities of soil above enumerated, in 
 various proportions. This gives the farmer the power to cul- 
 tivate crops of all varieties. On many farms are found large 
 deposits of muck, wood mould and other fertilizing material. 
 There are generally comfortable, often commodious dwellings, 
 and fine large orchards ; timber is plentiful. Farming in- 
 terests have been neglected, and the same system of sloth and 
 waste that have impoverislied the tillers has also impoverish- 
 ed the soil. But the exceptions where the farming is neat, 
 the cattle sleek, the fences upright, and the buildings in good 
 order, are a proof of what can be effected, and are a stimulus 
 to exertion. 
 
 The county is well watered with creeks upon which coast- 
 ing vessels trade, bringing lime, ashes, "government ma- 
 nure" and freights generally ; taking wood, lumber, grain 
 and vegetables in return. Up and down the Choptank river 
 as far as Denton, steamboats ply, taking fruits and vegetables 
 to a first rate market. 
 
 The prices of farms range from $10 to $25 per acre_, and in 
 some instances, below this lowest price; "there is no disput- 
 ing the fact that many bargains are to be procured." 
 
 The general character of the country is level, not much 
 rolling land, but the most of it is high, healthy, and has suf- 
 ficient fall for all purposes of drainage. As a consequence, 
 the roads are level, hard and easily traveled, and teaming can 
 be satisfactorily performed. 
 
 Little or no land lies at a greater distance than five miles 
 from navigable water ; an item that will be duly appreciated 
 by the observant farmer. 
 
18 
 
 In climate, the heats of this county may he ranged with 
 Philadelphia, though it has the same latitude as Washing- 
 ton ; the salt waters prohably allaying the extreme heats of 
 summer. 
 
 The rivers and estuaries abound in fish, oysters, crahs, 
 ducks and other game, and there is no season of the year hut 
 hrings some one or many of these choice dishes for the table. 
 
 Bog iron ore is found in some localities in this county, but 
 is not worked. 
 
 TALBOT COUNTY. 
 
 Talbot county is bounded on the East and South by the 
 Choptank river, on the West by the Chesapeake bay, and on 
 the North by Queen Anne's county. Its coast toward the Chesa- 
 peake is very irregular, and deeply indented with inlets and 
 estuaries_, forming the land into peninsulas and islands. 
 The Wye river separates it from Queen Anne's county. The 
 principal streams within the county are the St. Michael's 
 river, Treadhaven river, Broad creek and numerous oth^r 
 small streams. 
 
 A remarkable feature of this county, and one that has con- 
 tributed largely to its prosperity is its immense navigable 
 water front. "Nearly three fourths of the farms of this 
 county have navigable water at their doors, and of the bal- 
 ance the farthest is not five miles from a boat landing." 
 With such extensive water privileges, and the abundance of 
 fish for which the Chesapeake and its tributaries are renowned, 
 fisheries could be prosecuted here to any extent. 
 
 The climate is moist and warm, the longevity of the in- 
 habitants is beyond the average, and good health is uni- 
 versal. 
 
 The soil of Talbot in the upper portion of the county is 
 loamy, with a red clay sub-soil: in the lower part, ''white 
 oak" soil predominates. Throughout this county are large 
 deposits of shell marl, underlying which is the green sand 
 marl. (This last is the positive statement of scientific men, 
 and as the Eastern Shore has been, either facetiously or ma- 
 liciously, represented as having been made of the odds and 
 ends of creation, there can be little doubt that if there was 
 any green sand marl left when New Jersey was finished, it 
 will be found somewhere on the Eastern Shore.) 
 
 On the Choptank river thirty miles above its mouth, and 
 five miles from Easton lies an immense bed of marl in a situa- 
 tion most favorable for shipment. With proper conveniences 
 
a proprietor could do a good business by delivering it on 
 board schooners for two cents a bushel. Thus it might be 
 served at a hundred points on the bay, with no extra cost 
 save the freight, which would be little. This marl contains 
 trom 35 to 40 per cent of shells crumbling to powder, and is 
 more beneficial to many soils than the imported guanos. It 
 18 usually dug in winter, when there is no other work for the 
 tarm hands. But it might be dug at any season. 
 
 The land according to quality inland is worth from $20.00 
 to $70.00 per acre. Fronting navigable water from $45.00 
 to $100.00 per acre, and with superior improvements some- 
 what higher. Wood land is distributed amongst the farm 
 land, and sells at the same prices. Worn out lands range 
 from $16.00 to $30.00 per acre. Farms can be purchased of 
 any size from 50 to 900 acres. 
 
 Smce the county has been limed, drained, and cleared, ma- 
 larious diseases have almost entirely disappeared. 
 
 The leading products in the order of their importance are, 
 wheat, corn, oats, sorghum, tobacco and flax. Peaches and 
 some other fruits are extensively cultivated, but the statistics 
 are not at hand which furnish an approximation of their 
 value. From the early maturity of fruits, and their long 
 time of bearing, it is probable this will prove the most valua-. 
 Die crop to the farmer. 
 
 Wine of fine flavor and quality is made throughout the 
 county, but hitherto not in sufficient quantities for exporta- 
 tion. 
 
 The little water power there is, is occupied with mills. 
 The natural timbers are oak and yellow pine of the best 
 quality for ship building; also hickory, chestnut, locust, cedar, 
 ash and poplar. 
 
 QUEEN ANNE'S COUNTY. 
 
 Queen Anne's county is separated by Chester river from 
 Kent county, which lies on the north of it; on the east it ex- 
 tends to the Delaware State line, on the south-east, it is sepa- 
 rated from Caroline county, by Tuckahoe creek, and from 
 Talbot county by Wye river and Eastern bay, and on the west 
 is bounded by the Chesapeake. Kent, a large island on the 
 bay shore, constitutes a portion of the county, and is notable 
 as having been the site of the first settlement within the 
 State. 
 
 The soils, though various, are mostly of the kind known as 
 '* white oak" soil, with a red clay sub-soil, and are well 
 •dapted to the cultivation of grains and grasses. The lower 
 
20 
 
 portions of the county are peculiarly favorable to the growth 
 of wheat. The surface is low, gradually sloping from the in- 
 terior, drained by numerous creeks, with patches of forest 
 dotted upon every farm. These forests are universally wet, 
 and very frequent springs of running water are traced to 
 their shady depths. Marl of a superior quality is abundant, 
 and much used as manure. 
 
 The water is good. 
 
 The only mineral found is bog iron ore. Some of the 
 largest "truck" farms on the Eastern Shore are found on the 
 shores of this county. 
 
 Farm land can be had at prices ranging from $20.00 to 
 .00 per acre. Wheat, rye, corn and oats are grown. 
 
 KENT COUNTY. 
 
 Kent county occupies the whole of the peninsula between 
 Sassafras river and Chester river, and also several islands in 
 the wide estuary of the latter river. 
 
 The surface is high and rolling, generally dry, and well 
 drained by creeks flowing into its border streams, and its 
 soils are very fertile. Wheat and corn and every variety of 
 vegetable esculents grow abundantly. The grass is rich and 
 nutritious and the live stock fed upon the farms is in greater 
 number than in most ; counties of the State. Peaches are 
 raised in immense quantities, and other fruits in smaller 
 amounts. 
 
 Chills and fevers to a limited extent prevail in the autumn 
 near fresh water locations. 
 
 The price of good lands is from $60.00 to $70.00 per acre. 
 Wood land sells at the same rates. There is but little worn 
 out land, and it is held from $25.00 to $30.00 per acre. The 
 average size of farms has been about 250 acres, though there 
 is so great a difference in the extremes that it is almost impos- 
 sible to make an average. 
 
 The products of the county are forwarded to market by 
 water; and steamers ply up and down the Chester and Sassafras 
 rivers to Baltimore during the most of the year. 
 
 Grapes have been cultivated with much success, and wines 
 are manufactured in this county which compare favorably 
 with the best produced in the United States. 
 
 CECIL COUNTY. 
 
 ^ Cecil county occupies the north-east corner of the State, 
 east of SuiS^^uehanaa river, and north of Saisisafras river, xneet^ 
 
21 
 
 ing the State line of Pennsylvania on the north, and Dela- 
 ware on the east. It is traversed by the great line of rail- 
 road which connects Washington with the north; and crossed 
 by a canal which joins the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, 
 and it is intersected by the North-east, Elk, Back and Bohe- 
 mia rivers, and bordered by the Sassafras and Susquehanna. 
 All these rivers afford navigation, and some of them in the 
 interior of the county have sufficient descent to afford a fair 
 supply of water power. 
 
 The soil is light and loamy, with a reddish clay sub-soil, 
 interspersed with some barren tracts. Marl is abundant, es- 
 pecially on Bohemia river, and is extensively used. 
 
 In the lower part of the county, where the soil is lighter 
 and more sandy; peaches are successfully raised, probably to 
 the value $50,000 annually. This crop pays an average 
 profit of $175 a year per acre clear of all expenses. There is 
 a large region of country lying between the Elk and North- 
 east rivers, of a sandy soil, growing chesnut generally, that 
 would make excellent truck and garden farms, and which 
 could be bought at low prices. Lying midway between Bal- 
 timore and Philadelphia, with railroad and water communi- 
 cation, already established, direct with both cities, and but 
 six or eight hours distance from New York, for convenience 
 of forwarding fruits and vegetables to the most desirable 
 market, Cecil county is most fortunately located. 
 
 There is but little wood land in market, the price of which 
 according to convenience and quality ranges from $30 to $60 
 per acre. Good land under cultivation sells from $50 to 
 $100 per acre, according to location. There is much poor 
 land in the county, valued from $10 to $20 per acre. Culti- 
 vated lands are not generally so much exhausted as they were 
 ten years ago. This is owing to the universal use of lime 
 which has been applied upon the shore lands abundantly, be- 
 cause of the facility with which it could be transported to the 
 lands, and the great cheapness of the lime as a fertilizer. 
 
 Grass has been for many years a most profitable crop. '^A 
 gentleman of large experience and the highest character, told 
 me a year ago, when hay was not so high as it is now, that 
 his land in grass paid him the interest of $500 per acre, clear 
 of taxes." Some years ago many families from Pennsylva- 
 nia and New Jersey bought farms in the northern part of the 
 county, and upon credit, but all who went earnestly to work 
 have cleared their farms from debt, and some have become 
 rich. 
 
 Fish and wild fowl abound upon the bay and rivers. At 
 one time shad and herring fisheries were largely prosecuted, 
 but of late they have somewhat declined. 
 
