Book i^^,^_a- OKKICIAT, 3)ONATia>f. THE NATURAL & INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES HND HDVflNTIIGES MARYLAND, BKING A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OF ALL THE COUNTIES OF THE STATE AND THE C!T"Y OF bauximore:. Together ^yith an Accurate Statement of their Soil, Climate, Antiquities. Raw and Manufactured Products, Agricultural and Horticultural Products, Textile Fabrics, Alimentary Products, Manufacturing Industries, Minerals and Ores, Mines and Mining, Native Woods, Means of Trans- portation, Price of Land, Cheap Living, Ready- Markets, Excellent Homes, and the Material and Social Advantages and ITnequaled opportunities Maryland possesses for those seeking Homes, and for Capitalists •who w^ish to in- vest in Industries that are sure to Pay big Dividends. By J. THOMAS SOHAEF, A. M., LL. D., Commissioner of the Land Office of Maryland, Author "HISTORY OF MARYLAND," &c., &c. ANNAPOLIS, MD. C. H. BAUGHM » N y J. Thomas Scharf, A. M., LL.T). ALL RIGHTS IlESEHVED. ^fe 15 ?. JSOG MARYLAND'S RESDiircEs and AdvantagES F^OR TRADE AND POPULATION. Maryland people ought to be the most contented in the world. We have the best markets and the most accessible markets in the world. Commerce on land and sea is easy and rapid, and rates are low. We have the most diversified resources, the best variety of industries, and a gloriousness of opportunity that cannot be excelled. There is no place in the world where people can live better for less and live longer, if they take care of themselves. We have an unsur- passed equipment of churches, of schools, and of the ad- vantages of intelligent development. Better yet, we have a people whose courtesy and whose real moral and mental worth, united with a hospitality that is proverbial, make Maryland's society an achievement in civilization. We have been fortunate in every way. Our progress has never been forced. No epidemic of land booms has dam- aged our real estate. No wholesale incursion of nondescript elements has injured our population. The best part of our State's history is that which is to take place. The happiest and solidest era of our growth is that which is now begin- ning. The turbulence and extremes of some of the other States are emphasizing Maryland's blessedness, and direct- ing to it the hopes and desires of thousands of good people who want homes in a place of plenty. We read of the cyclones and blizzards and droughts and grasshopper plagues, and kindred misfortunes which carry death and disaster to sections of the west We read of the floods and epidemics and vendettas which cause desolation and suffering in the south. We read of the cold and the barrenness which make IS'ew England farm lands almost valueless, and we read of visitations which inflict other parts of the country, and add to the large stock of human want and unhappiness. But in Maryland we have a mini- mum of misfortune, and if we are not happy, it is our own fault. Crops in Maryland in 1891, have been uniformly good, prices have ruled high, manufacturing establishments have enjoyed exceptional advantages, and merchants have been enabled to carry on a large volume of trade with profitable returns. The assessed value of property in Maryland increased $32,604,697 during the year, and it has gone up from $459,000,000 to $510,000,000 since 1880. With this increase of tangible property has been a corresponding advancement in the productiveness of the State, as is shown by estimates and returns made from various sources. The oyster industry is doing well since the opening of the season, and indications point to a large catch. It is now conceded that the culling law is having a good effect upon the beds, and it is likely that oyster dredging and tongiug may be kept up vigorously until the end of the season in April, and the estimates of the best observers put the year's catch at 11,000,000 bushels. Fishing for the year has been uniformly good. The catch of shad was enormous, and that of herring little behind it, while rock, bass, blue fish and other varieties afforded the fisherman a busy and profitable season. In agriculture results have been eminently satisfactory. The peach crop was unprecedentedly large, and, owing to the excessive quantity of fruit and the exactions of the transportation companies, the farmers not only made nothing, but in many instances lost money on the best and most plentiful peach crop of recent years. Other fruits yielded well and brought fair prices; produce from the truck farms has moved rapidly to market, and there has met an active demand ; products for the canning factory were above the average in quantity, with the single exception of tomatoes, which were a short crop. The corn crop for the year may be estimated at 18,511,000 bushels, or nearly 2,000,000 bushels more than last year. About 5,838,000 bushels of wheat were harvested, nearly 500,000 less than the product of 1890. Foreign trade from the port of Baltimore has been unusually active. For 1891, the imports were $18,127,664 in value, and exports were $79,217,082 in value — an increase of over $11,000,000 in both branches of the trade. Exports were largely corn and wheat, while imports were all the various commodities which go to make up the importation from foreign countries to America. In 1891, the number of foreign sail vessel entering the port of Baltimore were 214, and 620 steam vessels. In the iron trade, Maryland is also acquiring an important place. Several manufacturing plants are turning out high- class machinery, ships for merchant trade as well as the United States Navy, while the great plant at Spar- row's Point has grown perceptibly in every department during the past year. The coal trade in Western Maryland has more than held its own. Total shipments from the Cumberland coal region in 1891, were 4,537,954 tons; an increase of 531,863 over that shipped the year before, and an increase of 2,261,918 tons shipped in 1881, or an increase of more than 100 per cent, during the past ten years. It is worthy of men- 6 tion that some 60,000 tons of this amount came to tide-water over the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Business at the Maryland quarries has been uniformly good throughout the year, Large contracts for building stone, blocks for bridges, and marble for various uses, have been placed in Maryland. The total product from the quar- ries is estimated at about 1,000,000 tons over that of 1890. Maryland occupies an exceptional position among the States of the Union. Midway between the two great sec- tions of the Atlantic Seaboard, the north and south, it par- takes, to some extent, of the characteristics of each, so that immigrants from either section have no sense of strangeness or isolation in settling in any portion of the State. Mary- land is not a small State. It is larger than any one of the New England States except Maine, it is five times the size of Delaware, considerably larger than New Jersey, and sizes up well with several of the Southern and Western States. The extreme length of the State from east to west is, 190 miles, and greatest breadth, about 120 miles. Its gross area is, 12,210 square miles. Its total land surface is, 9,860 square miles, and water surface, 2,350 square miles. According to the census of 1890, the total population of the State was 1,042,390, an increase of 11.49 per ce^nt., or 107,758 over the census of 1880. The last census also shows that we have in the State, 824,149 white persons, and 218,004 colored. Politically, Maryland has eight electoral votes, and is of equal importance as twenty-three other States, having an equal or greater number of electoral votes, while only twenty-one States have a larger representation. In point of wealth and population, also, Maryland is by no means last or least. According to the census of 1890, the assessed value of real and personal estate was $510,003,- 077, and the amount of tax levied was $905,255.50, or 17| cents on each $100.00 ; lOJ cents of which was appropri- ated for the support of the public schools of the State. The education statistics of the State, show that we have 2,236 schools, 3,967 teachers, 154,418 white pupils, 34,796 colored pupils, or a total of 189,214 pupils in the State. The (iounty schools number 2,089, with 2,723 teachers, 95,548 white pupils, 27,908 colored pupils, or a total of 123,456 pupils in the State. The Census Bureau for 1891, shows that the county in- debtedness for the whole State was, in 1880, !{^1,377,325.00, and in 1890 this debt had been reduced to $893,776. In 1880 the per capita indebtedness was |1.47, but in 1890, this was reduced to 86 cents, or nearly one half, which was one of the largest reductions of total and per capita indebtedness made by any State in the Union, during the last decade. DEBT OF MARYLAND ON OCTOBER 1, 1891. 6 per cents $ 500,000 00 5 per cents 206,356 28 3.65 per cents 3,000,000 00 3 per cents 7,015,286 24 Total funded debt $10,721,642 52 Oflset— Productive investments $3,126,470 00 Sinking fund investments in caslr 3,719,125 64 — 6,845,595 64 Net debt $3,876,046 88 The $500,000, six per cents, in the above statement are the Treasury relief bonds of 1878, which were in the sink- ing fund on October 1st, 1891, cancelled, and which have since been destroyed. On the 6th of February, 1892, the financial officers of the State also destroyed $1,242,300 of the 3 per cent, bonds held by the State in the sinking fund. Maryland State taxes are levied only for public schools and to pay interest on certain funded debt, and to create a sinking fund for the same. The taxes wereVeduced in 1888 from 18| to 17f cents on the $100. TAXES IN MARYLAND. Assessed Value of Pro^yerty of the State. Counties and Baltimore City. Allegany Anne Arundel... . Baltimore City. . . Baltimore County Calvert Caroline Carroll Cecil Charles Dorchester Frederick Garrett. Harford Howard Kent Montgomery Prince George's. . Queen Anne's. . . . St. Mary's Somerset Talbot Washington Wicomico , Worcester , Totals Assessed Value of Property for State Levy in 1891. $16,082,934 10,725,314 276,408,052 39,650,644 2,037,800 4,381,469 15,885,655 13,389,101 3,322,016 6,183,618 23.139,041 4,124,187 12,137,015 7,436,312 7,759,640 9,951,605 9,005,217 7,230,844 2,831,924 4,088,342 8,634,056 17,055,413 4,065,605 4,477,273 $510,003,077 Amount of Levy for 1891, at 17J cents on each $100.00. $ 28,547 20 19.037 43 490,624 29 70,379 99 3,617 09 7,777 10 28,197 05 23,765 65 5,896 57 10,975 91 41,071 80 7,320 43 21,543 20 13,199 45 13,773 41 17,664 08 15,984 26 12,834 74 5,026 66 7,256 81 15,325 43 30,273 35 7,216 44 7,947 16 $905,255 50 RECAPITULATION. Amounts. Amount of levy for pubiic school tax, at 10|c. on each $100. . ..$535,503 25 Amount of levy for defence redemption tax, at 5^c. on each $100. 280,501 70 Amount of levy for treasury relief tax, at l^c. on each $100. . . . 76,500 47 Amount of levy for exchange loan of 1886 tax, at ^c. on each $100. 12,750 03 Total $905,255 59 9 The climate of Maryland is mild and free from prolonged extremes of heat and cold, the soil is naturally kind and fertile, and most of it easily tilled and adapted to a great variety of products, and in almost every county there is a considerable body of comparatively unimproved or ex- hausted lands which can be purchased at very low figures, and if properly cultivated would soon yield handsome re- turns. The great need of Maryland is a larger population in the agricultural districts. Ever since the war rural labor in this State has been drifting towards the towns and cities, with the result that the farmer has been compelled to till his land with a smaller number of hands, and these less re- liable and industrious than in former years. In many of the tidewater counties, where the negro population was lar- ger than in other portions of the State, the abolition of slav- ery cast upon the community a large body of unemployed laborers, who have since either led an uncertain, precarious existence in their cabins in the woods and clearing, many of them working only when it was absolutely necessary, or when it suited their humor, or have flocked in search of easier, more remunerative work, or merely for diversion and excitement, to the already overcrowded cities. The result is, that in most of these counties, labor has become demoralized, and it is no longer possible for the average farmer to till properly considerable bodies of land. The tendency, therefore, is to break up large tracts into smaller holdings and to dispose of these at reasonable figures to thrifty immigrants, who will be enabled to work them prop- erly. This plan has been pursued with marked success in some portions of the State, notably on the Eastern Shore, where the old-fashioned plantations are being rapidly divided into small farms capable of being tilled in many cases by the new owner and his family, with, perhaps, the aid occa- sionally of hired help. It is this class of immigrants which intelligent Maryland farmers are most anxious to attract, for it is well understood that their eftbrts to improve their 10 newly acquired properties not only contribute to the general prosperity of the community, but enhance the money value of contiguous property. Such settlers, whatever section they may come from, are warmly welcomed in every por- tion of the State, and in every county will be sure to find their neighbors kind and hospitable. The advaiitages which an emigrant from the more thickly populated States of the North will find in Maryland over the Western States and Territories, area mild climate, exemption from "blizzards," droughts and extremes of heat or cold, a naturally fertile soil, with lands in some portions of the State as cheap as in many Western localities, and all the comforts of a settled well-on. ered community, with the conveniences of churches, stores and schools, and easy proximity to the national capi- tal and the great markets of Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COU.\TIES. DESCRIPTION OF THE SOIL, THE PEOPLE AND THE PRODUCTS —UNDEVELOPED RICHES— CHEAP LANDS AND COMFORT- ABLE HOMES FOR THRIFTY FARMERS. For convenience of reference the different counties are grouped into four sections, corresponding to the four geogra- phical districts of Central Maryland, Western Maryland, the Eastern Shore and Southern Maryland, by which terms the different portions of the State are usually designated. The first of the series treats of the central portion of the State. Care has been taken in making up the descriptions of the different counties to avoid exaggeration, and to give a truthful picture of the actual condition of aftiiirs. No attempt has been made to "boom" the State or any particu- lar locality, but the effort has been to furnish reliable infor- mation for persons who are considering the advisability of settling in Maryland, and who wish to know in advance what they may expect in this or that portion of the State. 11 There is always room for disappointment on the part of those who purchase lands without first carefully inspecting them, but there is probably a smaller risk to be incurred in Maryland than in most other States, especially the Far West, for the reason that there is comparatively little land in this State which is not capable of improvement, and wdiat might be regarded as very poor land for some kinds of crops, would probably be found to be very productive of others. Lands in Maryland vary greatly in value, as they do every- where else, but the proportion of absolutely untillable land is small, and there is a great deal of land lying idle and unimproved or exhausted by overcultivation which, in the hands of a thrifty farmer, could soon be made to blossom like the rose. Maryland offers many inducements to immigrants. The mildness of the climate, the natural fertility of the soil, the variety of products grown here, including the choicest fruits and vegetables, the abundance of fish and oysters in the Chesapeake and tributaries, and the diversified character of the scenery — ascending gradually from the level of the plains of the Eastern Shore through the intermediate stages of fine rolling country on the western side of the bay, to the beauti- ful uplands of Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick counties, and beyond these to the mountains and smiling valleys of Western Maryland — combine to make Maryland one of the most attractive States in the country. The State's resources present in great variety elements of prosperity which, if fully utilized, would support comfortably a much larger population. The oyster trade of the Chesapeake would alone be a mine of wealth if properly worked, and, as it is, provides profitable employment to thousands. The vast peach orchards of the Eastern Shore, and in Southern Maryland, and on the Blue Eidge Mountains in Western Maryland, have contributed large sums to the resources not only of the farmers, but of persons engaged in canning, and the coal fields of Western Maryland maintain a large army of miners. Marble and stone quarries, iron furnaces, copper mines, woolen and cotton fac- 12 tories, paper mills, oyster, fruit and vegetable canneries, silica mines, are in successful operation in different parts of the State, and mechanical industries are steadily multiplying. The mineral resources of Maryland, as shown by the cen- sus of 1890, are very considerable, and now that facilities for transportation are largely increased, the exploitation and developement of this source of wealth awaits only a wider extension of the knowledge of its existence and the return of a more hopeful spirit of business enterprise. The min- erals and mineral substances of industrial importance within the limits of the State, may be divided into two classes : (1) those which are at present mined, and are thus having their value and quantity subjected to the most practical of tests, and (2) those ores, minerals and mineral substances of in- dustrial importance and known occurrence which are not at present mined. To the former class belong the copper ores — purple copper, vitreous copper, (sulphide,) copper pyrites, malachite and black copper — found in Carroll, Frederick, Baltimore and Harford counties; the iron ores — chrome, hematite and limonite — found in Cecil, Montgomery, Balti- more, Harford, Howard, Allegany, Frederick, Carroll, Wash- ington, Prince George's, Anne Arundel, Worcester, Somer- set and Caroline counties; porcelain clay, found in Cecil, Anna Arundel, Harford and elsewhere; coal, of which it is hardly necessary to say more than that from 1842 to the end of 1890, as much as 60,000,000 tons had been conveyed from the Cumberland region to market; fire clay, in Alle- gany and Cecil counties; flagging stone in Frederick; gran- ite, in Cecil, Howard and Anne Arundel counties ; hydrau- lic lirae-stone, in Allegany and Washington counties; mar ble, in several varieties, in Frederick, Baltimore and Carroll counties; marls, (green sand,) in Kent, Cecil and Prince George's counties; and shell marls at many places on the Eastern Shore, on the Choptank river in Talbot, and in Prince George's, Charles, St. Mary's and Calvert on the Western Shore; sandstone, extensively quarried in Mont- 13 gomer}' and in Fredrick counties; serpentine, in Cecil, Bal- timore and Harford counties; roofing slate, in Frederick and Harford counties; carbonate of zinc, in Carroll, and zinc blende, in Baltimore and Carroll counties. The foregoing minerals were being worked at the time the census report on the minerals of the United States was written, some of them on an extended scale. Of the minerals placed in the second class — such as occur, but so far as known are not at present mined— Cecil produces asbestus, lignite, French chalk, soapstone and emerald nickel; Carroll, silicate of zinc, co- balt ore, silicate of copper, gold, cobalt pyrites, magnetic iron ore; Baltimore, emery, asbestus, gelena, gold, black lead, molybdenite, magnetic iron ore; Frederick, native copper, galena ; Montgomery, gold, lignite, manganese ore, black oxide of manganese, French chalk, soap- stone; Allegany, clay, ironstone, blackband ore; Anne Arundel, pyrites, soapstone, tripoli, (a large deposit from 5 to 30 feet thick ; ) Prince George's, lignite, pyrites; St. Mary's, gypsum. Calvert shares with Anna Arundel, the large deposit of tripoli mentioned above. This second list doubtless contains a number of raineials that demand only the application of some capital and mining experience to be made the basis of flourishing industries, and both lists promise favorably for Maryland's future mining interests. y Maryland is peculiarly rich in having the best quality of white building marble in the world. There is a popular error extant to the eftect that Vermont, Massachussets and the East have a monopoly of the marble building trade. This error was somewhat shaken when Baltimore was required to furnish 405 of the 555 feet in the Washington monument at the national capital, and again when Messrs. George Mann & Co. captured the contract for building the spires of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, the most imposing edifice of the kind in the country. The Beaver Dam Marble quarries at Cockeysville, Bal- timore county, are something wonderful, and give the 14 beholder an impression that the surrounding country for miles must rest upon one solid, glistening mass of white limestone. They seem to be absolutely inexhaustible, and when it is considered that they have been worked for the past fifty years they are practically so. During this period stone has been produced for 108 monolithic columns, weigh- ing 25 tons each, for the Capitol at Washington, and numerous large blocks for the Capitol, the Washington monument and other public and private buildings, beside the Cathedral towers. In some Baltimore buildings erected 45 years ago, the perfect color and preservation of the stone shows its durability for the purpose for which it was used. The quarries are now sixty feet in depth and are worked over a surface of five acres. The larger of the two excava- tions has the appearance of a huge amphitheatre. Any size of stone required can be furnished in a single piece. In fact this was the only place in the country that could pro- duce the 28-foot monoliths for the Capitol, after all the rest of the quarries had been unsuccessfully tried. The stone here was in many instances gotten out in such large blocks that one of them was split into three pieces of the size needed. Quite recently an immense block was quarried, which con- tained 9,700 cubic feet, weighing 180 pounds to the foot, or 1,746,000 pounds in all. There is no machinery in the world capable of moving such a mass of stone. The pro- prietors confidently assert their capability to make a mono- lith of the dimensions of the celebrated Cleopatra's Needle. They suggest that if any enterprising American has an ambition to duplicate the needle in white native stone, which will have the advantage of durability not possessed by the original, the Beaver Dam can produce it. A peculiarity of the stone is its "life," which permits handling without breakage, and advantage over what is known as "dead" stone, not possessed by the product of Eastern quarries. 15 Besides white marble, Maryland is rich in possessing over a hundred other varieties and colors of marble. The Verde Antique or Green Serpentine marble quarried in Harford county, has no equal in the United States, for ornamental and polished work. The granite industry is a very large one in Maryland. According to the census of 1890, the output for that year amounted to $14,464,005, an increase of 179 per cent, in ten years. There are twenty-two iirms in the State doing an extensive business quarrying granite, who employ about 1,000 men. The Maryland granite is technically known by three names — Biotite granite, Biotite gneiss and Gabbo. The first is quarried extensively in Baltimore, Howard and Montgomery counties; the second in Cecil and Baltimore counties, and the last only in Baltimore county. All kinds are regarded as first-rate in quality, and all are sought after byjbuilders in Baltimore and elsewhere, while a fair share is eousumed annually in ornamental building and in supplying the endless demand for tombstones, fencing and curbing. '"^The State has a great advantage over most other portions of the country in the temperate and salubrious character of its climate. While the heat and cold are sometimes intense, the extremes of weather are never of long duration, and there is probably a greater average of comfortable days iu every year than in any other State. Relief from the "hot spells" in summer can be secured by a trip to the seashore or mountain, both of which are readilj' accessible from any portion of the State. There is an abundance of good water in all the counties. In the lowland counties bordering on the Chesapeake and its tributaries, malarious diseases per- vail to some extent, but not more so than in other sections of the country where similar conditions exist. Closer til- lage and better drainage have resulted, in some of the tide- water counties, in marked improvement in this respect. With the exception of malarial complaints, which prevail at certain seasons almost everywhere, the entire State is 16 singularly exempt from diseases which are prevalent in other localities; while the freedom from destructive bliz- zards and extremes of heat or cold, to which other sections are exposed, greatly increases the comfort and safety of farm life in Maryland. The great Chesapeake Bay, which forms a vast natural basin into which flow the waters of many noble rivers, divides the State into two sections — the Eastern and Western Shores — of which the latter is much the greater, both in area and variety of resources. The Eastern Shore, however, from its advantages of location, having quick rail communication with Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York, and unsurpassed facilities of transportation by water to Baltimore, and the adaptability of its soil to a great variety of products, has made rapid strides during the past two decades. Curiously enough, the oldest section of the State, Southern Maryland, which was the seat of the first settlement of Lord Baltimore, is the one which is the most backward in progress, owing mainly to the lack of transportation facilities. Lands are cheaper in Southern Maryland than elsewhere in the State, and this section probably offers greater inducements to immigrants of small means than any other portion of the State. The lands in most cases are exhausted by neglect, poor tillage, and lack of proper manuring, but are naturally fertile, and with a little care could doubtless be made to yield handsome returns. In all parts of Maryland, however, even in the most thickly settled portions, there is considerable unim- proved or poorly tilled land, which can be purchased at reasonable figures, and the immigrant would secure, in addition to the advantages of a mild and salubri- ous climate and proximity to market, the conveniences of ample school and church facilities within easy reach, and all those comforts of civilization which have to be created with infinite pains and labor on the unpeopled prairies of the West. 17 o CO o "^l 00 o CO (M -f o d — ', c~. X cc ^-H ri Cl t- ir: CC » 13 'i -t 00 C^ O Cl 1^ C5 lO O C3 5: O Tf O CO CO t^ •* i^ o ^ ::; ;d X o Tt< 1^ ^4 T-i lo ci o ic cc 00 c; c. f i--^ x' od t^ cc' lo' i-^ I tH r-( lO ^ 1—1 f oxc:cocouoicxuoxcocot~coiooicicCicor^ooTt< i^ — rcoc^iocixi^.-io-*xi— i^iOrt'j'-Tici.oxo:coi.o •r C0_^ CO C0__ .-(^ 00 ^ C: CI OO CO --I lO .-I O 1^ -ioxv-';t^-*Tj(COirco'M corti(;rx-*co-+ococoooo-*oococO'rt^coci-+iM ■*coi---ioxcoi~-cot^coc20cot^TticDc:oiMO;i^Tj'roiC' CD -^ C) X ■* Cj X { C^J COi-ll^t- <>1(M rtTti-(01i-(i-i.-l.-li-l _i,_icO.-li-l COr-IOOt^OOOOt^i.OiCOCOCOCOSf d CO o' i--^ od" CO o" (N ao cD^ ^-^ Tji" CO oi" cc' i-T aj^ 00 oo" oi COC^0OOO,Hi-ICOIMT-IIMinT-IIMi-lTH(M M .50 .80 1.04 .80i .65 1.03 1.00 .65 .90 .89 J .74 .98 J .79i .98 .73 .87 .81i .81i 1.00 1.60 .60 .84i .91i .50 .80 .87 .86i .58 1.17 .74 .61 .86 .89i .78 .90 .86i .97 .70 .74 .>-H .77 1888. 1889. 1890. .82i 1.14 .81i .89 .9311 1.09 1.90 1.90 1.85 .61 .36 .63 .97i .50 .87-1 .92| .50 .92 .92i .50 1.00 .67i- .70 .93 .92 .93 .92i .65 .85J .70 .92i .62 1.10 1.08 .98 .82 .75 .87 .62 .60 .76 .91 .88 .88 .92i .90 .921 '.95* .9]i 1.00 .87 .91 .92 .98^ 1.00 .92 .97 1.20 .93 .73 .73 .83 .75 .86 .78 .81i .90 .97i .80 .77 .90 .81i .81 1.55 .54 .91 .92i .50 .63 .88 .92i .62 .98 .83 .70 .82 .90 J .80 .93 .95 .90 .83 .78 .75i Areas of tlie Counties of Maryland in Square Miles. Total 9, 860 Allegany 477 Harford 422 Anne Arundel 400 Howard , 250 Baliimore 622 Kent 315 Baltimore City 28 Montgomery 508 Calvert 218 Prince George's. ... 