PRIZE ESSAY
THE
AGRICULTURE OF LORAIN COUNTY:
BY
N. S. TOWNSHEND,
For which $100 was Awarded by the Ohio State Board of Agriculture.
COLTUMBUS:
NEVINS & MYERS, PRINTERS.
1867.








AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF LORAIN COUNTY.
A PRIZE ESSAY,
BY N. S. TOWNSHEND.
History.-Lorain county was organized in A. D. 1824, with Elyria as
the county town. The first settlements by whites within the present limits of the county were made in the township of Columbia, in A. D. 1807,
when the jurisdiction of Cuyahoga county extended westward to Black
river: permanent settlements in several towns were made in A. D. 1816.
The first settlers of Lorain, as of the whole Western Reserve, were from
New England, and were many of them men of intelligence and great
energy. They laid the foundations of society so wisely that the Reserve
has always maintained a pre-eminence in the State for the intelligence,
good order, and thrift of its inhabitants.
In A. D. 1830, and subsequently, there was a considerable immigration
of English people, most of whom were farmers -and working men, whose
labors contributed to bring some of the wetter portions of the county
into cultivation. Since 1840 there has been a large immigration from
Germany to the northern part of the county. Ignorance of the English
language has been a temporary obstacle to the success of these immigrants, but such of their children as are not kept out of the district
schools by religious bigotry, soon acquire our language, and exhibit as
much attachment to the land of their adoption as though their ancestors
had been among the first that landed upon Plymouth Rock. The diverse
national tastes and peculiarities of the present inhabitants of the county
have already had, and probably for a long time to come will have, a
marked influence upon its agriculture and social condition. The New
England pioneers who cleared the land were also alive to the value of
good roads, of schools, and of churches; the English to ditching, draining,
and otherwise improving the land and the stock, and to the beneficial
influence of agricultural associations and exhibitions, and the Germans
have furnished an excellent example of untiring industry and economy.
If all these valuable qualities can be combined in our future population,
Lorain, notwithstanding its flat surface and clayey soil, will not fall
behind her sister counties in social or industrial progress.
Geography.-Lorain county is on the northern border of the State, and
is included in the section known as the Western Reserve. It is bounded
on the north by Lake Erie, east by the counties of Cuyahoga and Medina,




4
south by Medina and Ashland, and west by Huron and Erie. It lies
between 41~ and 41~ 30' north latitude, and between 50 and 50 30' west
longitude from Washington, and contains 500 square miles, or 320,000
acres of land.
There are twenty-one townships in the county, each of which is five
miles square, except those which have the irregular shore of Lake Erie
for their northern boundary, and the townships of the western tier, which
lack the usual breadth westward. The townships are named Amherst,
Avon, Black River, Brighton, Brownhelm, Camden, Carlisle, Columbia,
Eaton, Elyria, Grafton, Henrietta, Huntington, La Grange, Penfield, Pittsfield, Ridgeville, Rochester, Russia, Sheffield and Wellington. Of these
towns, Avon, Sheffield, Black River and Brownhelm border on the Lake.
The county extends from the Lake five townships southward on its western
side.  The eastern side is irregular; three townships necessary to complete the parallelogram belong to Medina county, while the township of
Columbia, lying eastward of the regular line, has been attached from
Cuyahoga.
Black river rises in Ashland county, and runs through near the centre
of Lorain from south to north, making where it enters Lake Erie, in the
township of Black River, the harbor of the same name. From the narrative of Col. James Smith's captivity among the Indians, in A. D. 1755
to 1759, it appears that the name given to this river by the Delawvare
Indians was Canesadooharie. The falls of both its branches at Elyria
afford fine mill privileges, while some distance below the falls the scenery
is perhaps the most picturesque in northern Ohio. Vermillion river
enters the county on the western border, and after a course of a few miles,
turns to the westward again and enters the Lake in Erie county. The
western branch of Rocky river runs through the township of Columbia,
and enters the Lake in Cuyahoga county.
Geology.-The underlying rock of the greater part of the county is the
Waverly sandstone, or rather that form of coarse grained grindstone
grit which in part takes its place. Only a few miles east of the county
line is Berea, so celebrated for its grindstones. This rock has its line of
northern outcrop across the county from east to west, a few' miles back
from the Lake. It affords excellent building material. Some of the
finest structures in Cleveland and of Canadian cities are from the qutrries of Amherst in this county.
Along the Lake shore, and for three or four miles back, the underlying
rock is shale, the upper layers of which are soft and friable, the lower
more compact, but containing seams and fissures from which inflammable
gas sometimes escapes, but no petroleum has been found. The dip of the
rocks is toward the southeast, while the general surface of the county
declines almost imperceptibly in a northern direction toward the Lake.
8B




The streams running north and south, and the lake ridges running east
and west, make the only perceptible variation of the almost uniformly
level surface.
The rocks of sandstone and shale are almost everywhere covered by
drift, and this in some places by lake deposits in addition. The lowest
V11
j Al
Ilenr  ^^^S-.E, r                           A f   R  LLTON..-'
Hen 7- e      t       o tt,(A
_!7a ^A
Corrections oh the Map.-Tht railroad from Rawsonville to Oberlin is abandoned, and
the railroad from Elyria is now direct to Oberlin. The railroad represented near the
lake shore, on the north of the map, was never put in operation.




6
layer of the drift is a blue clay, containing pebbles of syenite, limestone
and shale. Its thickness varies from less than ten to upwards of twenty
feet. Above the blue is a layer of yellow clay, containing pebbles and
fragments of the same rocks. This stratum  forms the subsoil of the
greater part of the county. Boulders of primitive rocKs, mainly syenite,
are found in all parts of the county, except where they are covered by
the more recent lake deposits. They are sometimes intermingled with
the drift, but are more frequently on the surface, and in some places have
had the effect of preventing the surface from being washed away.
The lake deposits are found at all points along the immediate shore and
on ridges running nearly parallel with the shore, and continues with more
or less regularity the whole length of the lake, and at distances from it
varying from a mile to six or eight miles.. The lowest of these deposits
is an extremely fine blue sand in thin layers, upon this a coarse gray sand
and upon the surface sand of all degrees of fineness; from fine sand to
coarse gravel. These ridges are usually elevated a few feet only above
the land to the south of them, but on the north side the land declines
rapidly for some rods, so that on this side the ridge presents an elevation
of ten and sometimes of twenty feet; the breadth of the ridges is usually
from a quarter to half a mile, though it is sometimes more.
Soil. —The soil of all the southern towns of the county is formed upon
or out of the yellow clay drift, though occasionally the clay is substituted
or overlaid by sand or gravel. This clay soil contains a large percentage
of sand and is mixed with carbonate of lime from the imperfectly disintegrated limestone rock diffused through it in small particles. The
timber upon this land, where dry, was beech, hard maple, white ash,
etc.; and, where wet, elm, hickory, black ash, basswood, soft maple,
etc. When brought into cultivation and properly drained this clayey
soil produces good wheat, cats and potatoes, and most excellent pasture and meadow. Between the North Ridge and the lake, the subsoil
is apparently the blue drift; it contains much less sand but still more
carbonate of lime. The timber upon it was white and black oak, elm,
hickory, black ash, soft maple, etc. It is more tenacious than the yellow
clay, and more benefitted by thorough exposure to the action of frost; it
produces the same crops as the yellow clay, but often heavier. It is upon
land of this description that the grape has recently been cultivated so
successfully along the Lake Shore.
There are three principal lake ridges which are nearly parallel and
elevated from eighty to upwards of one hundred feet above the lake.
They are found in the townships of Avon, Sheffield, Amherst, Brownhelm, Ridgeville, Eaton, Carlisle, Elyria and Henrietta. The soil on the
ridges is formed of lake deposits, is sand or gravel, and contains but little
lime. The timber was chestnut, white wood or poplar (Liriodendron
tulipefera)j butternut, hard maple, black cherry, beech, white ash, and