22 
 
 For many years there have been no indications of chills, 
 but last year upon the river shores, there was some return of 
 chills in the Autumn in a mild form. 
 
 The water is good, labor is in demand, and wages are 
 double the sum they amounted to, two years since; churches 
 and public schools are established throughout the county. 
 
 At Port Deposit, on the Susquehanna, are immense and 
 valuable granite quarries. The rock is something between 
 a granite and gneiss, and has been called syenite by some. — 
 It readily separates into flat blocks, with little or no expense 
 in dressing. Soapstone is found at various points on the 
 Susquehanna. Iron ores and chromes are mined on the 
 northern boundary, and the silicates from which magnesia 
 and epsom salts are manufactured. Tlje belt of serpentine 
 rock in the northern part of the county, which extends into 
 Harford county, contains the most valuable chrome mines 
 in the world. 
 
 The manufactures of the county are five paper mills, two 
 cotton mills, one furnace, one forge, six rolling mills, three 
 mills for bending shafts and felloes, besides many grain and 
 saw mills. But though these are all worked by water power, 
 there is probably one-half the water power of the county still 
 unimproved. 
 
 Within the last few years experiments in grape growing 
 have been attended with great success. All who have en- 
 gaged in the business continue to enlarge their vineyards, 
 and this branch of industry bids fair to become as profitable 
 as any prosecuted in the county. 
 
 WESTEUN SHOEE. 
 
 The tide water district of the ''Western Shore," includes 
 the counties of St. Mary's, Charles, Prince George's, Calvert, 
 Anne Arundel, Montgomery, Howard, Baltimore and Har- 
 ford, although the last three, in surface and soil, are to some 
 extent allied with the hilly or mountainous portion of the 
 State, yet scientifically these counties are all grouped togeth- 
 er. This district includes the earliest settlements of Lord 
 Baltimore, and the capital of the State, with all their historic 
 associations and rich old memories. 
 
 The early settlers devoted themselves almost entirely to 
 agriculture, and the record which they have left of the fertili- 
 ty of their homes, seems to us to border upon the fabulous. 
 While the Puritans of New England were driven to the seas 
 to find their sustenance, the Pilgrims of St. Mary's, from her 
 generous soil, gathered large harvests of corn, which they sent 
 
2S 
 
 thither and exchanged for the fish of Cape Cod. This ex- 
 portation of grain commenced within three years after the 
 settlement of St. Mary's, and Oldmixon states the quantity 
 then exported as high as 10,000 bushels. This importation 
 of fish is one of those iVeaks of trade, Avisely ordered no doubt, 
 which fill us, looking back upon them from a distance, with 
 mingled amazement and amusement, for while bringing these 
 edibles from abroad, the fisheries at her own door were richer 
 than anything that New England could boast. The oyster 
 beds of St. Mary's county, like those of the Eastern Shore, 
 have been already referred to. The shad fisheries of the Po- 
 tomac also are unrivaled by those of any other })ortion of 
 the United States. From three hundred to thousands are 
 taken at a "haul," with herrings innumerable, as high as 
 400,000 barrels of herrings per year have been taken from 
 that river within a hundred miles of Washington, cured, 
 barreled and exported, chiefly through the Baltimore market. 
 
 The colonists made the same mistake that settlers upon 
 rich, virgin soils have often made before and since. They 
 believed its richness inexhaustible, and tried it for a century 
 with the mcst exhausting system of agriculture. Their suc- 
 cessors fell into the opposite error, and believing the soil ex- 
 hausted past recovery, removed to virgin soils in the South 
 and West, to practice, it is to be feared, the same system of 
 agriculture which they had practised in Maryland. In con- 
 sequence the agriculturally rich lower counties of the State, 
 the earliest settled, and in some respects most desirable 
 counties, St. Mary's, Charles, Calvert, Prince George's and 
 Montgomery, greatly diminished in comparative importance 
 and actually had a smaller white population in i860 than 
 they had in 1790. 
 
 This sparseness of population, coupled with the belief of 
 the hopelessness of cultivating the worn out soil, left much 
 of it idle and uncultivated, and permitted it to grow up to 
 waste, and the immigrant will find wood land abundant and 
 very cheap. 
 
 The last few years have seen many and great improve- 
 ments in this region. Experiments have proven the soil to 
 be most grateful for generous and proper treatment, good 
 crops have been obtained where it was absolutely desert, and 
 the prices of lands have much advanced. 
 
 The means of reclaiming the lands exist within themselves 
 in extensive beds of shell marl, and it is wortliy of mention 
 in this connection, that at this time the whole country within 
 the range of its transportation might be fertilized by the 
 thousands of loads of manure wasting and a nuisance in the 
 horse corrals of the Government in and about Washington. 
 
24 
 
 The 'soils of this section are, for the most part, similar to 
 those of the Eastern Shore, a mixture of sand and loam, and 
 easily cultivated. In the counties of St. Mary's, Calvert, 
 Prince George's and Charles, there is found a very remark- 
 ahle variety of soil, consisting of tripoli more or less mixed 
 up with sand and vegetable matters. On the bluffs of the 
 Patuxent this deposit of tripoli is found to vary from 5 to 30 
 feet in thickness. Tripoli is composed of the skeletons of a 
 miscroscopic vegetable, (or animal,) which float upon the 
 water of most streams, invisible to the eye, but furnishing 
 the food of oysters and other mollusks. It is calculated that 
 a cubic inch of trijioli contains thousands of millions of these 
 skeletons. It is the minute size of these forms, so thin and 
 fragile that they are easily broken, and their sharp edges, 
 which make them serviceable in polishing, while the grains 
 are too small to make a visible scratch. For polishing metals 
 and all articles which are to be varnished, this is the best 
 substance known. At some future day, when the mechanic 
 arts have been developed to a greater perfection, tripoli will 
 have a high commercial value. With such facilities for 
 transportation as Maryland possesses, the tripoli might be 
 profitably exported to Europe at prices cheaper than the Bu- 
 hemian tripoli, which it far exceeds, and which has hereto- 
 fore almost had a monopoly of the world's markets. 
 
 Tobacco, wheat and Indian corn, with about the usual pro- 
 portion of smaller grains and vegetables, have engrossed the 
 attention of ihe agriculturists of this section of the State. 
 In the northern portions of it, within the last four years, 
 much attention has been given to hay and grazing, and with 
 decided success. The demands of the markets of Baltimore 
 and Washington — large and rapidly increasing — for the per- 
 ishable but more profitable esculents, fruits and vegetables, 
 have in the vicinity of those cities, along the lines of the 
 railroads, and near the bay and river "landings," to a great 
 extent, divided attention from agriculture proper, to horticul- 
 ture. The result is seen in the almost unlimited supply of 
 strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, peaches, ap- 
 ricots, melons, canteleupes and table vegetables generally, of 
 the finest quality, with which, in their -season, those markets 
 abound. The unconsumed surplus, passing through tiie 
 numerous manufactories of hermetically sealed fruits, fur- 
 nishes to our commerce and our navy the luxury of summer 
 fruits, in all their varieties, in every climate and latitude. 
 
 Sorghum has recently^ been cultivated with decided success 
 in the Northern portion of this District, mills established for 
 its manufacture, and a convention or association of sorghum 
 growers has been formed to aid each other by imparting in- 
 lormation, the result of private experiments. 
 
25 
 
 In the Southern part of this District tobacco has been long 
 the leading article of export. "The weed" is raised of ex- 
 cellent quality, but the crop is not as heavy per acre as is 
 reported to have been produced of late years in some localities 
 further North; still the aggregate of the crop is large; Prince 
 George's county alone having produced as high as eight 
 to ten millions of pounds a year. 
 
 The mines of this District are numerous and valuable. 
 Perhaps the most remarkable of these is the clay-beds — iron- 
 ore clays and others — which extend through this District from 
 the Potomac to the Susquehanna, and attracts the attention 
 of travellers by railroad between Havre de Grace and Wash- 
 ington. These beds of clay, at several points between Balti- 
 more and Washington, are elevated into hills, popularly 
 called "mine banks," and with their interlying strata of sand 
 and gravel attain an elevation of two hundred feet above tide 
 water. The iron-ore clay is so named from masses of the 
 argillaceous carbonate of iron which are found embedded in 
 it. These exist in the form of nodules or irregular balls, 
 varying in weight from a few pounds to a hundred, or even 
 larger, and afford iron of a very superior quality. The clay 
 in which they are found is free from sand, plastic, and well 
 adapted for working by the potter. The abundance of iron 
 which it contains gives the wares manufactured from it a de- 
 cidedly red shade, thus unfitting it for the choicer wares, but 
 not at all impairing its value for the manufacture of bricks, 
 to which it is largely applied^ and for which it has no supe- 
 rior upon the continent. 
 
 There is scarcely any limit to the "stone ware," "queen's 
 ware" and common red ware which may be produced by the 
 potteries among these clay-beds, and the bricks and draining 
 tile have already an established reputation both for quality 
 and cheapness. 
 
 In the lower beds, clay of a different quality is found, some 
 of it so nearly free from iron as to burn to every shade of 
 color, from an almost pure white to a very light gray, and 
 from that to a lead color. The white clays have been brought 
 into very little use, but their purity in several localities is 
 such, that there can be no doubt that they eventually will be 
 used extensively. 
 
 Another class of these beds presents a clay composed almost 
 entirely of alumina and silica, combined in such proportions 
 as to furnish a material for the manufacture of ^re Jn'cZ-s of 
 the best quality known to the market. Save in the continu- 
 ance of these beds to a very limited extent into Eastern Penn- 
 sylvania and New Jersey, no clay of this quality is believed 
 to exist in the United States. In Eastern Pennsylvania the 
 4 
 
26 
 
 supply is inadequate to their own demand, and she already 
 furnishes a market for this article to Maryland, which has 
 already been able almost entirely to drive the English fire- 
 bricks from the American market. As manufactures revive 
 this will become an important interest. 
 
 In the Northern portion of this District are hills of meta- 
 morphic rocks, talcose and mica slates and limestones, wjiich 
 contain a variety of rare minerals. 
 
 Chromic iron ore has been extensively found, and the de- 
 posits largely worked. The chrome derived thence has sup- 
 plied, to a great extent, the markets of Europe as well as 
 America with this pigment. In the metamorphic rocks 
 mines of copper exist, and are worked at several points, 
 while hematite ore is supplied to several furnaces. Marble 
 and limestone Of excellent quality are largely quarried in the 
 same group of rocks, while epsom salts and magnesia are 
 manufactured from the silicates and hydrates of these mine- 
 rals. Not less than two varieties of granite of good quality, 
 and one of sandstone — called "seneca sandstone" — has been 
 quarried for building purposes, and are extensively used. 
 