480 Caroline 315 Queen Anne's 352 Carroll 426 : St. Mary's 360 Cecil 375 1 Somerset 365 Charles 460 ' Talbot 285 Dorchester 610 Washington 435 Frederick 633 Wicomico 369 Garrett 680 Worcester 475 21 CENTKAI. MARYLAND. BALTIMORE, HARFORD AND HOWARD COUNTIES AND THEIR RESOURCES. Central Maryland, or that section of the State which is in more. immediate proximity to tlie City of Baltimore, com- prises the counties of Baltimore, Harford and Howard. This section is largely devoted to market-gardening and the raising of vegetables for the markets of Baltimore City and Washington, and for the canneries, of which there are a large number in Harford county. It is for the most part quite thickly settled, and in the front rank of flourishing aarricultural communities. There are also a number of manufacturing industries in Baltimore and Howard coun- ties. BALTIMORE COUNTY. No county in Maryland has greater opportunities for de- velopment than Baltimore county, and no county is more indifierent to her opportunities. Blessed by nature with an abundance of watcOL^an d \gpod , with soils easily cultivated and capable of yielding ample harvests of all the cereals, vegetables and all the best fruits of temperate climates, it rests only with the inhabitants to advance their own inter- ests by adjusting themselves to the surrounding physical conditions. Two of the great areas of rain precipitation be- ing included within its limits, together with the mildness of the climate, give it almost unsurpassed advantages for sus- taining a healthy and flourishing population. It has an area of 622 square miles, and a population of 72,909, divided as follows: white, 62,540; colored, 10,369. The soft, micaceous soils of the rolling uplands are covered by farms richly cultivated, and yield abundant crops of wheat and corn. On the ridges are forests of oak, hickory, chest- nut and maple. Numerous streams run through this sec- 22 tion. The waters are clear, and do good service in furnish- ing power to flour mills, which stand hid away in unsus- pected dells or hollows. VALLEYS OF BALTIMORE COUNTY. Valleys of surpassing loveliness may be seen in various parts of the county. The chief of these are Green Spring, Worthington, Dulany's, Long Green and the Great Central Basin. Dulany's Valley extends from the ridge north of Lake Roland to that three miles beyond the Gunpowder river, or a distance of ten miles. It varies in width, being not over a mile across in any part. It connects with other short val- leys on its northwest side, and thus appears immensely ex- panded at several points. In this valley is the large estate of Hampton and Glen Ellen. It is richly supplied with almost inexhaustible beds of the strongest limestone, yield- ing the best quality of burnt lime. Long Green Valley is a more abrupt depression between the chain of high hills, and narrower than any of the other large valleys. The Harford road passes through the whole length of the southeastern depression, and connects with roads running into other sections of the region, making every part of it readily accessible. On every hand pictur- esque farm-houses, with their groups of whitew^ashed out- houses, associated with fine orchards of peach, cherry and apple trees, greet the eye, contrasting finely with the dark soil of the hills, and testifying to the neatness and thrift of the people. The whole region is picturesque, attractive, well watered and most inviting as a place of summer resi- dence. It only needs a modern railroad to make it speedilj accessible in order to draw a large population. The Green Spring Valley is a beautiful tract of country, running nearly west and east, and opening out at the btisin 23 of Lake Roland. It extends from near Ovvings' Mills to the latter, a distance of about seven miles, and is about two miles in its greatest breadth. Its name was derived from the numerous springs which bubble up in two small lakes near the head of its depression, situated in the midst of a tract remarkable for its rich verdure. The ridge on its north side rises by gradual stages from the basin adjoining the Northern Central Railroad, and rolls in lower, broad waves toward the head of the valley. On the south side a chain of hills rises in majestic beauty above the horizon. This ridge starts from near its opening with a high back, about three-quarters of a mile long, and is continued by six or seven others of less length, all crowned with tall trees, and flowing westward like the folds of a huge sea-serpent, until lost amid the domes at the head of the valley. Fine, large farms range on both sides and along the flanks of the hills, and many of the choice counti'y seats of wealthy citi- zens of Baltimore lie half concealed beliind the groves of trees which shut in the landscape. The soil varies from clay to loam, is well watered and yields abundant crops of cereals and fruits. The valley is in the midst of a rich grazing tract, containing numerous dairy farms, which pro- duce vast quantities of the richest milk and cream, and prove the importance of this district to Baltimore. Crossing the broad rise of Chestnut Ridge, upon which Reisterstown is situated, and proceeding a short distance towards the east, Worthington Valley stretches out in a broad, oval depression, having a general northeast by south- west trend, of nearly five miles in width, and more in length. It is surrounded on all sides but one by moder- ately high, almost abruptly sloping hills, crowned with deep forests of every variety of green. The depression becomes gradually deeper as Western Run is approached, while several of its tributaries take rise along the flanks of the ridge on the southeast and west sides of the basin. A short swell of low limestone hills pushes into the valley from near 24 the middle of the southeast side, and contributes an element of variety to the view in that direction. The valley is underlaid by a sheet of white limestone of extraordinary purity and excellence, in which excavations have been car- ried to a depth of more than sixty feet, without reaching to the underlying rocks. Nature has endowed this lovely val- ley with everything needed for the comfort of man. A deep, fertile soil spreads out all around; vegetable humus is washed down from the hills by every freshet; all the cereals grow in rich profusion; fruits of all the usual kinds are at home here; brooks cut their way through the meadows at frequent intervals, and two kinds of water for drinking run from the hills or swell up in the limestone wells. The woods are full of varieties of flowering shrubs and plants, and the ferns luxuriate in dense thickets upon every moist hillside or hollow, and form brakes in the damp corners of the meadows. This peaceful valley rests in the midst of a scene of quiet beauty, affording pleasant prospects in all directions. It only needs a system of good roads to render it highly attrative to residents of the city who seek a place for health and repose. IN THE LIMESTONE BASIN. The Great Central Basin is the broad, open depression adjoining Cockeysville. It is a wide stretch of country, eloping inward from the rolling hills on the northwest and south, but itself rolling gently away towards the southeast and south, and connecting with smaller valleys in those directions. It is bounded by Chestnut Ridge on the left and Ashland Ridge on the right. It is a great limestone basin, scooped out of the archaean rocks, overlaid by iron- ore clays in depressions, and with quartz distributed throughout in their beds. It is both the center of the marble and agricultural interests. The Beaver Dam and other quarries yi^ld inexhaustible supplies of choice white marble of various kinds, while the Texas belt supplies 25 immense quantities of valuable limestone. In and around the basin large farms of rich soil in a high state of cultiva- tion are numerous, and on the northwest side is situated the celebrated Ilayfields, the prize stock farm of the county. All the cereals and fruits grow here in abundance, and the grazing farms supply the city with milk and butter. Situ- ated on the Northern Central Railroad, within three-quar- ters of an hour's ride from Baltimore, renders it quickly accessible, and it is rapidly filling up with an active and in- telligent population. On the rolling hillsides and in the river valleys, many of the finest and most valuable rural estates and farms of Mary- land are spread out, whose history runs back into the colo- nial period. Along the line of the Northern Central Rail- road there are numerous busy towns. Distilleries, cotton duck mills, paper mills, quarries and various other indus- tries are in operation. CLIMATE AND PRODUCTS. The waters of the Chesapeake Bay wash the shores of the county from the Patapsco river northeast to the Gunpowder, and between these two rivers are numerous streams. The climate is mild, with an average temperature of about 56* Fahrenheit. The upper section of the county is remarkable for its salubrity of atmosphere and the healthfulness of its people. Besides the agricultural staples, great quantities of garden fruit and vegetables are grown for the city markets, and the yield of grapes and berries is a sources of much profit. The mineral deposits are valuable, and are exten- sively worked. Besides the varieties of fine building stone may be mentioned limestone, iron ore, pipe clay, chrome, manganese, ochre, an abundance of brick clay, beds of marl on the river and bay shores, and veins of copper. The shores of the Chesapeake and its estuaries on the southern and southeastern sides of the county, are largely used for 26 gunning and fishing grounds, where as good sport may be found as anywhere in the land. Excellent roads lead from the city down to these shores, which are owned or leased by clubs or individual sportsmen. The common school system of the county is in a flourishing condition, oifering to all pupils the benefits of free education. There are institutions of learning in the county that have a world-wide reputation. EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. In the midst of a smiling landscape on Charles Street ave- nue, about half way between Baltimore and Towson, the county seat, are the spacious grounds and lofty trees sur- rounding an imposing structure — the Convent of Notre Dame — attached to which is the famous Notre Dame of Maryland, a collegiate institute for young ladies. It is ap- proached by a broad avenue. From the broad marble hall, up the wide stairs to drawing-rooms, study halls, music- rooms, chapel and dormitory, the twin goddesses of health and hygiene have fulfilled all the requirements. In an upper story, where the Vvindows command a magnificent view of the Chesapeake Bay, are a dozen rooms, each one handsomely furnished. They are occupied by parlor board- ers, and are presided over in each department by a sister. Besides the regular curriculum, the scholars are given ample scope for proper physical development in calisthenics, boating, tennis, &c. Situated upon a high ridge just east of Catonsville, com- manding a view of an immense expanse of land and water, is Mount de Sales — the Academy of the Visitation — a school for young ladies, under the charge of the Sisters of the Visi- tation, which is known all over North America as one of the foremost educational institutions on this continent. Its walls and towers are visible from every point of the compass for miles. 27 The MeDonogh Institute, near McDonogh Station, on the Western Maryland Railroad, presents a beautiful front of two hundred and thirty-six feet. Woodstock College, under the direction of the Society of Jesus — a general house of study, embracing a thorough course of philosophy and theology — stands on a magnificent eminence over the Patapsco, aji hour's ride from Baltimore on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Over two hundred acres of land are attached to the college property. The buildings occupy a tine plateau surrounded by ornamental grounds, and contain two hundred rooms. The library occupies half of one of the wings, and contains over twenty thousand volumes of rare and valuable books, embracing complete sets of the Greek and Latin Fathers, and original parchment manuscripts of the Scriptures in the Hebrew lan- guage. The chapel is a gem of beauty, finished in the Roman style, with frescoes and pilasters. The altar rail is from a church in San Domingo, and is over three hundred years old. The college is one of the most important insti- tutions in America for the training of young men for the priesthood. Mount St. Agnes Academy, at Mount Washington, in charge of the Sisters of Mercy, is a stately edifice of marble and brick, crowning a lofty hill, and is devoted to the edu- cation of young ladies. Hannah More Academy, near Reisterstown, is another institution of learning. Amid the quiet loneliness of Lutherville, on the Northern Central Railroad, stands the Lutherville Female Seminary, an educational institution of a high order, under the direc- tion of the Lutheran Church. The seminary has, to some extent, assisted in promoting the growth of Lutherville, and 28 another agent is the eligibility of the place for suburban residences and summer boarding-houses. Mount St. Joseph's College, on the Frederick road, is an excellent school for boys. The tone of society in the beau- tiful valleys of the county, as well as in other sections, is highly retined. CHARITABLE AND BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS. Among the institutions worthy of mention are: The Spring Grove Asylum for the Insane, situated near Catons- ville, a State institntion; St. Agnes' Hospital, on Maiden Choice road; Hebrew Orphan Asylum, at Calverton Heights; St. Mary's Female Orphan Asylum, Roland ave- nue; Mount Hope Retreat, on the Western Maryland Rail- road, an institution for the care of the insane. This place is surrounded by a fine estate of more than three hundred acres, and is one of the most complete and magnificent edi- fices of the kind either in this country or in Europe. The Sheppard Asylum, near the county seat, is another magnifi- cent institution for the care of the insane. The county is not excelled by any other in the State in the numbers and architectural beauty of its churches. The most obscure hamlet has its houses of worship. The more ambitious towns and villages show numerous edifices, con- secrated to the service of God, and the elegance of many bears witness to the taste and prosperity of the people. The taxes are very low, the rate for the present year being but fifty-four cents. NATURAL PRODUCTS. Among the important industries in the county are the Beaver Dam quarries, near Cockeysville. These quarries furnished the huge monolithic columns for the Capitol at 29 Washington. The niiirble for the magiiificeiit City Hall at Baltimore came from these quarries, as also has the material for scores of fine public buildings and thousands of stately private residences. In the vicinity of these quarries the I^orthern Central Railroad passes for nearly a mile between walls and over a bed of the best alum limestone. In this section a very extensive business in lime for building and fertilizing is done. Iron ore in the vicinity of Ashland is plentiful and of ex- cellent quality, and furnaces of an iron company have given employment to many persons in the neighborhood. The most extensive paper mills in the State are located in Balti- more county. No city in the country has finer suburbs than those on the thoroughfares of the county leading to the City of Bal- timore. Numerous merchants of Baltimore City have their country residences on the Frederick road and in its vicinity. Catonsville ig situated on this road six miles from Balti- more, and is connected with the city by a steam and horse railroad. Located upon an elevated plateau, five hundred and fifty feet above tidewater, surrounded by noble forests and highly cultivated estates, and drained by gentle slopes towards the Patapsco river south and west, and Gwynn's Falls north and east, it is one of the most healthful and beautiful villages in the State. It enjoys so great a reputa- tion for salubrity that it has been chosen as the site of four educational institutions. The scenery is charming, embrac- ing views of the city and Chesapeake Bay as far south as Annapolis, the dome of the State House being visible in a clear atmosphere. It has a population of 2,115, an increase of 23.54 per cent, over the census of 1880. MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES. Wetheredville is a thriving village situated on Gwynn's Falls, five miles from the city. It is surrounded by bold 30 and romantic hill scenery, through which tiie stream rushes with impetuous force. Cotton and woollen factories give employment to many of the iidiabitants. Granite, fourteen miles from Baltimore, is noted for its great granite quarries, from which a lirst class quality of building stone is obtained in inexhaustible quantity. Alberton is the seat of a heavy cotton maimfacturinof business. It extends on both sides of the Patapsco, eigh- teen miles from Baltimore, on the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- road. MAGNIFICENT RESIDENCES. Along the Liberty road, and a portion of the Western Maryland Railroad, is a region taken up with elegant resi- dences of wealthy citizens, and farther out is a succession of grand old homesteads and farms, whose broad and well- tilled acres yield luxuriantly of the fruits of the soil. A generous hospitality is exercised hy the proprietors of these splendid estates. Mount Washington, situated on the Northern Central Railroad, five miles from Baltimore, and the vicinity, are in much demand for summer resorts. The surroundings are hilly and romantic. A flourishing cotton duck factory gives employment to several hundred persons. A mile north of the village is a rich vein of copper. The copper mines there will, it is said, be put in operation in the near future. Nine miles distant from Baltimore, on the Northern Cent- ral Railroad, Lutherville, an exceedingly handsome town, is located. It occupies the side and crest of a hill overlook- ing the valley of Jones' Falls in one direction and Dulany's Valley in anotlier, while the country about is dotted with small villages and the country residences of city merchants. To the south of Lutherville is Ruxton, a magnificent place for a summer resort. Cockeysville is a flourishing village 31 north of Lutherville. In this section are superb stock and grazing farms. That portion of the county immediately north of the city is covered with residences of more or less elegance, and a little farther out each side of the roads presents a succes- sion of suburban villages and cottages, and their grounds, many of which have exhausted the resources of the archi- tect, the landscape gardener and the decorator. Year after year this splendid territory is being still more elaborately beautified. It is impossible to compute the number of millions of dollars of capital that are invested in it. The region has a steadily increasing elevation from tidewater to the hills of the Gunpowder river, and that stream and Jones' Falls, together with dozens of brooks fed from abundant springs, flow down from the elevations, topped with tasteful and imposing suburban mansions. This sec. tion is the home of rural ease, plenty and elegance, and contains the time-honored homesteads of the Ridgelys, of Hampton, the Gilmors, the Ilillens, the Hoft'mans, the Jeni- fers, and other old families. THE COUNTY SEAT. Towson is the county-seat, and is seven miles north of the city, on the York Turnpike and Baltimore and Lehigh Railroad. It has a flourishing population of about two thousand. Here are located the court-house, the county offices, the county jail, several hotels, churches and schools, and during terms of court and in times of political contests, farmers' gatherings, county meetings, &c., the 'town' has a very lively appearance; while it is at all times the center of much activity. There are many handsome cottages and other residences in the town, and the taste of the people has led to the cultivation of attractive gardens around their homes, so that in the proper season they are beautifully set off with flowers and twining 32 plants. A considerable amount of capital is held in and around Towson, and the buildings show that a relined judg- ment has directed large expenditures. DOWN ''THE NECK." An important section of the county lies to the east and northeast of Baltimore city. It is known as the Twelfth district. The lands stretching towards the numerous estu- aries of the Chesapeake are mainly devoted to truck raising which has proved much more profitable than the cultiva- tion of the cereals. The country is low, and is pierced in every direction by excellent roads, such as the Trappe road, the Old Trappe road, North Point road and Eastern avenue extended. Many of the roads are laid with oyster shells, which, pulverizing under the wheels of vehicles and hoofs of horses, form a bed of unsurpassed smoothness and solid- ity. What is more particularly known as the Shell road leads from the city to Back river, through charming scenery at the heads of the inlets to the bay. Public resorts are numerous along the road and on the shores, and the drive is a very popular one with the people of the city. The gun- ning and fishing grounds in this district are, perhaps, among sportsmen, the most famous in the United States. They are what are known as the "Necks," formed by the Patapsco, Middle, Back and Gunpowder rivers, where the streams make up for miles into the country, leaving tongues of land between. The water-fronts all through here and on the islands of the upper Chesapeake are owned or leased by yacht clubs, gunning clubs, fishing clubs, or private indi- viduals with a fancy for sport, and many of these associa- tions have erected cozy houses for the accommodation of their members. The late fall and the winter months are the season for duck shooting, and owing to the enforcement of excellent game laws, the supply of birds continues large. The ducks are attracted to these feeding-grounds by the abundance of valisneria, or wild celery, which grows on the fiats near the shores. 33 CANTON. That section of the district contiguous to the eastern limits of the city is the home of a hirge population and the scene of important industries, especially in Canton and Highlandtown. The property of the Canton Company ex- tends along the Patapsco river all the way down to Cole- gate's Creek on the river front, and thence across the neck to Back river. Upon it are located the immense grain transfer elevator of the Northern Central Railway Company, the marine terminus and wharves of the Union Railway Company, several large petroleum refineries, with their wharves and railroad connections, two whiskey distilleries, iron furnaces, chemical works and many smaller industries. The river front from Lazaretto Point to JSTorth Point, where the Patapsco empties into the Chesapeake Bay, forms the northern side of the entrance to the harbor of Balti- more, and from the low blufits fifty miles of water are spread before the view, bearing on its bosom the commerce of a great seaport. Fort McHenry and the city frame the pic- ture on the north, on the west are the shores of Anne Arun- del; down to the northward and eastward the protrusion of North Point melts away into the vast expanse of the Chesa- peake, while the foreground is filled up with the gray walls and bastions of Fort Carroll and the innumerable fleet of all classes of vessels that are constantly arriving and depart- ing. Chesterwood, the grounds of the Free Excursion Society of Baltimore, is upon Bear Creek, five miles from the city. This noble charity provides during the summer free excur- sions for the poor of the city. The price of land in the upper, or agricultural, portions of the county is very low. Land in the Green Spring Val- ley can be bought for from .§100 to $250 per acre. In Catonsville it runs from $500 to $1,200 per acre, and the same along the York turnpike, Reisterstown pike, Roland 34 :avenue and Harford road. Along the Philadelphia road land sells at from $40 to $100 per acre. Some of the most valuable and fashionable property near the city is located between the York and Falls turnpikes. Among the mag- nificent estates in this neighborhood is "Guilford," the j)roperty of the A. S. Abell estate. STEELTON. The great works of the Pennsylvania Steel Company, one of the most important industries in the State, are located at Steelton, a village of vigorous growth in the Twelfth district. It was begun in 1887, and has increased to such vast proportions that it will undoubtedly become one of the great industrial and commercial enterprises ever begun in the United States. The parent company, which was started at Steelton, Pa., in 1865, proved such a success that the plan of forming another plant near tidewater was deemed a wise and proper course. The city of Baltimore and its immediate vicinity seemed to show greater advan- tages in the particular line desired than any other place along the coast or accessible to tidewater. Fred. W. Wood, the superintendent of the company, was sent to Baltimore during the winter of 1885, and made a careful inspection of all the properties along both sides of the Patapsco river. He finally fixed upon Sparrows' Point as the most desirable location for the extension, and after carefully investigating, the management subsequently fixed upon Mr. Wood's choice. Negotiations for securing the property were suc- cessfully conducted, and the deeds for Sparrows' Point, Holly Grove and the adjacent lands were turned over to the Pennsylvania Steel Company in March, 1887. Surveys of the property were made at once, the plans for the steel plant and town were made in the ofiices of the works at Steelton. A large force of engineers was employed to make surveys for a railroad line to connect this city with Spar- rows' Point, in order to facilitate the transport of raanufac- 35 tured iron and steel over the railroad lines which centered here. Work was begun in earnest in April, 1887, under the direction of Rufus K. Wood, and now Steelton is the largest steel works along the Alantic coast. It is connected with the city of Baltimore by the Northern Central, Phila- delphia, Wilmington and Baltimore and Pennsylvania Rail- road at Orangeville, and by the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- road at Colegate's Creek. The enterprising company have erected on their property several immense furnaces for the manufacture of Bessemer steel, an immense stock house, a vast number of boiler and engine houses, rolling mills, pat- tern shops, machine shops, pumphouses, ship yard, docks, piers, &c. The company has also laid out and built upon a systematic plan a model town for the employees and their families. The company owns 1,000 acres, and a portion of them has been platted in blocks, and streets of 60 feet width, crossing each other at right angles, which, with 10-foot sidewalks, leaves a space of 80 feet between the houses on opposite sides. A thorough system of under- ground drainage has been made, and water is conducted in iron pipes to all the dwellings. The town and the works are lighted by electricity. The residences of the officers and the cottages of the workmen are built of frame on pretty modern architectural designs. Several hundred houses have been finished, and many more are in course ot construction. The population is about 2,500, and the pay- rolls now number about 2,000 people. Catholic, Methodist Episcopal and Protestant, and Epis- copal churches have been built on ground donated by the company. There is also proper provision made for the edu- cation of the young in the town. The growth of Steelton has been such that it is believed in ten years the company will have 25,000 people residing on their property. At the same time it is estimated the place will have eight piers, with steamships unloading 36 thousands of tons of ore daily. The specialties manufac- tured are to be boiler plate, ships' plates and railroad iron. Sparrow Point will produce everything entering into the manufacture of ships at low cost. There will be plenty of steel for ships and coast defences. The building of steel ships and ironclads, with their machinery and equipments, will give ample employment to the Sparrow Point works, and it is believed will advance Baltimore in the line of ship- building. It is proposed to use foreign ores largely at the Sparrow Point furnaces. They will come from Cuba, Spain, Island of Elba and many Mediterranean localities. The outlook is most encouraging, and the community is to be con- gratulated in the establishment of such an industr}' in the immediate locality of Baltimore. HARFORD COUNTY. Harford county, situated near the headwaters of the Ches- apeake Bay, with the Pennsylvania line on the north, the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay on the east, Ches- apeake Bay on the south, and Baltiiuore county on the west, contains 422 square miles of territory, and according to the census of 1890, 28,993 inhabitants, divided as follows: white, 22,416; colored, 6,577. The population of the City of Havre de Grace, the largest place in the county, is 3,244, an increase of 428 since 1880, or more than fifteen per cent. The population of Belair is 1,416. The soil varies from light loam to heavy clay, and is easily improved and very productive. The land is for the most part arable and undulating, and highly improved. For farming purposes the price varies from ten to a hundred dollars per acre. The chief products are corn, wheat, oats, hay, tomatoes and small fruits and vegetables. Stock- raising and grazing and the making and sale of butter and milk are growing industries. Since the opening of the Maryland Central Railroad, a few years ago, from the Bal- 37 timore county to the State line — a distance of 25 miles — the development of the milk trade has been very rapid. Over this road are now shipped 1,500 gallons of milk daily. Most of the farmers are industrious and thrifty. As a re- sult they have improved their stock of horses, cattle, sheep, and swine by crossing with the best strains of each, and now use labor-saving machinery of the most approved patterns. INDUSTRIES AND PRODUCTS. The canning industry is extensive and profitable. The number of packing houses now in operation is estimated at four hundred. Many of them begin with the early fruits and vegetables in the spring, and close only with the rem- nants of corn and tomatoes left by the earl}^ frosts. The entire pack of fruits and vegetables in a prosperous year ao;o;reo;ates near a million cases. The manufacture of flour, fertilizers, feed and carriages is not extensive, but sufficient for the wants of the county, with a margin for export. There is a large paper factory on the Susquehanna River, near Darlington, that is highly remunerative. Other manufacturing enterprises are invited by the abundant water power of the Susquehanna River, Deer creek, the Little Gunpowder, Bynum's and Winter's run and other streams of pure water that traverse the county. The estimated annual amount of the general mercantile business transacted in the larger towns gives to Abingdon, $15,000; Aberdeen, |75,000; Bel Air, ,^500,000; Church- ville, $30,000; Darlington, $35,000; Dublin, $20,000; Falls- ton, $80,000; Forest Hill, $35,000; Havre de Grace, $1,000,- 000; Jarrettsville, $10,000; Level, $20,000; Norrisville, $10,000, and Ferryman's, $60,000. Other towns would Bwell the aggregate to two million dollars. '^ DUCK SHOOTING AT HAVRE DE GRACE. There is no place in the country like the City of Havre de Grace, in Harford county, for duck shooting. All the 38 ducks found in the waters near Havre de Grace are better and bring liigher prices than those from anywhere else* This fact is due to their feeding on wild celery in fresh water. The Susquehanna flats, below Havre de Grace, but nearly opposite the city, cover an area of about fifteen square miles, with an average depth of about four feet of water. There