7
white and black oak. In cultivation these ridges have produced excellent
corn, clover, potatoes, wheat and oats, though of the two latter crops the
yield is rarely as heavy as is sometimes grown upon more clayey land.
These sandy ridges afford the most desirable locations for dwellings and
farm buildings, and also for orchards and gardens, and the best natural
roads, besides the usual advantages of a sandy soil such as early tillage,
early crops, and little hindrance or damage from rain.
Marsh or swampy lands are found in the townships of Eaton, Ridgeville, Avon, Elyria, Carlisle, Henrietta, Russia, C(amden, Brighton and
Penfield. These lands are covered with small deciduous trees or low
bushes such as huckleberries, and, in the absence of these, carices and
other aquatic plants, and occasionally cranberries. When well drained
marsh lands produce for a time good crops of corn or potatoes but for
the want of silicates the stalks of corn soon lack strength and the products are limited' to root crops. Where leached ashes, lime or plaster are
freely applied the productiveness of swampy land is increased for long
periods. The rapidity with which black marshy soils radiate heat so
diminishes their temperature, together with their general low and sheltered situations, that their crops are subjected to the action of the late
frosts in the spring and of early frosts in the fall.
The best lands in the county are found on the bottoms of the rivers,
already mentioned, or on some of the creeks which run into them. Columbia, Brownhelm, Wellington, Pittsfield, Penfield, La Grange, Grafton,
Carlisle, Elyria, Sheffield and Black River townships have lands of this
description. The timber found growing upon bottom lands was principally
elm, sycamore and buckeye, on the river banks, with some black walnut,
white ash, white oak and basswood, and occasionally black cherry, and
in some places crab, plum, thorn and grape vines in impenetrable
thickets. In cultivation the bottoms have produced the best of all kinds
of crops; the soil is dry and sandy and the tillage easy, but the durability
and fertility of these soils is their most valuable characteristic. Lands
that have been tilled from the first settlement of the county still produce
more than average crops, even when no manure or other fertilizers have
been applied. The relative proportions of these different soils in the
county can be stated only approximatively. The clay soil greatly predominates, being, perhaps, not less than eighty per cent. - lake ridges,
river bottoms and marsh, in about equal proportions, make up the
balance.
Climate.-This has an influence. on all farming operations not less
decisive than the quality of the soil. The average annual rain fall in
Lorain county is about 36 inches, and this is pretty equally distributed
through the four seasons, though in some years more falls in spring and
summer than in autumn and winter. The range in ten years has been
from less than 30 to 48 inches. The thermal range is about 105~ of




8
Fahrenheit, or from 10~ below zero to 95 above. In exceptional years
the extremes of heat and cold have been even greater. Observations of
the hygrometric condition of the atmosphere do not show a greater
humidity in the vicinity of Lake Erie than in the central parts of the
State. The prevailing winds are from south-west and west to north-west.
From these quarters come almost all the rain and snow, though occasionally severe rain and snow storms come from the north-east; from the
east or south-east there is little wind or rain. On the Lake Shore there
is a land and lake breeze at regular hours of the day for most of the year,
the direction of the breeze being determined, of course, by the relative
temperature of the land and water.
The temperature of the water of the lake has a marked influence on
the atmosphere for some miles from the shore. In the spring, while ice
remains on the lake, the general temperature is lowered and vegetation,
and especially fruit buds, are retarded, but so soon as the ice leaves the
lake the water begins at once to grow warmer and late frosts are prevented.
In the fall the water is warm and diffuses its heat for some distance over
the land, and has the effect to prevent early frosts, greatly to the advantage of the corn and grape crops. Peaches are frequently abundant on
the Lake Shore when none are to be found a few miles inland. Some
seasons this protecting influence is felt only on the immediate shore;
sometimes it reaches to the North Ridge and in other years it extends
inland for ten or fifteen miles. The favorable influence of the lake has
made the south shore of Lake Erie the best fruit region in Ohio, and
hence lands that ten years since were little esteemed for general farming
purposes on account of their poor and clayey soil have now become quite
valuable for the culture of nearly all kinds of fruit, and particularly of
grapes.
Farms and Farming.-The average size of farms in Lorain county is
less than one hundred acres. These small farms, or perhaps the original
taste of the settlers, have led to the adoption of a miscellaneous agriculture rather than a dependance on one or two principal staples. Almost
every farmer endeavors to raise whatever is needed by his own family,
and some surplus of every product for market; of what that surplus shall
mainly consist depends on the situation-and soil of each farm, the taste
of the occupant, or the amount of his disposable cash capital. The general impression seems to be that by pursuing a miscellaneous system
and raising a little.of every thing, the labor of the farmer's family is
better distributed over the entire year, and for each one, old or young,
male or female, some profitable employment is found. While this is true
in the main, the peculiar adaptation of this portion of the State to dairy
purposes has given to this form of industry a preeminence, and secured
for Lorain, in common with other counties of the Western Reserve, the
appelation of " Cheesedom."




9
Dairy Products.-In Lorain county cheese is made both in factories and
in private dairies. Factory cheese is more uniform in size and quality
than the domestic, and though not always actually superior, it usually
brings a better price in the market. The expense of putting a cheese
factory in operation depends on three items -the site, the buildings and
the apparatus. A site well adapted to the purpose should be central and
accessible and on a back or side hill, from which a good spring of cold
water issues at such an elevation as to allow it to be used for cooling the
milk without the labor and expense of pumping. Such a site is almost
indispensable, though in a level country like Lorain, where good springs
are few, it is only occasionally to be found. The buildings consist of a
factory proper, where the cheese is made, and another building or room
for drying or storing the cheese. The cost of suitable structures may
vary from $300 to $500 to each hundred'cows. Apparatus, including
cans for carrying the milk, from twenty to thirty per cent. less. Factories
sometimes purchase the new milk from farmers at about twelve cents
a gallon (1866), or the factories make the cheese for the farmers, charging
about two cents a pound for their trouble when the cheese is delivered.
The manufacture of cheese in factories is found highly remunerative not
only to the factory, but to the farmer. The milk of a good cow sold at
twelve cents a gallon should amount to sixty dollars in a season, or if
cheese be sold at the prices of 1865, the gross proceeds from a whole
dairy has averaged $100 to each cow. On the clayey lands of Lorain
county which would not produce grain crops without too much expense,
and being rapidly exhausted of their fertility, it is found that a farm of
one hundred acres will keep twenty-five cows summer and winter, or,
deducting what is usually in timber, orchard and garden, and what is
consumed by the team, &c., one cow is kept on about three acres. From
twenty-five cows, fifteen hundred dollars worth of cheese may be sold in
a season with almost no outlay for labor. This is a much better return
than can be realized from grain raising or wool growing on such soils.
The process of making cheese in the factories of Lorain does not differ
in any important particular from that described by S. L. Goodale, Esq.,
Secretary of the Maine State Board of Agriculture, in the Report of the
Commissioner of Agriculture for 1863.
The cheese of private dairies differs with the skill, taste and circumstances of the maker. In dairies of twenty cows and upwards the dairyman can afford to supply himself with the best apparatus, and with
proper skill can make a first rate article. Few dairymen, however, will
be as painstaking and thorough or as well informed as the managers of
factories, while many will be as careless and slovenly about cheese-making as about all other farming operations. Cheese-making is a very advantageous form of industry for poor farmers in new countries especially,




10
in that it requires very little purchased apparatus. A cauldron kettle,
which Also serves many other purposes, serves as a cheese vat, and a
beam4  c~an be made by the farmer himself in a few hours. In this
respect it has an advantage over butter-making, for which a good cool,
clean, quiet room, where the cream may rise, is indispensable.
The varieties or styles of cheese made in the county are governed by
the state of the market, Chedder, English Dairy, besides that form
recognized as Western Reserve Factory may all be seen. In the production of cheese, Lorain is the sixth county in the State. The quantity
made in 1865 was nearly a million of pounds; the quantity made in 1866
was much larger, but of that no returns have been obtained. At present
Cincinnati, St. Louis and New Orleans are the best markets, although
some is sold in New York.
Butter.-For many years Lorain has sent butter of the best quality to
Southern, Western and Eastern markets. In the production of this article, only a single county in the State, viz., Ashtabula, is in advance of
Lorain, which makes more than three-fourths of a million of pounds
annually. Butter is seldom made in large dairies, which are generally
supposed to make better profits from cheese; but such of the farmers of
the county as have adopted a miscellaneous instead of an exclusively
dairy husbandry, and raises grain, stock, wool, fruit, &c., find that the
milk of a few cows may be employed for butter-making with, perhaps,
less trouble than the same can be converted into cheese, unless in the
immediate vicinity of a cheese factory. Another consideration, however,
doubtless, controls the matter in a majority of cases, viz., that as fine a
sample of butter can be made from a single cow or a few cows as from a large
number, which is not true in regard to cheese. In the process of buttermaking in Lorain county there is little variety, and perhaps no uniformity, The milk is usually strained into tin pans holding about six quarts,
and set in a cool, clean place for twelve or twenty-four hours, for the
cream to rise. The churns used are of every imaginable pattern and
patent-the farmer, or his wife, or the children, or the dog furnishing the
power-in a few instances only is water or wind power used. The multiplicity, and we may therefore infer, the unsatisfactory character of the
churns used, appears to depend on the fact that churning is probably considered by manufacturers of churns as purely a mechanical operation,
instead of what it is, an operation partly mechanical and partly chemical.
Everything, therefore, that ingenuity can devise is done to break or tear
to pieces the casein envelopes that hold the oil globules of the cream in
isolation, while little care has been taken to introduce a sufficient supply
of atmospheric air to regulate and acidify the cream in the process. Tho
Eureka churn, manufactured at Elyria, Lorain county, by Messrs. Landon, Gallup & Co., although not entirely new in principle, is likely to