 ST. MAKY'S COUNTY. 
 
 St. Mary's county occupies the southeast portion of the 
 State, on the western shore of Chesapeake bay. It extends 
 from Wicomico river to the Potomac, and from Indian creek 
 to Point Lookout, being almost insulated by the finest waters 
 of the State. It southern coast has several inlets (rivers they 
 are locally called) communicating with the Potomac, and the 
 coast facing on the Chesapeake and Patuxent river has the 
 same general character. The interior is well drained by 
 creeks flowing into these inlets^ and some of them afford 
 water power. 
 
 The surface is low and level in the southern and middle 
 parts of the county, but in the northwest it is undulating. 
 
 When first settled the soil consisted of a "black mold in 
 many places to a depth of two feet, under which was loam," 
 and the universal practice of the planters was to alternate the 
 crops of tobacco and corn, without allowing any rest to the 
 land, or applying any renovator, until the productiveness of 
 the region was decreased to such an extent, that in many 
 places the crops would scarcely bring the cost of raising them. 
 The last thirty years have witnessed a great improvement in 
 the farming of the county, and the crops of wheat have often 
 been quadrupled by intelligent management. This improve- 
 ment has been mainly produced by the use of lime and marl. 
 
27 
 
 Point Lookout, the southern extremity of this county, and 
 Piney Point have both acquired an extensive name for their 
 invigorating sea air and bathing facilities. 
 
 No rocks or mines worthy of mention are found in the 
 county. Marl is abundant, 
 
 The crops of the county find ready transportation to market 
 by water steamers of large class passing around it and ascend- 
 ing its rivers. A large amount of land is for sale ou very 
 moderate terms. 
 
 CHARLES COUNTY. 
 
 Charles county lies between the Patuxent and Potomac 
 rivers, with Prince George's county on the north and St. 
 Mary's on the southeast. 
 
 The surface of this county, like that of St. Mary's, resem- 
 bles the Eastern Shore, and is low and sandy, with scarcely a 
 rock in its whole extent. 
 
 A number of streams which are tributary to its bordering 
 rivers, waters its plains, and it possesses abundant commer- 
 cial facilities in its good harbors and navigable waters. 
 
 On the banks of Port Tobacco creek and at other points 
 the green sand-shell marl exists in large quantities ; and 
 according to analysis contains from 20 to 60 per cent, of 
 carbonate of lime. A large proportion of the most valuable 
 beds are so much elevated above the water level that they can 
 be worked out very cheaply. 
 
 The soil of Charles county has been much exhausted by 
 neglectful culture, but the present owners are endeavoring to 
 restore and improve it. 
 
 It is entirely an agricultural county, and much devoted to 
 tobacco growing, but it also produces a surplus of grain. 
 Fruits are abundant and varied. 
 
 CALVERT COUNTY. 
 
 Calvert county is a peninsula about sixty miles long and 
 ten miles wide, bounded on the east by the Chesapeake bay, 
 and the west by the Patuxent river. It is joined on the north 
 by the county of Anne Arundel. 
 
 The surface is undulating and declines from a central divide 
 towards the waters forming its boundaries into which numer- 
 oi}s small oreeks are emptied, ^he goi} jg a soft fine mold 
 
28 
 
 oxcept on tlie Patuxent river where it is more clayey. It is 
 well adapted to the culture of corn, tobacco and wheat. 
 
 The climate is warm and moist hut healthy save near the 
 marshes where malarious diseases occur. 
 
 Oak, chestnut, pine and locust are the natural, timber 
 growths. The wood land mostly lines the shores of the bay 
 and river and is very convenient to the Baltimore and Wash- 
 ington markets. The average price of pine wood land is 
 $10 00 or $12 00 per acre. 
 
 Exhausted or worn out land can be purchased for $10 00 
 per acre, good land under cultivation is about $30 00 per acre. 
 The size of farms has been about 300 acres. 
 
 The great staple crop of the county is tobacco, but wheat 
 and corn are also largely cultivated. 
 
 At the time this county was settled many of its slopes were 
 covered with vines, and there are proofs that the early colo- 
 nists cultivated vineyards. But at this day the culture of 
 fruits in the county is small and only suffices the wants of the 
 population . 
 
 The waters of the Chesapeake bay and Patuxent river 
 abound in the finest fish and oysters, and thousands of bushels 
 of oysters are annually carried to the Baltimore and northern 
 markets. A large number of men are engaged in catching 
 and transporting them. An ordinary man during the oyster 
 season, that is from September to May, can make from $5 00 
 to $15 00 per day in that business. 
 
 Tripoli, which is used as a polishing material for all goods 
 that are finished by varnishing, and also for some metals, is 
 found in many localities. On the banks of the Patuxent the 
 deposit of tripoli varies from 5 to 30 feet in thickness. 
 
 Few counties offer greater inducements to immigrants from 
 the low price of the lands and the flexible, improvable char- 
 acter of its soil, the nearness to the markets of Baltimore, 
 Philadelphia and Washington, the facility of water transpor- 
 tation and the abundance of edible luxuries afforded by its 
 waters. 
 
 At the same time it should be added, that in this county, 
 as in the two preceding, the immigrant from a more northern 
 latitude should be Avary in his selection of a home. There are 
 localities in all of these counties where an unacclimated im- 
 migrant can have no prospect of passing a year without seri- 
 ous billions fevers or chills and fevers. He must, therefore, 
 note carefully the surroundings of his home, select some of 
 the numerous sites which are as free from malaria as any por- 
 tion of the North, and observe those simple precautions which 
 
29 
 
 any old resident will readily and easily teach him. He may 
 then pass the acclimation without peril. 
 
 ANNE AKUNDEL COUNTY. 
 
 Anne Arundel county lies on the west side of the Chesa- 
 peake bay, between the bay on the east, the Patapsco river 
 on the north and the Patuxent river on the south. The 
 north-western part of the county was in 1851 formed into the 
 county of Howard. On the south it joins Calvert county. 
 
 The surface save in the vicinity of rivers is undulating and 
 pleasantly diversified. Near the bay the land is generally 
 low and in some places wet. The soils are of every variety, 
 from the stiffest clay to the lightest sand, with all the inter- 
 mediate shades. The lower part of the county consists of 
 hills and plains of clay and sand, the hills rarely elevated 
 more than a hundred feet above tide water. There are some 
 very fine soils in this county and extensive marl deposits which 
 furnish a rich manure. 
 
 The prices of land are exceedingly various, ranging from 
 $5 00 to $100 00 per acre. The contiguity of the county to 
 Baltimore and the great facilities for transportation to its 
 markets by steamboat, schooner and railroad, and also to those 
 of Philadelphia, Washington and Annapolis, have enhanced 
 the price of land suitable for fruit and market gardening, and 
 have led to a successful and profitable cultivation of small 
 crops. Potatoes, yams, corn, cucumbers, garden peas, cab- 
 bage and tomatoes are largely cultivated. United with the 
 culture of these and other vegetables is that of small fruits. 
 The melons of Anne Arundel, particularly the cantaleupes_, 
 have a fame for their superior flavor in all the eastern 
 cities. Anne Arundel strawberries have no superior, and 
 some of the growers devote as high as two hundred acres to 
 the production of this luxury and find a ready market for all 
 they can produce. The soil and climate are both admirably 
 adapted to the culture of the grape, which though recently 
 introduced for the manufacture of wine, has been sufiiciently 
 tested to warrant success. 
 
 That part of the land lying immediately upon the water 
 courses is more or less subject to autumnal fevers, (which would 
 without doubt, disappear as elsewhere under a judicious sys- 
 tem of drainage and culture,) but nine-tenths of the county is 
 now as healthy as any part of the State. 
 
 Shad and herring are caught in limited quantities and oys- 
 ters in exceeding great abundance and perfection. From the 
 earliest times these salt water luxuries have been the pride 
 and boast of the people of this county, with the comical draw- 
 
30 
 
 back of the inconvenience and nuisance which they endured 
 from the shells of the molluscs. As early as 1708 the Vestry 
 of St. Anne's Parish by solemn order ordained that the oyster 
 shells in the vicinity of that church should be levelled down 
 to a level with the ground sill of the church. In more mod- 
 ern times the people have perhaps better learned the economi- 
 cal uses of these '"shucks/' and between the demand for both 
 shell and kernel, abroad and at home, these products of the 
 bay and its numerous arms are a source of great profit as well 
 as a luxury, not to be despised. 
 
 In the interior of this county there is a considerable amount 
 of water power, but it is improved only for moderate local 
 purposes. 
 
 The county roads in this and the three preceding counties 
 leave everything in that respect to be desired, and probably 
 few features will be m.ore marked in the "good time coming," 
 than the improvements in the facilities of neighborhood com- 
 munication. 
 
 PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY. 
 
 Prince George's county lies immediately north of Charle^ 
 couoty, from which it is separated chiefly by Mattawoman 
 creek, which empties in the Potomac; and Swanson creek, 
 which is a tributary of the Patuxent. The Patuxent river 
 forms the northern and eastern boundary of Prince George's, 
 and the District of Columbia and the Potomac river its western 
 border, while Montgomery county joins it on the north-west. 
 
 The soil .consists of the best loam and sand intermixed with 
 clay. The underlying strata is shell marl and cemented 
 sand, resembling sand-stone. The surface, which is agreea- 
 bly diversified, abounds in springs and brooks of pure water, 
 and in many localities the waters are highly chalybeate. 
 That fertile section of Prince George's known as "The Forest," 
 was not very productive under the old system of cultivation. 
 Gradually it became less fertile till wheat was scarcely sown 
 save in patches about the dwellings, and the "crops of Indian 
 corn were barely sufficient, even in the best seasons, to supply 
 domestic wants." This soil has been improved almost be- 
 yond parallel, and to the application of gypsum a great share 
 of the improvement is accredited. 
 
 The principal products are tobacco, wheat, Indian corn and 
 rye. The tobacco of this county is often two-fifths the entire 
 crop of the State. The air and the soils must have always 
 been favorable to its growth, for among the papers of the 
 Qalvert's, in the latter part of the Hfh oeaturyi it is g^id that 
 
31 
 
 ''a liundred sail of ships, at his Lordship's vast expense, in- 
 dustry and hazard" did yearly convey the tobacco from this 
 locality to England and the West Indies. 
 
