A New Guide for Emigrants to the West

by John Mason Peck

Face of the Country.—The interior and northern parts of the State bordering on lake Erie, are generally level, and, in some places, wet and marshy. The eastern and south-eastern parts bordering on the Ohio river, are hilly and broken, but not mountainous. In some counties the hills are abrupt and broken,—in others they form ridges, and are cultivated to their summits. Immediately on the banks of the Ohio and other large rivers are strips of rich alluvion soil.

The country along the Scioto and two Miamies, furnish more extensive bodies of rich, fertile land, than any other part of the State. The prairie land is found in small tracts near the head waters of the Muskingum and Scioto, and between the sources of the two Miami rivers, and especially in the north-western part of the State. Many of the prairies in Ohio are low and wet;—some are elevated and dry, and exhibit the features of those tracts called "barrens" in Illinois. There are extensive plains, some of which are wet, towards Sandusky.

Soil and Productions.—The soil, in at least three fourths of the State, is fertile;—and some of it very rich. The poorest portion of Ohio, is along the Ohio river, from 15 to 25 miles in width, and extending from the National road opposite Wheeling, to the mouth of the Scioto river. Many of the hills in this region are rocky.

Among the forest trees are oak of various species, white and black walnut, hickory, maple of different kinds, beech, poplar, ash of several kinds, birch, buckeye, cherry, chestnut, locust, elm, hackberry, sycamore, linden, with numerous others. Amongst the under growth are spice-bush, dogwood, ironwood, pawpaw, hornbeam, black-haw, thorn, wild plum, grape vines, &c. The plains and wet prairies produce wild grass.

The agricultural productions are such as are common to the Eastern and Middle States. Indian corn, as in other Western States, is a staple grain, raised with much ease, and in great abundance. More than 100 bushels are produced from an acre, on the rich alluvial soils of the bottom lands, though from 40 to 50 bushels per acre ought to be considered an average crop. The State generally has a fine soil for wheat, and flour is produced for exportation in great quantities. Rye, oats, buckwheat, barley, potatoes, melons, pumpkins, and all manner of garden vegetables, are cultivated to great perfection. No markets in the United States are more profusely and cheaply supplied with meat and vegetables than those of Cincinnati and other large towns in Ohio. Hemp is produced to some extent, and the choicest kinds of tobacco is raised and cured in some of the counties east of the Muskingum river. Fruits of all kinds are raised in great plenty, especially apples, which grow to a large size, and are finely flavored. The vine and the mulberry have been introduced, and with enterprise and industry, wine and silk might easily be added to its exports.

Animals.—Bears, wolves, and deer are still found in the forests and unsettled portions of the State. The domestic animals are similar to other States. Swine is one of the staple productions, and Cincinnati has been denominated the "pork market of the world." Other towns in the west, and in Ohio, are beginning to receive a share of this trade, especially along the lines of the Miami, and the Erie canals. 150,000 hogs have been slaughtered and prepared for market in one season in Cincinnati. About 75,000 is the present estimated number, from newspaper authority. Immense droves of fat cattle are sent every autumn from the Scioto valley and other parts of the State. They are driven to all the markets of the east and south.

Minerals.—The mineral deposits of Ohio, as yet discovered, consist principally in iron, salt, and bituminous coal, and are found chiefly along the south-eastern portion of the State. Let a line be drawn from the south-eastern part of Ashtabula county, in a south-western direction, by Northampton in Portage county, Wooster, Mount Vernon, Granville, Circleville, to Hillsborough, and thence south to the Ohio river in Brown county, and it would leave most of the salt, iron and coal on the eastern and south-eastern side.

Financial Statistics.—From the Auditor's Report to the Legislature now in session, (Jan. 1836,) the following items are extracted. The general revenue is obtained from moderate taxes on landed and personal property, and collected by the county treasurers,—from insurance, bank and bridge companies, from lawyers and physicians, &c.

Collected in 1835, by the several county treasurers, $150,080, (omitting fractions): paid by banks, bridges, and insurance companies, $26,060;—by lawyers, and physicians, $1,598;—other sources, $24,028,—making an aggregate of $201,766. The disbursements are,—amount of deficit for 1834, $16,622;—bills redeemed at the treasury for the year ending Nov. 1835, $182,005;—interest paid on school funds, $33,101, &c., amounting to $235,365—and showing a deficit in the revenue of $33,590.

Canal Funds.