11
become, when its action is properly understood, the most popular implement of the kind in the country. Butter for immediate use is seldom
washed by the best butter-makers, but when it is intended for winter use
the butter-milk is carefully washed as well as worked out, and an additional quantity of salt added to prevent the remaining casein from
becoming rancid.
The gross proceeds of a good cow, devoted to butter-making, will be
less than the proceeds of an equally good cow devoted to cheese-making.
A cow may give from 300 to 600 gallons of milk in a season, from which
may be made from 100 to 200 pounds of butter; but from many cows as
much as four gallons of milk will be required to furnish cream for a
pound of butter.
No particular breed of cattle is specially sought by the dairymen of
Lorain county, the.general impression being that "common stock" will
frequently furnish better milkers, in proportion to their cost, than either
Shorthorn, Hereford or Devon, which are the only imported cattle in the
county. This opinion can only be correct where price is specially considered, for the cows which took the first premiums at the State Fairs of
1864 and 1865, for quantity of milk and butter, were thoroughbred or
high grade Shorthorns belonging to Mr. R. Baker, of this county, and such
are by no means exceptional cases.
Wheat.-Previous to the advent of the wheat midge (Cecedomia triciti)
in 1853 or 1854, excellent crops of wheat had been grown in this county,
and the only insect enemy of the crop heretofore observed was the
Hessian fly (Cecedomia destructor), which was scarcely known in some
towns. Since the appearance of the midge, the culture of the finer varieties of white wheat has been almost abandoned, and the earlier and
hardier varieties, such as Mediterranean, substituted in the place. In
addition to the midge, the uncertainty of a snowy covering during our
exceedingly variable winters has contributed to discourage the culture of
this indispensable grain. To avoid the severity and uncertainty of the
winter, spring wheat is now grown more than formerly, but this crop is
not uniformly satisfactory, for if sown too early it is liable to be attacked
by the midge, and it sown too late it is dried up by the excessive heat or
injured by rust. From assessors' returns it would appear that only 5,764
acres of wheat were grown in 1865, and that the crop was little more than
22,000 bushels. We do not believe these returns are near the truth in
either particular. When the county was first settled wheat was usually
the first crop upon newly cleared lands, and from fifteen to twenty bushels
to the acre was not an unusual crop; lands longer cleared were generally
prepared for wheat by summer-fallowing. When this was practiced, the
wheat sown early and the water kept off, the crop was reasonably certain
until the appearance of the midge;'since that time less care has bees




12
bestowed upon this crop, and summer-fallowing is less frequently practiced. Grass lands are now often broken up in the spring, or if the soil
be clay, late in the fall, for corn. This is planted at full distances in the
direction of the furrows, and well cultivated during the summer without
breaking the sod. Wheat is sown early in the fall between the rows
before the corn is harvested, and in the succeeding spring clover and
grass seed is sown among the wheat. This method takes but two grain
crops from the land before it is again seeded with timothy and clover.
While these continue the land remains in pasture or meadow; but when
they give place to June grass and other inferior herbage the same course
is repeated. This plan is well adapted to a dairy country, for two grain
crops occupy but fifteen months, and secures a better setting of grass
than before. A different plan is sometimes adopted. The turf is plowed
under in the spring for corn; this crop is followed the next spring by
oats, and the oats are followed by wheat, among which clover and grass
seed are sown. This practice is only adapted to lands of decidedly good
quality.
Corn.-Lorain is not a corn growing county, although the river bottoms
and some of the uplands are well adapted to this grain, and corn crops
have sometimes been grown in the county that would compare with the
best crops grown in the State. There is no distillery in the county, and
but little pork is fattened for export; most of the corn raised is consumed
for human food and by animals on the farm.
The culture of corn in Lorain presents no peculiar feature other than
the frequency with which grass lands are broken up for this crop, and the
practice of ridging instead of furrowing before planting-the clayey character of much of the soil and the flatness of the surface have led to the
former, and the frequency of cold spring rains in the vicinity of the lake,
have led to the latter practice. The quantity of land planted with corn
in Lorain was 15,000 acres in 1865, and the crop 500,000 bushels. The
varieties cultivated are white and yellow gourdseed, and a smaller and
earlier variety of yellow corn, sometimes called Hackberry. Thirty years
since white flint corn was extensively cultivated and sold at a good price
to be hulled for the trappers of the Hudson's Bay Company; this was an
early and good variety, but generally considered too hard and flinty for
stock. The time for planting corn in the northern part of the State, is as
soon as possible after the 10th of May, though it is sometimes delayed by
the cold or rains as late as the first of June or even later. It is customary and generally necessary to work the crop twice in the season; hoeing by hand is still practiced after the cultivator, and it seems to be
admitted that corn requires more and better tillage to secure a crop than'in the southern portion of the State. It is usually cut and shocked while
the stalks are a little green, and but rarely fed upon the stalks.




13
Barley.-Only to a limited extent is barley cultivated in the county,
although fair remunerative crops have been obtained, and the market of
Cleveland takes all that is furnished. It has been sown on all kinds of
soil. On sandy land the straw is short and the crop usually light, but
the grain is of the best quality; on good clayey soil the straw is longer
and stronger and the yield heavier; on marsh land, when it is thoroughly
drained and the barley sown late enough to escape late frosts, the crop is
sometimes very large. Upon all rich lands, however, barley is liable to
be injured by a parasitic fungus (uredo segetum) or smut. It is usually
sown, except marshy soils, as early in the spring as the season will permit. If the ground has been prepared in the fall, it may be sown before
the plow can be put in action; a week or two of snow after the sowing,
rarely does any harm. Only the spring varieties are grown. Skinless
barley has been grown in a few instances, but it has not come into general cultivation.
Rye.-This crop is but little grown in Lorain. Formerly the flour was
mixed with corn meal for bread, but the taste for rye and Indian was
almost confined to the original settlers, and has not been transmitted to
their children. A little is grown and sold to distilleries in neighboring
counties, but the principle inducement to the growth of rye is the convenience of having the straw to tie up corn stalks and other uses. It is
sometimes sown very early, so as to make a good growth before winter,
so that in early spring it may be used for the pasture of ewes and lambs,
a practice which injures the rye but little and greatly benefits the sheep,
as this is a good preparation if the laAd is required for a spring crop.
Oats.-It is supposed by many that oats grow better in the northern
parts of the State than in the southern. However this may be, it is certain that they grow much better on the northern side of Lake Erie than
on the southern. The difficulty of growing heavy oats in this climate is
the comparative shortness of the season and the rapidity with which the
extreme summer's heat comes on. When the hot weather comes, if only
moderately forward, they are ripened almost at once, although the kernel
is not full; if backward, they are affected by rust and greatly injured.
If sown very early, even though the sowing is followed by frost and snow
so that sufficient time is secured for a good growth and gradual ripening,
the grain is much heavier and there are more bushels to the acre. The
varieties sown are known as the Common, the Poland, and the Tartarian
or one side oat. The Polish oat produces the largest crop, and in Lorain
has weighed nearly 40 lbs. to the bushel; but this variety has a greater
tendency to waste in harvesting than some others. The Tartarian oat
probably produces better than any other on poor and clayey land. The
climate of Ohio is manifestly not well adapted to the growth of this cereal,
and hence the tendency of all the better varieties to degenerate until, in a