 The climate is temperate and healthy, and the facilities for 
 transportation of produce are naturally ample. The fine navi- 
 gable rivers which border it and connect it with the Chesa- 
 peake, and the proximity i,of Washington, offer advantages 
 which an industrious and thrifty population could not fail to 
 improve. 
 
 Near Oxon creek are large supplies of sulphuret of iron. 
 It is not improbable that manufactures of sulphuric acid from 
 this mineral may be commenced, since new improvements 
 have been perfected. 
 
 At Fort Washington there is a ferruginous clay, known by 
 the name of "bole," which is employed to dye cloth and 
 thread, of a red color. This substance when heated attracts 
 the magnet. Here also are found petrified shells weighing 
 several pounds. 
 
 Iron ore is abundant in some sections. The tripoli men- 
 tioned before is found in many localities, and at Nottingham 
 the export of it to the large markets of our own country has 
 commenced in a small way. 
 
 Excellent water-power is found in the county, but is im- 
 proved only to a limited degree. 
 
 Besides the facilities for reaching markets which are fur- 
 nished by the Potomac and Patuxent rivers, the Baltimore 
 and Washington railroad traverses the entire north-western 
 side of the county, and places the resident wilhin an hour 
 and a half of Baltimore, and a few minutes ride of Washino-- 
 ton. 
 
 Some of the finest farming in the State is-4one in this 
 county, and the State Agricultural College is located here. 
 In its vicinity there have been culture, crops and cattle 
 unsurpassed in Maryland, perhaps unsurpassed in the country. 
 
 Wine has been and can be successfully cultivated in this 
 county. 
 
 MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 
 
 Montgomery county lies between the Patuxent and Potomac 
 rivers, being adjacent to the District of Columbia at its 
 southern corner. It is bounded north-west by Frederick 
 county, and south-east by Prince George's county and the 
 District of Columbia. 
 
32 
 
 The surface of the northern part of the county is hilly, and 
 gives rise to numerous fine creeks which flow in every direc- 
 tion from it. Those creeks which, flowing southward, empty 
 into the Eastern Branch of the Potomac, especially Seneca 
 and Rock creeks, have excellent mill sites. The water is 
 excellent. 
 
 The soil, where neglected^ is thin and sterile, and in some 
 parts greatly reduced by an exhausting system of cultivation . 
 The few last years have, however, witnessed great improve- 
 ments in the tillage. 
 
 The prices of worn out lands (which are numerous) range 
 from $10.00 to $25.00 per acre. Good land under cultiva- 
 tion ranges from $30.00 to |100.00 per acre; proximity to 
 market greatly enhancing the value. The price of wood 
 land is about the same as improved land. 
 
 The county is finely situated for successful gardening and 
 farming from its nearness to the Washington market, (one of 
 the best in the country,) and from the kindness of the soil 
 and genial temperature. The grass is very fine, and hay is 
 the most lucrative crop, though wheat and corn are largely 
 grown for market. 
 
 The Seneca sandstone is worked at extensive quarries at 
 the mouth of Seneca creek. It is easily quarried and dressed, 
 being somewhat soft when first taken out. It has been 
 largely used in the erection of public buildings in Washing- 
 ton, and in the construction of the canal. Near Hyattstown, 
 in the north-western part of the county, a quarry of excellent 
 roofing slate has been opened. 
 
 Gold has been discovered in this county, and a mine was 
 opened and worked some fifteen years since; iDut, as is the case 
 with most gold mines, the pure metal cost more than it was 
 worth. Chrome ore is found and manufactured in the 
 northern part of the county. 
 
 The great Falls of the Potomac, perhaps the grandest 
 water-power in the United States, are upon the southern 
 border of this county, giving hope and promise of some 
 grand future in store for it when art and industry shall have 
 further developed its resources. 
 
 This county is the residence of many of the most wealthy 
 and influential citizens of Washington city, and will naturally 
 be selected by business men in that city who seek salubrious 
 country residences. 
 
 The Chesapeake canal runs the whole length of the south- 
 western border, and various railroads approach near but do 
 not intersect it. A railroad is projected throughout the heart 
 
d3 
 
 of the county, which will no doiiht be built in a few years, 
 and will greatly facilitate communication with Washington, 
 inasmuch as it will diminish the distance between Washing- 
 ton and the West not less than sixty miles. 
 
 This county has suffered largely during the last four years 
 at the hands of marauding bands of rebel"? — great and small. 
 With the suppression of the rebellion a new future must open 
 before it; the great growth of Washington will furnish her 
 farms and gardens a ready market for all their produce; and 
 the manure piles of Washington will furnish fertility both to 
 Montgomery and Prince George's, No immigrant who desires 
 to devote himself to market gardening should pass this 
 county by without a careful examination. 
 
 HOWARD COUNTY. 
 
 Howard county is situated between the Patapsco and Pa- 
 tuxent rivers, lying north-west of Anne Arundel county. 
 
 Numerous streams rising from the interior of the county 
 fall into the rivers which almost surround it, and in their 
 course afford considerable water power. These mill sites are 
 to a great extent improved; and around the various factories 
 of cotton and wool, have sprung up flourishing villages, and 
 thriving neighborhoods. 
 
 The surface of the county is undulating and the soil pro- 
 ductive. A range of high hills, known as ''the Elk Ridge," 
 extends nearly through the county. Excellent wheat land, 
 and some of the finest farms for the raising of cattle and sheep, 
 which the State contains are to be found upon this ridge. 
 
 There is a variety of granite quarried near the Little Pa- 
 tuxent river, a short distance above the ^Baltimore and Ohio 
 Rail Road, of a very light shade of gray, which much resem- 
 bles the famous Quincy granite. There are many varieties 
 of granite quarried between Baltimore and Sykesville. One 
 variety called porphyritic granite, has reddish crystals of 
 felspar disseminated through its mass. 
 
 The Cathedral and Record ofiSce in Baltimore were built of 
 the granite quarried on the Patapsco river. 
 
 Pure air, the finest of water, and abundance of beautiful 
 building sites are to be had in this county. These, coupled 
 with a fertile soil, proximity to flourishing villages, ready 
 communication by Rail Road with Baltimore and Washington, 
 and the advantage of successful experiments upon the soil al- 
 ready made, and farms in a good state of cultivation, render 
 this county a very desirable location. u' 
 
 6 
 
HABFORD COUNTY. 
 
 Harford county on the east readies to the Chesapeate and 
 Susquehanna river; on the north it touches the Pennsylvania 
 State line, and it extends west and south to the confines of 
 Baltimore county. 
 
 The southern part of this county is low and flat, and has 
 extensive arms of the Chesapeake penetrating far inland, 
 which receive the drainage of about one half the county. The 
 northern part of the county, which is high, hilly, and rocky, 
 is watered by Deer creek and other branches of the Susque- 
 hanna river. 
 
 In the lower part of the county, clay soil predominates, 
 mixed with sand and gravelly loam. The people of the 
 county have always maintained that no better farms can be 
 found than they can show in "old Harford." In all parts of 
 the county are excellent grass lands, and varied harvests. 
 Wheat, oats, and Indian corn are largely cultivated, and the 
 culture of sorghum has advanced with unusual rapidity. 
 There was produced last season in this county more than 
 25,000 gallons of sorghum syrup. Mills have been erected 
 for grinding and pressing the cane. 
 
 The farms and roads generally bear testimony to the great 
 improvement made in agriculture during the last 10 or 15 
 years. 
 
 There are some fine sites for milling and manufactures, and 
 an abundance of excellent water power. The Philadelphia, 
 Wilmington and Baltimore Rail Road traverses the county. 
 The Tide Water Canal winds down the Susquehanna to Havre 
 de Grace and then with the Chesapeake and its arms afi'ord a 
 ready communication with excellent markets. 
 
 A little distance from Abingdon, porcelain clay, pure white, 
 free from metallic oxides and impurities, has been discovered, 
 and if the proper manufacturing establishments were started, 
 an abundance of clay could be furnished, fitted to make the 
 finest of porcelain ware. The county contains very valuable 
 mines of iron and chrome which are partially worked, and of 
 magnesia which is hardly worked at all. 
 
 Good land can be purchased for $30.00 per acre. Wood 
 land at $15.00 per acre; and worn out land at about the same 
 price. The farms are generally from 100 to 150 acres in ex- 
 tent, but in some instances much larger. 
 
 The shad and herring fisheries, chiefly in the Susquehanna, 
 are extensive, though not as largely prosecuted as some years 
 ago. In the autumn, acres of ducks, geese and swan are to 
 be seen in the estuaries of the Chesapeake, and afibrd much 
 
S5 
 
 "sport" and no little profit to many who then devote them- 
 selves to harvesting this crop for the markets. Wine is 
 made with great success, but only in a small way. 
 
 BALTIMORE COUNTY. 
 
 Baltimore county is bounded on the north by the Pennsyl- 
 vania State line; south by the Chesapeake bay and Patapsco 
 river, on the east by Harford county and little Gunpowder 
 Falls, and on the west by Carroll county, and ranks as the 
 most populous and in all respects among the most important 
 of the State. 
 
 With a surface varied and uneven, but with no portion in- 
 cajiable of ao;ricuUural improvement, this county is equal to 
 the best portions of the State for all industrial employments. 
 The rivers and "falls" which traverse it, afford immense 
 water power, and are the sites of milling operations more ex- 
 tensive than is found in any other portion of the Union. The 
 banks of Patapsco river, Gwynn's, Jones' and Great Gun- 
 powder Falls and their tributaries, are literally alive with the 
 din of industry, and have long been the seats of a large and 
 flourishing trade. 
 
 The soils are thin and rocky, but fertile and well adapted 
 to the production of grains and grasses. An excellent wheat 
 soil is frequent, called "red land ;" which is formed from de- 
 composed hornbleude rock. 
 
 In many parts the cultivation of fruit trees is extensive, 
 and pears, peaches, cherries and appl(3s are produced in large 
 quantities. That part of the county in the vicinage of Balti- 
 more is remarkable for the fine quality and profusion of its gar- 
 den vegetables. 
 
 Wheat is more generaly cultivated than any other grain. 
 The price of good land for farming purposes ranges from 
 laO.OO to $100.00 per acre. Wood land from $50.00 to 
 $75.00. Worn out land from $20.00 to $40.00. The average 
 size of farms has been about 150 acres. 
 
 In the vicinity of Baltimore city a large trade is carried on 
 in fruits, oysters and vegetables, which are hermetically 
 sealed for foreign uses. This business affords employment to 
 a very large number of laboring women and children. 
 