are vast beds of the tender, juicy wild celery on the bottom of the Susquehanna flats. Every high river brings down the necessary fertilizers from the rich lands above, which are caught by the tide and settle on this bottom. When winter sets in early in the far North, the ducks put in an appearance about the middle of October. The blue- winged teal are the first ducks to visit the flats, then come the bald-pate and black ducks, followed by the sprig-tails or gray ducks, as they are called by the native shooters. Later on the red and black-head ducks come in quantities, followed by the canvas-backs, which reach their greatest number about November 15. The game laws passed by the Maryland Legislature are very strict, and have proven a great protection to the ducks. They now have a chance to settle on the flats, and get plump and in good condition before the shooting begins. The season, as regulated by law, now opens November 1 and ends March 31, and prohibits shooting at any other time except from shore. When the shooting is good car- loads of ducks are shipped to New York, Philadelphia and other Eastern cities. Hundreds of dozens of the delicate game are also sent West aud South, and large quantities are often shipped to Europe. It is claimed that more ducks are eaten in Baltimore than in any other city in the United States. ^ There are few counties that possess superior transporta- tion facilities to those of Harford. Bush, Gunpowder and the Susquehanna Rivers and the Tide-water Canal are ac- cessible to neary one-half of the inhabitants, and the Penu- 39 sylvaiiia, Northern Central, Baltimore and Ohio, and Mary- land Central Eailroads accommodate the other half. The projected road from Bel Air to the Susquehanna River, when completed, will furnish all the facilities desired^ During the last twenty years there has been a marked improvement in the farms and buildings, and the wealth and comforts of the inhabitants — attractions that catch the eye of strangers and cause many of them to remain in the county, which is regarded as one of the most progressive and prosperous in the State. HOWARD COUNTY. Howard, th§ most southern of the central Maryland coun- ties, and next to Calvert, the smallest county in the State, is bounded on the north by Frederick, Carroll and Balti- more counties, on the east by Anne Arundel and Prince George's, on the south b}' Montgomery, and on the west by Frederick. The area is 250 square miles, and according to the census of 1890, the population was 16,269, divided ae follows: white, 12,096; colored, 4,173. Howard is one of the best adapted counties in the State for agricultural and manufacturing industries. The soil is mostly fertile and kind, easily cultivated and readily improved. Much of it is a loam, with clay sub-soil, and io a portion of the county there is an abundance of limestone land, that part of it known as "Limestone Valley" being particularly noted for its great natural beauty and fertility. In the southern section mica has been found, and in recent years some of the mines have been worked to advantage. The land is all valuable, and commands a ready sale at good prices, ranging in the improved portions and where the transportation facilities are good, from ^40 to $100 per acre. Wheat, corn, hay and potatoes are chiefly the pres- ent products. In some parts of the county the land is sus- ceptible of tobacco raising, especially in the northwestern- 40 portion, where the attention of many of the farmers has been given to its cultivation for some time past, and as most of them are supphed with all the necessary buildings and appliances for curing, &c., a profitable return has been the result. The raising of fruits and vegetables is receiving considerable attention in some sections, and much of the once idle land is now being utilized for this purpose. In view of the easy transportation and small expense required to place them in our best markets, there is every reason to prophesy for them a leading position among the industries of this section. All along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and bordering upon the Patapsco River, are man}' acres of land, which, owing to its natural condition and adaptabil- ity of its soil, could, according to the statements of experi- enced grape raisers, be converted into a succession of vine- yards, which would yield a handsome profit. The county's healthful climate, excellent water-power advantages, and the natural productiveness of its soil, render it one of the most desirable and promising counties in the State for in- dustrious, energetic immigrants. Tliere is, perhaps, no county possessed of better transportation facilities than Howard. It is bounded for many miles both by the Main Stem and the Washington Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, with stations every few miles along both lines, with, as a rule, good county roads leading thereto. The Baltimore and Frederick turnpike passes entirely through the county from east to west, and, together with the Ellicott City and Clarksville turnpike, affords to the residents of the interior sections an easy outlet to Baltimore and Ellicott City. The C. A. Gambrill Manufacturing Company's flour mill at Ellicott City offers to the farmers a ready market for their wheat, which would otherwise necessitate its being shi{>ped by rail or an additional drive of ten miles to the Baltimore market. The count}' com- missioners are liberal in their appropriations for roads and bridges, and, as a consequence, they are kept in good con- dition. 41 The people, too, are strong believers in good roads, and in addition to the two principal turnpikes already men- tioned, private enterprise has built several short lines of pike in different sections of the county. The farmers are progressive in their agricultural methods, and every im- provement in farming machinery is at once adopted. All the labor-saving implements which experience has proved to be valuable are in use, the best fertilizers arQ procured, and the system of farming which tends to the permanent improvement of the soil, is pursued. Much interest is taken in the raising of pure bred stock, and many farms are already noted for celebrated strains of both horses and cattle. Along the line of the railroad are many well-con- ducted dairy farms, the milk from which is daily shipped to the Baltimore market. • Throughout Howard county are many thriving villages, all of which are well supplied with churches and schools. Being almost surrounded by the Patapsco and Patuxent Rivers, whose water power is peculiarly adapted for mills and factories, it has for its ex- tent greater manufacturing facilities than almost any of its Bister counties. Besides a large number of minor mills on the different water courses in the interior of the county for the manufac- ture of flour, corn meal, &c., there is the well-known paper mill of John A. Dushane & Co., with over forty operatives and a capacity of five tons of paper per day; the extensive cotton mills at Alberton and Savage, each with a force of 400 hands, and owned respectively by James A. Gary & Co. and Wm. H. Baldwin, Jr.; the Guilford Cotton Mill, and the Electric Light Company's shops at Elkridge. There are many other points on the Patapsco that might be brought into profitable use by a little outside capital, com- bined with energetic effort on the part of the more enter- prising citizen. Howard's educational facilities are exceptionally good, there being, in addition to the well-conducted system of 42 free public schools, in Ellicott City alone, three large private institutions with well-deserved reputation. A large volume of mercantile business is transacted in the different towns and villages of the county, that of Ellicott City alone being esti- mated at over $1,000,000. The population of this thriving place is 1,488. A new line of railroad has long been in contemplation to run through the western section of the county, for which a survey was made by the Baltimore, Cincinnati and Western Railway Company in 1881, but the enterprise has so far been a failure, and the products of a considerable acreage are still conveyed to market by horse and wagon. A national bank has recently been established at Ellicott City, with which many of the leading citizens are connected, and which is looked upon as an indispensable auxiliary in pro- moting the various industrial interests of the community. Since its establishment new life seems to have sprung up in business of every kind, and its great advantage is now gener- ally conceded. WESTERN MAKYIiAWD. THE MINING REGION OP THE STATE— A FERTILE AGRICUL- TURAL SECTION. "Western Maryland presents a greater variety of resources than any other section of the State. Its surface is broken by mountain ranges, which divide it into charming valleys, with fine, undulating stretches of country at the base of the moun- tains, affording unsurpassed agricultural lands, besides exten- sive deposits in the mountains, of coal and iron. The bitu- minous coal of the George's Creek region is a vast source of wealth, and gives employment to many thousands of miners, whose labor has built up a number of thriving towns and vil- 43 lages. The counties of Western Maryland are Allegany, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett, Montgomery and Washington. ALLEGANY COUNTY. Allegany county is located in the extreme western portion of the State, just south of the Pennsylvania line, with Wash- ington county, Maryland, on the east, Garrett county on the west, and the Potomac river, separating it from West Virginia, on the south. The population, according to the census of 1890, was 41,571, divided as follows : White, 40,096 ; colored, 1,470. Since 1880, the population of Allegany county has in- creased 3,559 or 9.36 per cent. Its area is 477 square miles. The coal fields in the western portion of the county, and extending twenty miles in one direction and five in another, are the chief feature and source of wealth. There is a good proportion of farming and rich timber land, many of the farms being quite productive. The soil is sandy loam along the streams, and in the mountain regions limestone, slate and sand, mixed with loam. There is a large territory covered with forest, especially in the eastern portion. The prices of cleared land range from $10 to $50 per acre, but there is much undeveloped mountain land which can be bought as low as $2 per acre. The chief products are corn, rye, oats, potatoes, with some buckwheat, hay, wool, butter, and a fair proportion of fruits. There is a considerable trade in lumber and tan bark. In recent years there has been much improvement in farming machinery. Some fine stock is raised, but not nearly to the extent possible, as much of the land is well adapted for grazing. The fruit cultivation could also be largely increased the eastern slope offering good chances for grape culture. If the large tracts of undeveloped timber land were divided up and sold, there would be a chance for industrious immigrants to start profitable farming. There has been some move in this direction of late. Much of this undeveloped land is owned by non-residents. 44 CUMBERLAND. Cumberland, which is situated at the confluence of the north branch of the Potomac, witli a considerable stream known as Wills Creek, is called the "Queen City." Like another Mary- land town made famous in song, it is "Green-walled by the Hills," or, rather, mountains of the Allegany range. These great walls seem at iirst glance to cut off the city from the world, but inquiry discovers the fact that few cities are so thoroughly equipped with transportation facilities as this, the county seat of Allegany county and the metropolis of Western Maryland. It is on the main line of the Baltimore and Ohio Road. The Pittsburg and Connellsville Railway joins it to Pittsburg. A branch of the Pennsylvania system connects it with that great highway at Huntington, Pa. The present terminus of the West Virginia Central and Pittsburg Rail- way is at Cumberland, but it has in contemplation the build- ing of an extension to tidewater at Baltimore. The Cum- berland and Pennsylvania Railway runs from it through the Cumberland coal region to Piedmont, W. Ya. The George's Creek and Cumberland Railway taps the same coal field for its benefit, and other mines are made tributary to it by the Eckhart branch of the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railway. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, which com- mences at Cumberland and terminates 184 miles east of this city, has been restored as a waterway. For local transporta- tion, Cumberland has also great facilities, being on the line of the great national turnpike and other w^ell-kept roads. The population of Cumberland, according to the census of 1890, was 12,729, an increase of 2,036, or 19.04 per cent, since 1880. It is expected the population of Cumberland will be largely increased, when the Baltimore and Ohio people carry into effect a plan they have determined on and CONCENTRATE THEIR REPAIR SHOPS at that point. The arrangements have been made to remove 45 to Cumberland the shops of the Second, Third and Pittsburg divisions. This will add 1,000 mechanics and their families, saj from 4,000 to 5,000 people to the population of the city. Cumberland is situated in the heart of the greatest bitumi- nous coal region in the world, dominates a section exhaustless in raw materials and as already shown possesses magnificent transportation facilities. The city has given its name to the coal obtained from this district, a coal whose excellence is undisputed in the mechanical world. It is a semi-bituminous carbon, almost wholly free from sulphur and devoid of other impurities. In burning, it yields an intense steady heat. Experiments have established that a ton of this coal will yield more heat than a ton and a quarter of any other coal. Hence, its desirability for manufacturing purposes. This coal is laid down in Cumberland for $1.30 per ton. Cumberland, there- fore, offers the manufacturer the best of coal at the cheapest price, that is as compared with the cost of fuel at other indus- trial centres. Bin in Cumberland, the coals from West Vir- ginia and Pennsylvania can be purchased for still less money. As for coke, it may be had cheaply from Connellsville, whicli is on the main line between Pittsburg and Cumberland, or from the Pennsylvania ovens, many of which are nearer to Cumberland than Connellsville, or from the ovens along the lines of the "West Virginia Central and Baltimore and Ohio Roads. Charcoal is also to be had in abundance and at slierht cost. So much for one of the principal elements in the suc- cessful manufacture of iron. The next most important, the iron ore itself, is laid down in Cumberland most cheaply. Within easy distance are the iron mines of Pennsylvania, and still nearer, the new ore beds of Moorefield, W. Va,, which are said to contain 43 per cent, of iron and to be free from silica. 46 THE WEST VIKGINIA CENTRAL AND PITTSBURG RAILWAY passes through the Elk Garden and Upper Potomac coal regions in which mines are rapidly being opened. Since 1881, nearly a score of thriving villages have been built along this road and an industrial population of at least 10,000 induced to settle there. Another factor in the cheap production of iron, lime suitable for fluxing, is abundant in the immediate neighbor- hood, where also are many beds of fire-clay. These resources have not been allowed to remain altogether dormant. The Crown and Cumberland Steel "Works, near the main line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, were built by local capitalists in 1S72. The manufacture of tools and spring steel of superior quality is an extensive part of this business. The iron is procured in bar form and melted. Rollers of various sizes and an enormous steel hammer, with a striking force of five tons, are included in the equipment of the works. The peculiar qualities already noted of the Cumberland coal render it of especial value in the making of steel. About seventy men are employed by this company. The capacity of the works is ten tons of steel daily. The Cumberland Rolling Mills are the most important works in the city and the largest of the kind in the State. These mills were built in 1867, by the Baltimore and Ohio road upon forty acres of land donated to them for the purpose by the city. Just now they are operated under lease by the Cam- bria Iron Company which uses the product to supplement that of the great Grantier "Works at Johnstown, Pa. At present about a thousand men are being employed at these mills, but this force will be greatly increased so soon as the extensive additions now being made to the mills are completed. In addition to the mineral wealth stored beneath their sur- face, the hills and mountains of this region bear a large and valuable supply of timber. Every railroad running westward 47 from Cumberland has opened to this market a vahial)le tract of timber land. Botli in lumber and bark, Cumberland has long done an extensive business. The tanneries located here produce leather of national reputation for uniformity of grain and texture and superiority of finish. There is a splendid supply of hard and soft woods convenient to the city and of superior quality. The new region which has recently been opened up by the West Virginia Central and Pittsburgh Railway, presents great opportunities to the capitalists and manufacturer in wood who may decide to locate in Cumberland. This line of road runs from this city through a district of West Virginia which abounds in THE FINEST KIND OF LUMBER of almost every description — white and yellow pine, spruce, hemlock and the hard woods, such as oak, maple, cherry, walnut, &c. Great quantities of lumber are being shipped daily over this new road, which is steadily extending its rails into the vast timber forests of the State. From the extensive white spruce forests along this road large quantities of pulp wood are daily being shipped to Cumberland to supply a twelve-ton paper mill just completed. In conjunction with this advance the road has been building mammoth sawmills at easy dis- tances. As a result there are many lumber and furniture mills established in Cumberland. The furniture produced is of substantial quality and finish. Still there is room in Cumber- land for many more factories of a similar kind. A kindred industry in Cumberland is the cutting on the mountains of laurel and briar roots, from which the best of wooden pipes are manufactured and for which good prices are paid by Eastern manufactures. A pipe factory on the spot would probably be a good investment. One thing that should not be forgotten in discussing the industrial advantages of Cumber- 48 land is that labor is plentiful and cheap, owing to the low- rents and moderate^ cost of living. The outside pay for day laborers is $1.25, yet on this the men manage to live more comfortable than they would on double the money in Kew York. The industries of the city and county now established employ men principally, and there are but few factories open to women or boys. Consequently this class of light labor is unemployed to a greater extent than in the North, and there is a good opportunity for the establishment of mills employing help of this kind, which, though of a higher grade in point of education and intelligence than the same class of operators in the North, can yet be had more cheaply. In the manufacture of hydraulic cement Cumberland holds second place in the world and first place in America. The Cumberland cement is produced at less cost than it can be manufactured anywhere else the world over. The supply of "Lower Helderburg" and other limestones from which the cement is made, is found in the suburbs of the city and seems inexhaustible. The stone is excellent quality, analyzing less than 3 per cent, of silica. The cement rock has been quarried for over thirty years by the Cumberland Hydraulic Cement Manufacturing Company. The cement produced is noted for the energy of its action, and will bear a greater admixture of sand than any other natural cement now in use. About one hundred and twenty men are employed by this company. Another important industry in Cumberland is glass- making. The Cumberland Glass Works were established in 1S83, by a number of practical workmen through the aid of the city's Committee on Manufactures. The works are devoted entirely to the manufacture of blown glassware, tumblers, glasses, bar and table supplies. Four hundred thousand dozen glasses were 49 turned out by tlie company in 1891, and they found a ready sale. About one hundred and thirty men* constitute the pres- ent working force of tlie works. The F. Morten's Sons' glass factory manufactures bottles of every description, filling orders for bottles of any size, color or shape. This factory covers two acres of ground and gives employment to about two hundred and fifty men. The ca- pacitjf of the factory is twenty-four pots, and the present out- put is upward of three hundred gross of bottles daily. Among the other interests of this firm in Cumberland are a planing- mill, a sash and blind factory and a vast lumber-yard, in which a million and a quarter feet of lumber is kept stored. To return to Cumberland's mineral resources. Within the coal measures of the Cumberland coal field there are eight veins of pure fire clay, having an aggregate thickness of 53 feet 7 inches, besides other deposits in the adjoining counties of Pennsylvania. There are already several fire-brick factor- ies in this section, which turn out a superior fire brick. Yet eo great is the supply of clay that other similar factories would be welcomed. There are several varieties of sandstone suitable for buildinsr purposes quarried in and around the city. Of these the yel- low Oriskany sandstone and the pure white Medina sandstone are the cheapest and most suitable for building purposes. Thei'e are several other deposits adapted to the manufacture of glass. In the immediate vicinity of Cumberland there are beds of potter's clay and clay suitable for the manufacture of drain-pipe. Although the deposits could be exploited very profitably, there are no factories in either line at Cumberland. The opening in both directions is therefore a good one. The country surrounding Cumberland produces large quan- tities of bread cereals. There are several flouring mills in the city which do a large and prosperous business, supplying the 4 50 home demand and shipping to Xew York and Baltimore, and also to South American and other foreign ports. The grain grown is of excellent qnalitv, most of it being raised on moun- tain land, the effect of which is to give the grain the density and strength of grain grown in the North. The pure moun- tain water and the ease with which rye and barley of superior quality can be procured has led to the establishment of a num- ber of distilleries and breweries. Whiskey and beer both are made largely for foreign consumption as well as to supply the local demand. "While those above enumerated constitute the larger indus- tries of Cumberland, they are far from including all. In each of the lines referred to, there are smaller factories whose pro- ducts help materially to advance the volume of the city's out- put. There are also several cigar factories, carriage factories, coopers' material factories, soap factories, building-brick work,. &G. Before leaving the topic of Cumberland's industries, it should be said that the progressive citizens of the town, and there are- many of them, are anxious that the advantages their city pos- sesses as a productive point should be better known, and hope- ful that new industries will be established there. To this end they are willing to contribute. Many of them are wealthy men whose co-operation in any well considered enterprise would insure its success. Quite a large amouut of capital could be secured in Cumberland to aid in the establishment of iron and steel works of all kinds, wood and furniture factories, potteries, glass works, cement works or any manufacturing enterprise wliich might turn to account the raw materials with which the district surrounding the city is- so abundantly supplied. As the centre of a large territory in Maryland, West Vir- ginia and Pennsylvania, Cumberland has become an important 51 distributing point, and secured a pre-eminence in this direction which her magnificent raih-oad facilities are sure to retain for her. Tliere are now a number of wholesale houses which are doing a large and profitable business. There are three national banks in Cumberland whose capital and surplus aggregate $600,000. There are also a number of smaller banks in the neighborhood, so that the monetary facilities for carrying on business are abundant. There are other aspects to the city than its industrial. As a place of residence, it has many charms, not the least ®f which is its climate. The elements acknowledge tlie royalty of the Queen city. In summer, fresh breezes prevent the overheat- ing of the town, and in winter, the storms break their force on its green walls, the Allegany hills, and roar gently over the city. Sometimes, there are sudden changes of temperature in the winter, but they do not seem to have any ill effects upon the people. The town is exceptionally health}^, and malarial diseases are unknown. Invalids find the invigorating mountain air of great benefit to them. Many people from the larger cities resort to Cumberland in summer to recuperate. It is easily accessible, being only four hours from Washington and five from Baltimore or Pittsburg. Within two hours by rail are Deer Park and Oakland, Mountain Lake Park, Bedford Springs, Berkeley Springs and other summer resorts of national fame. All these enjoy a climate identical with that of Cumberland. The situation of the city is most picturesque. It is built on both sides of Wills Creek, and the southern sec- tion of it extends along the east bank of the Potomac. The streets are wide and laid off as regularly as the topography of the site will admit. Baltimore street divides the northern and southern sections, and Centre street the eastern and western sections. The former street is the business thoroughfare, though a number of business houses front on Centre and other cross streets. At the eastern end of Baltimore street, the Bal- 52 timore and Ohio Railway tracks separate it from Baltimore avenue, on which are manj'^ fine residences and substantial homes. The "West Virginia Central and Pitttsburg Railway, on the eastern bank of Wills Creek, and tlie bridge across that watercourse divide Baltimore from Washington street, on either side of which are rows of the most beautiful homes in Maryland. Tlie City Hall and Academy of Music occupy an entire square and is the largest municipal structure in the State, out- side of Baltimore. It was built in 1874-6 at a cost of $90,000. The hall fronts on (Jentre street and is built of brick. The building, which is 72 feet high, lias a tower which runs up 145 feet. On the ground floor is the city market, the upper floors being occupied by the council and civic officers. The theatre, one of the finest in the State, takes in the southern lialf of the building. Its furnishings, stage properties and scenery are equal to those of any metropolitan theatre. Cumberland is a good place to live in, A brick or frame house of seven rooms can be i-ented at from EIGHT TO TWELVE DOLLARS PER MONTH, and large houses in proportion. At present there is not a vacant house in the city, and more will have to be built. The reason of the low rents is the low price of land and the exceed- ing abundance and cheapness of building material. In spite of the figures quoted above it is profitable to build houses for rental in the city ; but as a rule new-comers to the city are not long before they build homes of their own. Prosperity sits smiling on the face of the citizens, and excessive poverty is unknown. There are two daily papers. The Times, and the Daily News, wdiich are the leading papers in Western Maryland. The city is supplied with water by the Holly system of water works owned by the city. There is a well-organized bo and equipped fire department wliicli has at all times been able to control tlie fires that have visited the city. The streets are lighted by the Edison system of electric lights and gas. The public schools ai-e well conducted and are supplemented by the Alleghany County Academy and other private schools. The churches are, one English Lutheran, two German Lutheran, four Methodist, one Baptist, two Catholic (English and Ger- man), one Presbyterian, one Protestant Episcopal, one Pe- fornied Episcopal, one German Peformed, one Jewish Syna- gogue, and three colored, two Methodist and one Baptist. There is also a Young Men's Christian Association, with a well- equipped library and gymnasium. Cmnberland is pre-emi- nantly a city possessed of all the modern conveniences. Tisi- tors find that there are several first-class hotels, the largest of which is the Queen city, built and owned by the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, and under the same able management as the hotels at Deer Park and Oakland. The most popular towns outside of Cumberland are Frostburg with a population of 3,804, and Western Port with a population of 1,526. The chief mechanical industries outside of Cumberland are fire-brick works at Frostburo- Ellerslie and Mount Savao-e, and the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad shops at the latter place. Coal-mining is the leading industry, and upon it the present prosperity of the county largely depends, but there is no apparent reason why, with the proper placing of capital, other interests could not be created to add materially to the county's wealtii and population. Some attention has been paid to natural gas and oil developenient in two sections of the county, though as yet without positive result. The taxable basis of the county is S1T,818,25L The annual amount of general mercantile business transacted in the entire county is estimated at ^3,706,000, the greater proportion of this being- transacted in Cumberland and five of the larcjcr towns. 