14
few years, they frequently fall below the legal standard'of 32 lbs. to the
bushel.
Buckwheat.-Buckwheat cakes are still popular in Lorain, and the grain
from which they are made is grown to supply this demand. For a crop,
the buckwheat is sown on good warm soil in the latter part of June,
though sometimes a fair crop is obtained if sown after barley has been
harvested. But the principal use made of this crop is as a fertilizer,
sown thickly on old land which is intended for wheat, and so early as to
be in full blossom by the'first of September. It is then turned under
carefully, and the wheat sown at once upon the inverted crop, which, by
its fermentation and subsequent decomposition, affords the nutriment
required by the wheat plant.
Sorghum.-The manufacture of sorghum syrup was introduced in 1859,
and from that time to the present it appears to have gained rather than
lost in public estimation. By the experience gained, and the improved
methods adopted, the quality of the syrup has been improved, and by
continued use, people have become accustomed to its peculiar flavor. A
very important point in regard to the time of cutting the cane has been
established by experience. At first there was a disposition to cut the
cane too early, before the juice had become fully saccharine. Afterwards
the tendency was in an opposite direction, and the cane was allowed to
stand until the seed was nearly or fully ripe; but the latter plan proved
worse than the first, for the ripening of the seed was at the expense of the
sugar, which was being changed into starch, to be deposited in the seed,
to nourish the future plant. Only for the last year or two have farmers
learned to cut the cane before the seed hardens, so as to secure the syrup
before the conversion of saccharine matter into starch. The process of
manufacture throughout the.county is nearly the same. The cane is
crushed in iron mills; the juice is caught in a barrel, in the bottom of
which have been placed pieces of unburned or partially burned limestone; upon the stone a quantity of straw is placed, to act as a strainer,
and some place a layer of clean loose wool under the straw. If the straw
is renewed from time to time, and the wool washed clean two or three
times a day, the straining is more perfect than if the juice had been
passed through flannel. The limestones are placed in the bottom of the
barrel to neutralize free acids, and to facilitate the escape of the juice from
the hole or tap near the bottom of the barrel, through which it runs into
the evaporator or other receptacle. Pans of all forms have been used.
Probably any of them, when well managed, will answer the purpose, for
practical skill on the part of the manufacturer appears to be more important than perfection of machinery.
Several varieties of cane have been cultivated in the county, but it
seems to be a general conclusion that the Chinese cane which was first




5
introduced is still the best for syrup. Thus far few have attempted to
make sugar, and special arrangements for crystalizing, or centrifugal
dryers, for separating the syrup from the crystals, have not been introduced. The amount of good syrup made from an acre should not be less
than 200 or 250 gallons, worth from 50 to 60 cents a gallon. After paying 15 or 20 cents a gallon for the manufacture, there is still a handsome
remuneration to the farmer, for his labor and the use of his land. It was
fortunate for the lovers of sweet dishes that the sorghum plant was
introduced and successfully cultivated before the war of the rebellion
had interrupted the industries of the South, or cut off commercial intercourse with the sugar-growing States.
Potatoes.-This is an important crop in Lorain, the city of Cleveland affording a ready market for immense quantities. The advent of the potato rot
not only affected the profits of the cultivator, but wrought many other
changes. Some of the most delicate and desirable varieties for the table,
such as the Neshannocks, have been partially abandoned for coarser and
hardier varieties, like the New Jersey Peach Blow. Another consequence
of the rot has been smaller crops, from withholding manure, which was
formerly thought almost indispensable; but now it is so well understood
that the rot is most destructive in soils filled with organic matter, that
the use of manure is almost abandoned. No remedy has yet been discovered for this malady, but since its nature and modes of attack are
better known, its ravages may in the main be avoided. That it is caused
by a parasitic fungus is now generally understood, and that it rarely
attacks the potato before the fall rains begin; that it may be early detected by the presence of brown or dead spots on the leaves and stems, and
afterwards by little feathery spots of white mould upon the tuber, are
also known. If the crop had been dug before these appearances, it
would be entirely sound, or if dug when these signs first present themselves, and made entirely dry, it may be mostly saved, but if left until
the leaves and stems are killed, and the mould is present on most of the
potatoes, the crop is lost, and not worth digging, unless for immediate
feeding to hogs or other stock, the starch remaining unchanged in any
part of the potato that continues sound, and the decayed portions have
no poisonous quality.
Potatoes grox n in Lorain are probably as good as can be found in any
part of the State, and fields of 10 or 20 acres, or even larger, may sometimes be seen in those parts of the county nearest Cleveland. The soil
best adapted to the potato differs with the season, and somewhat with
the variety. Marshes that have been thoroughly drained, and of which
the soil is wholly black vegetable matter, often bear fine crops of potatoes, with easy tillage and digging, though perhaps they are not always
of first rate quality. In wet seasons potatoes are bes, when grown on




16
sandy soil; in dry seasons they are perhaps best on tlrf newly broken
up, and where the subsoil is clay. In general, the largest crop may be
obtained by breaking up a good piece of turf and planting upon it. The
mode of cultivation is various. Some continue the primitive modes of
planting and hoeing by hand, and digging with the hoe or fork. Those
who raise many, usually drop in furrows made by the plow; use a plow
for killing the weeds and hilling the potatoes, and finally take them up
either with a shovel plow or with a potato plow, which has straps of iron
instead of a mold-board, between which the soil falls back into the furrow, while the potatoes are all carried to the surface. It is so easy to
obtain seedling potatoes that new varieties are continually being introduced, in some instances varieties from the eastern States, from England
and from Germany may all be found in the same garden. The Neshannock or Mercer is perhaps the only variety that has retained its popularity for more than a generation, but even that, in consequence of the rot,
is in danger of being abandoned.
Sweet Potatoes.-These esculents were not grown in Lorain until about
1850, since that time they have come to have a place in almost every
garden. Two varieties only are common-the Bermudas, a red kind, very
early and very productive, but often rather poor, besides being more subject to rot if left a little too long in the ground in the fall; and the Nansemonds, a yellow kind, not so early but in a dry season productive and
very good.
Turnips.-These ate grown only to a limited extent as a field crop; but
the early varieties sown late, and the late varieties sown early, are sometimes seen. Valuable as this root is understood to be for cattle, and
especially for sheep, its culture has not received much attention, and it
does not enter into our system of husbandry or rotation as it does on the
other side of the lake, in Canada or in England. This, perhaps, depends
in part on the clayey character of our soil, but still more on the excellence
and reliability of the corn crop, which, like money, "answereth all
things."  Considering, however, the smallness of the corn crop on many
farms in this county, it is probable that ruta-bagas, properly cultivated,
would afford more food for stock, and with less labor, and therefore prove
more profitable.
Cabbages are not grown in Lorain as a field crop, though generally
regarded, and especially by our German neighbors, as an indispensable
garden vegetable.
Carrots and Parsnips are occasionally seen occupying some corner of a
field, but neither are much cultivated either for stock or market purposes.
Madder.-Some years since a thorough experiment of the culture of
madder was made in Lorain; but on account of the length of time required for maturing the roots and the low price then paid for the product,
it was found to be comparatively unprofitable, and therefore abandoned.




17
A full account of this experiment appeared in the reports of the Patent
Office, by Mr. Swift, the gentleman to whose energy and enterprise we
are indebted for the trial.
Peppermint has also had its day in Lorain. Many meadows were plowed
and planted with this herb. At the proper time the crop was collected
and distilled and oil of peppermint became an article of commerce. At
present this plant is no longer grown among us for such purposes, which
is sufficient evidence that ultimately it was not found profitable.
Hops.-For many years hops have been grown in this county in a few
localities. It is supposed that the climate of this region is well suited to
this plant, and hence with the inducements afforded by present prices, it
is probable that the cultivation of hops will steadily increase from year to
year.
Elax.-This was once almost as indispensable as any other product of
the farm; but the days of the linen wheel were long since numbered, and
now but little attention is paid to this crop. Unless the fibre can be put
to new uses or manufactured by new methods, it is not probable that the
culture of flax will be renewed on our clayey soils.
Tobacco has never been grown extensively in this county, and yet small
patches and even fields are occasionally seen. If its growth were never
more profitable to the farmer than its use to the consumer, there would
be very little inducement to its culture.
Pastures.-More than half the improved lands in the county are pasture.
A clayey subsoil overlaid by a good amount of vegetable matter, appears
especially adapted to grass. The cultivated grasses usually sown are
timothy, red top and orchard grass, with red and white clover. But
either from mixture of the seed sown or because other grasses are indigenous and better adapted to the soil, the varieties actually to be found
in any pasture greatly exceeds the above. But little had been done to
improve our pastures; leached ashes, plaster, barn-yard manure and the
blue drift clay have sometimes been used as a top-dressing-the latter,
however, only on the sandy ridges. All of these it is presumed have produced satisfactory results in the comparatively few instances where they
have been employed, but it is somewhat surprising that in a county which
depends so much upon grass so little should be done to improve or sustain grass lands. Like lIdian hunting grounds, grass lands are expected
to give without return whatever man can take from them. By this course
they will gradually become impoverished, and then some new system ot
industry must be inauguratedMeadows.-By the last vol. of Ohio Ag. Rep. it appears that more hay
is cut in Lorain than in any other county in the State.. Almost every
part of the county will bear good grass, and afford a good crop if left for,
hay. It has been customary to seed down for meadow with nothing but
2