 Iron ore is found throughout the county, bordering on the 
 metamorphic limestones, and is smelted in farnaces at 
 Cockeysville and other places. The ores found are the brown 
 hematite, the magnetic oxide, and the carbonate. 
 
 About seven miles N. N. W. of Baltimore is a district 
 called the Bare Hills because of its sterility, which is duo to 
 
36 
 
 the large quantity of magnesia in its soil. A serpentine for- 
 mation found there contains chromiferous iron ore. It was 
 from this ore that chrome was first obtained in sufficient 
 quantities to be used as a pigment. From this deposit, and 
 the veins in Montgomery and Harford and Cecil counties, 
 whichare probably a continuation of the same, all the chrome 
 used in this country has been obtained, and much of that used 
 in Europe. On the eastern border of the Bare Hills a copper 
 mine has been opened. Six miles south-west of Bare Hills is 
 another location where the chrome has been manufactured, 
 and also epsom salts. 
 
 The lead colored clays in the vicinity of Baltimore have 
 always been celebrated for producing building bricks, une- 
 qualled in the country for uniformity of color and smooth- 
 ness. These clays are also manufactured into the Baltimore 
 stone ware and the usual varieties of glazed and unglazed 
 red earthen ware. 
 
 There is an unlimited amount of marble in Baltimore 
 county, and it may be divided into three varieties: 
 
 1st. The fine grained white, or nearly white marble; such 
 as that from which the Washington Monument in Baltimore 
 was constructed. The best of this variety is taken out from 
 the quarries near Cockeysville and Texas, The strata in these 
 quarries is nearly horizontal, which facilitates the quarrying 
 of huge blocks. 
 
 2d. The alum marble. This variety is well known from 
 its use in the construction of the Patent Office at Washing- 
 ton. This kind has been proven to be of great strength by 
 experiments, but the large crystalline grains which are 
 thought to improve its beauty, increase the labor, and conse- 
 quently the cost of dressing it. 
 
 3d. The grey or bluish grey marble, which is liable to turn 
 yellow from the oxidation of grains of iron pyrites dissemi- 
 nated in it. 
 
 Large quantities of lime of excellent quality is prepared 
 for market along the line of the Northern Central Railway. 
 
 Pure corundum, which when ground or powdered is sold 
 under the name of emery, has been found twenty- one miles 
 north of Baltimore. It has never been put to any practical 
 use to any considerable extent. 
 
 The Northern Central Railway extends the whole length 
 of the county; on the eastern side the Philadelphia, Wil- 
 mington and Baltimore Railroad passes through the whole 
 range of market farms as far as Gunpowder river, and in 
 addition to these the Back river, Middle river and Gunpowder 
 
ST 
 
 river, with excellent turnpikes radiating from Baltimore, 
 afford all that could be desired of facilities for reaching the 
 markets of that city. 
 
 THE MOUNTAmOUS DISTRICT. 
 
 The last two preceding counties, with Cecil previously- 
 sketched, and all that remain, bound upon Pennsylvania, 
 and have been sometimes grouped together in descriptions of 
 the agricultural resources and attractions of the State. This 
 is scientifically inaccurate, although there is great similarity 
 in their general agricultural productions. Tlirough this 
 whole range also, tlie counties of Maryland are very similar 
 in all their productions to the adjoining counties of Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 It is here styled the Mountainous District merely for con- 
 venience of designation, not in any invidious sense, nor 
 because the region is untraversable or uncultivable. On the 
 contrary, it contains some of the finest roads and most desira- 
 ble farms in the State. It includes four counties, Carroll, 
 Frederick, Washington and Allegany, and has its eastern 
 boundary in the range of strati-fied rocks, granite, (or more 
 properly gneiss), slates and limestones, which lie nearly 
 parallel with the Atlantic coast, and form the limit of the 
 tertiary formation. The width of this range from its eastern 
 border to the points where it is covered with "middle second- 
 ary red sandstone," is from twenty to thirty miles. This 
 region is characterized by hills of moderate heigiit, whose 
 rounded summits present a striking contrast to the long par- 
 allel ridges of the Alleganies. They are covered with ver- 
 dure, and the streams which intersect them are, for the most 
 part, characterized by abrupt banks with very small tracts of 
 alluvial soil. 
 
 The narrow strip of red sandstone may be traced^ from New 
 Jersey, through Pennsylvania, enters Maryland and passes 
 through Carroll and the eastern portion of Frederick county, 
 to and across the Potomac, just west of Montgomery county! 
 In this geological formation mines of copper, more or less 
 frequent, are found throughout the United States. 
 
 • The belt of metamorphic rocks lying west of the sandstone 
 trough, has a width of but a few miles; and at the western 
 line 'of Frederick county, the Catoctin and South Mountain 
 range, are found thesilurian rocks, the Pottsdam sandstones, 
 the Trenton and associated limestones, and generally the first 
 rocks of Appalachian range. This range extends from Ver- 
 mont to Alabama, under various names, and its geological 
 features have been too often described, and are too iiamiliar to 
 
38 
 
 intelligent readers to need any full description here. It 
 differs in no resppct in Maryland from the form it presents 
 elsewhere. Long regular ridges, extending in nearly par- 
 allel lines, in the general direction of northest to southwest, 
 with interlaced valleys of great beauty and considerable fer- 
 tility, are its most prominent characteristics. One of the 
 finest valleys in this range is the one known in Pennsylvania 
 as the -'Cumberland valley," in Maryland as ''the Hagers- 
 town A'^alley" and in Virginia as "the Shenandoah valley," 
 and is a good illustration of all. It has a rolling surface and 
 fertile soil resting upon "Trenton limestone," which is re- 
 markable, as containing all the great caverns of the country. 
 Beyond this valley is a belt from thirty to sixty miles wide 
 of ridges of moderate height with their included valleys, and 
 we reach the base of the Alleghanies. It is geologically cer- 
 tain that the rocks- in this belt, now folded, fractured and 
 abraded, were originally horizontal, and formed deposits con- 
 tinuous with the rocks of the great western coal fields. The 
 beds of iron and bituminous coal, which form the most re- 
 markable feature in the Maryland portion of this mountain 
 chain, are too familiar to require extended general notice. 
 
 This district of the State is admirably adapted to the raising 
 of stock, including sheep and horses in the term, and to man- 
 ufactures. Excellent crops of wheat are harvested, and there 
 is scarcely a square mile that is not in the highest degree 
 salubrious. Nearly all the maple sugar which is manufac- 
 tured in the State, and amounts to from sixty to a hundred 
 thousand pounds a year, is raised in this section. 
 
 South Mountain, Antietara, Monocacy and other fields now 
 invest this district with historic interest. 
 
 CARROLL COUNTY. 
 
 Carroll county, lying north of Howard, west of Baltimore, 
 east of Frederick, and extending from the Patapsco river to 
 •the Pennsylvania line, in soil, surface and productions is not 
 widely different from the adjoining counties. 
 
 The surface is hilly and rocky with fine streams, which are 
 tributary to the Monocacy and Patapsco rivers. The water of 
 the country is remarkably pure and good. Excellent mill 
 sites are abundant, and are mostly found on the line of the 
 Western Maryland railroad, which runs from Baltimore west- 
 vv^ard through the county, and which will connect Hagers- 
 town with the sea-board when completed. 
 
 The grains cultivated are wheat, rye, corn and some pota- 
 toes, sorghum and buckwheat. The amount of grazing is 
 
Z7 
 
 very large, and more than one-tenth of the hutter in thd 
 State is made in this county. 
 
 The soils are limestone, ^'red lands" and slaty soil. 
 
 Good lands range in prices from $^'0 to $150 00 per acre, 
 ■wood land from $40 00 to $175 00, and worn out land from 
 $10 00 to 20. The average size of farms has been about 150 
 acres. 
 
 The brown sandstone so much valued for building purposes 
 is found in the western part ot Carroll, and will no doubt 
 soon compete with that now furnished from Connecticut. 
 The difficulty of transportation which has hitherto kept it 
 from the public, will be surmounted by energetic active mea- 
 sures on tbe Western Maryland railroad. In Emraitsburg, 
 among the upper layers of brown sandstone are found strata 
 of flagging stone. Some of it separates into flags from two 
 to four inches thick, with smooth straight surfaces. It has 
 not yet been ofi'ered for sale in our cities. 
 
 From Westminster ranging north to the Pennsylvania line 
 for ten or twelve miles, immense quantities of iron ore are 
 found of that variety called hematite. When fused, it yields 
 from thirty -five to forty-five per cent, of pure iron. At 
 Sykesville the iron furnace is in part supplied with magnetic 
 oxide of iron, which is the richest of all iron ores. This ore 
 is mined near that place. 
 
 A copper mine has been opened near Sykesville, and one 
 also near Finksburg, and several at various points between, 
 and it is probable if sufficient capital and skill were applied 
 these mines would become very productive. The copper ore 
 found here consists of yellow or pyritous copper and the pur- 
 ple copper ore. There are abundant traces of copper in the 
 north-west part of the county. 
 
 The soap stone quarry at Marriotsville, which has been and 
 still is very extensively worked by the Maryland Soap Stone 
 Company, furnishes the purest quality of soap stone known. 
 At the manufactory in Baltimore, it is sawed into slabs for a 
 variety of uses, and the refuse stone and the dust obtained by 
 sawing are valuable for foundry purposes. Such is the de- 
 mand for soap stone dust, that mills have been erected at 
 (several places for its manufacture. 
 
 There are cotton and woolen factories in this county, four 
 paper mills and a large number of tanneries. 
 
 It reaches market by an excellent turnpike reaching from 
 Baltimore to the Pennsylvania line; and by the Baltimore 
 and Ohio and the Western Marylaad railroads. 
 
40 
 
 FREDERICK COUNTY. 
 
 This county which is one of the richest and most beautiful 
 counties in the State, lies between the State line on the north 
 and Montgomery county on the South, and between Carroll 
 county on the east and Washington county on the west. 
 
 The largest streams in ic are the Monocacy and Catoctia 
 rivers, both tributaries of the Potomac. 
 
 The general character of the soil is limestone, interspersed 
 with a slaty soil and some "red land." It is easily worked 
 and produces large crops of wheat and corn. The surface is 
 undulating, but in the western portion near South Mountain 
 it is somewhat hilly and broken. The eastern slope of the 
 Catoction mouutain produces grapes whose quality is unsur- 
 passed, and these lands are rated very cheap. The catawba 
 and other varieties grow there with entire success. Besides 
 wheat and corn the heaviest product is hay. The most fertile 
 parts of the county are the Middletown valley, the Monoc- 
 cacy valley and the eastern side of the county. 
 