54 CARROLL COUNTY, Carroll is the most eastern of the Western Maryland coun- ties. It is bounded bj Pennsylvania on the north, Baltimore county on the east, Howard county on tlie south, and Frederick county on the west. The surface is rolling and picturesque, and the county is one of the most fertile and prosperous in "Western Maryland. According to the census of 1890, the population of Carroll county was 32,376, divided as follows : white 30,190 ; colored 2,185. The area of the county is 426 square miles, and according to the census of 1890, the cereal production was as follows : corn, 1,003,986 bushels from 31,- 983 acres; wheat, 579,333 bushels from 40,077 acres; oats, 262,458 bushels from 11,972 acres; tobacco, 137,171 pounds from 162 acres; rye, 54,879 bushels from 5,269 acres; buck- wheat, 12,543 bushels from 972 acres barley, 3,724 bushels from 133 acres. The people are industrious and the soil productive, generally of a good quality, susceptible of easy improvement, and acts well with any of the grades of fertilizer and lime. The loca- tion of the county, its high elevation and the absence of large tracts of marsh or low lands, keeps it peculiarly free from epi- demics of any kind, and the people enjoy good health, many of them living to a vigorous old age. The value of the land ranges from $25 to $100 per acre. Grape culture would pro- bably prove remunerative if made a specialty. The climate is better adapted to late than to early vegetables. The facilities for transportation are good, the farthest point in the county not being more than eight miles from a railroad depot. The farmers are pretty generally well supplied with all necessary farming implements of the latest improvement. The horses and horned cattle have been much improved during late years, the people in many cases making a specialty of the stock busi- ness. They have imported a great many mules recently, prin- cipally of Kentucky breeding. At present there is very little 55 manufacturing, but tliere are fine opportunities for capitalists to invest in tliis department. "Westminster alone does at least $1,500,000 in business, commercial and otberwise. Westmin- ster, according to the census of 1890, has a population of 2,903, an increase of 15.80 per cent, over the census of 1880. It is a beautiful, healthy and thriving place. The character of the soil varies in different sections of the county — limestone in some sections, red loam in others, blue slate, yellow slate and honeycomb — all kinds and very sus- ceptible of improvement. The county celebrated on Easter Monday, 1887, the semi-centennial anniversary of its organiza- tion. Formed from some of the most fertile and highly favored portions of the rich counties of Baltimore and Fred- erick, its half century of growth has developed the resources ■of the soil in a wonderful degree, and it occupies one of the foremost places among the progressive and prosperous coun- ties of Maryland. With a contented, industrious and thrifty population, its prosperity is an assured fact, and their love of improvement gives promise of a bright future to the county. FREDERICK COUNTY, Frederick, the oldest of the Western Maryland counties, :and one of the largest and most flourishing in the State, is bounded on the north by Pennsylvania, on the east by Carroll county, south by Howard and Montgomery counties and the Potomac River, and west by Washington county. The county contains an area of 633 square miles. It is divided into twenty-one election districts. The western boundary of the county is the top of South Mountain. East of this, and run- ning nearly parallel, is the tirst mountain ridge of Western Maryland, called the Catoctin Mountain, which is a spur of the Blue Ilidge. The country between these two mountains comprises six of the election districts, and is known as the 56 Middletown Yallej, which is watered by the Catoctin creek in its flow to the Potomac. Pen-Mar, tlie celebrated resort on the Western Maryland Railroad, is situated at the head of this- valley, and is right at the northwest corner of the connty._ The npper end of the county, comprising Hauver's and Catoc- tin districts, is broken, hilly, and for the most part stony, altliongh there are several fertile little valleys, formed by the Catoctin creek, known as Eyler's, Harbaugh, &c. The next district towards the south is Jackson, which has good, sti-ong soil, mostly limestone. Next comes Middletown, with its heavy limestone soil, and one of the richest and most pi-odnc- tivc districts in the county. Below this lie Petersville and Jefferson districts, which contain a variety of soil, clay, flint, limestone and loamy land, mostly of good quality and produc- tive. These two districts border on the Potomac Piver, and the B. ifc O. P. R. and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal run through their southern borders. In the former of these districts is situated the famous "Merryland tract," tlie seat of some of the finest homes in the county. Among tlie families residing there are those of Outerbridge Horsey, Thomas Lee, the Gouverneurs, Deavers, Horines, O'Donnells, Ilillearys,^ Ahalts and others. Here is situated also the JSTeedwood distil- lery, operated by Mr. Outerbridge Horsey. The remarkable gap in the mountains at Harper's Feri-y is a conspicuous feature from tlii.s locality. Along the South Mountain, from a point nortliward of Middletown down to Crampton's Gap, near the Potomac, the battle of South Mountain was fought. East of the Catoctin mountain lies the Monocacy Valley, watered by the river of that name, much broader than the Middletown Valley, and bounded on the east by the Linga- nore Hills. Emmittsburg and Mechanicstown districts, which lie about the headwaters of the Monocacy in the northern part of the county, have a variety of soil — slate, flint, clay, loam and red land. Crengerstown, Lewistown and Tnsearora dis- 57 tricts are mostly red clay soil, with some Hint, slate and lime- stone. They produce large crops of grain. Near Emmitts- burg are located the large Catholic institutions, Mount St. Mary's College and Mount St. Joseph's Academy, which is also the headquarters of the Sisters of Charity in the United States. The Western Maryland Railroad runs through Creagerstown and Mechanicstown districts, and there is a branch railroad from Rocky Ridge to Emmittsbiirg, and also a branch from Mechanicstown to the Catoctin iron furnaces, a distance of three miles. Enimittsburij and Meclianicstown are both thrifty towns, each possessing a number of local industries, such as tanneries, ifcc. Tom's Fishing and Hunt- ing creeks, strong streams which flow down the mountain sides in this region, afford excellent water-power. Woodsboro, Mount Pleasant, Frederick and Buckeystown districts, extend- ing southward along the Monocacy, comprise the largest extent of prime soil in the county. Nearly all of it is strong, first-class limestone land, comparatively level and almost wholly free from surface rock that would interfere with cultivation. It is unsurpassed by auy land in the State for general fertility. Johnsville, Liberty and Linganore districts comprise a line farming section — land gently rolling, mostly limestone, with some slate and flint. In this region are situated valuable de- posits of copper, zinc and hematite iron ores. The Dolly Hyde copper mines, near Liljerty, were operated a century ago, and continued to be woi'ked successfully until stopped in recent years by inflow of water. The Liberty copper mines are near Johnsville, and the zinc and iron mines in Linganore districts. Woodville, New Market and Urbana, together with the three last named districts, comprise the Linganore section of the country, lying east and south of tlie Monocacy, and drained by the Linganore, Bush and Bennett creeks, tributaries of the Monocacy. The land in these districts is more rolling 58 and consists principally of slate and flint soil, there being little or no limestone in this section. The land, however, is of a good clay consistency, though varying somewhat in quality. The best is under good tillage, producing excellent crops and well adapted for fruits. * In the western section of the county there is considerable mountain land that would make comfortable homes for indus- trious settlers, and which can be bought for from one dollar to ten dollars per acre. The better lands in the upper part of Middletown valley, with comfortable improvements, range from $15 to $40, while in the lower part, the range is from $25 to $100 per acre. In the upper part of Monocacy valley, improved farms range in price from $20 to $50, and in the lower part from $50 to $120; in the upper Liuganore secti®n, from $30 to $100, and in the lower portion from $10 to $70. Springs and running water p^bound throughout the county, except in the limestone region, around Frederick and Middle- town, which is supplied largely by wells. The present products of Frederick county are principally wheat and corn and other cereals, hay, potatoes, grass and dairy products. Considerable impetus lias recently been given to the dairy interests in the county, and large creameries have been established at Walkersville, Middletown, Buckeystown, Adamstown, Frederick and other places. The low price of wheat and corn has been one cause of the stimulus to the dairy business, the farmers beginning to realize the necessity for a new departure. The mountains in the Linganore section are well adapted to the growtli of all kinds of fruit and the cultivation of the vine. The Catawba, Concord, Isabella and other varieties of the grape grow there to great perfection, but little attention has vet been ffiven to the cultivation of fruits of any kind on an extended scale, though it would undoubt- edly prove profltable. The mountains are capable of culti- vation to their tops, and wines of an excellent quality are 59 made here in a limited waj from the native grape. During his several visits to Frederick while President, Gen. Grant expressed much surprise that the great advantages of the mountain sides in tliis section were not availed of for the cul- tivation of grapes. Nearly the whole of this county is excel- lently adapted for truck farming, and capable of raising to the greatest perfection, all kinds of vegetable and small fruits. Asparagus and celery of the finest quality are produced, and all root crops yield largely, but their cultivation thus far has been for home consumption only. The scope for varied agri- culture is unlimited, and especially in view of the fact that there are direct railroad outlets to Washington, Baltiniore and Philadelphia by both the Baltimore and Ohio and Pennsyl- vania Railroads. In regard to machinery, the most improved make is generally used, and abundant supplies of it are fur- nished by agriculture implement houses in Frederick and by agents at the various railroad stations throughout the county. Horses, cattle, hogs and sheep are generally of superior quality and great attention has of late years been given by numerous stock farmers in the county to the breeding of the best strains of these. The result has been a great improvement in milch cows, roadsters, draught horses, &c. The manufactures of the county comprise numerous flouring fhills and tanneries, three distilleries, the Catoctin iron fur- naces, a number of brickj^ards, hinge factory, several woolen mills, carriage factories, numerous extensive limekilns, several foundries, and one of the largest corn canning establishments in the country. The abundance of water-power in the county and available mill sites, together with the conveniences for procuring coal bj I'ailroad and canal, and timber of all kinds from the forests of Pennsylvania and Virginia, added to the mineral resources, present great inducements for certain kinds of Manufactures. The enormous output of pig iron from the Oatoctin furnaces, when in operation, togetlier with the large 60 quantities of iron that mii^^lit bs produced from other ore deposits, could all be worked up to advantage in tlie county, if rolling mills and other iron industries were established, instead of being transported to other States. The manufacture of agricultural implements and machinery, woodwork for carri- ages, &c., could also be profitably conducted ; and if truck farming was more generally introduced, a superior quality of all kinds of seed could be supplied. A pickling factory on a large scale, it is thought, could also do well. According to the census of 1890, the population of Frederick county was 49,512, divided as follows: white, 42,865; colored 6,646. Frederick city, according to the census of 1890, contains a population of 8,193. Among the larger towns outside of Frederick, are Emmitts- burg, Mechanicstown, Middletown, Woodsboro, Jefferson, Walkersville, Buckeystown, i\ew Market, Liberty, Unionville and Point of Rocks. Of macadamized roads there are about 125 miles, and between 1,200 and 1,300 miles of country roads. The public schoolhouses number 151, and the pupils who attend them nearly 11,000. The churches, representing all denominations, number about 140. In 1880, according to the census returns, the county had 13,326 horses, 13,793 milch cows, 14,544 other cattle, 12,672 sheep, 38.074 swine. The farm ])rodncts were 1,774,256 bushels of corn, 1,418,542 of wheat, 94,267 of oats, 42,502 of rye, 133.390 of irish j^otatoes, 370,840 pounds of tobaccco, 74,857 pounds of wool. There were at that time 444 manufacturing industi-ies in the county, with capital of $1,828,927, and products of the value of $2,806,098. The opportunities afforded in Frederick county for indus- trious immigrants are believed to be as fjood as an v where in the United States. The colored help is, to a large extent, inefHcient and unreliable, and industrious white immigrants would be welcomed and have no difficulty in securing employ- 61 ment at remunerative wages, or clieap homes where they could rapidly thrive and prosper. G-ARRETT COUNTY. Garrett, the last formed of the Maryland counties, is located in the extreme western portion the State. It contains an area of 6S0 square miles of territory, with a population (census of 1890) of 14,213,, divided as follows: white, 14,030; colored, 183. The agricultural productions, accord- ing to the census of 1880, were corn, 90,777 bushels, from 3,714 acres; wheat, 44,399 bushels, from 4,122 acres ; buck- wheat, 72,333 bushels, from 4,989 acres; oats, 171,723 bushels, from 8,657 acres; rye 21,552 bushels, from 2,746 acres ; tobacco, 1,927 pounds, from 4 acres. The Great Savage mountain, better known as the backbone of the Alleganies, crosses the county from north to south. On the east side of the mountain is the Maryland coal basin, about one-third of which is in Garrett county. On the west- ern side of the backbone, and lying between that and Meadow mountain, at an elevation of two tlionsand live hundred feet above tidewater, is a vast table-land, covering an area of four hundred square miles, one-third of which is glade land, and is unquestionably the iinest portion of the State for grazing and stock raising. There is, perhaps, no county in tiie State which contains such valuable mineral deposits in coal and iron ore. Fire clay and limestone of a superior quality abound also. The soil is a dark, rich loam, which is very productive, and readily yields 25 bushels of wlieat, 40 bushels of oats, 40 to €0 bushels of corn, or 200 bushels of potatoes per acre, with- out fertilizers. The soil, which is naturally good, is easily improved, and a coat of lime acts like a charm upon it. The country is sparsely settled, and there is, therefore, a great deal of uncultivated and unimproved land, much of which is for 62 sale. lTnimj3rovcd lands may bo bought in large or small tracts, at prices ranging from three to ten dollars per acre, whilst improved farms command from ten to thirty dollars per acre. Notwithstanding the natural productiveness of the soil and the numerous other advantages possessed by the early ssttlers, they paid very little attention to agriculture beyond the raising of a little buckwheat, oats, and a few potatoes. In later years, however, the forests are being cleared out, farms opened up, and a large numl)er of the most intelligent and best citizens of the country are turning their attention to fanning as a bus- iness, and are growing, in addition to the crops raised by their predecessors, large crops of wheat and corn, and in addition to these, wool, maple sugar and butter are produced in large quan- tities annually. Facilities for reaching market are ample in all parts of the county. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad runs through the southern portion of the county, from east to west, for a dis- tance of thirty miles. On the southeastern border runs the West Virginia Central and Pittsburg Railroad for a distance of thirty miles or more. On the east is the Cumberland and Pennsylvania Railroad, and the IS^ational turnpike road tra- verses the northern portion of the county for a distance of twenty miles. The northern part of the coufity has access to the Pittsburg and Connellsville Railroad, a branch of which runs to Salisbury, which is located very near the ]\Iarjland and Pennsylvania line. The large number of towns along the railroads, and especially those along George's creek, in the mining region, furnish good markets for nearly all the pro- duce raised in the county. Improvements in labor-saving machinery and farming implements are keeping pace with the general advance all along the agricultural line, and nearly every farmer is provided with reapers, mowers and grain drills, as well as the latest improved plows, harrows and other nten- 63 sils. Stock-raising is one of the leading industries, and the farmers and graziers are constantly introducing new breeds of animals for the purpose of improving their stock. Beino; the highest section in the State, Garrett county i& exceptionally healthy. Malarial diseases are unknown, and invalids, especially those suffering from hay-fever, find the invigorating mountain air of great benefit. In the summer, many people from the larger cities, especially from the south and west, resort to the great health-giving resorts, Oakland and Deer Park, which are situated in this county, on the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, to recuperate. The situation of these two resorts, 2500 feet above the sea, is most pictur- esque. Oakland is a thriving place and has a population of 1,046, an increase of 14.95 per cent, over the census of ISSO. Manufactures in Garrett do not amount to a great deal, and are limited to two or three woolen factories, about the same number of tanneries, and a few lumber mills, which turn out various kinds of lumber, shingles, laths, shooks, staves, &c. The future of this county probably lies in its capacity for agri- cultural products, and not in its prospect of becoming a manu- facturing community. The time is not distant when this will be a great agricultural county. The amount of mercantile business done annually in the towns of the county would prob- ably reach the sum of -^200,000. One of the most interesting features in this connection is the opportunity aft'orded to industrious and steady immigrants and farmers of small means to procure homes for themselves and families. The sparsely settled condition of the county, the large amount of unimproved land for sale, the productive- ness of the soil, the facilities for reaching market, coupled with the advantages of climate, offer special advantages to settlers. 64 MONTGOMERY COUNTY. Montgomery borders on tlie central and southern sections of tlie State, and partaking to some extent of the characteristic features of all three divisions, presents a great variety of sur- face, soil and resources. The Potomac river forms its western and the Patuxent its northern and eastern boundary, separating it from Howard county. Frederick county is contiguous on the north, and Prince George's county and the District of Columbia on the south. Its area is 508 square miles, of which 175,000 acres are under cultivation, 60,000 in wood, and the remainder unimproved. According to the census of 1890 the population of the county was 27,185, an increase of 2,426 over the census of ISSO, or 9.80 per cent. It is divided as follows: White, 17,472; colored, 9,710. The crop statistics in 1880 were as follows: Buckwheat, 3,057 bushels, from 260 acres ; corn, 1,020,573 bushels, ii\)m 35,287 acres; oats, 59,537 bushels, from 3,126 acres; rye 17,109 bushels, from 1,785 acres; wheat, 625,702 bushels, from 35,673 acres; tobacco, 806,036 pounds, from 1,053 acres. Tlie census of 1890 shows that Montgomery, with one excep- tion, grows more wheat to the acre than any county in Mary- land, the average yield being 17^ bushels. Washington is the banner county in this regard, yielding 25f bushels j)er acre, while Frederick, which follows Montgomery in the order of production, gives an average of 17 bushels to the acre. Rockville is the county seat and the largest town in the county, having a population of 1,568, an increase of 880 over the census of 1880 or 127.91 per cent. The county has made great improvement agriculturally in recent years, and is now one of the most prosperous and progressive counties in the State. There is still, however, a good deal of unimproved land, and the county offers unusual facilities for making of comfortable homes for industrious immigrants. The soil is principally red clay sub-soil, but 65 ranges all the way fi-oin the rich loam of the river bottoms along the Potomac and its many other streams to the sandy soil near the lower edge of the county. Most of the land is highly improved, and sells for from fifty to a hundred dollars per acre, but there are sections as yet comparatively unim- proved of lirst-rate quality that can be bought for from fifteen, to thirty dollars per acre. The ground is rolling, not hilly, broken enough, however^ to keep well watered, but not marshy, with here and there a hill, the southern side of which grow the earliest and sweetest fruits and berries. Wheat, corn and hay, are the staple pro- ducts, and the amount of these produced to the acre is steadily increasing. In some sections truck gardening is extensively operated, and the markets of Washington receive a large pro- portion of their fruits, berries and vegetables fi-om this source. The success with which these efforts have been attended, indi- cates that the markets of Baltimore as well could be profitably supplied. The plentiful supply of clover and timothy which the now fertile land produces, has induced many to operate stock, grazing and dairy farms. The exhibition of stock owned in Montgomery county, displayed at the county fair, was very fine. In Washington many fine horses are owned, and during the summer, when the owners are away, the animals are sent into this county to be kept and recuperated for their use in the winter, and as the owners are willing to pay good prices, con- siderable money is thus made. Many gallons of milk and cream are daily shipped to Washington, and the B. & O. has made special arrangements to carry the milk, etc., and this with the quantity which is brought to the numerous creameries situated in the county, show that the dairy business has its in- ducements. Lying adjacent to the District of Columbia, and connected with it by the Metropolitian Branch of the Baltimore and 66 Ohio Railroad, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal and numerous electric railroads, communication with Baltimore, Washington and all parts of the United States, is very convenient One can easily shop or attend to business in those cities, going and returning the same day. The Baltimore & Oliio Railroad has twenty-seven stations to the twenty-nine miles it runs through the county, with a proportionate large number of trains. At present the B. and O. is building a southern connection through the lower part of the county, which will be of great advantage. For shipping purposes the canal is cheap and commodious. There is a convenience in this method of transportation not to be met with in railroads, that of not having to haul to a sta- tion, as the whole canal is one depot. The roads are improv- ing, and those met with near the District line and in the north- eastern section of the countj' are worthy of note. Before many years are passed, the whole county will be connected by pikes like that magnificent one built by the United States from •Georgetown to the Great Falls in this county. This road is known as the Conduit road from the fact that the water supply of Wash- ington is conveyed from the falls by pipes buried under the road- bed, with the advantage of quick communication with large cities. As the ground is naturally adapted to trucking, this industry will soon develop into immense proportions. And the climate is in keeping with all else, for winters are just cold enough to kill the disease germs and make sufhcient ice 'for use. The summers are pleasant, ^nd draw large crowds to spend the hot season. The absence of tornadoes, floods, drouths and infectious diseases show that this county has nothing to fear Irom its climatic conditions. The physicians of Washington continually send their patients into the county, and^the effect of the pure air and water, the fresh fruits and vegetables, is best known by the fact that doctors testify to their appreciation of the benefits derived. Indeed, there have lately been built extensive sanitariums, not, however, for the use of the inhabitants. 67 The social advantages of this county are beyond question. True worth and morality are the standards by which a stranger is measured, and not wealth or ancestral fame. There are amusements for all sets and classes — athletic sports, hunting and iisliing, husking matches, and church entertainments and societies, euchre parties, hops and gennans. The influx of wealth has done much to enliven, whereas the natural hospitality and un pretentiousness of the old inhabi- tants still keep the society within limits unextravagant enough for the entrance of those of moderate means. No one can complain of the scarcity of churches. Rock- ville has eight, and yet tiie neighboring villages do not suffer by comparison. There is scarcely a denomination that has not many comfortable, and, in some instances, elegant edifices, and a new^ comer need not fear that he will be forced to change his creed for want of a house of worship. Maryland, with a remarkable school system, has no county in which the children are better taught, the schools kept open longer or situated closer together. The universality of attend- ance, and the many men wlio have won fame and fortune with- out other education than that they obtained from the public schools of this county, are sufficient testimonials of their value. To those wishing a scientific or professional education, the op- portunities are remarkable. A number of well-known acade- mies and seminaries afford the best preparation, and the num- ber of students wlio attend the universities of Washington, going and returning each day, attest the convenience and prac- ticability of this course. Considering tlie wonderfully low assessment, the taxation is very low, and lately, when a new court house, costing $50,000 was erected, not a complaining voice was heard. This is good proof that the people do not regard themselves as oppressively taxed. It is i*emarkable that with the great development the county's debt should remain so small. 68 There is a great demand for good artisans and farm bands, and excellent wages are paid. The numerous streams are not surpassed in the water power they afford for all varieties of manufactories and mills, and, takins: into consideration the low taxation, the short winters and the proximity to raw material and good markets, it is plain there is money for enterprising men, who would direct their efforts to the utilization of the water power. The Great Falls of the Potomac alone have power enough to run all the mills of New England, and a large manufacturing city may confidently be looked for at that point. The large quantity of land that is continually changing handsj brings an immense amount of money into this county, and thus makes it much easier for the poor. The development of the deposits of gold, silver, mica and chrome found will add to the wealth of the county. But it is because of the surely great future of "Washington that the resi- dents of Montgomery county can rest assured that great and inestimable results will follow. The effect of proximity to the District of Columbia has al- ready been remarkable. Five or ten years ago there were from 1,300 to 1,400 acres of land, for the ,most part connected and all lying in the county, sold for $30,000. In the last live years those same tracts have been resold for^$500,000. The land as a general rule, bordering along the railroads and the district line is too expensive to offer any great induce- ments for those of moderate means, selling for from fifty dollars to five hundred dollars an acre ; but after leaving these lines for a mile or two, good and fairly improved farms can be purchased at from $20 to $30 per acre, and in some sections as low as $10 to $15 an acre. While at present the land immediate to the district and railroads only commands such enormous figures, it is only a matter of a few years when 6'J the laud more remote will be governed by these prices. And here is the chance for immigrants.| jif they have enough money to buy a farm of the laud selling for from $10 to $30 an acre, they can, with care and industry, make a good living from the start, and in a short time give their farms an attrac tivc appearance ; and then, when the boom has spread, as it surely will do, into their immediate neighborhoods, they will be able to dispose of tlieir places for a sum far beyond the original cost. Any one thinking this a visionary scheme need but study the situation to find it a sure, substantia reality. The Chautauqua Society has latji/ erj/tj 1 !• miUion-dollar building within the county, jn the IjauKs c>l . Potomac, or "the Rhine of America," as they have express- ively named it. WASHINGTON COUNTY Washington county is located in the western part of Mary land, and includes within its limits the southern portion of the famous Cumberland Yalley. This valley comprises almost the entire county. The surface of the land is rolling and in places extremely picturesque. The soil which is very strong and highly productive, is of clayey and limestone formation, with occasional streaks of slate. On the mountain ranges, however, freestone predominates. A very small quantity of good tim- ber remains, as it has been gradually cut to make room for crops. The soil is best adapted for the production of wheat, corn, oats and hay, and these crops are cultivated to the ex- . elusion of others. Very little buckwheat is raised, and no barley is sown. Tobacco has been successfully raised in several parts of the county, and the crop has compared favorably with that produced in Pennsylvania; but no serious efforts have been made to raise it as a permanent product. The exper- ience of several generations of farmers seem to prove that better results are obtained in this county from wheat and corn than any other products. 