18
timothy and red clover, other grasses are expected to "come in," which
they often do, to the annoyance of the farmer, particularly is this true of
the Poas, as P. annua, P. trivialis, and P. pratensis, which latter is here
known as June grass, but which in reality is the same as the celebrated
blue grass of Kentucky, but dwarfed in this region by climate or by the
insufficiency of lime in our soils. Sowing of red clover, with timothy, is
almost universal, and yet the practice is open to the objection that the
timothy is always too late to be in season with the clover. This objection
cannot be,urged against orchard grass with clover, for this is ready for
the mower quite as soon as the clover, and when cut early it makes a
good hay, but when too ripe it is inferior to timothy. A practice has been
adopted by some which seems to be worthy of imitation-that is, to sow
orchard grass, with clover, for early cutting, timothy for cutting a few
days later, and red top on cooler and wetter soils for cutting late. On
warm sandy soils the orchard grass and clover are ready to cut in June,
while in low moist lands the red top is still green and fresh in August.
By having meadows of each of these grasses the whole hay crop may be
cut exactly in season, although the haying be considerably prolonged,
while, it timothy alone is relied on, it must be cut all at once or some will
be too young and some too old to make the best hay.
Hay is usually secured in barns, there being less stacked out in Lorain
than in almost any other part of the State. This is probably due to the
fact that all our farms' are small and one or two good barns are sufficient
to secure both grain and hay. In passing through some portions of the
county, travellers may occasionally see hay stacks that will give evidence
that if stacking is not much practiced, it is nevertheless well understood.
It will be admitted that our English farmers make the neatest and securest stacks of hay and grain. Their method of stacking the former is so
uniform as to be easily described. In the first place, logs or rails or brush
is laid down sufficient to keep the hay entirely from the ground, upon
these straw, weeds or other refuse is placed to give still further protection. To place the hay the stacker moves gradually backward near the
edge of the stack, laying continually a good course before him. In this
way he passes slowly round and round until the stack is finished, being
all the time careful to keep the middle full. The stacker goes round in
that direction, which brings his upper hand on the fork to the outside of
the stack. Until two-thirds of the hay is on the stack, it is gradually
widened, while with the remaining third it is regularly narrowed to the
top. When the stack is finished, it is customary to pull off all that hangs
over the bottom of wood or straw to the ground and to rake down the
roof smoothly and thoroughly. The hay in such a stack, provided it be
properly finished before rain comes upon it, will keep quite as good and
fresh as in a barn. But in consequence of the risks of weather, and the




19
trouble of building and topping a stack well, and also because little skill
is required to movw away the hay in a barn, the latter is always preferred.
Cutting hay for sale has not been extensively practiced in this county,
the conviction that it impoverishes the soil unless the fertility be maintained by frequent top dressings, has doubtless had an influence to prevent such a traffic.  Where the price and the facility for sending to market are good, and where the necessary fertilizers can readily"and cheaply
be obtained, there need be no more hesitation in selling hay than any
other product of the farm. It is found in Lorain as elsewhere, that after
a series of years meadows, "run out," as the expression is, the timothy,
and red clover, and other desirable grasses, give place to comparatively
unproductive varieties. One remedy is a, thorough top dressing of good
manure in the spring, and when it is thoroughly harrowed about, to sow
upon it timothy or clover, or whatever grass is desired.  The usual
method, however, is to break up, and after two or three grain crops, and
the use of manure or other fertilizers to seed again with better grasses.
Forage crops, other than grass, are sometimes grown, millet to a small
extent, Hungarian grass, more extensively, and sometimes corn thick
sown late in the season. Any of these prove an invaluable resource,
when the danger of a short crop of hayis apparent, or where a farmer
has team and labor in plenty, he can certainly obtain winter forage from
these crops from less surface than from common meadow.
Lucerne (Medicago Sativa).-Many years since, ~ small packageDf La
Lucerne (the Altalia of the Spaniards), were sent about the country from
the Patent Office; but it has not come into general favor, still its hardiness in this climate has been sufficiently demonstrated-the writer has
some growing which was sown some fifteen years since. It has several
mowings annually, and is very well relished by stock. In some of the
Southern States this plant may prove of great value for cattle and horses
as it has long been all over Southern Euiope.
Horses.-Lorain cannot lay claim  to any valuable breed of horses,
although the horses of the county are comparatively good. Farms are
small and most farmers keep but a single team, which must plow and harrow, reap and mow, thrash and saw wood, go to market or to meeting, and in
short do all that a horse can be made to do. Consequently almost all the
horses in the county are "horses of all work," no breed of any special
adaptation is to be found among us, and there is not now, and probably
never has been, a thoroughbred horse standing for service in the county.
Good Morgan horses have sometimes been kept, and occasionally a good
draft horse; but of neither of these has there been a breed, and it is not
probable there will be for years to come. If horses are fit to do everything tolerably, it can hardly be expected they will do any one thing absolutely well.




20
A single fact in the management of young horses is perhaps worthy of
mention.  In the castration of colts a safer and more humane method
has sometimes been adopted here, than that which generally prevails.
The colt is thrown and the feet seCurd in the usual way and rolled upon
his left side, if the operator be 4qiadnded; the scrotum is opened as
usual, but instead of applying clamps of wood to the cord, the testicle is
seized firmly by the hand with a sudden jerk, torn out in the same manner as in the castration of young bulls. If the cord were cut off the
animal would probably bleed to death, but a torn or lacerated artery will
not bleed; hence, the tearing out is safe, while cutting involves the necessity of securing the artery by ligature or other contrivance. The usual
precautions to prevent the colt from galloping about are taken, and there
is nothing more to be done, and the danger is even less than by the old
method.
Mules.-A few only have been raised or pastured in the county, and
very few mule teams are kept; the people are partial to horses, and can't
see that the mule is any great improvement.
Cattle.-The number of cattle kept in the county is something over
20,000, of these the major part are what are called common stock. Durhams, Herefords, Devons and their grades are also seen on many farms.
Durhams have been brought into the county from Kentucky, Southern Ohio
and from Canada, and appear to have grown in public estimation both
for beef andsdairy purposes. In regard to the latter use, however, it is
evident there is great variation among the Shorthorns of Kentucky and
Southern Ohio-some families being the best of milkers, while others are
quite indifferent; the number of short-horn grades is steadily increasing,
even where they are kept exclusivtly for the dairy.
The Herefords of Messrs. Astop, Humphrey and Cross, which have
often been exhibited at the State Fairl, of this and other States, are all
owned in Lorain county.  Their excellent quality as beef cattle is everywhere admitted; but they are not increasing rapidly, owing perhaps to
the prices demanded for them by their present proprietors. Devons were
formerly kept in the county and highly esteemed for the yoke, at the
present time but few of them are left.
Sheep.-But few counties in Ohio have more sheep than Lorain, the
number returned to assessors being 164,000, consisting of Merinos and
their grades, and Leicesters, Cotswolds and Southdowns. For many years
our farmers have endeavored to grow a finer quality of wool, and at the
same time to increase the weight of fleece, and the size anl ardihood of
the animal. In these aims some have had a ^ A^l meAure of success, and excellent sheep may be found in the county; but the little difference in the prices of wools has prevented improvers from obtaining
the reward to which their enterprise and care were entitled. The recent




21
war has also had an influence in the same direction. The demand for
coarse, and particularly combing wools, for army uses, has greatly disturbed the calculations of the producers of the finest qualities of wool.
Leicester sheep have been kept in- the county for more than thirty
years, and have spread into several towns. The high prices paid for combing wools during the war has materially increased the demand for this
description of sheep. In former times their excellence for mutton was
their chief recommendation.  Leicester sheep have proved thrifty and
hardy in northern Ohio, and on grass alone, without grain, they can
usually be kept asfat as it is desirable for breeding stock to be kept.
Cotswolds have also been common for several years. Their great weight
makes them. favorites with the butcher, and their wool, which before the
war was called too long and coarse, is now in good demand. They probably requir3 more and better feed than Leicesters, not having the same
aptitude to fatten, nor do they come to maturity so early, but when mature and well fed, they reach a heavier weight. For practical purposes,
the Leicesters and Cotswolds may be classed together. Taking into account their value for mutton as well as wool, either of these varieties are
probably as profitable as those that produce finer wool. Should the
demand for combing wools continue or increase, it can be produced in
this and other States on the northern border, a.s cheaply and as good in
every respect as it can be produced in Canada, and it can not be good
policy to import our combing wools when they may so readily be grown
at home.
Swine.-Pork is not one of the principal products of the county, and
hence the larger and coarser varieties are seldom kept. For home consumption the smaller breeds, such as Suffolks and Berkshires, are more
esteemed. It is, however, true that the Chester Whites are having a
season of comparative popularity. Hogs that will profitably consume the
refuse of the dairy, the garden, the kitchen and the farm, and get fat
without much sound corn, come nearest to filling the requirements of
Lorain farmers.
Poultry.-The farm-yard must have its denizens not less than the pasture. Turkeys, black, bronze and white; geese, common, gray and Chinese; ducks, Rouen, Muscovy and Aylesbury, may all be seen. And as
for " the cock that crows o' the morn," he may be a Shanghae, Chittagong,
Brahmapootra or Java, Black Spanish, Poland, Dorking, or English or
Irish game. That all these are kept in the county, and their several
merits and capabilities properly understood, can be proven to whoever
has a taste for roast turkey or chicken pie, roast duck or goose, or eggs
after all styles, including that curious compound, egg-nog, or who is used
to take flights with a gray goose quill, or delights to rest his weary limbs
on beds of softest down.