 The price of good farms with improvements, according to 
 location, &c., ranges from $45 00 to $200 00 per acre. 
 Wood land from $30 00 to $100 00. There is very little 
 worn out land in the county; price of such from $10 00 to 
 $20 00 per acre. More than half the farm lands are of first 
 rate quality. The size of the farms from 100 to 150 acres. 
 
 Water power occurs in almost every locality. Streams and 
 springs which have their sources in the adjacent mountains, 
 flow through every farm, and furnish abundance of the purest 
 water. These streams have sufficient fall to make them 
 available for manufacturing or agricultural purposes. The 
 roads are excellent, the scenery'magnificent. 
 
 The narrow valley extending from the Monocacy to Buck- 
 eystown and beyond^ is rich in a deposit of fresh water 
 marl. This marl is deposited by the waters of the streams. 
 It consists of lime and earthy matters, and extends to a con- 
 siderable depth. There is enough in this single deposit to 
 enrich thousands of acres, and there are probably many simi- 
 lar deposits in this and Washington county. 
 
 Copper mines in the Linganore section have been worked 
 ever since the Revolutionary war. Near the town of Liberty 
 two of these mines have been extensively worked, but the ex- 
 cessive prices of transportation have caused their neglect for 
 some years. 
 
 There are good quarries of slate in the same district which 
 has been applied to local uses, but the cost of transportation 
 has prevented their being largely worked. At Ijamsville, on 
 
41 
 
 the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, fifty-three miles from Balti- 
 more, excellent roofing slate is worked which will be better 
 still when worked to a greater depth. 
 
 Along the sides of the Catoctin raountain from Frederick 
 to Emmittsburg. iron ore abounds. It is remarkably pure, 
 and is of the kind called brown hematite. Although the 
 beds of this ore have been worked for eighty years, the sup- 
 ply is so ample, that it seems comparatively inexhaustible. 
 
 Frcm Woodsboro' to the Potomac is a range of limestone 
 unusually pure, formerly used in the manufacture of chloride 
 of lime. It varies in color from blue to dove color ; takes a 
 beautiful polish, and is similar to the famed Italian marbles of 
 tliat color. The blue shades are of vegetable origin, and 
 therefore permanent. At the foot of Catoctin mountain there 
 is a bed of similar limestone, and also one resembling verde 
 antique. Three miles west of Frederick is a marble varie- 
 gated with light and dark shades of red. Another marble, 
 widely known from its having been used for columns in the 
 old hall of the House of Representatives of the capitol at 
 Washington, is found in large deposits on the west side of 
 the Monocacy Valley. In its character it is something be- 
 tween a conglomerate and a breccia. It has been much ad- 
 mired, but the difficulties of dressing have prevented its more 
 frequent and general use. Some of these marbles have a very 
 dark color and are required for black marbles. The major 
 part of them are free from impurities, of a fine grain, and 
 take a polish without difficulty. Limestone, in suitable con- 
 dition to burn for lime, is abundant in all parts of the county. 
 
 Weverton, situated at the extreme southwestern corner of 
 the county, and contiguous to Washington county, three 
 miles from Harper's Ferry, on the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- 
 road and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, has a water power 
 estimated by Engineer Hughes, sufficient to drive 333 water 
 wheels. It is already improved by a dam across the Potomac, 
 built by a company who purchased the water power in 1846 
 for $100,000, made these improvements^ became involved, 
 ceased operations, and the property is now again in the 
 market. Northern capitalists have heretofore refused to pur- 
 chase because Maryland was a slave State. The fall of water 
 at this dam is 10 feet. Between this water power and Har- 
 pers' Ferry there is another water power of 15 feet fall, 
 which is unimproved. The country is capable of furnishing 
 all produce which might be needed by extensive markets, and 
 the price of coal for fuel is very low. A railroad has been 
 projected, and the route surveyed, to connect this point with 
 Hagerstown ; the Baltimore and Ohio Road traversing the 
 souThern portion of the county (with a branch diverging to 
 Frederick city) connects it with Baltimore ; while the West- 
 6 
 
42 
 
 ern Maryland Road will traverse the northern portion of the 
 county, and a new line will soon be constructed from the Mo- 
 nocacy or Point of Rocks through Montgomery county direct 
 to Washington, bringing the whole of this rich county close 
 
 to good markets 
 
 WASHINGTON COUNTY. 
 
 Washington county occupies a large and valuable tract in 
 the western part of the State. It extends from the Pennsyl- 
 vania State line on the north to the Potomac river on the 
 south. It is bounded on the east by Frederick county at the 
 South Mountain, and , on the west by Allegany county at 
 Sideling Hill creek. The windings of the Potomac make 
 the southern boundary very irregular, and the width of the 
 county north and south varys from three to thirty miles. 
 
 The surface is partly mountainous, but the intervals are 
 wide and finely undulating. The principal vallies are those 
 through which Antietam, Conococheague and Israel creeks 
 flow to the Potomac river. Lime and slate are the chief 
 rocks. The limestone rocks are cavernous, which imparts a 
 peculiarity to the physical geography. Most of the streams 
 are fed by copious springs in such abundance that they fur- 
 nish mill seats a few hundred feet from their sources. These 
 streams are charged with bicarbonate of lime acquired by 
 contact with limestone rocks in subterranean reservoirs. 
 
 The most fertile lands are based on limestone clay , those 
 on slate being usually thin. The limestone clay and ''white 
 oak" lands are very productive, and are sold at an average 
 of $80 per acre. Wood land at |l50. Worn out laud, which 
 is very scarce, at $40 per acre. The number of acres in a 
 farm is from 150 to 400. In the western part of the county, 
 the soil is sandy or gravelly, sometimes mixed with red shale, 
 and well adapted to wheat, grass, and stock raising. In 
 this vicinity land is from $4 to $40 per acre. Water power 
 is abundant. 
 
 The cereals mostly cultivated on the limestone lands are 
 wheat and corn. The corn sometimes yields 100 bushels per 
 acre; but 60 bushels is a full average crop. Wheat will not 
 average under the present styles of cultivation more than 18 
 bushels per acre, but if the land is fresh broken 30 bushels 
 per acre are often raised. Potatoes are not abundant ; the 
 corn land being too heavy for them. A tract of land lying 
 along the base of South Mountain, peculiarly sandy is admi- 
 rably adapted to their growth, and has yielded 250 bushels 
 to the acre. 
 
 The cultivation of sorghum has commenced, and will no 
 doubt increase in a ratio with a knowledge of the art of man- 
 
43 
 
 ufacturing the syrup. Beets, cabbages, onions, beans, and 
 other garden vegetables, grow most luxuriantly, but are only 
 cultivated for home consumption. The application of science 
 to farming, by which practical men may learn to increase the 
 productiveness of their lands, is greatly to be desired in the 
 county. 
 
 Beaver creek, where it empties into Antietam creek, has a 
 very valuable, though unimproved, water power. There are 
 also other unimproved water sites on the same creek. 
 
 The Antietam creek, from its source to its confluence with 
 the Potomac, has a fall of not less than 1,000 feet. This 
 power is available during the entire year. There is an im- 
 mense water power where the Antietam enters the Potomac, 
 formerly used to drive the extensive machinery of a very large 
 foundry. 
 
 The Conococheague creek has a considerable water power 
 which is unimproved. The water sites on these streams are 
 used only for flour mills, with one paper mill and one woolen 
 factory. 
 
 The limestone from which hydraulic cement is manufac- 
 tured, is abundant in the neighborhood of Hancock, and has 
 been calcined and ground for the markets. 
 
 The climate of Washington county is unusually healthy. 
 
 The roads are, like those of Frederick county, in first rate 
 order. 
 
 The minerals of Washington county have never been atten- 
 tively studied. It is known that iron ore is abundant in sev- 
 eral localities, but there is no trace of the copper which is met 
 with on the eastern side of the mountain. 
 
 Five miles below Williamsport is a hard calcareous black 
 slate, which splits into parallel layers from one-half inch to 
 three inches thick. It takes a fine polish, is durable, and 
 when brought into general use as it should be, and no doubt 
 will be, must prove a source of great profit. 
 
 Emery (corundum) is found near the Antietam iron works. 
 
 Markets are accessible by the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, 
 or by the Cumberland Valley Railroad leading from Hagers- 
 town to Harrisburg, and passes along its southern border. 
 Charters have been granted to construct railroads from Ha- 
 gerstown to Washington and Baltimore, under favorable aus- 
 pices. The Western Maryland Railroad, now completed to 
 Union Bridge, will, as it progresses, traverse the whole 
 northern tier of districts and develop more fully the resources 
 of that region. 
 
 During the last four years, this county has sufiered im- 
 mensely from rebel devastations. In the earlier stages of the 
 
4^ 
 
 war a persistent effort was ma^e to destroy the Chesapeake 
 and Ohio Canal, and for months 'there was daily more or less 
 cannonading and musketry firing across the Potomac between 
 its assailants and defenders. In the subsequent great inva- 
 sions of Maryland in 1862, 1863, and 1864, there was an 
 almost total destruction of crops, fences and stock, through 
 Washington county. It will take years of industry, frugality 
 and prosperity^ to repair these losses, but it is "only a ques- 
 tion of time." Elasticity and energy will restore what van- 
 dals swept away — all save the priceless lives and desolated 
 hearth-stones. 
 
 ALLEGANY COUNTY. 
 
 Allegany county occupies the north-western part of the 
 State, and is crossed by the range of mountains from which 
 it takes its name. In geological character it resembles the 
 Allegany regions generally, the prevailing rocks being va- 
 rious colored sand stones and lime stones, traversed with 
 quartz, slate and shales. 
 
 The elevation of this county above tide water is so great, 
 that the summer is much cooler than on the shores .of the 
 bay, and frosts linger later and sooner re-appear. 
 
 The rivers which take their rise in the mountain gorges of 
 this county, find their way eastward through the Potomac, 
 to the Atlantic ocean, and west through the Monongahela, 
 Ohio and Mississippi rivers, to the Gulf of Mexico. The 
 largest streams in the county, are the Youghiogany or Yog 
 river, George's, Savage, Wills, Town and Fifteen Mile creeks, 
 all ot these, except the first named, empty into the Potomac 
 which makes the entire southern boundary of the county. 
 