70 Washington county lias long been noted for its success in producing these cereals. During the fifties, before the west became so thickly settled, this county stood third among the counties of the United States in its production of wheat. In fact, the largest average yield an acre in a test case on record in the United States, was in this county. The yield amounted to slightly over sixty-three bushels per acre. The best land in the county lies between the South and North mountains — the two ranges of the Blue Kidge. This is entirelj' of clay and limestone formation, with the exception, however, of a strip of slate on the Conococheague Creek. From the North Mountain to the western limits of the county, which is a small section of the county, the soil is not so productive. The best land brings from sixty to one hundred dollars per acre, the price being controlled by the improvements, the fertility and the proximity to the county -seat. Along the Potomac river, excellent land can be purchased for thirty-five to fifty dollai'S. "What is known as the slate land is bringing from five to thirty dollars an acre, although recent cultivation is steadily enhanc- ing its value. This land produces wheat of an excellent quality, but the quantity is small. Fruit is now being exten- sively cultivated on this soil. The peach culture has of late years converted the mountain land into the highest priced land in the county. Formerly its market value was about one dollar an acre. At the present time, without being cleared, it readily calls for eiglit to ten dollars an acre, and with a growing peach orchard it will bring one hundred dollars an acre. The largest peach-grower in the world — a resident of Delaware — gave it recently as his opinion that the Blue Ridge Peach of this county surpassed in color and flavor any fruit of the kind grown in the United States. There are parts of Washington county, near Pen-Mar, where the Western Maryland Railroad runs through miles of peach 71 orchards as continuous as in the peach belt of the peninsula. During the past season much of the forest growth on the moun- tain sides has [given place to regularly-planted rows of trees, and orchards are gradually covering the whole face of the bor- der territory in,- Pennsylvania, as well as extending down into Frederick and Carroll counties of Maryland, so that in a few years there wiir!,be as much business during the summer for railroads in Western Maryland as on the Eastern Shore. The time is not far distant either when every hillside will be cov- ered with orchards and ,. vineyards, for fruits of all kinds adapted to our latitude, sucii as apples, peaches, pears, cherries, grapes, &c., flourish in all the western counties, and the culti- vation of the peach in the mountain region has given value to lands which only a few years ago were worthless, except for the timber and bark of the forests on them. The difference which the change has already made in the aspect of the coun- try is as much a surprise as a pleasure to the eye. Order and the evidences of systematic labor have so transformed much of the mountain land, that the Blue Ridge region has lost a good deal of the wild appearance which was formerly its main characteristic. But the change does not mar the picturesque- ness of tlie mountain scenery in the least. On the contrary, it adds pretty details, and tones down the wild and rugged spurs of the range and brings the hills into harmony with tiie valley by a continuous strain of prosperous agriculture. Peach orchards thrive equally on the mountain sides and tops and in the valley, and they are gradually, in company with the grape, assuming sway at sucli a rate as in a few years to predominate. But for the AVestern Maryland liailroad, there would have been little or none of the remarkable development of the Blue Mountain region, agriculturally or otherwise. Baltimoreans are accustomed to the Pen-Mar and summer resort travel from the city to the mountains, but they are not aware of how large the travel is daily during the summer season from the 72 prosperous border counties of Pennsylvania, from Hanover, Gettysburg and other more distant points in that State. It may be reasonably expected that when the Potomac Yalley link is completed from Williamsport to Cherry Pun, and the York and Reading and IJarrisburg extensions are completed, not only general traffic will flow toward Baltimore, but that travel from a large area of the rich State of Pennsylvania will seek our mountain resorts, and that capital will come, too, to help the development, now so well under way. For summer gojourning there could not be a more accessible or more beautiful mountain region than Pen-Mar and the Blue Mountain House overlooking the grand Cumberland Valley, and the magniflcent new hotel at Buena Vista Springs, perched on a mountain spur like a great castle. This building is a grand object, not dwarfed or made insignificant by the natural surroundings, but, on the contrary, fitting the scene and supplying a motive for the picture. Besides these extensive establishments, there are a number of smaller hotels and boarding houses, which have all been put up by Baltimore city and local capital and energy. The number of resorts already in the mountains presages further enterprise in this direction. Those which are in the Blue Ridge region will in time make it necessary for others to be put up, for the region is the natural resort of the populous towns and cities of the District of Columbia, of Maryland, of Delaware and of a large part of Pennsylvania. In order to get the full benefit of mountain air and to enjoy the grandeur of mountain scenery, surrounded b}' every comfort and luxury, it is no longer neces- sary to make lengthy and expensive journeys to the northward. Here, from three States and the District of Columbia, the beautiful blue mountains of Maryland-Pennsylvania are ac- 43essible in a few hours. The farms of Washington county contain from fifty to five and six hundred acres. Very few of the latter farms now 73 remain. The average contain about one hundred and fifty acres. The average yield of wlieat throughout the county is about twenty-five bushels to an acre, although crops as high as forty bushels have frequently been gathered. The average pro- duction of corn is fifty bushels to an acre. In 1891, how- ever, fifty flour barrels to an acre of this crop were produced on small and highly-cultivated patches. Farming throughout the county is conducted on intelligent and scientific principles, and the very best improved machinery is used. Of late years many farmers have been using up their inferior corn and other products in fattening cattle over winter for market. These stall fed cattle are generally purchased in West Yirginia, although a large number are raised in this county. The raising of poultry has become an additional industry, and considerable attention is now given to it. This is because of the easy access to the city markets. No county has such excel- lent facilities for the transportation of its products as "Washing- ton county has. Four railroads, which make dii'ect connection with important trunk lines, traverse the greater part of the country in all directions, and the western or remaining portion, is paralleled by the main stem of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- road and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. The canal follows the entire southern trend of the county, and offers an excel- lent local market and facilities for shipment of farm products. Every farm in the county is within easy reach of a railroad. Besides the railroads, this county possesses one of the finest systems of macadamized roads in the country. Eight pikes radiate from Hagerstown, and these are intersected by others in different parts of the county. Within the^last fifteen years great attention has been be- stowed upon fine-bred stock. Tlie finest strains of imported 74 Percheroii, Clydesdale, French coach and standard hred horses are now owned in large numbers throughout the county, while nearly every farm is stocked with Durham, Short-horn, Jersey, Hereford, Ilolstein or other imported cattle. This is true also in reference to hogs and sheep. Hagei'stown is one of the most important horse markets in the country. Local firms ship almost weekly large consignments to Washington, Balti- more, and as far east as Boston. Most of the seaboard cities are within a distance of three to nine hours from Hagerstown. The local market is, however, rapidly developing. Hagers- town, the county seat, is already an important railroad center, and it is fast becoming a large manufacturing place. New industries are springing up rapidly, and before many years it will be the principal manufacturing locality in the State, outside of Balti- more. Besides the industries whicli are backed by local capital, several extensive foreign ])]ants have already been located there, and others are in contemplation. At least two thousand per- sons are now engaged in the manufacturing enterprises of Hagerstov;n. Washington county, besides its generous soil for agriculture, contains good iron ore in paying quantities, ex- cellent brick clay, quarries of the very best quality of blue limestone for building purposes, and large deposits of cement rock, which is now being extensively converted into the very best hydraulic cement. The water system is very extensive. The Antietam and Conococheague creeks, witli their tributaries, drain the greater portion of the county, while the Potomac/Friver Hows the en- tire length of the county on the south. Innumerable springs and running streams of pure and wholesome water are found in every section of the county. There is scarcely a farm that has not running water upon it. The farms are generally im- proved with large brick and stone buildings. Of recent years, however, there have been many frame barns and houses erected. 75 The society throughout the fanning districts is sociable, in- telligent and refined, and will compare favorably with any other rural section of the country. The climate is excellent. It is the most healthy section of the state ; an epidemic is scarcely known. Churches of different denominations are located all over the county and are within a short distance of every home. The school system is most excellent. The teachers are intelligent and painstaking. There are now 137 school houses owned by the count}'. In addition to the houses, the county rents 210 rooms for educational purposes. Four new school buildings were erected during the past year. The value of the school property owned by the county is $162,638, and the disbursements for school purposes during the year ending July, 1891, were $68,921.50. The rate of taxation is: State ITf cents, and county, 78 cents, on the one hundred dollars. The area of the county is 435 square miles. According to the census of 1890, the population was 39,782, an increase of 1,221 since the census of 1880, There are in the county 37,191 white, and 2,590 colored persons. There are a number of thriving towns in the county. Hagerstown, the county seat, is beautifully situated in full view of the mountains, is supplied with gas and water, has two fine large hotels and a number of smaller ones, many handsome churches, stores and private residences, banks, etc. It has a population of 10,118, an increase of 3,491, over the census of 1880, or 52.68 per cent. Williamsport is the next largest town, with a population of 1,277, and Sharpsburg comes next, with a population of 1,163. Hancock, situated on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and the great National Pike is also a pros- perous place. The town is stretched about a mile along the pike and contains a variety of industries. Here are located several saw mills, a sumac mill, and the famous Round Top 76 cement works of Messrs Bridges & Ilenderson. The town contains a Catholic, a Protestant Episcopal, a Methodist, a Presb3'terian, and a colored church. The scenery in this locality is picturesque and there are many places of historic interest. Old Fort Frederick, the last relic of the French and Indian war in Maryland, is situated a short distance from the town, and the house of Michael Cresap, the Indian fighter, is still standing in fair preservation. THE EASTERN SHORE. HOME OF THE DIAMOND-BACK TERRAPIN, THE OYSTER AND THE PEACH. The Eastern Shore of Maryland is one of the three sections into which the i^eninsula formed by the Chesapeake and Delaware bays and the Atlantic ocean is divided. The other two are the State of Delaware, contiguous on the east, and the Eastern Shore of Virginia, contiguous on the south. The Eastern Shore of Maryland, comprises the counties of Cecil, Kent, Queen Anne's, Caroline, Talbot, Dorchester, Wicomico Somerset aiid Worcester. It is abundantly v/atered by half a dozen noble rivers, with many imjDortant tributaries, which with the waters of the bay, abound in choice iish and oysters* The famous diamond-back terrapin finds its chosen habitat in Eastern Shore waters, and the choicer varieties of wild duck, besides other game, are usually abundant in season. The soil is generally level and easily tilled. It is specially adapted to the cultivation of peaches and other fruits, which are I'aised in immense quantities, aud to the raising of cereals, hay, live stock and a great variety of vegetables. The Eastern Shore counties are all provided with railroad facilities, which it is 77 proposed to increase by the construction of a line down the peninsula parallel to the Delaware Railroad. The Annapolis and Eastern Shore Kailroad running through the lower counties, with a water terminus opposite Annapolis has been completed and is now running. There has been a consider- able immigration from the North and West in recent years, but there is still plenty of room. This section of the State has made rapid progress since the war. TERRAPINS. The Chesapeake diamond-back terrapin is as widely and as favorably known and appreciated as the Chesapeake ducks. They are caught all along the shores down as fer as Accomac county, Va., on one side, and the Rappahannock river on the other. Below these points the water is too salty to produce a prime terrapin, as it toughens them. It is estimated that at the present time, 5^1,500,000, worth of terrapin is caught out of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries every year. As the price averages fully $30 a dozen, this represents GOO, 000 terrapins annually. During the season over 500 men are engaged in catching them. They are caught on both sides of the bay, from the Rappa- hannock to Baltimore. They are found wherever the water cresses grow, and the Chesapeake Bay is the best body of water for this grass in the world. There are several methods of catching the terrapin, one is by dredge, another by a seine, another by a net, and still another by a three pronged stick. With the latter, the catcher prods in the mud until he feels something move and then he reaches down for the diamond- back. THE OYSTER TRADE. The oyster industry of the Chesepeake Peninsula, when considered in its several branches of plantinsr, dredofinir. tono-- ing and packing, is something wonderful. It gives emploj^- ment to over fifty thousand people, and it is estimated that $10,000,000, of capital is employed and $15,000,000 of busi- 78 ness is done annually in this department of Maryland's industries. There are about one thousand boats, of an average ton- nage of fifty tons each, engaged in dredging for oysters for the Baltimore market and supplying vessels for other mar- kets. The average quantity dredged by each one of these boats during the oyster season is four thousand seven hun- dred and forty-six bushels. There are also fifteen hundred and fifty-five canoes engaged in tonging for oysters, and it is estimated that these canoes catch one-third as many oys- ters with tongs as are dredged by the one thousand boats. The oyster season begins about the middle of October, and lasts during the entire v.-inter, when the condition ot the harbor will permit the entrance of vessels. The num- ber of tin cans used in the business is estimated at twenty millions per annum. The cans are made at shops where nothing else is done, but many of the largest packers employ can makers, and have their own shops for the accommo- dation of their own business. The following statistics are extracted from a table which was carefully prepared for the use of Mr. C. S. Maltby, and it makes an interesting exhibit, showing the quantity of oysters used annually, where obtained, and the quantity assigned to Baltimore. The total number of bushels used is e'stimated at 6,945,000, of which 4,880,000 bushels are caught in Maryland waters, and 2,065,000 bushels in Vir- ginia waters. The number caught by dredging is estimated at 4,746,334, and with tongs 2,198,666 bushels. The amount assigned to Baltimore is used as follows: Bushels. Estimated quantity packed raw 1,875,000 Estimated quantity preserved 1,360,000 Estimated quantity city and country trade in shell 625,000 Total 3,860,000 79 By far the greater portion of the oysters caught in the Chesapeake bay and the streams emptying into it are brought to the surface by the dredger, and so important has this industry become that legishitive action regulating it has biennially come up before each session of the General Assembly of this State. To enforce the law, the State has a navy, consisting of four steamers, three schooners and seven sloops, which is supported by the $250,000, annually paid into the state treasury for dredgers' licenses. An oyster dredger (referring to the vessel) is almost al- ways a two-masted schooner. When her windlasses are removed from the deck, the only difference between her and any similar craft is about midships on both sides, where the rail is cut down to the deck, for four or five feet and an iron roller inserted flush with the deck, over which the dredafe line works. A pungy is properly, smaller than a dredging schooner, but of the same rig, and sometimes has no rail, but a strong stanchion is placed just abaft the roller. Each vessel is ])rovided with two iron windlasses, which are fastened to the deck near the openings in the rail. As the law prohibits the use of steam in casting or hauling the dredges, these windlasses are arranged so as to admit of four men w-orking upon each, two on each side of each windless. The handles slide upon an iron rod, and as soon as the dredge is on deck a rapid motion unships the handles, and the cylinder of the windlass can revolve as the dredge goes out, while the handles remain stationary. The dredges are iron bags capable of holding a little over two bushels. They are formed of rings connected with S hooks. They are about thirty inches square, and upon the lower edge of the opening are provided with an iron bar with projecting teeth, which scrapes the bottom of the stream as the dredge is being drawn after the boat, and guides the oysters into its mouth, which is held open by an 80 iron frame with bars projecting from each corner. These bars meet about four feet from the opening, and at their place of contact a chain is fastened, to which is attached a rope which goes around the windhtsg and is known as the dredge line. This line varies in length from twenty-five to sixty feet, according to the depth of water in which the dredging is done. The only other instrument used in dredging is the cap- tain's sounding pole, a slim rod about thirty feet long which he prods up and down in the water, in order to ascertain whether the vessel is over an oyster bed or not. The crew of an oyster dredger usually consists of a cap- tain and eight men. The captain is seldom owner of the vessel in which he sails, but works it on shares. Most of the schooners and pungies sailing out of Baltimore are the property of persons who own a fleet of vessels, sometimes twenty or more. Many of these owners are proprietors of houses of entertainment, where they board their captains and crews wdien on shore. The hardships undergone by dredgers are indescribable. Hour after hour, in all kinds of weather, they work at the windlass pulling in two hundred or more pounds of oysters and the same weight of rope and dredge, and when that labor ceases, they are busy for hours more culling on deck or in the hold. This work is equally as tedious, tiresome and laborious as that at the windlass. In a stooping position with their feet about eighteen inches apart, they separate the shells from the oysters, dropping the former in front of them, while the latter they throw some distance behind them. Often after a night's hard work and but a brief rest they And the deck-load of oysters frozen in a solid mass. Then, with everything covered with a glare of ice, amidst a cutting sleet which freezes as it comes down, they are compelled to separate by hand each oyster from the other, and olttimes, with frozen limbs and aching backs and heads 81 they toil on unremittingly to save the cargo they have caught. When a vessel arrives upon the ground on which it is pro- posed to dredge, the captain takes his position at the wheel, while the crew of eight men stand hy the two windlasses. With his sounding pole the captain feels the bottom of the stream, the vessel all the while sailing as rapidly as the pre- vailing breeze will admit, and when convinced that he is over oysters, will cry out, 'Mieave." Immediately, the dredges are caught up and thrown over the sides of the ves- sel. After a brief interval, a second order is given — "wind up" — when the windlass is manned and the dredge brout^ht up on deck. The oysters and its other contents are dum]3ed out and shoveled out of the way, while the dredge is ao-ain thrown, and again returned to the deck. This is continued until the captain finds that he is leaving the oyster bed when the vessel is put about and returns, dredging parallel to her former course. ISTot all are oysters that come up ia the dredge. Sometimes over half or more of the contents are shells, and many curious things are also brought to the surface. One, two or more crabs frequently form a part of the catch; seaweed, fish, debris of various kind are also brought to the surface. Oysters are found adhering to all kinds of articles — pieces of iron, wood, leather and glass are found covered with bivalves of all sizes. If the dredgino- is done in the daytime, the oysters are culled as rapidly as possible as fast as caught; if at night, they are held until daylight. iSTo rest is taken as long as the wind blows except a brief interval for meals. Most of the oysters brought to Baltimore by dredgers are sold to raw and steam packers, the largest sizes to the former and the smaller to the latter. The oysters are not sorted by the captains or crew, but are sold as they are, for so much a bushel. If they present a fair appearance and are apparently large in size, they naturally bring a much higher price than if small. They are divided into three 6 82 classes by the shnckers in the packing houses, and are known as "Selects," "Medium" and "Standards." These are packed in tin cans and buckets, kegs and barrels. Some dealers pick out the largest oysters before they are shucked and ship them in the shell or sell them for home consumption A bushel of shell oysters will generally produce a gallon when shucked, for which the shucker receives from fifteen to twenty cents per gallon. Rapid shuckers, if constantly employed for twelve hours a day, can open from fifteen to twenty bushels of oysters. In the steam-houses the oysters are slightly cooked before they are opened, and the work is mostly done by women and children. Most of the oysters used by restaurants and hotels in Balti- more and elsewhere are secured by tongs or nippers, and as a rule are superior in size to those caught by the dredges. The tongmen form a very large arm}' of men engaged in catching oysters in Maryland waters, and while the quality and size of their product is much superior to that caught by dredgers, it is infinitely smaller, forming but a trifling pro- portion of what is annually taken from the bay. Tongs are used only in shallow water, and the oysters are caught from a small boat, generally operated by two men, one on either side. The tongs consist of a pair of rakes with the teeth curved inward and attached to wooden handles from fifteen to twenty feet long, which are joined by a pin aliout one- third of the distance from the iron. The tongman has a platform placed amidships across his little craft, and when over his beds he plunges his tongs into the water open, and working the handles secures a few oysters, not more than half a peck, and, closing the tongs, brings them up to the platform on his boat, where he culls them and makes a second dip. This he repeats until he has secured a boat- load, generally not over half-a-dozen bushels as the result of the labor of two men for an entire day. Planted 03'sters caught with tongs are very large and fine, and bring high 83 prices. The largest and finest oysters brought to the Balti- more market are caught with nippers, one at a time, in clear, shallow water, where they can be seen by the man sailing over them in a small boat. In addition to the oysters caught by dredgers and others in Maryland waters for consumption, there are many thousand bushels annually caught in the Chesapeake Bay for the purpose of transplanting in other waters, and this is, in itself, no inconsiderable branch of the business. They propagate rapidly, and mature in three or four years. It is estimated that the total annual oyster crop of the world is 8,903,000,000, of which ]S"orth America furnishes 5,572,000,000 bushels, the balance being divided among other countries. THE PEACH INDUSTRY. Fifty years ago the cultivation of peaches for the markets, was unknown in Maryland and Delaware. Only in certain sections of New Jersey was this interest looked upon as of any importance. The American people were not then such fruit eaters as they are now, and the limited supply was sufficient for the demand. As time progressed and rapid transit increased, the demand increased enormously, and the cultivation of peaches as a business grew into importance in both Delaware and Maryland. Men who had been indiffer- ent farmers, engaged in peach culture and grew suddenly rich. The brilliant success of different peach growers, cre- ated in the minds of the Delaware and Maryland land own- ers, the impression that peaches would prove for many years to be a most profitable crop, and as a result, evei*y section of the peninsula, w^hich comprises Delaware, the Eastern Shore of Maryland and of Virginia, is more or less interested in the cultivation of peaches, and it may safely be calculated that they are now growing on that peninsula vipwards of twenty millions of peach trees. 