22
Silkworms. -Lorain has, had its era of morus multicaulis, with the
accompanying visions of heroes and houris clad in silk and satin; beautiful dreams that contrasted sadly with the waking reality. Unfortunately
this form of industry failed to bring fortunes at once to all its enthusiastic devotees, and therefore it was as unwisely abandoned as at the first
it had been unwisely begun.
"Of manias we've had many,
And some you'll call to mind,
But the morns multicaulis
Leaves all the rest behind."
If every farmer in the country who has suitable soil, had a few mulberry
trees of the best variety that could be grown in the climate, and would
feed as many worms as the members of his family could care for properly,
the aggregate wealth from this source would be immense. But we must
wait until there are fewer opportunities of becoming suddenly rich by
gambling s eculations, before our people will be satisfied to strive for
the moderate though certain gains of patient industry.
Bees.-The busy bee, so noted for a good example of industry and economy is by no means neglected among us. Nowhere can finer fields of
white clover be found than in Lorain. Then we have bass-wood trees in
abundance, and buckwheat, and all the sources from which the "balm of
a thousand flowers " is made. When the Italian bee was first introduced,
its appearance was hailed as a great event, and the extinction of the little black bee was at once predicted; but after many years the darkey
proves irrepressible, and is still cherished " for the sweet food she makes,"
and dreaded for the little poisoned dagger she is so ready to unsheath on
the slightest provocation. Won't somebody import, directly from Mexico,
a colony of stingless bees, so that in the good time coming we may have
honey without a sting.  Thanks to Langstroth and others, the bee,
although still subjected to heavy assessments on account of internal revenue, is no longer consigned by her unchristian plunderers to a doom of
fire and brimstone.
Fruits.-Lorain county, and the Western Reserve generally, is an excellent region for nruit, both soil and climate being well adapted for its
cultivation, and the inhabitants have an intelligent appreciation of its
value, not only as an article of commerce, but for daily home consumption. Through all the lake region apples are excellent and abundant;the surplus is barreled and sent east and west, or dried and sent to market in all directions. Cider, and cider vinegar are abundant and good,
and form important items in the profits of the orchard. The locations
preferred for orchards have a soil dry and loose, either sandy, gravelly
or stony; the late ridges fill these conditions, and therefore are largely
devoted to orchards. The first orchards of the county were entirely of
seedlings, and presented the variety and inferiority that might be expected; but so well fitted were soil and climate to this fruit, that almost all




23
orchards contained kinds of local reputation, and perhaps worthy of
propagation. There seems to be a general desire among farmers to have
many varieties rather tha, to rely on a few which are " best."  For early
fruit, some of the following may now be found in nearly every orchard:
Early Harvest, Sweet Bough, Summer Pearmain, Golden Sweet, Early
Strawberry, Summer Queen, Red Astrachan, Lowell, and Drop D'Or.
Fall apples found almost everywhere are Fall Pippin, Rambo, Gravenstein, Fall Wine, Myers' Nonpareil, Porter and Primate. For winter,
Belmont, Baldwin, B. I. Greening, Peck's Pleasant, Red Canada, Jonathan, Wine Sap, Seek-no-further, Esopus Spitzenberg, etc., etc.
It appears to be the experience of all our farmers, who have planted
orchards, that trees furnished by nurseries of our own State grow better
than those brought from other States, and that our nurserymen know
better what trees to recommend for different localities within this State,
and are more reliable than the travelling agents of Eastern nurseries.
It is to be regretted that so many orchards in this county, as elsewhere,
are so poorly cared for. It is not enough, as some appear to think, to
plant an orchard and fence it, and go annually for a crop of fruit. There
are trees in the county that have neither been pruned nor manured for
thirty years. In favored localities these trees still live and produce fruit,
but in situations less favorable they die or gradually produce smaller
crops and poorer fruit. The good effects of a liberal dressing of manure
and in some cases of ashes is nowhere so apparent as when applied to a
poor, scrubby starved orchard.
Peaches.-When the county was first settled, peaches were comparatively a certain crop for some miles back from the lake, but owing either
to clearing the county of timber or other causes, there is now but a mere
border on the lake shore where they are comparatively unfailing. In
portions of the county, remote from the shore, in half the years peaches
are a failure; still with all this uncertainty, so delicious is this fruit that
its culture continues to secure attention, and sometimes the care and
patience are rewarded by fine luscious peaches, such as even New Jersey
might envy. We need not name the popular favorites, their memory is
very sweet, but the more we think of them the more we feel inclined to
ask " When shall we meet again."
Pears.-Our first pears were mostly seedlings, among which there is
apt to be more of uniformity than among seedling apples, and therefore
our first pears were almost uniformly poor. After better varieties were
introduced, cultivators were often disappointed through the ravages ot
the blight; to such an extent has this been true that a few years since,
on many farms that had good apple orchards, not a single pear tree was
to be found. For some years, however, the blight has not proved so
troublesome, and renewed attention has been paid to the introduction and
culture of the best varieties, and now at our exhibitions may be seen




24
the Bartlett and Seckel, Ohe Bloodgood, ~pn, Belle Lucrative, Stevens'
Genessee, Lawrence, Sheldon, Winter,Eind others grown on standards, and the Dutchess, Glout Morceau, Flemish Beauty, Easter Buerre,
and Buerre Diel on the Quince. The preference at present appears to be
decidedly in favor of standard trees, and we trust that ere long good,
vigorous, standard pear trees will be found in every orchard. Indeed, an
orchard without Bartletts and Seckels should be considered an offence
against the good goddess Pomona and its owner, after fair warning held
liable to be punished by hanging on a sour apple tree.
Strawberries.-This delicious little fruit is as worthy of honorable mention as it is of general cultivation. On the sandy and gravelly lake
ridges it grows finely and bears abundantly, and what is wonderful to
relate is practically without insect enemies. The crop rarely fails unless
the rains are so heavy or violent, when it is in flower, as to wash away
the pollen before fertilization is complete. The practice of winter covering the plants with straw, Considered indispensable, now seems to be
abandoned, and in its place mulching with spent tan bark is sometimes
adopted: an excellent plan, for besides supplying nutriment to the plants
it retains the moisture of the soil and prolongs the bearing season and
keeps the berries from the sand. The varieties cultivated vary from time
to time, but Early Scarlet, Hovey's Seedling, Wilson's Albany, Russell's
Prolific, Hooker's Seedling, &c., are most common. Strawberries are not
much grown for market in Lorain, there being no city within our borders,
but every man who ha- land grows them for himself and family, and if
his own cows supply the milk or cream to go with them "so much the
better."
Raspberries, except two or three common varieties, are not so generally
cultivated as strawberries, the better varieties all requiring protection of
some kind during the winter, and this the farmer, busy in securing more
important crops, often neglects. The inducement to the cultivation of
raspberries is not alone in the delicacy of their taste but also in the fact
that they come in season after strawberries, and when no other fruit of
equal value is ready for the table.
Blackberries.-Only of late have blackberries been admitted into the
good society of the garden, partly because they were " so common," but
perhaps more on.account of the rambling and saucy behaviour of the
bushes. Since the introduction of the Lawton and other selected varieties, the blackberry is found to pay as well for gentlemanly treatment as
other fruit-bearing shrubs, and to be equally amenable to garden regulations and boundaries.
Cranberries.-These are found growing wild in the marshes of several
towns in the county, and probably because they are so abundant and
cheap, their culture so far as known has not been systematically attempted.