 The surface of this county is rugged and broken, and the 
 greater part still covered with the native forest, but the 
 mountainous districts are alternated with broad level valleys 
 called glades. They are as yet mainly unenclosed and un- 
 improved. These glades or meadows, for miles are as flat 
 as the tide water marshes, and are covered with natural grass 
 without timber or trees of any sort. Th^ soils of these glades 
 contains large proportions of vegetable matter to a depth of 
 many feet. It is dark, porous and chaffy, like the black gum 
 swams of the Eastern Shore. The spontaneous grasses of 
 these glades are famed for their luxuriance and the rich nu- 
 triment they afford. Before the present war, thousands of 
 cattle were annually driven over irom Virginia every season 
 to fatten on the abundant grass, and the butter made in these 
 elevated valleys, rivalled the celebrated Goshen county but- 
 ter of the New York market. The lofty hill sides protect 
 these glades from the cold to such a degree, that out door 
 
Ik 
 
 labor is seldom suspended, and cattle require housing only in 
 the middle winter months. The extent of these glades is 
 perhaps 200,000 acres. Besides the pasturage they afford, 
 hay is harvested from them in immense quantities. "An 
 old quartermaster of the army said that he had bought more 
 hay in Cumberland than could be purchased in any one coun- 
 ty, East or West." 
 
 Besides the soil of these glades, which is somewhat similar 
 to the "bottom" land of river shores, there are several vari- 
 eties of up-land, named from their sub-soils, lime stone, slate, 
 &c. These soils are rather thin, heavy, tenacious and often 
 clayey, but yield abundantly to suitable culture, producing 
 corn, wheat, rye, oats, buckwheat and potatoes. 
 
 The average price of bottom land is $30 per acre; up-land 
 from $5 to $15 per acre; wood land, (not timber land,) at the 
 same price. There are no lands in the county worn out by 
 injudicious cultivation, though the farming is generally un- 
 skillful, and the aggregate product is not flattering. The 
 county in regard to agriculture is new, and presents to the 
 emigrant farmer greater promise than the far distant western 
 prairies. The agricultural products of the county are not 
 sufficient for local consumption. The demand for flour, ba- 
 con and all kinds of edibles is greater than the supply, furn- 
 ishing a home market to the farmer, among the miners, 
 teamsters, mechanics and trades people, at prices equal to 
 those obtained in Baltimore. To these considerations should 
 be added the abundance of wood and coal of the finest quality, 
 and a climate unrivalled for health and beauty of scenery. 
 
 Farms vary in size from 50 to 1000 acres, and there are 
 large tracts of unimproved land, much of which is owned by 
 non-residents, and could be purshased at reasonable rates. 
 
 The soil of the coal meadows, though stony in parts isfertile 
 and covered with spontaneous grasses. Apple, plum and cherry 
 trees flourish every where, the grape is beginning to be culti- 
 vated, and its success demonstrates the feasibility of covering 
 the hill sides with vines, which will yield the choicest wines. 
 ]But the demand for labor in the region of the coal and iron 
 beds has absorbed the working population to such an extent, 
 that there is not a nursery and scarcely a market garden in 
 the county, while the bacon from Cincinnatti, and the grains 
 and vegetables of Baltimore city markets, and the fruits of 
 the lower counties su{)ply the wants which the deficiency in 
 agricultural products occasions. 
 
 In the smaller manufactures the same deficiency is observ- 
 ed. Though the water power is unlimited, and timbers of 
 oak, hickory, white pine, yellow pine, hemlock, ash, poplar, 
 black walnut and cherry are in great abundance, there is not 
 
46 
 
 a spoke, a hub, an axe or broom handle or even a washboard 
 manufactured for sale in the county. 
 
 The brooks which intersect the glades abound in the finest 
 trout, aiFording excellent sport, and a pleasant variety of 
 food. Some years since perch were introduced in the rivers, 
 and they are now fully stocked. 
 
 The local roads of the county, (coal roads,) are in fine or- 
 der, and are used not only for the convenience of neighbor- 
 hoods, but for general freight throughout the county. 
 
 The water power of this county is immense, but unimprov- 
 ed. Fuel is so cheap that steam power is preferred. 
 
 Limestone, and red and white sandstones of excellent qual- 
 ity for building purposes, are plentiful. The paving stone of 
 this county is superior to any yet used in New York, but 
 owing to cost of transportation has only been tried in Cum- 
 berland. 
 
 The supply of cement limestone seems inexhaustible, and 
 as the water cement made from it has been every where pro- 
 nounced the finest known, capital and enterprise alone are 
 needed to extend its manufacture. It is now ground by a 
 steam mill at Cumberland. 
 
 Fire bricks are manufactured at the J\Iount Savage works, 
 in immense quantities, but not enough to supply the demand. 
 The fire cLiy from which they are made, is of superior quali- 
 ty and unlimited amount. 
 
 The iron ores of Allegany are of several varieties, and are 
 intermingled in the strata of the coal fields. It is in a strata 
 200 feet below the main coal that the ^'black hand" of iron 
 ore is found. This ore, so much prized in England, here 
 rests on a strata of coal which is thick enough to roast it, 
 thereby lessening the expense of reducing it to a merchant- 
 able form. None of the smelted iron is sent abroad, but is 
 manufactured into railroad iron on the spot, to an amount on 
 an average of 200 tons per week. That singular formation of 
 carbonate of iron called balls or nodules by the miners, is 
 found and mined here. It is located in beds of shale or fire 
 clay. These ores are worked in the valleys of the Cumber- 
 land coal fields. The western part of the county being little 
 known or improved, though specimens of rich ores have been 
 obtained in the un-opened coal fields. 
 
 The coal mines of Allegany county deserve a much fuller 
 notice than can be given of them here, both from their bene- 
 fit to the nation at large, and the important part they bear 
 in the "Resources of Maryland." 
 
 The capital invested in mines in this county is not less 
 $7,000,000. The extent of railroad builded and owned by 
 
4* 
 
 these coal companies for the purpose of connecting their re- 
 spective mines with the common means of transportation ex- 
 ceeds 100 miles. The amount of cbal annually exported to the 
 seaboard and other markets, is from 800,000 to 1,000,000 
 tons. Tliis coukl be increased one-half if adequate facilities 
 of transportation were afforded. 
 
 The region from which the coal is mined lies between 
 Davis mountain on the east and Savage mountain on the west, 
 and is twenty miles long with an average breadth of four and 
 a half miles. George's creek runs through this tract and its 
 name is sometimes given to the coal mined there. The availa- 
 ble quantity of coal contained in this single valley, after making 
 the usual deductions for waste and loss is estimated at 4,000,- 
 000,000 tons. 
 
 Experience has demonstrated the very great merit of this 
 coal. It is bituminous, burns readily with a clear bright 
 flame and leaves but little ashes. It is especially adapted to 
 the purposes of the blacksmith, giving a quick fire with in- 
 tense heat. It is the best coal in use for producing steam, and 
 the supplies which will be needed for ocean steamers, for loco- 
 motives and steam machine shops throughout our seaboard, 
 must increase year by year. 
 
 Besides the coal field of the valley of the George's creek 
 there are two other coal fields known by the names of the 
 Youghiogany and Meadow Mountain coal fields. The first 
 embracing an area of 250 and the last of 150 square miles. 
 The coal of these fields has been ascertained to partake of the 
 same general charactei'istics as the Cumberland coal, but it 
 has been little explored and only opened for local uses. 
 These coal fields will probably remain unimproved until cap- 
 ital is more abundant and the population more dense, so that 
 the expense of making roads and railroads will be shared by 
 a public to whom it is a benefit. 
 
 Unsatisfactory means of transportation has been the great 
 obstacle with which the proprietors of the various mines of 
 Allegany county have been obliged to contend. Confined to 
 the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and the Baltimore and Ohio 
 Kailroad, and these works being constantly threatened and 
 repeatedly broken, the boats upon the one and the rolling 
 stock of the other often destroyed; the wealth of Allegany for 
 the last four years has had but a precarious outlet; but it can- 
 not belong restrained. Either, safe transportation with cars 
 and boats sufficient for forwarding the products of the mines, 
 must be furnished, so that a market may be reached through 
 these avenues, or they will soon make themselves a channel 
 northward and reach their market over the great lines of the 
 Pennsylvania roads. 
 
 Doubtless the agricultural and manufacturing interests of 
 this county will always be subordinate to the mining interests, 
 
id 
 
 but it is true at the same time that the mining operations will 
 always afford the manufacturer a market for his wares at the 
 door of liis factory, and the farmer and gardener a niaiket for 
 their products without cost of transportation. They may thus 
 realize better prices and at less expense than they could do 
 if they were compelled to seek a market in distant cities. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 The foregoing sketch, designed to be a strictly accurate 
 statement of the Resources of Maryland, may give the inquir- 
 er lor a home some conception of what awaits him should he 
 turn his steps hitherward. 
 
 He comes not to the loneliness and privations of frontier set- 
 tlements which make the life of the "backwoodsman" always 
 a life of hardship; not to a land that has no past and but an 
 uncertain future; not to a land of unknown resources and dis- 
 tant markets and onerous taxes, but he comes to a laud at 
 once old and new. Society is organized and law established. 
 The w^aters are explored and railroads are built, the resources 
 are developed but they are not exhausted, and the Constitu- 
 tion secures self-government and free public institutions, and 
 in obliterating the long mistakes of the past, it wisely denies 
 even the Legislature the power of fastening upon the future 
 the burden of compensation for the errors which it removed. 
 
 He comes to a Free State, which most earnestly welcomes 
 every worthy and industrious immigrant. And he comes not 
 only to share her present prosperity and her future honors, 
 but to be a participant also in her priceless memories of the 
 past. 
 
 Possessing within herself as many of the elements of wealth 
 and material greatness as can anywhere be found in the same 
 extent of territory, she delights at the same time to remember 
 that she was the first to throw the mantle of religious tolera- 
 tion — as broad as the mantleof charity itself — over dissentient 
 denominations and to persuade Catholic and Puritan and 
 Quaker, living together in peace, to call it ''the land of the 
 Sancluary," that she generously gave and continued to give 
 her aid, (alter Virginia and the National Government had with- 
 drawn theirs,) to carry on the great works of internal improve- 
 ment in which all were interested; and that she first, working 
 out in her own heart the great problem of the times, without 
 "compensation" or extraneous influence, struck the bonds from 
 eighty-five thousand slaves and made all her people Free. 
 