84 It is estimated that there are upwards of sixty thousand acres of land under peach trees in^Marjland. This land is the best on the peninsula, estimated to be worth'lift}' dol- lars per acre or $3,000,000. To ship this fruit requires two millons of baskets, or nearly that Inian}^ which costs $250,- 000. The money invested in necessary implements for cul- tivating and shipping the peaches to market, is estimated at ten dollars for every one hundred trees, or $600,000. The cultivation of peach orchards and tlie picking of the fruit, gives employment to upwards of twenty-iive thousand laborers. " The growing to maturity of a peach orchard re- quires the expenditure of at least thirty dollars per acre, or upwards of $1,800,000 on the orchards of Maryland. Near- ly six millions of dollars of capital are now invested by these growers in peach culture. Among the heavy con- sumers of peaches during the season are the canners. This industry uses annually many thousand baskets of choice fruit. In Baltimore the canners are the principal buyers in the market; but after all the great bulk of peaches are eaten from the hand. And in past seasons it has been found that, however great the supply of good peaches was, there was always demand enough for them to effect sales at some price or other, of all that were offered on the mar- ket. And it has been only the poor and worthless fruit which has been thrown away. The culture of small fruit and vegetables is rapidly spread- ing on the Eastern Shore, the soil and climate of wdiich are specially .adapted to their successful production. With the constantly increasing facilities for reaching markets, and the steady accession of new population with the important re- sources of cash capital, energy, enterprise and the know- ledge of new methods and appliances, the Eastern Shore counties are pushing forward with remarkable rapidity,. and as there is very little waste and unimprovable land they promise to become very soon a vast garden spot for the cultivation mainly of fruits and vegetables, although the 85 o-rowins: of f steamers to the metropolis of the State, while the northern and southern parts of the county each have railroad facilities for placing their products m a few hours in the markets of Philadelphia, New York and Boston. Improved farm machinery has within the last decade annihilated the more primitive appliances in that relation, 100 while farm stock of all kinds has received its full and just measure of attention. There has been a steady tide of immigration from Northern States into Caroline county since the war, but there is room for mauy more settlers. The manufactures of Caroline county, except the exten- sive canning interests, are meagre. The burning of charcoal is an industry in the lower part of the county, and the pine forests north of Federalsburgh have yielded many tons of the product, and from the ground thus cleared farms have sprung as if by magic. A kindling- wood factory, affording employment for several scores of persons, has for some time been in successful operation at Federalsburgh. Roller mills for the manufacture of the patent process flour have also been recently built at Denton. They have a grinding capacity of 65 barrels of flour daily. By far the leading industry of the county is its extensive fruit-packing interest. The pioneers in this enterprise are A. B. Roe and Joseph H. Bernard. Both have been emi- nently successful, and of late years their establishments have packed jointly nearly one million cans per year. Other can- neries have since started at Greensboro, Marydel, Bethlehem, Choptank and American Corner. Peaches and tomatoes are the staples, and many acres are devoted to growing the latter, the packers paying ^6 per ton for them. Whortle- berries, corn, peas and pears, are also canned successfully. These houses give employment to about 1,500 persons. Fruit-evaporating is also an important industry, and many hundred pounds of fruit are annually- produced from evaporators that stand near almost every large orchard, to use the fruit when prices are too low for shipping. The retail mercantile business of the county amounts to almost ^1,000,000 per annum. Of this the business of each of the towns of Greensboro, Denton, Hillsboro and Federalsburg amounts to $100,000 yearly. Northern immigration has greatly aided the progress of the county, and some of these immigrants are among the most successful farmers and mer- 101 chants. The mild clunate, cheap lands and the ease with which these can be cultivated are still drawing settlers from Pennsylvania, IS'ew York, the iSTew England States, and even Canada. The popnlation of Caroline county, according to the cen- sus of 1890, was 13,903, divided as follows: White, 10,008; colored, 3,895. The area of the county is 315 square miles, TALBOT COUNTY. Talbot is the most central of the nine counties of the Eastern Shore. It is bounded on three sides by navigable gait water. The rivers, creeks and estuaries tributary to tlie Chesapeake and Eastern Bays penetrate every section of the county, and there is not a farm even in the '^interior" over three miles from navigation. Its area is 285 square miles. The Delaware and Chesapeake Railroad, steamboat lines on the Choptank, Third Haven, Tuckahoe, Miles and Wye rivers and the Eastern Bay, and sailing vessels on all the waters furnish transportation facilities. The soil is princi- pally a red clay loam in the northern and western parts of the county, and a white oak in the salt water sections. Farm lands are worth from $25 to $125 an acre, according to location and condition of improvement. The cereals, hay, peaches and other orchard fruits, with small fruits, berries, and vegetables, are the products. Large yields of all these products are raised in Talbot. At present, fruit-growing and truck culture are receiving much attention, and are becoming very profitable. Talbot farmers J^eep up with the times in the use of all the improved farm implements and machinery, and new inventions or improvements are given practical trial here as Boon as anywhere else in the country. Stock-raising, includ- ing horses, cattle, sheep, and swine, receive particular atten- tion, several Talbot farmers being importers and breeders on a largce scale. 102 Talbot is deficient in manufactures. There are a straw- board paper itiill, two flour mills, two fertilizer factories, a planing-mill, a brick and tile yard, a broom factory and a basket factory at Easton ; a ship-yard at Oxford, and three at St. Michael's; fruit and oyster canneries at St. Michael's and Oxford; large lumber and planing mills at Tunis' Mills, and smaller ones elsewhere; a brickyard at St. Michael's, and also at Oxford, and grist mills in various sections. It is believed there are peculiar advantages in the county for the establishment of w^oolen mills, flour mills on a large scale, an agricultural implement factory and other industries. The population of Talbot county by the census of 1890 was white 12,148; colored 7,687; tolal 19,736. Talbot has for several years been an attractive section to immigrants. The climate, the soil, the character of the peo- ple, its splendid schools and numerous churches, its trans- portation facilities, its accessibility to New York, Philadel- phia, Baltimore and Washington, its healthfulness, are amongst its advantages, and in its population of indepen- dent, thrifty and prosperous citizens are many who have come to Talbot from other States and countries since 1870. The incorporated towns are Easton, population 2,939, St. Michael's, population 1,329, Trappe and Oxford, with a population of 1305. Cordova, Eoyal Oak, Tunis' Mills, Hambleton, Wittman, Longwood, Matthews, McDaniel, Wye Mills, Skipton, Sherwood and Island City, are thriving villages. Easton has a business ranging from a million to a million and a half dollars annually, and has some of the hand- somest and largest stores and other business establishments to be found on the peninsula. Thearea of country tradethat seeks Easton is very large, embracing all orf Talbot, a large portion of Caroline, and parts of Dorchester and Queen Anne's counties. Oxford and St. Michael's, wdth their ship- yards and railways and large oyster and crop industries and mercantile trade, are prosperous towns when "times are good;" but being situated on peninsulas, with no back country, and with facilities that make it almost as easy to 103 go to the city to do shopping as to do it in town, the mer- cantile business is restricted in both these towns. Trappe has a large and wealthy section of farming country to draw from, and can show a business of §150,000 a year. DORCHESTER COUNTY. Dorchester county has an area of 610 square miles, and is bounded on the north by Caroline county and the Choptank river, which separates it from Talbot county, on the east by Delaware and the iNanticoke river, separating it from Wi- comico, on the south by the waters of Somerset county, and on the west by the Chesapeake bay. According to the cen- sus of 1890 the population was 24,843, divided as follows: white, 16,035; colored, 8,808. The soil varies from stiff clay to sand and black loam. The surface is generally level, but easy of drainage, and in the northern sections is somewhat undulating, giving rise to some water-power, which is utilized for saw and grist- mill purposes. Marl is found in large quantities, possessing excellent fertilizing qualities. The price of land varies, according to the location, from $5 to §50 per acre, the average price about $25. The staples are wheat and corn, but oats, rye, potatoes, and the choicest fruits and berries are also p;-oduced in large quantities, and find a ready market by steamers to Baltimore, and by rail to Phila- delphia, New York and other Northern and Western markets. The facilities for transportation are unexcelled. The county can be almost circumnavigated, and is also cut up with many inlets and creeks, where the lu>furies of the water, with wild fowl abound, making many desirable water-sites, and affording to a large majority the means of transportation by steamer and sailing packets, almost at the farmers' doors. Two daily lines of steamers to and from Baltimore — the Maryland Steamboat Company and the Choptank Steamboat Company — touch at points bordering the Choptank. On the Little Choptank, which traverses a 104 fertile and prosperous section, a different line of steamers to and from Baltimore also plies, while the Nanticoke river, which forms the dividing line between Dorchester and Wicomico, also furnishes excellent steam transportation for freight and passengers through the steamers of the Nanti- coke Steamboat Company. The northern section of the county is penetrated by the Cambridge and Seaford Rail- road, which connects at Seaford with the Delaware Road. The character of the soil is so diversified that it is capable of producing any and all classes of produce, but is more especially adapted to trucking. Within the past few years Dorchester county has largely improved in its methods of farming by the introduction of machinery. Great interest IS manifested in stock-raising, and the grade of stock has increased 100 per cent. The manufacturing interests are as yet limited, but in- creasing. The facilities are inviting. Canning oysters, fruits and vegetables are carried on at Cambridge, Vienna, East New Market, Secretary, and at other points. Cam- bridge is the largest town on the Eastern Shore, and the imost prosperous. According to the census of 1890, it con- tained 4,192 persons, an increase of 1,930 over the census of 1880, or more than 85 per cent. At Cambridge there are several phosphate factories and a large flouring and hominy mills. At Cambridge and other points there are large quantities of oak, pine and hickory timber. Ship- building is also carried on. The general mercantile busi- ness transacted in the several towns of Dorchester county will amount by estimate to |12,225,000. The inducements for industrious immigrants are most excellent. The oyster interests conflict greatly with farming on account of scarcity of labor, caused by the n)ore lucrative employment to be obtained during part of the year in the oyster trade. There are many acres of languishing land which could be pur- chased at a cheap price and made to yield abundant crops. The people are genial and hospitable, and there is a liberal 105 provision of schools and churclies of various (leno:ninations. Tiie climate is healthy. WICOMICO COUNTY. Wicomico county, in the southern part of the Eastern Shore, is contiguous to Dorchester county on the north and west, the State of Delaware on^the north; Worcester county on the east, and Somerset county on the south. Its area is 369 square miles. The soil is of great variety. In that portion of the county bounded by the Pocoraoke river on the east and the Delaware line on the north and northeast, a black loam soil is found, which is the most productive corn and oat land in the county. In the sections bordering on the Wicomico and Pocomoke Railroad, where the land is higher, grass is grown abundantly ,;'and in dry seasons the strawberry crop is large. In the western section of the county, composed of Sails bury, Quantico, Tyaskin, Barren Creek and Sharptown dis- tricts, bounded by the Wicomico and Nanticoke rivers, the soil is greatly diversified. From the town of Salisbury to Rockawalking, and from that point on a line running north and south to the two rivers, the lands are elevated, the soil of a light sandy loam, and for early vegetables, small fruits and peaches, this section has not its equal for production on the peninsula. Wheat is also grown here with some success, as much as 20 and 25 bushels per acre being raised by pro- gressive farmers, and the melon crop is extensive. The land southwest of Rockawalking, taking in Quantico district and a part of Tyaskin, is stitf, of white and red clay, V7ell adapted to corn, wheat, oats, grasses and anything that a stiff soil will produce. The wheat and clover fields in this section wnll compare favorably with those of any of the upper counties. Peaches, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and peas are now being raised extensively and successfully. In those parts of Tyaskin, Quantico, Barren Creek and Sharptown districts, bordering on Nanticoke river, where 106 land is ligbt, watermelons are the most profitable crop. More than one million melons are shipped from this section annually to Baltimore and Northern markets. Land in the sections described ranges in price from §10 to $50 per acre, depending entirely on the state of improvements and proximity to shipping points. Sharptown, Riverton, Barren Creek, Qiiantico, Tyaskin and Nanticoke, towns in the western part of the county, depend largely for transportation on steamboats and vessels. The largest part of the perishable fruit raised, however, in the vicinity of some of these towns, is hauled to Salisbury or Delmar, a distance of ten or twelve miles, to be shipped by rail to Northern markets via N. Y., P. and N. Railroad, and the P. and D, Railroad. The steamer Enoch Pratt, Maryland Steamboat Company, trades on the Wicomico river between Salisbury and Baltimore. The farmers on both sides of this river, below Salisbury, ship their fruit by this route to Baltimore. Transportation facilities for the eastern part of the county are supplied by the N. Y., P. and N. Railroad, and also by the Wicomico and Pocomoke Railroad. Perishable fruit is sliipped exclusively to the big northern markets. The necessity for improved farm machinery is beginning to be generally felt, ana the latest implements are being rapidly introduced. The principal manufacturing industry of the county is the lumber business. About 14,000,000 feet of planed lumber is manufactured annually. Of this quantity Salis- bury has nearly 8,000,000. Independent of this, the firm of E. E. Jackson & Co. uses between 8,000,000 and 9,000,000 feet of Virginia boards for making oil cases. A large quantity of the home-made lumber is utilized by different factories in manufacturing peach baskets and strawberry crates and boxes. This business is growing extensively, and nearly every town has its factory. There are large quantities, and it maybe an inexhaustible supply, of bog iron ore, just above Barren Creek Springs, 107 that awaits enterprise and capital for their development. On the streams are several mills, with an adequate supply of water for many naanufacturinj^ purposes. Salisbury, the county seat, is one of the most flourishing and enterprising towns on the peninsula. Although nearly destroyed by tire several years ago, it has been almost entirely rebuilt and improved in appearance. The annual volume of its mercantile business is estimated at $1,000,000. There are also a number of other prosperous towns, and the county is progressing in all directions. In the variety of its soil, mildness of climate, excellent facilities of transporta- tion, and cheapness of unimproved lands, Wicomico otters special inducements to immigrants. The population of Salisbury is 2,905, an increase of 12.55 per cent, over the census of 1880. The population of the county, according to the census of 1890, was 19,930, divided as follows : Whites, 14,600; colored, 5,330. SOMERSET COUNTY. Somerset county is the southernmost county of tlie Eastern Shore. It is bounded on the north by Wicomico, on the east by Wicomico and Worcester, on the south by Pocomoke river and sound, and on the west by Chesapeake bay. The area, including islands, is 526 square miles. The system of farming in Somerset county has, in the last ten years, undergone many changes, and the great wheat harvest, which in other days was the busiest season of the year, has, to a large extent, given place to what is commonly called the trucking season, when the strawberries, peas, wax-beans, potatoes, etc., follow each other in quick succession to market. With these developments, new opportunities are offered to the man of moderate means and small quantities of land, to make farming profitable. Being the southernmost county of the Eastern Shore, the mild climate and soils are well adapted to fruit growing and trucking; this branch of farming has grown to large propor- 108 tions. la 1858 a two-horse wagon would convey at a single load? all the fruits and vegetables shipped to the market each day from Somerset. Now the shipments reach seventy- five carloads per day in the heavy part of the season. This enables the large landholder to diversify his crops, and the smaller ones to make farming profitable. Strawberries make the most important of all the crops, known as trucking crops, the average of the crop per acre being about ^150, clear of gathering and marketing, in a favorable year. The soil, being mostly of the pipe-clay, and the loose black kind, with some mixture of red clay, is specially adapted to the growth of such produce. Land can be purchased at almost any price from |10 to $50 per acre, according to location, improvements and the state of cultivation. The soil is also adapted to the growth of hay, and this branch of farming, though much neglected, could be made profitable. The cleared lands are capable of being divided into smaller farms to advantage, and w^oodland abounds that can be pur- chased at reasonably small sums and easily reduced to a good state of cultivation, thus affording opportunities to industrious immigrants that are perhaps unknown to many who seek more distant tields of labor. The canning industry in the county is 'quite an important item to farmers near the packing- houses, of which there are several in the county. The pack of the county is about half a million cans of peaches, toma- toes, berries, &c., but principally tomatoes. There are two roller flour mills, one at Princess Anne, the other at West- over. These, with several steam saw-mills, are the principal manufacturing industries. There are many peach orchards in the county. The trees grow splendidly on the red clay and sandy loam soils, and bear tine fruit. The opinion with Delaware peach-growers is gaining strength that the peach section is fast moving down the peninsula. The death of trees by yellows, and vast quantities of premature fruit in many orchards in Delaware appears to support the opinion. The Gulf stream 109 by its approach here to the land, the isothermal line falling a few miles south of Cristield, situated in the southernmost part of the county, renders the climate mild in winter softens the breezes of summer, and occasions the best cli- matic condition for the early vigorous growth of fruits and vegetables. The several rivers and creeks and^the Tangier Sound, where the finest oysters grow, aiford ample water transpor- tation to Baltimore by steamers and sailing vessels, havino- the Eastern Shore Steamboat Company from Cristield, the Maryland Steamboat Company from Salisbury, andj^the Manokin River Steamboat Company from Princess Anne. The county has unsurpassed transportation facilities by*the New York, Philadelphia and Norfolk Railroad to northern and western markets. It may be safely said that nowhere in the rural districts of Maryland is labor better rewarded than throughout Somer- set county. In winter the various branches of the oyster trade give employment to hundreds who would otherwise be without work, and in summer the crabbing interest has grown to be an industry that will almost rival the oyster trade in profit, while during the strawberry season a suffi- cient number of laborers cannot be secured from the county's borders to reap the crop, and hundreds are brought from Virginia and adjoining counties, and receive good wages. An excellent feature of this kind of labor also is that it is distributed among all classes, and every man, woman and child get their respective share of the profits. From present indications it would seem that Somerset county is destined to have a large acreage of vegetable and fruit-producing gardens, and when this is accomplished, and the vast resources which nature has furnished in the oyster bottom which lines the county's shores have been properly and judiciously cultivated, there is no reason why Somerset should not be one of the most progressive counties in the State. The principal towns are Princess Anne, the county 110 seat, and Crisfield, which in recent years has become an im- portant depot of the oyster trade. According to the census of 1890, Crisfield has a census of 1,565, an increase of 68.72 per cent., since the census of 1880. xVccording to the census of 1890 the population of the county was 24,155 divided as follows : white, 14,502 ; colored, 9,653. "WORCESTER COUNTY. Worcester county, in the extreme southeastern portion of the Eastern Shore, is the only county in Maryland that borders on the Atlantic, and contains Maryland's only seaside. Its area is 475 square milea. The soil is greatly diversified, vary- ing from the unproductive to that which is very fertile. Generally, however, if not naturally fertile, it is of a character easily made susceptible of improvement and a high degree of productiveness. Some sections, notably those near the borders of the Pocomoke river, w^hich runs through the length of the county, and also the newly cleared swamp lands, often yield from 50 to 100 bushels of corn per acre. The most valuable lands, perhaps are those with a surface of light loam and red clay subsoil, whicli occupy the largest area. This kind of soil is entirely destitute of rocks, easily cultivated, yielding, with the application of barnyard manure, compost, or some com- mercial fertilizer, remunerative crops of cereals, and of every variety of produce found in this latitude. Many years ago tobacco was raised, but, except to a limited extent, this has long since been abandoned for the staple grains — corn, wheat, oats and rye. The land is eminently adapted for the culti- vation of vegetables, including sweet and Irish potatoes, peas, beans, melons, &c., large quantities of which are annually raised and shipped to the cities of Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. Perhaps no section east of the Mississippi river is more favorable to the successful culture of the larger and smaller fruits, such as apples, peaches, pears, cherries, straw- Ill berries, raspberries, &c. According to the census of 1S90, the popnhition of the county was 19,747, divided as follows: whites, 12,893; colored, G,854. The capabilities of Worcester county lands in the directions indicated, as to extent of acreage and all the favorable inci- dents of adaptation, are not half utilized. Clover, timothy, orchard grass, alfalfa and all the grasses are successfully grown and used for hay or pasturage. On tlie seaside farms, which border the county on one side for a distance of 40 miles, are hundreds of acres of salt marsh, in a considerable degree covered with a natural grass, luxuriant and valuable, furnish- ing pasture range for large herds of stock and rich hay for animals in winter quarters. The river, bays and creeks abound with fish, shad, herring, perch, rock, trout, drum, sheepshead, &c. The oyster industry is extensive and important, giving employment to thousands and supplying a profitable source of investment. The oysters of Worcester county waters are superior to the Chesapeake bivalve, and have a reputation of their own in the great cities where they are prized as a de- licious luxury by the epicure. The commercial facilities of the county are very good. Assateague bay, with inlet at Chincoteague, Ya., is navigated by schooners of fair size, engaged in trade with Philadelphia, New York, Boston and other seaports. The Pocomoke river, as already stated; tra verses the county, and though narrow and crooked, it has a good, deep channel, affording good commercial facilities from Snow Hill, the county town and head of navigation, and from all points along its course to the Chesapeake. The steamer Tangier plies regularly between Snow Hill and places on the river, stopping at Onancock, Ya., and Crisfield, Md., and the city of Baltimore, making two trips weekly. The Tangier is a commodious boat, carrying large amounts of produce, con- sisting mainly of potatoes and fruit, and returning with freight of every description. 112 Besides Snow Hill, which lias a population of 1,483, an increase of 16.22 per cent, since the census of 1880, the prin- cipal towns are Berlin, in the northern part of the county, and Pocomoke city, on Pocomokc river, in the southern part. These towns and several smaller villages are directly on rail- roads, affording daily communication with Baltimore, Phila- delphia and New York. Besides canniiig establishments and steam mills for sawing, dressing and manufacturing lumber, these towns have other industries. There is quite a large factory for weaving cotton- yarn at Snow Hill, and another for making whips of different sorts. Pocomoke City, which has a population of 1,866, an increase of 30.95 per cent, since the census of 1880, is largely engaged in manufacturing doors, windows, mantels, brackets, &c. This town has many advantages, and is a neat, enterpris ing and thrifty place, has the electric light, and is under excel- lent corporate management. It is only a few hours' travel from Pocomoke City to Norfolk and Fortress Monroe, Va., with trains constantly going to those points and the great cities Near Berlin, and immediately on the Atlantic Ocean, is the seaside resort Ocean Cit}', famous for its beauty and salubrity, and popular with citizens of Baltimore, Philadelphia and Delaware. Land in Worcester County generally is cheap, prices vary- ing according to locality and quality, from $5 to $50. Agricultural implements of improved kinds are coming more and more into general use. Every season there is an increased demand for reapers, mowers, drills, planters, har- rows, &c. Much more interest is manifested in improved stock than formerly. This remark includes all varieties of stock — horses, cattle, sheep and hogs. In some isolated places in remote 113 points of the coimtj, where formerly stock of all kinds was of the most inferior grade, may now be found on farms be- longing to the poorest farmers, specimens of cattle that would not be a discredit to a herd in the best parts of ISTew York or Pennsylvania. SOUTHERN MAUYLATVD, A COUXTRY WITH A BRIGHT FUTURE— OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENERGETIC IMMIGRANTS. All sections of Maryland offer opportunities and invite not only our own people to come forward and develop them, but present inducements for a very large immigration. No section of the State offers a better field for enterprise and industry than the very oldest settled part known as Southern Maryland, comprising the counties of Anne Arundel, Calvert, Prince George's, Charles and St. Mary's. There was a time when Southern Maryland was the garden spot of the State. "Within its area once lived many of the wealthiest and most distinguished families of the State. Rich plantations covered the country from Elkridge Landing to the Potomac, and there was a flour- ishing community of planters from the Patapsco to the Chesa- peake Bay and the Potomac. Cultivated by slaves, the land was productive, and the tobacco fields of Southern Maryland were in those days the pride and wonder of the country. But_^the war between the States desolated Southern Mary- land. In 1865, those who had been rich were poor. The emancipation of slaves in 1862, destroyed the working force of the whole region, agricultural blight fell upon the land. The old families sold out their plantations or parted with a portion of their possessions to strangers. A new population took the place of the old, and a period of retrogression set in. For forty years Southern Maryland has been overspread with 114 industrial night. There are, liowever, signs of progress in this once mucb favored locality. Soil, climate, situation and topo- graphy are all that could be desired for splendid country homes and thriving farms. The difficulties attendant upon paucity of labor are being gradually overcome. Patient in- dustry has put the older residents on their feet again, and newcomers have seized opportunities, and the battle of de- velopment has begun in good earnest. Towns along the rail- roads and elsewhere are springing up. AVashingtonians and Baltimoreans are building country-seats here and there. Manufactories are getting a foothold, while the reported sale of 1,700 acres of land in Prince George's to the Danes has, perhaps, solved the agricultural question. Among the towns, Annapolis, Prince Frederick, Laurel, Beltsville, Bladensbiirg, Ilyattsville, Leonardtown, Lower Marlboro, Port Tobacco, Bryantown, Bowie, Patuxent, L^pper Marlboro and Piscataway are, doubtless, taking the lead. Some of these are assuming the character of suburban viHages, while others are locating manufactures. Canning establish- ments are springing np here and there, factories of various kinds are building in a few places, and the tide is evidently setting in toward prosperity. In the future development of the State, Southern Maryland is bound to play an important part. It is impossible that a reo-ion of so great fertility should be left to go backward. Just after the war the Eastern Shore was in about the same condition as that from which Southern Maryland is suffering now. It had only limited railroad facilities ; its lands were, except in certain localities, much impoverished, and the people were dispirited, non-progressive, and disposed to let matters shift along at hap-hazard. There were a few men of energy in every county, however, who remembered a prediction of thirty years before, that the Eastern Shore was destined to 115 become one of the garden spots of the eountiy, and who lent their aid to every project for making tlie natural attractions of their section known to the outside world. The attention of capitalists, small farmers at the North, and laboring men gen- erally, was by degrees attracted to this region, and in course of time an inflow of money and settlers set in, introducing new enterprises and new business habits and methods of agri- culture. This inflow has gone on steadily increasing until tlio Eastern Shore may be said to have actually become a "garden spot," producing immense quantities of fruits and vegetables which find ready sale in the Northern markets as well as in Baltimore and Washington. Southern Maryland is now pretty much in the same position as the Eastern Shore was thirty years ago. It has equal ad- vantages of soil and climate, and is probably quite as well adapted to the cultivation of fruits and vegetables. With a well sustained, energetic effort on the part of its more enter- prising people, aided by outside capital and the adoption of the latest methods of farm and garden cultivation, Southern Maryland could be converted into an important region of sup- ply for Baltimore and Washington. The rivers which intersect the Southern Maryland counties are mostly navigable many miles from their mouths, tint.