The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom / Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c.

by P. L. Simmonds

Seventy-three counties	55,079,374
Darke county	524,484
Twelve counties, average	8,400,000
Total	64,003,858

This is an advance of 15 per cent. on the crop of 1840, and it is known that the crop of 1850 was better than that of 1849. The number of acres planted, and the average production was:—

Acres planted	1,810,947
Bushels produced	64,003,858
Average per acre	35⅜	bush.

Considering how large a portion of hill land is planted, and how many fields are ill cultivated, the average is high. Many persons have believed that taking all years and all lands into view, the average of corn lands was not more than thirty bushels. But the immense fertility of bottom lands on the rivers and creeks of Ohio make up for bad cultivation and inferior soil. We may see something of the differences in the production of corn, by taking the averages of different counties, thus:—

	Acres.	Crop.	Average.
Butler	62,031	2,646,353	42½
Warren	42,322	1,757,409	42
Pickaway	65,860	2,627,727	40
Ross	69,520	2,918,958	42

Compare the average of these counties, which embrace some of the best lands in the State, with the following:—

	Acres.	Crop.	Average.
Carroll	10,107	316,999	32
Jackson	15,680	439,850	30
Monroe	23,375	728,242	31
Portage	10,426	329,529	32
Vinton	11,413	345,470	30

The last counties contain but little bottom land, and hence the average of corn is reduced one-fourth in amount. Of these counties, two are full of coal and iron. The resources of the last are more slow to develop, but in the end will be equally valuable.

But a small quantity of the corn of Ohio is exported as grain. It is first manufactured into other articles, and then exported in another form. The principal part of these are hogs, cattle, and whiskey. It is difficult to say exactly how much corn is in this way exported, but the following is an approximation—

	Bushels.
In Fat Cattle	4,000,000
In Fat Hogs	10,000,000
In Whiskey	2,500,000
Total	16,500,000