 She points too with pride, though in sadness, to the spots 
 made sacred by the choicest blood of her sons, — North Point, 
 South Mountain, Antietam and the Monocacy, — and treasures 
 in her heart of hearts the memories of those of her sons whose 
 valor has shone conspicuous on all the great battle fields of 
 the Kepublio. 
 
LIST OF MEMBERS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SENATE AND HOUSE OF DELEGATES, 
 
 tnixit. 
 
 Counties. 
 
 Allegany, 
 
 Anne Arundel,, 
 Baltimore City, 
 
 Baltimore County,. 
 
 Calvert, 
 
 Caroline, 
 
 Carroll, 
 
 Cecil, 
 
 Charles, 
 
 Dorchester, 
 
 Frederick, 
 
 Harford, 
 
 Howard, 
 
 Kent, 
 
 Montgomery, 
 
 Prince George's,. . 
 
 Queen Anne's, 
 
 Saint Mary's, 
 
 Somerset, 
 
 Talbot, 
 
 Washington, 
 
 Worcester, 
 
 Secretary, 
 
 Beading Clerk. 
 
 Names of Senators 
 
 Charles H. Ohr, 
 Sprigg Harwood, 
 Robert Turner, 
 Jos. C. Whitney, 
 Geo. C. Maund, 
 Edw. P. Philpot, 
 Rich'dG.Mackall, 
 Curtis Davis, 
 J. L. Billingslea, 
 Jacob Tome, 
 John W. Jenkins, 
 Thos. K. Carroll, 
 Charles E. Trail, 
 W.B. Stephenson, 
 Hart B. Holton, 
 Daniel Jones, 
 Thos. B.Lansdale, 
 Daniel Clarke, 
 James T. Earle, 
 Chap. Billingsley, 
 Levin L. Waters, 
 James M. McNeal, 
 Elias Davis, 
 J.T.B. McMaster, 
 
 C. Harwood, 
 S. H. Cochran, 
 
 Post Office. 
 
 Cumberland. 
 West River. 
 Baltimore citv 
 
 Reistertown. 
 
 Sunderlandville. 
 
 Federalsburg. 
 
 Westminster. 
 
 Port Deposit. 
 
 Port Tobacco. 
 
 Church Creek. 
 
 Frederick city. 
 
 Hopewell. 
 
 EUicott's Mills. 
 
 Kennedyville. 
 
 Triadelphia. 
 
 Upper Marlboro' 
 
 Centerville. 
 
 Leonardtown. 
 
 Princess Anne. 
 
 Easton. 
 
 Boonsborongh. 
 
 Newtown. 
 
 Annapolis. 
 Baltimore. 
 
50 
 
 i(ju^<^ 0f §tUti^tt^. 
 
 Counties. 
 
 Allegany, . 
 
 Anne Arundel, 
 Baltimore City, 
 
 Baltimore County,. 
 
 Cecil, 
 
 Calvert,. 
 Caroline, 
 
 Carroll, . 
 
 Names ofMembees. 
 
 Samuel P. Smitli, 
 Henry Brown, 
 S. W. Wardwell, 
 Michael Sherry, 
 Mathias Gr. Dean, 
 Oliver Miller, 
 Jas. S. Robinson, 
 Caleb Hynes, 
 
 C. Bartell, 
 J. H. Cook, 
 James F. Lee, 
 
 T. B. Hambleton, 
 H. J. C. Tarr, 
 F. T. Darling, 
 John M. Frazier, 
 Joseph Harris, 
 Samuel J. Soper, 
 Thomas J. Tull, 
 Thomas H. Mules, 
 J. F. Pilkington, 
 J. P. Cummins, 
 M. Showacre, 
 H. B. Hazen, 
 S. C. Garrison, 
 H. C. Jones, 
 George Slothower, 
 David King, 
 Wm. H. Hoffman, 
 Nich. H. Parker, 
 Zep. Poteet, 
 
 D. K. Lusby, 
 Henry Williams. 
 Arthur J. Willis, 
 
 F. A. Clift, 
 Wm. S. Wooden, 
 Nich. D. Norris, 
 John W. Angel, 
 Moses Shaw, 
 George Everhart, 
 James McCauley. 
 J. J. McCuUough, 
 
 G. B. Pennington 
 Jesse A . Kirk, 
 
 Post Office. 
 
 Cumberland. 
 Grantsville. 
 Oakland. 
 Frostburg. 
 Flintstone. 
 Annapolis. 
 Johnson's Store. 
 Baltimore City. 
 
 Powhatan. 
 Upper Falls. 
 Paper Mills. 
 Sweet Air. 
 Cockeysville. 
 Baltimore City. 
 P. Fredericktown. 
 Potter's Landing. 
 Greensborough. 
 Hampstead. 
 Freedom. 
 Middleburg. 
 Union Bridge. 
 Manchester. 
 Elkton. 
 North-East. 
 Bohemia Mills. 
 Rising Sun. 
 
51 
 
 HOUSE OF B'E^LEQATES— Continued. 
 
 Counties. 
 
 Harford, 
 
 Howard, 
 
 Kent, . . 
 
 Montgomery,, 
 Prince George' 
 Queen Anne's, 
 
 s, 
 
 Saint Mary's,. 
 Somerset, 
 
 Talbot, 
 
 Washington, 
 
 Worcester, 
 
 Chief Clerk, . . . 
 Reading Clerk, 
 
 Names of Members. 
 
 Charles, . . 
 Dorchester, 
 
 Frederick, 
 
 Frederick Stone, 
 
 John H. Hodson, 
 
 W. A. Smith, 
 
 Upton Biihrman, 
 
 David Rinehart, 
 
 David Agnew, 
 
 Thomas A. Smith, lUrbana 
 
 Samuel Keefer, Lewistown. 
 
 Post Office. 
 
 Port Tobacco. 
 Drawbridge. 
 Taylor's Island. 
 Myersville. 
 Union Bridge. 
 Emmittsburgr. 
 
 David J. Markey, 
 Joshua R. Wilson, 
 Isaac Cairns, 
 Thos. C. Hopkins, 
 Henry A. Silver, 
 Adam C. Warner, 
 Claudius Stewart, 
 S. Comegys, 
 Lewis Usilton, 
 Benjamin Fawcett, 
 a. W. Watkins, 
 R. B. B. Chew, 
 Charles B.Calvert, 
 John Lee, 
 John C. Tolson, 
 Balder A. Jamison, 
 Lemuel Malone, 
 Thos. F. J. Rider, 
 Joshua R. Handy, 
 H. B. Leaverton, 
 James Valliant, 
 Fred'kK. Zeigler, 
 Henry S. Eavey, 
 Henry S. Miller, 
 Benj. F. Cronise, 
 E. F. Anderson, 
 Ritchie Fooks, 
 Alfred B. Nairne, 
 T. A. J.Holloway, 
 
 Frederick. 
 
 Emerton. 
 
 Jarrettsville. 
 
 Havre-de-Grace. 
 
 Dublia. 
 
 Poplar Spring. 
 
 Savage. 
 
 jChesterville. 
 
 Hanesville. 
 
 Colesville. 
 
 Dorsey's Store. 
 
 Upper Marlboro', 
 
 Hyattsville. 
 
 Sudlersville. 
 
 Kent Island. 
 
 Chaptico. 
 
 Forktown. 
 
 Quantico. 
 
 Bermettsville. 
 
 Easton. 
 
 St. Michael's. 
 
 Leitersburg. 
 
 Benevola. 
 
 Williamsport. 
 
 Sharpsburg. 
 
 Hagerstown. 
 
 Salisbury. 
 
 Snow Hill. 
 
 Bishopville. 
 
 William R. Cole, 
 Jos. P. Cantwell, 
 
 Baltimore City. 
 Havre-de-Grace. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 006 092 713 3 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 This document was prepared by a Committee of tlie 
 House of Delegates of the last General Assembly, for 
 the purpose of informing those unacquainted with the 
 peculiar advantages to be found within this State for a 
 desirable settlement. It was left with me, as their chief 
 officer, for distribution in such manner as would best jn'O- 
 mote the desired object. To carry out more iully their 
 design, I have canvassed the State, collected much inforn)a- 
 tion, and obtained descriptions of a large lot of property 
 now in the market for sale, with the view of establisiiing 
 in this city a State Agency for the sale of lands, where 
 parties can always obtain reliable information. 
 
 I have now a list of oYerJive hundred farms , and am daily 
 adding to it. When completed I will publish a Catalogue, 
 a copy of which you can obtain by enclosing liFty cents- 
 sufficient only to pay the expense of publication. 
 
 The '^Eesources of Maryland"' will be sent gratis to any 
 of your friends seeking such information. 
 
 Should you visit Maryland, I will be pleased to see vo'.i 
 at my office, and furnish you with any information I jwsse^s, 
 and aid you in every way possible, (whether your objc ct i«j 
 one for purchase or observation, witliont clsarge.) 
 
 Address, 
 
 W. E COLE, 
 Chief GlerhllouHe liilegahn. 
 
 {N. E. Corner of Baltimore and North !^;<u 's 
 Second story, entrance on North >':.) 
 
 Baltimore, Md., May, 1865. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 006 092 713 3 M 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 This document was prepared by a Committee of the 
 House of Delegates of the last General Assembly, for 
 the purpose of informing those unacquainted with the 
 peculiar advantages to be found within this State for a 
 desirable settlement. It was left with me, as their chief 
 officer, for distribution in such manner as would best pro- 
 mote the desired object. To carry out more iully tlieir 
 design, I have canvassed the State, collected much inforn)a- 
 tion, and obtained descriptions of a large lot of property 
 now in the market for sale, with the view of establishing 
 in this city a State Agency for the sale of lands, where 
 parties can always obtain reliable information. 
 
 I have now a list of oreTjive hundred farms , and am daily 
 adding to it. When completed I will publish a Catalogue, 
 a copy of which you can obtain by enclosing iifty cents — 
 sufficient only to pay the expense of publication. 
 
 The '^Kesources of Maryland" will be sent gratis to any 
 of your friends seeking such information. 
 
 Should you visit Maryland, I will be pleased to see yoii 
 at my office, and furnish you with any inforniation I possess, 
 and aid you in every way possible, (whetlier your object i«j 
 one for purchase or observation, without charge.) 
 
 Address, 
 
 W. K COL!], 
 Chief Clerk House I)degat( .v. 
 
 (N. E. Corner uf Baltimox'e onu North .*^iHv!'S 
 Second stoj V, eiilinnce on North !»':.) 
 
 Baltimore, Md., May, 1865.