-; forming good and important water courses. The Patuxent river, which divides Calvert county from St. Mary's, Charles and Prince George's counties is a tidal stream navigable by steamers for a distance of some forty miles from its moiitli. The country bordering the rivers and bays is flat, and as one goes further inland it becomes rolling, and in some places it is elevated from two to three hundred feet above the tide. Fol- lowing almost every valley in the counties are brooks, fed by clear, cold springs, which flow continuously and evenlj^, which supply man and beast with pure, w^holesome water. The river valleys, and those of the numerous small streams, are narrow 116 level, and of extraordinary fertility. The surface soil of the uplands are generally a light, friable loam, overlying a strong clay, with deep substratum of shell and green sand marl — nat- ural deposits of very great economic value. Southern Maryland, owing to the tempering winds from off the wealth of waters washing its shores, is blessed with a climate remarkable for its equability, the mean of summer and winter temperature of the air being fifty-six to fifty-eight degrees ; that of winter, from the close proximity of the warm current of the Gulf stream, ranges from a mean of thirty-six to thirty-eight degrees, or but little, if any, less mild than that of eastern North Carolina, two hundred miles further south. Soil and Climate. The land is very productive and easy of tillage, some that has been in cultivation two centuries is yet as productive and at as little, cost for labor, as the rich garden land about the cities. It waits only the touch of enterprise, the introduction of new and .modern methods, the utilization of its natural advantages, to reach that high appreciation and value in the present which it enjoyed so fully in the past. BLere the stock raise:- will Und land and climate periectly litted for the economical jDrod notion, nurture and growth of cattle, and close proximity on either hand to the best markets for his surplus small stock, hay and grain. When once the fact shall be clearly realized, that, by reason of peculiarily favorable position and mild climate. Southern Maryland lands, when devoted to the production of a varied agriculture, such as, for example, market farming in fruits, early vegetables and the like, shall be worth more per acre, and will produce better cash returns than the land of any less advantageously situated region, even where the natural fertility of soil may be greater, for as the ability to supply the near-by 117 city markets is increased, the money valr.e of each acre, as well as of its products are also increased. PROXIMITY TO MARKETS. This soutliern portion of Maryland has in common with some parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey the advantages of the near neighborhood of great markets. The proximity of such important markets as those of Washington and Baltimore, are found to be of little value to the farmer who ships his wheat, corn or tobacco to the seaboard for foreign export ; but to the truck or market farmer, who raises early vegetables, fruits, flowers, poultry, etc., the value of a near-by market is well-nigh incalculable. But the lands of this region possess yet other and more important advantages than those of near- ness to market. During the early months of the year, while the market farmer of the neighboring State is watching the weather and endeavoring to protect liis early plants against late frosts, he of the milder climate of Southern Maryland is ship- ping his early crop to market. If only the known better methods of culture be applied, and diligence and care used, all the desirable market crops of the temperate zone, together with many of a sub-tropical character, may be produced in the greatest perfection, and in season to control the market for weeks before those produced a few miles further inland have sufficiently matured. THE FRUITS OF SOUTHERN MARYLAND. One of the pleasing experiences of the visitor to Southern Maryland is of wonder at the excellence, variety, large size and fine flavor of the cultivated and native fruits. The mild- ness of the climate permits trees and plants to grow with great rapidity, to bear early, and to admit of the sub-tropical and the temperate being cultivated side by side in the orchard. Fruit growers have, therefore, the best opportunities here to 118 Hocuie the outBldo markets, as fruits ripon so mucli earlier, often tliree to four weeks, tliaii in tlie vieinity of New York iinc] otliei- nortii(irn (;iti(js to wliieli sliipnients arc jnade. 'J'he lai-^e ]»-ofits attendant npon systematic cultivation, ))roservation, and mark(;tin^ of the best fruits, is well under- stood by those en^a<^ed in the l>UHin{!SS. To those fanners not so (ixperienced this fact may be of interest: that the orchard oi" vineyard rightly inanaged yiehls a fai- ]>etter return foi- tlie capital and labor e.\])ended than even the best of th(; ordinary fai'iri ci'ops. Ill other Sl;;it(;s the orchard.s of former years are rapidly passing away, some of the natural ehjinents n^piired by the fiiiits apj)arently having been exhausted. The planting of orchai-ds in Southern Maryland is now for the lirst time, being (!ntei-ed upon by experienced fruit growers, the object being to secui'e the niiii'ket froin the frequent inteiTU[)tions caused by failui'c of llie fi'uii croj). Among the more valuable fruits, notably, apples and pears, many of the best and most favorably known typ(js and varieties had their cn-igin on the shores of the ]*otomac. The apricot, nectarine, and the fig; as also the almond and the English walnut, have been found in the gardens of many of the ])lanters thn^ughout this section, since the earliest settle- ment of the State. To the grap(! cultiii-ist, and the wine-maker, no more need be said than that this is the natural home of the American grape. All the more delicate varieties grow here to perfection, in- (jluding the champagne and others which have not been found to thrive elsewhere, even in Southern (Jalifoiwiia. NA'I'IVK WOODS. '^l"'he foresls mid i'm of l^ulp by manufacturers of paper. The heavy freight on bulk shipments in the rough state of green wood might naturally be supposed to be a bar to long distance car- riage in that state ; but the heavy duty on imported Canadian wood-pulp and the increasing scarcity of suitaljle material at liome has caused the pulp manufacturers, especially those of Kew England, to ticak the raw material in Southern Mary- land, notwithstanding the great length of haul, much of which is by railroad, and consequently immensely expensive. Large quantities of the finest pulp wood is now being taken -out for shipment north; bilt very much of the wooded areas are yet untouciied ; thus the field is wide and valuable for the paper-pulp manufacturer who shall take advantage of the op- portunity offered in the white woods of Southern Maryland, to start a manufactory of pa[)er pulp in that section of this State. THE FISHING INDUSTKY. The bays and estuaries, and the greater and lesser rivers and inlets of Southern Maryland, furnish a practically inexhausti- ble supply of the more important food fishes, of whicli the most numerous and widely distributed, as also, the most valua- 120 blc commercially, are the members of the herring and shad families. The Potomac herring is immensely numerous in all the waters of Southern Maryland — while the shad fisheries of the Potomac river and its estuaries furnish that best of table fish to all the markets of the eastern cities. Many other varieties of choice and commercially valuable food fis-hes abound in these waters. Notable as well for their extreme delicacy as for their abundance, is the superb blue fish of the coast, the striped bass and sea trout ; while black bass, white and yellow perch, pike, and other well-known fresh and brackish water fish are here to swell the list of epicurean delicacies freel}^ furnished to man. The fish industry of Southern Maryland gives employment to a large number of men and boats. In the spring and fall the fish are caught, principally by means of trap nets, and during the summer by means of seines. The fishermen are scattered along the shores of the Potomac river and Chesa- peake bay and their estuaries, and fish can be had on these shores as low as $2.50 per thousand for herring, $10 per thous- and for shad, 10c. per bushel for alewives or menhadeu, 3c, per pound for catfish, 5c. per pound for rockfish or striped bass, 5c. per pound for blue fish, 10c. per pound for mackeral, 5c. per pound for trout or weakfish, and the many other kinds of fish in proportion. In the spring a large number of the farmers send their wagons to the nearest fisherman and buy from 500 to 5,000 fish, just caught, and salt them down and otherwise preserve them for their use during the year. THE OYSTEE TRADE. Extensive natural beds of the finest known oysters, occur along the shores and inlets of the Potomac and Chesapeake^ the gathering and shipment of which employs a large amount 121 of capita], numerous fleets of vessels, and give employment to a vast number of men. Oyster packing and canning has hitherto been largely monopolized by the environing cities of Baltimore, Norfolk and Washington, from which points ship- ments are made to all parts of the United States. The development of the oyster by selection and cnltiva- tion, or oyster farming, has, where entered upon and conducted as a business, been found to be enormously profitable, owing to the extraordinary rapidity of increase in size and value of the products of cultivated beds over those of natural deposit so much so that lands bordering on suitable oyster waters are coming into very active demand. Many resident proprietors are now engaging in systematic oyster planting, and in the establishment of packing and can- ning factories. The oyster business thus locally established and conducted, will, as a natural result of the saving in freights upon bulk shipments, and the employment of the cheaper labor of the country, soon become one of the largest and most profitable of the food suppl^nng industries of the land. The oysters of Southern Maryland find a ready market in "Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia, and sell for from 40 cents to $1.00 per bushel. Any private individual can, with- out any expense to himself, gather in a short time enough good large oysters for a large family. STOCK RAISING. There are few, if any more intyresting or profitable lines within the many open to the enterprising farmer^coming to Southern Mftryhmd, than those of stock raising and dairy farming. The long and seldom dry summers, together with the absence of excessive cold during the sliort winters, permits the growth of a great variety of nutricious grasses nearly all through the year. The natural grasses, notably the native blue 122 grass and its varieties, spring from the soil without artificial effort, while with cultivation they give promise of abundant returns to the stock and dairy farmer. The cultivated grasses, whenever tried for winter use, baling or shipment, give sur- prising returns, filling the barns, or furnishing a lucrative busi- ness to the packer and shipper of baled hay. Cattle and sheep graze out, almost wholly without care or shelter in all seasons. iSTow wlieu we I'emember that the cost of housing and winter feeding of stock in the northern and most of the Middle States is very considerable — not less than $6.00 to $10.00 per head for feed alone, each winter — not to count the extra care and labor involved, we see that there is a net gain of such amount on each head, to the producer here, over his neighbor in an adjoining State, or sufficient to make systematic stock farming and dairying much more easy to engage in and more profitable in results, than even upon the free-grazing lands of the west. Sheep, as is well known, to produce the finest staple of wool require a moderate climate, temperate in summer that it may be of fine texture without being scant, and mild enough in winter to prevent any tendency to coarseness. Southern Mary- land offers both these advantages besides which there is no loss in either young or old from the severity of the winter cold as on the ranges in other States. PEACH CULTURE. The peninsula of Southern Maryland, the peach producing center of the country for coming times, covers an area of some two thousand square miles — sufficient if put into orchards to supply the markets of the world. It is embraced between two extensive bodies of salt water, and is, consequently, within and subject to the climate influences most favorable to the rapid and perfect growth of the peach. 123 The central and southern portions of the peninsula, tlie counties of Charles, St. Mary's, Calvert and Anne Arundel, furnish lands of the highest promise; the tempering influences of the Chesapeake and Potomac waters moderating the extremes of both heat and cold to that degree which is found requisite to the highest perfection of fruit development, every breeze being laden with saline particles that not onlj carry destruction to many species of fruit infesting insects, but frr- nish to the trees that fruitful, vivifying quality which enables them to bear abundantly and to endure to a great age. PKIOE OF LAND AND IMPROVEMENTS. Some of the tracts of land offered and more especially adapted to peach culture, are of large extent, the majority, however, range from two hundred to three hundred acres each, very many of these are in a good state of cultivation, ready for orchard planting, and in a highly improved condition. Smaller parcels of line orchard land occur frequently, sometimes im- proved by good farm buildings, and again with only common- place tenant houses, or no improvements at all beyond that of inclosure. All the more considerable tracts, as also many of the smaller farm.s, have good and expensive farm buildings, the dwellings usually well situated, large, roomy houses, built in that style so popular witli the Southern planter a generation ago, low pitched roofs and wide, shady verandas, surrounded by grassy lawns through which gravelled walks lead to the groups of barns and farm buildings scattered about, ^ot much of precision or order in their arrangement perhaps, but convenient, useful, and in keeping with the outdoor habits of the people. According to condition of soil, and buildings thereon and to location, the price for land varies from $5 to $25 per acre, in large .or small tracts. Some land conimands a still hio-her figure. For putting up new buildings or repairing old ones, all kinds of material can be (juickly had from Balti- 1-24 more oi- Wasliiiigton. Terms upon which land . is rented, is about as follows : The owner furnishes the land, dwellings team and all the necessary implements for working the crops, and receives two-thirds of the crop, and the tenant gets one- third. In cases where the tenant furnishes teams and im- plements, better arrangements are made. The tenants are generally furnished with employment at rerannerative wages, by the landlord or neighboring farmers, when not engaged in working their crops. DAIRY FAEMING. Dairy farming is early destined to become one of the lead- ing industries. The advantages are such as to offer peculiar inducements for the enterprising dairy farmer. It has been said by an eminent agricultural writer that "whoever has blue grass has the basis of all agricultural prosperity ; and that man, if he have not the finest horses, cattle and sheep, has no one to blame but liimself. Others, in other circumstances, may do as well, he can hardly avoid doing well if he will try." Among the rich and succulent grasses indigenous to the soil of Southern Maryland is this justly esteemed blue grass, so neces- sary to the production of rich, sweet butter and cheese and juicy, tender beef. The dairv business has but just been entered upon, some large and prosperous herds are now furnishing milk, cream and butter to the cities of Washington and Baltimore. But tlie people of Southern Maryland have almost everything to learn of the proper manner of making butter and cheese, and preparing them for market, meanwhile the markets are the best which the Eastern States afford. There is plenty of room for the dairyman, and plenty for the products of his farm, be the price ever so high, the demand will always equal the sup. Plv. 125 TKANSPORTATION FACILITIES. The facilities for travel, and for the transportation of freights are amply sufficient for present purposes. Water and railroad communication can be had with all important trade centers, north and south. The numerous transportation lines of the Potomac and Chesapeake furnish daily connection with the principal seaboard States. The railroad system of South- ern Maryland now operated comprises the Baltimore and Po- tomac, a part of the Pennsylvania trunk line system, the Balti- more and Ohio, the Annapolis and Elk Ridge, and the Southern Maryland over part of its route. The railroads in progress, or in pi'ocess of development, are the Baltimore and Drum Point, the Southern Maryland to connect "Washington and Point Lookout, the Washington and Cheasapeake, and the Washing- ton and Marlboro (electric system). The older lines creat- ing or aiding in the growth of new enterprises, the new lines in progress, or in prospective, having the elfect of encouraging the opening up of new industries, and the investment of capi- tal in localities heretofore undeveloped. THE DRUM POINT KAILROAD. The completion of the railroad to Drum Point, at the mouth of the Patuxent river, a distance of seventy miles from Bcilti- more, would ensure quick facilities of transit for a section of the country which is now solely dependent on water transpor- tation. The road would run through a practically new and undeveloped region capable of producing a great variety of crops and watered by numerous water-courses. The lands are cheap and easy of cultivation, and oysters, fish and crabs are abundant. Clays for brick, drain pipe and terra cotta products are found alono- the shores of the Patuxent in such localities as to make them easy of manufacture and shipment. Timber for vessels, buildings and general manufacture, is plentiful. If the road were constructed it would afford the people of Balti. 126 more quick and easy access to various excursion points, including- Fair Haven, Dram Point, Point Patience, etc. Drum Point harbor is conceded to be second to none on our coast, and would be an admirable point for the development of the oyster industry, as hundreds of oyster vessels are now obliged to take refuge there during stormy weather, and would find a safe and convenient location for discharging their cargoes. From Drum Point the road and its connections could be continued across the Patuxent through St. Mary's county-, across the Potomac into Virginia, and thence to Richmond and Norfolk, giving Baltimore a direct route to the South, which her business men have so long needed. If the oyster industry were once established at Drum Point, various other industries would spring up in its wake. MINERALS AND ORES. Along the banks of the upper Patuxent, near Lower and Upper Marlboro, there are several valuable banks or deposits of marl which is mined for the manufacture of com- mercial fertilizers. Near Lyon's creek there is a valuable deposit of line chalky mineral which is extensively mined. At first the silica was shipped in small quantities for experimental purposes, in order to find its commercial value. It has now been ascertained that it is not only valuable as a polishing powder, but caji be utilized for packing around steam chests and boilers. It is also used now extensively for packing around vaults and safes used for fireproof purposes. The silica found on the Patuxent is said to be the purest that has ever been found in this country, and in foreign countries, a mine in Ger- many is said to be the only rival in purity. Several thousand dollars have been spent here for mining facilities. At first it was shipped wet, but the heavy freight charges have induced the drying of the mineral for shipment. For this purpose a number of drying-houses have been erected and heaters used. 127 When dug from the mine it looks very much like what is familiarly known as Fuller's earth ; but upon examination it is found to be a very much liner substance and is easily dis- tinguished by the most causnal observation. When mined it is thrown down long shutes to the wash-house, where it is washed clear of any sand that has filtered into it from the over- lay of soil, and is carried then to the hot-air rooms, and placed on long shelves to be dried. It is then found to be very light and closely resembling chalk. In this condition it is now being shipped in large quantities. This is but one of the many remunerative industrial enter- prises of this wonderful section of the State. There are many more waiting for the intelligent immigrant and capitalist. Southern Maryland is rich in natural resources and is on the eave of such manufacturing and commercial developement as shall make it the center of industrial activity among the sea- board States. In its abundance of resources there is wealth for a million people, its fisheries, its oyster industry, its fruit culture, its timber, its commerce and mannfactnries are each separately sufficient to give employment and wealth to a dense population. ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY. Anne Arundel is the most northern of the counties compris- ing the section known as Southern Maryland. It embraces an area of 400 square miles, and has for its boundaries the Patapsco river on the north, separating it from Baltimore city and connty, Chesapeake bay on the east, Calvert county on the south, and Prince George's and Howard counties on the west. Accord- ing to the census of 1890, the population was 34,094, an in- crease of 5,568 or 19.52 per cent, since the census of 1880. There are 19,441 white persons in the county and 14.648 colored. A portion of Anne Arundel county is immediately opposite the city of Baltimore, and is the garden spot of the metrop- 128 olis of the State. The Annapolis Short Luie Kaih-oad runs througli this fertile land, and the new Curtis Bay Electric road will make it easy of access to the city. Access is also af- forded hy the "Long Bridge" which stretches across tlie Pa- tapsco from Baltimore to Brooklyn. The proximity of this section of Anne Arundel county to the city, and the light, fertile character of the soil, adapt it especially to the raising of garden produce for the city markets, which is caaried on successfully to a very large extent. Some of the best farms in the State are to be found in this locality. One gentleman in this locality has 640 acres which is adapted to all crops. In the season of 1891, he had one hundred acres in peas, sixty acres in strawberries, sixty acres in wheat, forty acres in grass, and one hundred acres in corn. ] besides, thirty acres are devoted to peaches and forty acres to pasture. 4,000 trees are in the peach orchard, but as last year was the first year of bearing, only about 2,500 bushels were gathered. In the height of the season one hundred and twenty-five hands are employed as pickers, and in 1891, they gathered 6,000 bushels of peas, 107,000 quarts of strawberries and 23,000 quarts of cherries. Pickers are paid in accordance with amount of work done, and receive fifteen cents per bushel on peas, and one and a-half cents per quart on strawberries and cherries. 1,500 bushels of wheat was harvested and 1,100 barrels of corn, equal to 10,000 bushels on the ear, gathered, and ninety tons of hay raised for consumption on the farm. The wheat was sold on July 10th, at $1.05 per bushel, and the corn brought $2.40 per barrel. Hay was worth $12.00 per ton on the farm. Our farmer friends in the North and West who wish to benefit themselves and are seeking new locations, are invited to do a little figuring on the income of a farm of this character. Mai'yland has never knowii a failure in crops, and there are 129 to-day as fine opportunities to secure good locations as there has ever been in the history of the State. No portion of the State can raise watermelons, canteloupes, cabbage, peas, string beans and tomatoes, superior to those grown in that section of Anne Arundel county between the Severn and Patapsco rivers. The peach orchards in this sec- tion are also extensive and productive. Strawberries and other small fruits grow abundantly and ripen easy. In the summer season the soutliern portion of this district is one vast and beautiful garden of fruits, berries and vegetables, ornamented with fine and handsome residences. Land in this neighbor- hood is wortli from $50 to $500 an acre, and there is very little for sale. In this neighborhood are also numerous villages and settlements which are rapidly increasing in population and in importance as manufacturing centers. Brooklyn, Fairfield and South Baltimore or Curtis Bay, show wonderful progress in tlie past ten years. The fourth district of the county begins near Millersville, and runs up to Annapolis Junction on the Washington branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. This road skirts the northern boundary, and the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad runs through the southern section of this district. The Annapolis, Washington and Baltimore Railroad runs nearly through the centre and makes communication with Baltimore and Washington easy. The land in the center of the fourth district is light and sandy ; the other parts kind and fertile. This district is a flourishing section, including in its boundaries Jessup's, which is rapidly improving. Besides the common schools, it has an academy at Millersville and one at Jessup's. The churches are Catholic, Episcopal and Methodist. The springs of this district are noted for their purity and volume. The Maryland House of Correction is at Jessup's, in this district. Land at Jessup's is worth from fifty to two hundred dollars per acre. 9 130 Other tracts can be bought in the district from ten to seventy- five dollars per acre. There are no railroad facilities in the section south of Annapolis. All the produce is shipped by boat, and in some cases has to be hauled a distance of ten miles or more to the landing. This will be remedied when the Drum Point Rail- road, now under construction, is finished. There are some good grass farms in the lower section, and in the whole county the soil is favorable to fruit-growing. There are many profit- able peach orchards in the southern part of the county, and their number and acreage is rapidly increasing. Farmers along the line of the proposed Drum Point Road say if railroad transportation is afforded them, it will not be long before lower Anne Arundel will also become a great trucking country. Tobacco of very fine quality is raised in all parts of the county, and corn grows luxuriantly. In the northern portion of the •county, iron mines are worked successfully, and there are seve- ral iron furnaces profitably engaged in manufacturing pig iron. The improvement in farming machinery is going on slowly but surely. Instead of the old cradle, the self-binder is now used. Live stock has also improved in quality and quantity. An excellent opportunity is afforded for industrious immi- grants to locate in Anne Arundel, farm hands, mostly colored, being very scarce. There are good openings for flour mills and canning factor- ies in lower Anne Arundel, as well as in Annapolis ; and at Horn Point, an adjunct to the city, which now boasts of a glass factory that gives employment to a number of people. There are about eight canning establishments in the county. Near Annapolis, on the Chesapeake bay, is the celebrated ex- cm^sion summer resort, "Bay Ridge." It is estimated 50,000 people visit this delightful spot during the summer sea- son . 