25
Huckleberries.-This is another wild fruit which grows abundantly in
the county. Several varieties are found in and around the marshes, some
of which appear to be sports or perhaps hybrids. Some of these may,
perhaps, be worthy of cultivation. It is not known that efforts in that
direction have thus far proved successful.
Grapes.-Recently grape culture has attracted much attention. The
excellent quality and high price of grapes grown on the islands, near
Sandusky, have induced many enterprising persons to establish vineyards
on the main land. Some vineyards planted on the lake shore in 1860
have come into bearing, and have fully answered the most sanguine
expectations of their owners. In the towns of Avon, Sheffield, Black
River and Brownhelm, which border on the lake, there are already more
than 300 acres of vineyard, of which about fifty acres are in bearing.
The soil of the lake shore, upon which grapes are now being planted, is
everywhere clay drift, lying upon shale only a few feet below the surface.
On such soils the growth of the vine is arrested early in the season, and
the young wood has time to mature fully before winter, and the grapes
are said to mature better, and to be sweeter, and better flavored than such
as grow upon sandy soil. At a late meeting of the Grape Growers' Association held in Cleveland, the first premium for Catawbas, the perfection
of the cluster and quality of the fruit considered, was awarded to speci
mens from the township of Avon.
The varieties at present in cultivation on the Lake shore are the Catawba, Delaware, Ives, Iona, Virginia and Concord. So far as present
experience goes, all the finest and most delicate of our native grapes can
be grown to perfection on the south shore of Lake Erie. Whether grapes
can be grown as well upon the mainland as upon the islands is to the men
of the islands a matter of doubt; with the men of the shore it is an established fact. The fruit, when ripe, is put up in boxes containing 10 lbs.
each, and sent all over the country; at present the demand for grapes is
so great that wine-making on the mainland has scarcely been attempted.
The land on the shore is not only clayey, but flat, so that underdraining
is regarded as an imperative necessity; the cost of this improvement is
from $40 to $50 per acre, at the present high prices paid for labor and for
draining tiles. The present price of first-class vineyard land is from
$150 to $200 an acre.
Labor.-The supply of hands for field labor is seldom deficient in this
county, partly because the farms being small and principally devoted to
pasture, the farmer and his sons, with the aid of machinery, can perform
almost all the labor required. And for many years past there has been
a steady immigration of English and Germans, and these new-comers
have been glad to work for others until they could obtain homes and
farms of their own. The wages paid in the county, as everywhere else,




26
have risen greatly since the outbreak of the rebellion; before that time a
young Englishman or German used to farm labor could be hired for $120
to $150 per annum; at present a similar hand would demand from $200
to $250 for the same time.
Machinery.-But little use can be made of water-power by farmers in
this county; the country is too level and the streams too small and
transient; in fact there are not watermills enough to grind the grain and
saw the lumber, the deficiency being supplied by steam-power. But
through the aid of modern machinery the farmer avails himself of animal
power for almost all purposes. He cuts, rakes and unloads hay, cuts and
threshes his grain, shells his corn, and saws his wood by the aid of his
team.
It is to be regretted that more use is not made on the farm and elsewhere of the agency of wind: a mighty force which even Yankee ingenuity is not turning to much account. The difficulty appears to be that
all our windmills apply the power immediately instead of mediately, and
consequently no work can be done except while the wind is blowing.
Windmills might be constructed to work by the aid of the force of gravity, the direct labor of the wind being to wind up weights, as a clock is
wound up, at which it could work as constantly or fitfully as usual. The
working power would be obtained from the weights being allowed to run
down with regularity, and drive the machinery as needed. Something
of this kind has already been attempted, and when perfected, the farmer
may call to his aid a force that will require no feeding either with oats or
fuel, but which, if put on his house, can be made available at a moment's
notice, to churn the butter, wash the clothes, saw the wood, or rock the
cradle, while in the barn it would shell the corn, cut fodder, pump water
for stock, and thresh the grain into the bargain.
Plowing.-In Lorain this important operation is usually done by horse
teams working two abreast and guided with double lines, the plow being
invariably right-handed. Many plows are in common use, but none are
more common than the "Curtis," with cast-iron beam: on clayey land,
where the soil is heavy, it is thought to be without an equal. Subsoiling
has not been extensively practiced, but recently it is coming into use in
the preparation of the soil for vine planting.
Draining.-This great improvement has been practiced in the county
to a limited extent for more than thirty years. At the foot of the Lake
ridges the water makes out sometimes in valuable springs, but oftener in
such small quantity as barely to saturate the soil and make it cold and
unproductive. In such places underdraining was early adopted. At
first timber or stones were used to make the watercourse, but now only
tiles are used. The land thus improved is among the best we have. In
addition to these springy places, many orchards have been underdrained,




27
(a tile drain being laid midway between the rows of trees,) and greatly
to their benefit, if the land was wet and cold. Since grape growing became a prominent form of industry, draining has received still more attention; thus far the drains are made entirely by human labor; lateral
drains, about thirty feet apart, are dug. three feet deep, and two inch
tiles laid in them. The main drains are deeper and the tiles larger as the
outfall requires.
Fertilizers.-So much stock is kept in Lorain that a good supply of
barnyard manure is saved on almost every farm. This is sometimes applied to tilled lands, but occasionally spread upon meadows for a topdressing. Ashes, both leached and unleached, are valued and usually
distributed with care. The supply of lime in leached ashes has been
found especially valuable to a wheat crop. Plaster of Paris can be obtained in the adjoining county of Erie, where excellent plaster beds are
located, but the price has heretofore been too high to bring it into general
use. On some of the sandy ridges the blue drift clay has been spread
with most excellent effect. For a dozen years or more every crop that
has followed such an application has shown a marked improvement.
Green crops of buckwheat or clover are occasionally turned under, but
this has not yet become a common practice.
Houses.-Houses in this county are mostly of wood, although some are
constructed of brick and stone. The style is the same as that which pre
vails in many parts of New England: a two-story main part, placed end
to the road, with one or more wings to the side, the whole painted white,
sometimes with green blinds, but oftener without. This plan is well
enough, but for the fact that the better part of the house where the rooms
are airy and pleasant, is often furnished a little too expensively for common use, and so the careful housewife shuts the family out of it, and of
course compels them to live in a little crowded kitchen, often smoky, and
steamy and sloppy, where the home graces and amenities do not readily
thrive. It is a sad mistake for a man to build a house too nice or to
furnish it too elegantly for himself and his family. It is the universal
custom in Lorain, as with all Yankee communities, to build near a public
road. Getting out and in is evidently considered a matter of great importance. A location near a good road has usually an influence on the
surroundings, for homes which are liable to be inspected every hour can
scarcely afford to be untidy or without ornamental trees or shrubs and
flowers.
Barns in Lorain are not the imposing structures to be found in some of
the counties to the south of us. If our German and Yankee populations
could learn from each other the gain might be mutual. Yankee barns
might be improved as much as the houses of some of our Teutonic
neighbors.  Sheds for stock are becoming more common, as people




28
learn that it is cheaper to keep cattle warm by providing them with good
shelter, than by feeding them an extra amount of fodder.
Fences.-Almost all the fences in the county are of rails laid up in the
old Virginia style. Originally the land was well timbered, chesnut, white
and black oak, white and black ash and butternut make the cheapest and
best of rails. In another generation, the supply of timber will be spent,
and thus far but little has been done to provide for the coming want.
The original settlers were not alive to the value of their fine forests, and
even now but few persons have any adequate idea of their prospective
value where they have been spared from the woodman's axe.
Hedges. —Hedges of osage orange have been tested in the county for
fifteen or sixteen years, and in many localities at least with satisfactory
results. On sandy soil the orange grows much better than upon clay,
and some of the oldest in the county on such soil show no indications of
failure, coming up in all points to the old standard of "horse high, hog
tight, and bull strong."  Where the orange has failed it has generally
been on soils too wet or clayey or where the soil about them was not properly cultivated for the first two or three years, or where the trimming was
injudicious. The orange seed is bought by the pound; it is soaked four
or five days in water blood warm which is changed every day, then sown
across narrow beds or drills a foot apart, the seeds being an inch or two
asunder in the drill; unless the soil of the bed is quite sandy it is better
to procure fine sand to cover the seed an inch in depth than to cover them
with a clayey soil. The young plants must be carefully weeded during
the summer, and if the seed and management have both been good, 3,000
plants should be raised from a pound of seed. To plant the hedge, it is
best, unless the soil is quite sandy, to plow in the fall about three furrows
each way from the line of the hedge, making the open furrow as deep as
possible. In the spring this is all plowed back and leveled, and the
bed for the hedge is made; a line is then stretched and the year old sets
cut off nearly to the yellow and planted, the tops level with the ground,
about eight inches asunder. The next year, if the growth has been good
and the shoots all strong, otherwise wait a year, it is best to cut all down
nearly to the ground to secure the putting up of several stems from each
root. After this, if intended for a field fence, it may stand four or five
years without trimming, and then be platted and layered as thorn hedges
are treated in England. This method does not seem quite so handsome for
a yard or garden fence as close yearly trimmings, but it makes a more reliable farm fence, such at least seems to be the conclusion that many have
reached in this locality.
Hawthorn (Crataegus oxyacanthus) the beautiful hedge plant of old England, has also been partially tested. It seems to be especially adapted to
clayey soils, such as are not suitable for the orange; on sandy soil it ap