131 ANNAPOLIS— THE CAPITAL OP THE STATE. Annapolis is the largest city in the county and the capital of the State. In'lGO-i the provincial government was removed from St. Mary's city, in St. Mary's county, and in 1772 the present State House was begun, but it was not finished until 1793. Tins ancient building has been the scene of many im- portant historical events. In it the Continental Congress sat during the Revolution, and in the old Senate chamber, at the close of tlie war. General Washington surrendered to the peo- ple his commission as commander-in-chief of the American army. The convention which originated the Federal Consti- tution first assembled in this old State House. The old city was the seat of the wealth and culture of the State during the early days of the Republic. Some of the stately mansions of the Revolutionary period remain in the city as models of liberality, ease and convenience. Among better examples of colonial houses still remaining may be mentioned the resi- dences of Charles Carroll, of CarroUton, Samuel Chase, Chancellor Johnson, Anthony Stewart, Jonas Green, Brice, Rideout, Harwood, and many others. According to the census of 1890, Annapolis contains a pop- ulation of 7,60-1 persons, an increase of 11:.48 per cent, over the census of 1880. The corporate limits of Amiapolis hav^e nearly been rounded out into building lots, on which there are not only comforta- ble, but many stately residences. Yet, alongthe banks of the Severn and Chesapeake, contiguous to Annapolis, are many beautiful sites which can be bought at most reasonable prices, from $100 an acre and upwards. Building lots in the city, in eligible locations, bring from $30 to $1:0 a front foot in fee. Annapolis has a delightful society. The Naval Academy, St. John's College and the Redemptorist Theological School are located in Annapolis. The city has four Methodist churches, two for whites and two for colored; three Episcopal churches, 132 one for colored people; one Catholic, one Lntlieran, one Pres- byterian, and one Baptist, for colored people. It lias the ordir nary schools of 'the public school system. Its sources of reve- nue are the oyster, iish and crab trade ; the employment of its people in the Naval Academy ; trade with the residents of the Naval Academy ; merchandising with the surrounding coun- try, and its receipts from the gathering of state officials and politicians. Eight daily railroad trains — four over the Annap- olis, Washington and Baltimore, and four over the Short Line — put x\nnapolis in almost hourly communication with Baltimore. The steamer Emma Giles also runs there from Baltimore tliree times a week, continuing on to South, Ehode and West rivers. THE BEAUTIES' OF SEVEEN SIVEE. The Severn river enters the bay at Annapolis, and may be regarded as an arm of the Chesapeake rather than a river. Opposite the Naval Academy it is nearly a mile wide, and from this point for six miles it maintains an average width of half a mile, when it expands into a bay or lake of three miles diameter. This is Kound Bay or "Eagle Nest Bay." An island — Saint Helena by name — lies in the centre of the southern portion, or "Little Round Bay." The Severn con- tinues its course for some miles, gradually diminishing in width and depth until it loses its characteristic size in the romantic surroundings of Indian Landing. From Greenberry Point Light to the head of Round Bay is nine miles, and the depth of water in the channel varies from 19 to 47 feet. The shores sloping from the uplands to the river are varied by decided eminences attaining the highest 155 feet elevation. Forty such distinct little mountains can be counted on an accurate survey. With such elements of beauty and utility, the hillsides clothed with checkered fields and forests, the broad river navi- 133 gable for the largest craft, it is astonishing that this region remains almost an unknown land to the people generally. As river scenery it has been compared to the Hudson, and cer- tainly, excepting always the grand gorge of the "Highlands," the comparison can be maintained. But it may be better de- scribed as resembling on a larger scale some of the most beautiful of the rivers of England, a similarity which extends in its picturesque aspect to the Western Shore generally, and may account for the name Severn given by the early settlers to recall their "home" associations. The many indentations of the shore-line and constantly shifting combinations of headlands and bluifs, and the tinal expansion into the broad water of Eagle Neck bay, now con- tracting and then expanding the view as the steamer plows its way toward Indian Landing, present as varied and attractive a sail as any nine miles of river scenery in our country. ROUND BAY. Round Bay is fourteen miles distant from Baltimore, and "Mount Misery'' at its northern side, rising 155 feet above the water gives a view commanding the bay, with its headlands, slopes, and the Island of St, Helena, the Severn with Annapo- lis in the distance, and also looking eastward, the perspective of the Magothy river or bay, with the Chesapeake beyond. This point was used as a signal station and fort during the late war, and would be a most eligible site for a summer re- sort and observatory were it made accessible to the citizens of Baltimore by a direct railroad to that city. It lies within a very short distance of the line surveyed for a "short line" road, and cannot be more than eight or ten miles from the ter- mination of the Curtis Bay Branch of the Baltimore & Ohio. This region is susceptible of being made a great pleasure re- sort and outer park for the city of Baltimore, and at the present ratie of railroad speed could be put within twenty 134 minutes ride of the city. None of the greater parks of the European capitals are so near as this is to Baltimore city, and no city in the United States has so beautiful a spot as near. Indian Landing, about three miles distant from Round Bay, is an attractive place. Three little islands abreast of the "Landing"- add picturesqueness to the locality. Fish, crabs and oysters are plentiful here and in Hound Bay, and duck shooting is extensively indulged in at the latter point. The advantages of Round Bay as a naval station have been urged, and especially by Admiral Porter, as preferable for an iron-clad or monitor arsenal to League Island. It has also been advocated as a terminus of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Its sloping banks and hillsides are peculiarly adapted to vineyards and fruit orchards. The finest sand for glass- making is mined and shipped from this point. SOUTH BALTIMORE HARBOR AND IMPROVEMENT COMPANY. The life and activity displayed at Curtis Bay since 1887, is wonderful. In that year, the South Baltimore Car Company purchased twenty acres of land from the South Baltimore Harbor and Improvement Company, wliicli has made a great change in that region. The Improvement Company is the owner of about 1,500 acres of land, and five miles of water front on the south side of the Patapsco river. The land is beautifully located, sloping from the waters edge to a heighth of about 200 feet. The vicinity is free from all malarious influences, and is regarded as one of the healthiest locations adjoining the city of Balti more. The center of the water front consists of the famous land bound harbor of Curtis Bay, one of the most picturesque sheets of water in the State. There is an average depth of water of 25 feet in front of the property, allowing the largest steamers to discharge their cargoes. An immense pier has 135 been erected, 800 feet long and 100 feet wide, for the use of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which connects with the property by its Curtis Bay Branch. The advantages of South Baltimore or Curtis Bay for maau- facturing purposes can not be overestimated. Already, many leading capitalists from all sections of the United States, have recognized its advantages for the investment of capital, and many large industries have been started there in preference to other sections of the country. Among the leading enterprises which have been established on Curtis Bay within the last five years, may be mentioned the large sugar refinery which can be seen from any elevated point in Baltimore. It has a capacity of 12,000 barrels of refined sugar daily, and gives employment to 150 men. The South Baltimore Car Works, which are in full operation, are turning out an average of fifteen new freight cars daily. About 500 men are employed in the shops and the works are kept busy. Up to the present time about 5,000 cars have been sent out and the yearly business amounts to over $1,000,000." Among the roads for which cars have been built by this concern are the Baltimore and Ohio, Richmond and Danville, Atlantic Coast Line, Wilmington and Northern, West Virginia Central, Eastman Heater Car Company of Boston, Hartford and Connecticut Western, and B. and O. Southwestern. Among tiie other leading enterprises located at Curtis Bay^ are the Ryan & McDonald Machine Shops, nut and bolt man- ufactory, South Baltimore Foundry, barrel factory, and others in contemplation of erection. The Ryan & McDonald Ma- chine Shops were removed to Curtis Bay from Waterloo, New York. The South Baltimore Harbor and Improvement Company have erected on their property several hundred neat and sub- stantial brick houses, which are in great demand by the grow- ing population. The company has a large quantity of unim- 136 proved land which they will sell or lease for manufacturing or dwelling-house purposes at moderate rates. Manufacturers will find it to their interest to examine this property before locating elsewhere. The town contains several schools and a Presbyterian, a Catholic, a Methodist, a Baptist and an Episcopal churcli. An electric railway is now in course of construction from the city of Baltimore to the southern limits of the Curtis Bay property, the cars to run every ten or fifteen minutes, and the fare to be only five cents. CALVERT COUNTY. Calvert county, a peninsula lying between the Chesapeake bay and Patuxent river, has an area of 218 square miles, and possesses many advantages calculated to be attractive to the home-seeker of moderate or limited means. Lands are cheap, and the people are willing to encourage and invite immigration by disposing of them on the most favorable terms. The cheapness of land is not accounted for by the poorness of the soil, as some might infer, but by the sparseness of population, there being but about 9,860 souls in the county, white and colored, and vast tracts of land easily improved lie unbroken by plow from year to year. The whites in the county number 4,757, and the colored, 5,103. Land thickly wooded with well- grown pines can be bought for two dollars an acre, while good productive cleared lands can be bought at from four to ten dollars per acre, according to situation and improvements. A short time since a line farm in good state of cultivation, with water frontage, improved by dwelling and barns, con- sisting of 1:00 acres, sold for the incredibly small sum of one thousand and thirty dollars. And tliis is not run down, worn out land, but will yield 20 hogsheads of tobacco and 150 barrels of corn next season, with proper culture. The finest river-bottom farm lands, the cream of the county, can be bought for twenty dollars an acre. In a ride through 137 the county one readily observes that by far the greater part of the land is unimproved, and this simply because, as has been intimated, our farmers liave their hands full to cultivate the lands already cleared. The land donominated improved is as good naturally as that now under cultivation, and yields readily and kindly to the efforts of the husbandman as the occasional patch, often in the midst of a pine forest, taken up and culti- vated by the aspiring freedman, -abundantly attests. That no ' such thing as a real estate bureau or concerted real estate boom exists in this, as in other Soutliern Maryland counties, ie a matter of real surprise to those who are acquainted with tlie advantages of Calvert county. Turning from the mere mat- ter of land to other advantages, we would name large deposits of iron ore and silica. Iron ore of fine quality abounds, but, owing to the absence of land transportation, has never been put to practical use. Given a railroad, and Calvert would compete with Prince George's as an iron producing county. The silica mines, however, have been worked extensively and profitably, the silica produced being of a quality unsurpassed by any. in the world. These mines are located in the northern part of the county, near Dunkirk. The forests contain all the native woods, and the cutting and sale of poplar wood for commercial purposes is proving quite a source of revenue, as is also the sale of oak and chestnut cross-ties. This industry, however, must be confined tb the forests con- tiguous to the river and bay or their tributary creeks, as all transportation to market is by water. The advantages for shipping by steamer and sailing vessels are as satisfactory as water trans])ortation can possibly be. Rates are cheap, travel is comfortable, and trips are as frequent as freight and passenger traffic demand. In the summer of 1891, during the fruit season, Calvert had two steamers daily plying between the bay and river wharves and Baltimore. Tobacco, corn and fruit are the staple crops of the county. The soil, composed of light, rich. 138 sandjloain, is naturally adapted to the free production of these crops. Eighteen hundred pounds of tobacco to the acre or from seven to ten barrels of corn may be easily raised on the better class of farms on the river front, while only slightly less will be produced by the same class of farms inland or on the bay. It is a fact not generally known, but no less true, that the seasons in Calvert are several days in advance of any county in the State, and early fruits, strawberries, particularly, may be marketed at least a week earlier than can be done even by Anne Arundel. This also applies to vegetables. Corn of the Adams' Early variety was -eaten from the garden of a resident of Prince Frederick on the 25th day of June the past year, and the season was unusually backward. What might be done under more favorable conditions may be imagined. The oyster industry affords employment to about fifteen hundred men and boys during the fall and winter months. The eye of the public is now upon the oyster bed or "rock," the natural home of the bivalve, while tiie planting industry is in its infancy. Nearly all of Calvert'i; shores have been nat- ural oyster beds, and that they may become substantially such again it is simply necessary that the seed oyster be de- posited upon them. To engage in this business in a small way, or even more largely, needs but little capital, and large returns are sure and speedy. At Solomon's Island and also at Broome's Island are large settlements dependent solely upon the oyster trade for a livelihood. They live comfortably, own their homes and are out of debt. As to the healthfulness of the count}', there has never been an epidemic, and it is a fact of some significance that Calvert's doctors, almost without exception, are engaged in farming or some other employment in addition to the practice of medi- cine. The people are becoming more and more aroused to the importance of public education, and the graded public schools, 139 white and colored, have a liberal support and large patronage, and are well taught by competent teachers, affording ample opportunity for all the youths in the county to secure a good English education. The close proximity to Baltimore and "Washington, with their advantages of higher education, has seemed in the past to render the establishment of a school of college grade unnecessary, although there is a demand for a high school at Prince Frederick. Of churches, the M. E., the M. E. South, the Protestant Episcopal and the Roman Catholic, have organizations in the county, their relative wealth and numerical strength being indicated by the order in which they are here named. In the aggregate, they have a membership of about 3,400, or over one-third of the population, and forty- two church buildings, which is a showing creditable to the people. At present, three church buildings are in course of erection — a Methodist Episcopal, at Prince Frederick ; a Methodist Episcopal South, at St. Leonard's, and a Catholic, at Solomon's Island. Local option prevails throughout the county ; the people are eminently peaceable and law-abiding ; the county jail docs not contain on an average more than two inmates per year, and the prosperity of the people is indicated in some degree by the fact that there are few paupers ; the entire pension list amounting to only $1,214.80 for the year 1891. The county tax rate of ninety-one cents on the hundred dollars for all purposes is not high, but even this will be de- creased when the courthouse is erected, to replace the one destroyed by fire in 1882, is paid for. A general survey of all available facts leads, inevitably, to the conclusion that there are few places better adapted to the requirements of an industrious class of immigrants than Cal- vert county. Capital could, undoubtedly, be usefully and profitably employed in developing the resources. 140 PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY. Prince George's is one of the leading counties of the State. It area is 480 square miles. According to the census of 1890, the population was 26,080, divided as follows : Whites, 14,- 832 ; colored, 11,245. Its proximity to the National Capital, which it joins on tlie south, and to one of tlie largest seaports on the Atlantic coast ; its manufacturing industries ; its pic- turesque scenery; its undulating surface; its numerous and abundant springs of clear, cold water; its running streams, tributary to its two grand, historic boundary rivers, make it one of the favored spots in Maryland. Then, add to this its ores and furnaces ; its lisheries and oyster beds ; its commer- cial facilities, by its numerous railroads and rivers; its educa- tional institutions, and its prominence as a tobacco-growing country — and any one can see how blessed it is. Its people are hospitable, and its lands are cheap enough to make it a most desirable location for the investment of money for per- sons desiring a home, and it offers special inducements to peo- ple wlio wish to live in a place which affords such unusual advantages. Prince George's county is bounded on the north by Howard, on the east by Anne Arundel and Calvert counties, from which three counties it is separated by the Patuxent river, on the south by Charles, and on the west by the Potomac river and the District of Columbia and Montgomery county. Its soil is varied, mostly of loatn and sand, mixed with clay, with under- lying strata of marl and cemented sand, resembling sandstone. The people are warm-hearted and genial, and many of them are descendants of the Lord Baltimore party that settled in Southern Maryland. The principal industry of the county is tobacco raising, which is grown in large quantities in the "For- est," just above Upper Marlboro, and in the "tobacco belt," in the lower part of the county. Near the borders of the Dis- 141 '^ trict of Colninbia and on tlie railroad the large tobacco planta- tions have been divided up into small truck farms. The other staples are wheat, corn, rye and grapes. Owing to the decrease in prices of tobacco manj of the farmers have given up tobacco growing and are trying fruit raising and dairy farming, in which their efforts have met with great success. There has been a considei-able boom in real estate for some time. That part of the county around Washington by persons desiring suburban residences; and, since the projected railway from the Chesapeake to "Washington has started, quite a flurry has been felt in the real estate market in regard to land. This railroad, if built, will add materially to the value of land in the lower part of the county which it traverses, and will open up a portion of the county which is somewhat backward, owing to the lack of railroad facilities. It i^ a great scheme, and sliould meet with the approbation of every citizen of the county. By actual count, nearly three hundred houses were erected from- Washington t© and including Laurel, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, in two years, ending July, 1891. That's a record which goes far to establish the prediction made that in time there will be a continuous city connecting the two cities of Baltimore and Washington. Much has been said recently about Scandinavian immigra- tion to Maryland, and we are pleased to note that these people find our State offers many inducements. A party of them who have resided in Michigan for the past few years, recently removed to Prince George's county and purchased land near Laurel, only eighteen miles from Washington. We were favored with a call from them lately, and one of the gentlemen remarked : "We are pleased with our new home, and have purchased improved farms, and will sooji be established. I can recommend this country to my people, and expect many of my old neighbors will follow me to Marjdand." 142 The tax rate is gradually decreasing, owing to the improve- ments being erected on the lands. The tax rate is now only eighty cents on $100, a decrease of ten per cent, since 1888, althongh the county was at a heavy expense for repairing bridges and roads destroyed by the storms during the year, 1891. The lands are cheap in the lower part of the county, aver- aging from $85 to $20 per acre. Those in the upper part are much higher, owing to the close proximity to the national capital. They can be bought from $20 to $100 per acre. The county is traversed by three railroads — the Baltimore and Potomac, the Baltimore and Ohio, and the Washington City and Point Lookout Pail road. This last has not been com- pleted, but hands are at work upon it now, under charge of its president. It runs from Brandywine to Mechanicsville. The school facilities are as good as those of any county in the State. Prince George's has in its limits the Maryland Agricultural College, an academy at Upper Marlboro, under tlie charge of two efBcient teachers ; and the public school sys- tem throughout the county is considered to be equal to that of any other in the State. While agriculture is the chief pursuit, the county also has something of a reputation as a manufacturing district. It has a large smelting furnace at Muirkirk, and one of the largest hosiery establishments in the United States, is con- ductealtiiuure and Potomac through the lower part, while the balance of the county is drained by the Potomac and Patuxent rivers. No portion of the State offers better inducements for a class of thrifty immigrants. The soil is kind, the climate good, and nearly every product known to this section of our country can be grown with profit. Especially is this the case with fruits and vegetables. There .is now a growing tendency towards the extensive cultivation of the peach, and with the fact in view many large nurseries have been started. The time is probably near at hand when this county is destined to rival her Eastern Shore sisters in the growth of this delicious and profitable fruit. The soil is well adapted to the peach, and wherever tried this fruit has suc- ceeded well. The great want is an honest, industrious immi- gration. CHARLES COUNTY. Charles county, which comprises the southwestern portion of Maryland, has for its boundaries Prince George's on the north, the Patuxent river, separating it from Calvert, on the east, St. Mary's also on the east, and the Potomac river, separ- ating it from Virginia, on the south and west. The area of the county is 460 square miles. The soil of the county is varied, and presents almost every kind of land known to the State of Maryland. Along the numerous water courses and in the many valleys that run through the county in every direction, a rich loam prevails of a quality best adapted to the growth of grain and fruit, and indeed, when properly culti- vated, it will produce luxuriantly anything that the climate will permit. Back on the hills from these valleys is found a rather stiff soil composed of white clay, sand and a small pro- portion of loam called "white oak soiL" Woodlands generally are of this kind also. This is easily improved, and when made 10 146 rich produces o;rass of the rinost kind and in paying quanti- ties. In the eastern section of the county and along a narrow belt of the northwestern border, immediately on the Potomac river, is to be found a mixture of sand and loam peculiarly adapted to fruit growing and trucking. This is pronounced by those familiar with such interests to be much the same kind of soil as the most productive of the celebrated Anne Arundel trucking lands. Here and there throughout the county are to be found stiff red clay lands, which, though hardest to improve, if once made rich, are perhaps the most productive. They are certainly the best tobacco lands to l)e found here. An abundance of marsh marl in many localities makes the improvement of lands along the water courses comparatively easy and inexpensive. Land can be bought at any price from $3 to ^50 per acre, selling highest along 'the line of the Baltimore and Potomac Kailroad, whose Pope's Creek Branch extends through the county, and near the numerous flourishing little villages that have been built up within the past ten years along its route. The average price per acre in buying farms is from $10 to $12. There is much land for sale, owing to a dis- position on tlie part of large landowners to decrease the size of their farms and give more attention to small fruits. Many farms remain in size as before the war, when culti- vated by slave labor, and as a consequence necessarily have become more or less exhausted, impoverishing their owners, because, with the poor labor that could be obtained and the depressed market of the staple corps of this section, it was impossible to tind the means for improving the land. The principal ]»roducts now are wheat, corn and tobacco. Grass is grown quite extensivelv, and more attention is being given to fruit within the }>ast two years. The soils are abundantly capable of raising fruits and vegetables of every description to be grown in Maryland. Facilities for transportation could not be better. The Baltimore and Potomac Raiiroa, which may either be burned from shells or be had in Balti- more and cheaply transported to a landing, there are old Indian shell banks, shell and green sand marl of fair quality, the refuse of the fisheries, and an abundance of seaweed on the shores, whereby worn-out lands may be renovated. The climate is temperate, the extremes of heat and cold rarely felt for more than a lew days at a time, the rigor of winter being mitigated by latitute in part from the milder air of the bay. THE TOWNS OF ST. xMARYS. In t!ie appearance of its towns and roadside settlements, St. Mary's county presents the contrasts one would naturally expect to find in an ancient community on the verge of a new and more vigorous life. Leonardtown, the county seat, 153 and Churiotte Hall, are each in their way typical specimens of the old-fashioned Maryland village; but Mechanicsville, the present terminus of the Southern Md. R. R., and Cali- fornia, Morganza and a number of other settlements in var- ious parts of the county, look as though they had been taken up from a much younger community and transplanted. They are, however, the product of home industry and enter- prise almost exclusivel}^, and their appearance proves that St. Mary,s has within her own borders the elements of pros- perity, and in her own people the capacity and energy to improve the opportunities which the iniiux of capital and labor will some day place within their grasp. There is a quaint picturesqueness, a distinct flavor of "old-timeness'' about Leonardtown which, together with its advantages of situation and its healthiness, make it a de- lightful summer residence. Man}^ persons go to Leonard- town from Washington, and remain throughout the season, a fact wdiich probably explains the evident prosperity of its two hotels. The appearance of the latter is characteristic of the place. Both are long, low wooden buildings, with dormer windows and comfortable porches, the paradise of idlers o' summer nights. The two buildings confront each other on either side of the principal street — a broad thoroughfare, with a "green" or "common" down the middle. A short distance from them, on the eastern side of the street, is the court-house, of plastered brick, erected in 1831, on the site of the old building destroyed by fire. An entry in the county records states that the fire occurred on the 8th of March, 1831, and that on the 4th of June, in the same year, a loan was obtained from Robert Gilmor, of Baltimore, and a contract entered into with Ignatius Mudd to rebuild the structure for $8,510. The corner-stone was laid on the 6th of August, 1831, by Captain George Dent, aged 75, "a patriot of the revolution." The building is roomy and substantial, and is surrounded by an inclosure, in one corner of which stands the jail, a small stone structure. 154 Almost every Maryland town of age has one or more buildings whose appearance carries one back to the palmy days of the ante-bellum epoch. Solid brick they are, with wide halls, high ceilings and large apartments, some of them wainscoted. Leonardtown lias its mansion of this type in Tudor Hall. It is now the residence of Joseph H. Key, and was originally the home of the Barnes family. It is a large brick l)uilding, surrounded by a park of noble oaks and •commanding an extended view. The estate, which lies im- mediately about the town, comprises about 800 acres. In this portion of St. Mary's the country is high and rollings and the site of the town is an elevated plateau, which looks down on Britton's bay, a broad and picturesque tributary of the Potomac. The village, which has a population of be- tween 500 and 600, contains half a dozen thriving stores, two neat churches (Catholic and Protestant Episcopal) and a public hall belonging to the St. Mary's Reading Room and Debating Society. The latter building was formerly a Methodist church, but was purchased about fifteen years ago and converted to its present use. The Methodist con- gregation now worships in a church about half a mile from the town. The debating society was organized over fifty years ago, and is still in a flourishing condition. Leonardtown has no tire engine nor bank, although there would seem to be urgent need of both, as the town is mainly built of wood, and is the trade centre of a large section of country. Before the war, a savings bank — the St. Mary's Savings Institution — flourished, but since the war, it h;is not been revived. Although the nearest railroad station, Mechan- icsville is some sixteen miles distant, and the town, like the greater })ortion of St. Mary's, is practically dependent upon river traiisjjortation, considerable business is transacted, and from the general appearance of thrift and industry, with which a stranger can scarcely fail to be impressed, it is safe to predict that with the advent of the railroad, Leonardtown will commence a rapid and vigorous growth. 155 An illustration of wluit may be expected to follow the completion of the Southern Maryland Railroad is afforded, in a small way, in the appearance of the bustling little town of Mechanicsville, which sprang into being a few years ago, and is now a thriving little village, growing all the time. Its one hotel bears the singular name of the "P. K. House." What the letters stand for nobody seems to know% and the only explanation given of the choice is that it was a whim of the builder. On a sign in front of the house is printed in bold letters the sentence, "As we travel through life, let us live by the way," a bit of advice to which point is given by the fact that the proprietor combines with the trade of mine host the manufacture of coffins. There are several very pretty cottages in Mechanicsville, and the gene- ral appearance of the place is that of an energetic, bright and pushing little town. Not less enterprising in their way, are the hamlets which have sprung up in the wake of the sawmill at various points in the county, some of which, on the completion of the railroad, will doubtless develop into flourishing towtis. Three miles northwest of Mechanicsville is Charlotte Hall, a small village, interesting not only because of the ancient academy there, but on account of its reraarkabl}' pretty little church, erected as a memorial of Rev. Hatch Dent, first principal of the school. It is one of the most picturesque and attractive specimens of church architecture to be found in any part of the State. Charlotte Hall school has been brought to a high standard of efficiency under the present principal, Mr. William T. Briscoe, who has been connected with the institution for many years, and his assis- tants, Messrs. Edward T. Briscoe, R. W. Sylvester and G. D. Lancaster. It now has on its rolls eighty boys, varying in age from 9 to 20 years. The school is distinctively a Southern Maryland institution, but has a number of pupils from Baltimore and Washington, and from various points in Pennsylvania. It is managed by a boar