29
peared to sufer from the heat and dryness of the climate, losing its leaves
early in the season. This does not affect the vigor of the plant, but it
detracts from its beauty for an ornamental hedge; in the spring, however, this defect is almost compensated by its earliness, being dressed in
beautiful green before any other shrub or tree. On the farm of the writer
are several large hawthorns, the seed for which was brought from England
nearly forty years ago. Thby are still in perfect vigor, and annually produce abundance of beautiful and fragrant blossoms and many bushels of
berries. From these berries several hedges have been planted in a neighboring county on clayey soil adapted to their growth. They have not
had the requisite trimming, but the plants have grown thrifty and do
not appear to lack any of the requisites of a perfect hedge plant. On the
writer's farm there is also a hawthorn hedge fourteen years old, and although on sandy soil, which is too warm, its general appearance would
probably satisfy the most fastidious.
Some experiments (not very satisfactory) have also been made in the
county with the native thorn C. crsygalli, Cock's spur thorn, and C. cordata known as the Washington thorn. The former is believed to be the
better of the two, but neither are sufficiently scrubby for a perfect hedge
plant. There are several smaller varieties of the native thorn, such as
C. parvifolia, C. flava and C. appiifolia which are very spinous and more
dwarfed in their habits; but it is not known that either of these has been
tested. To determine the best hedge plants for all soils or for any particular soil and locality is of immense importance to the future, far beyond
their value for fences. A country full of hedges has abundant protection
for little birds, upon which the farmer must always depend to keep his
insect enemies in subjection.
Roads.-Lorain county has excellent sandy and gravelly roads in an
easterly and westerly direction along the lake ridges, but the roads running north and south on clayey soil are only good sometimes. The railroads intersecting the county are the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati,
the Cleveland and Toledo, and the Cleveland and Sandusky roads. Besides roads, the county has water communication with all points on Lake
Erie from the harbor at Charleston, or the mouth of the Black river.
Manufactures and other exports. -Wellington and Elyria have been
celebrated for the carriages made by Messrs. Tripp and Topliffe, and Elyria now sends hubs, spokes and felloes, with other carriage timber, in all
directions from the factory of Mr. Ely; Amherst and Brownhelm, export
stones for building and other purposes, immense quantities of  tkl  and
a~  timber have been taken to the lake from all parts of the county, and
formerly large quantities of pot and pearl ashes were exported. Fish are
taken from the lake and sent to various markets inland.
Markets.-In addition to the distant markets to which the Lorain farmer




30
has access by the railroads which pass through the county, and the lake
on its northern border, there are in the county three villages which
consume much of the productions of the county immediately surrounding. Elyria, the county town, is pleasantly situated between the two
branches of Black river, near their junction, the Cleveland and Toledo
railroad passing through it. Wellington is ai enterprising village on the
Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati railroad; and Oberlin, where there
is by far the largest college in the State, is on the Cleveland and Toledo
road.
Agricultural Societies.-A county agricultural society was organized at
Elyria in 1833, but continued in activity only a few years. In 1846 a new
society was established, which continues in operation without diminution
of interest. The grounds formerly occupied for the county fair were held
on lease, which having expired, the Society last year purchased eighteen
acres eligibly situated, where the necessary buildings are about to be
erected. The length of the county in a direction north and south has
led to the formation of another agricultural association at Wellington,
with which several of the southern towns are connected. This society
has held spirited exhibitions for several years.
Elyria Natural History Society.-It may not be out of place here to
make a brief record of this association. It was organized in 1844, for
the cultivation of the physical sciences, and for the purpose of teaching,
through public lectures, their application to the affairs of common life.
Such sciences as botany, chemistry, geology, zoology, etc., etc., were distributed among the working members, who were physicians, lawyers, clergymen, teachers and ethers, and each One was expected to collect whatever was of interest in his department, and be ready to present it to the
public on short notice. A convenient hall was obtained, and one public
lecture a week given regularly, and almost without a failure, for a period
of about five years. By the members of this society a complete natural
history survey of the county was made, and collections illustrating nearly
every department were gathered. Reports were obtained from members
on many of the interesting scientific questions of the times, such as
potato rot, pear blight, milk sickness, cholera, Indian remains, etc., etc.
Unfortunately neither the community nor the members of the society
fully understood the importance of the work. The transactions of the
society were never published, even in the village papers, and when by
those changes to which all western villages are liable, the active members left, one after another, for more inviting fields, their collections,
which were private property, were carried with them. Somewhat of the
scientific interest awakened by this society still remains with the people,
but the knowledge acquired and taste developed among the working
members has been expended elsewhere. Perhaps every county seat or




31
considerable village in the State might establish and sustain a similar
association. May we express the hope that such attempts in other places
may not so soon terminate in hie jacet.
Farmers' Clubs.-A township farmers' club was organized in the township of Avon, and a township fair held in 1855. Regular meetings were
held monthly, in the evening, and at the beginning of the month. The
organization was exceedingly simple and the expense trivial. To awaken
and continue the interest, the following methods were adopted:
1st. Discussions, usually upon topics connected with the work of the
month just entered upon, whether of the farm, orchard or garden. This
gave a sufficient range of topics, and to the immediate question under
discussion, a present interest.
2d. Exhibitions. Any member having a fine specimen of grain, fruit
or other product, brought it to the meeting. If fruit was brought ih
quantity sufficient to convert the meeting into a tasting committee, it
afforded a pleasant change from mere talk. Objects of curiosity, insects,
minerals, implements, etc., were presented, and served to elicit or convey
information.
3d. Questions. After these matters were disposed of, it was allowed
to members to make inquiries in regard to any matter of special interest
to them. How to treat a sick animal, build a house or barn, make a gate
or a cistern, or drain a field,-and to obtain answers from whoever was
best informed.
4th. Advertising was cheaply effected through the agency of the club.
Whoever wanted to buy or to sell was invited to make his wants known,
often greatly to the mutual gain of members.
5th. Reports were made from time to time by committees who had
been appointed to investigate any new or other object of interest.
6th. Lectures from members of the club and others on any topics having an agricultural bearing.
In addition to these methods of giving interest to meetings, visiting
committees, township fairs, and plowing matches were all employed to
make the organization as useful as possible. But finally the rebellion
broke out, and men ceased to talk over the peaceful pursuits of the farm,
and went at their country's call to participate in sterner duties. So the
club died, but not without hope of a resurrection.
County Club.-More recently a county agricultural club has been organized, and holds monthly meetings in Elyria, which, however, but few
attend who live at a distance. If it can be demonstrated that county
clubs are more useful or more easily sustained than a club in each town,
the fact should be known. At present we think that question entitled to
a Scotch verdict, "not proven."




32
Agricultural Papers.-The Ohio Farmer circulates among Lorain county
farmers. It seems, however, that many of them take agricultural papers
published out of the State, not being sufficiently aware of the superior
value of a paper published nearer home. A home paper contains all the
advertisements they are interested in seeing, and is written with reference to the soil and climate and productions of their own State, and by
persons, both as regards editor and correspondents, whom they know,
and therefore know what percentage to add or subtract from every statement.
Conclusion.-This paper has been begun and finished while one snowy
covering has hidden the soil of the county from view. Had the matter
been under consideration longer, visits would have been made to various
parts of the county, and much interesting material gathered, and possibly some mistakes avoided.
The present condition of the county represents the labor of fifty years,
that being the time since which many of our towns were settled. Now
the population numbers 30,000. The assessed value of lands is $6,939,169;
of other property, $5,231,662. Excellent common schools, one noble college, numerous churches, and other organizations, whose object is the
good of our own citizens or of strangers, have been established. These,
with our means of communication by mail, telegraph, railroad and lake
navigation, show that the preliminary labors of a grand civilization have
been well begun. Our fathers, with little to depend on besides a fertile
soil, a genial climate, vigorous bodies, inured to labor, a spirit above discouragement, and the blessing of God, have done what we see. A few
of them, harder than the labors they performed, or the hardships they
endured, still retain an honored place among us. They have not lived in
vain. Our sons enter upon the next fifty years at great advantage. How
much of what is good among us will they preserve and make better?
How much of what is evil will they do away aih   How much that is
unfinished will they perfect? There is manifestly much to do, both tor
the soil and the people, before the land shall yield its whole strength,
and the people be so wise as to make the best of all their resources, and
learn to enjoy all the gifts of the Beneficent Father with thankfuiness.
N. t. T.