A' Glass. Book. \^ -^ V J HAND BOOK OF KENTUCKY. ISSUED BY 1. B. NALL, Commissioner OF Agriculture. Louisville, Kr. : Geo. G. Fetter Printing Co. 1902. F4-5I JAN 7 1905 D.ofO, PREFACE. This Handbook of Kentucky is issued from the office of the Com- missioner of Agriculture, Labor and Statistics, Frankfort, Ky., to enable it to answer more fully and specifically than can be done in circulars or letters the many inquiries received from other States, and especialh' those lying to the north, northwest, and east of this State, as well as from foreign countries, as to the re- sources, climate, and general prospects for investments in the fer- tile lands, rich minerals, and abundant timber belts of this State. It will also giA'e much information to prospective manufacturers, and others who may wish to avail themselves of our many advan- tages in that line. The sketches of the various cities are necessa- rily brief and incomplete, but anj one wishing further information are respectfully referred to the Mayors, or Secretaries of the Com- mercial Clubs in the respective cities. I. B. NALL, Commissioner. KENTUCKY. INTRODUCTION.* Kentucky is a part of a very old laud surface. Some time dur- ing that period of geological history when most of the coal of the world was formed, a slow upward movement began in this region, which by the close of the coal period had brought above sea level all that portion of the State lying east of the Tennessee river. This elevation was accompanied with the development of abroad low fold or arch extending north and south through the present sites of Cin- cinnati and Lexington and often spoken of as the ''Cincinnati Arch." This arch was highest in that portion of the State now oc- cupied by the central blu«grass counties of Bourbon, Scott, Wood- ford, Mercer, Boyle, Garrard, Jessamine and Fayette. The upward movement culminated here in the development of a "dome of up- lift." The earth, as it were, "humped" itself in this region, and hence here first of all in the Ohio valley raised its back above the sea and invited the atmospheric agencies to their work. This is why they have worn so much away from this region, causing to be exposed upon the summit of this old earth dome the oldest surface rocks in the State, and indeed in the Ohio valley — the limestone rocks which by their disintegration have furnished the deep rich soil the "bluegrass," ages afterwards, discovered and claimed pre- eminently as its own. The different formation from the coal measures downward were worn through in succession and their margins retreated outward from this region as a center in ever-widening concentric bands like the coats of an onion as it is pared away. A result of this has been in some cases at least, an increase in surface area of older formations at the expense of the newer. The coal measure area of Kentucky, for instance, has been steadily wasting away until from once having covered all or nearly all of the State, it has now been reduced to 15,133 square miles and cut into two fields, an Eastern and a Western. In the long, long ages that have elapsed since Kentucky, east of the Tennessee river, became laud, it has shared with the land occu- * "Adapted by Prof, A. Miller from his Chapter on Geography of Kentucky in thf Natural Advanced Geography, copyrighted in 1898 by American Book Company." 2 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bwecm of Agricultwe. pied by neighboring States many vicissitudes of fortune: cycles oi elevation and depression, increasing and diminishing the erosive power of the streams, have come and gone: atmospheric wasting has done its worst. The country has felt the influence of stronjc earth strains and thrusts along two of its borders and to some ex- tent in the interior. It has not entirely escaped the trial by fire, though this was never very severe, and evidence of it having been nearly all obliterated. Two small patches of ^^dike-rock" (rock formerly forced up into fissures in a melted condition) — the one in Elliott, the other in Crittenden count}^ — alone remain to show that any thing like volcanic activity was ever manifested in this region. Land ice, that great surface leveler, has scarcely left traces of occupation upon Kentucky soil. The Great Northern Ice Sheet, which for so long a time held the territory northward within its icy embrace, scarcely entered Kentucky at all. The southern lim- its of this continental glacier have been traced skirting the Ohio river on its south side from Campbell county to Trimble. States like Ohio and Indiana have profited agriculturally hj reason of this old ice invasion. Doubtless Kentucky as a whole would have been improved in like manner, if the ice had pushed further to the southeast, softening the country's rugged contours and making soil contributions from materials accumulated in its onward progress. But it might have ruined the bluegrass region. BOUNDARIES AND AREA. The present form and size of Kentucky is the result partly of design, partly of accident. When separated from Fincastle county, Va., in 1776, the limits of ''Kentucky County" were not very defi- nitely fixed. The eastern, or county line, extending from Cumber- land Gap to mouth of Big Sandy, at first somewhat vaguely de- fined, was established as the State line in 1799. In that year a joint commission convened at the forks of Sandy, and decided that start- ing at Cumberland Gap and following the crest of the water-shed between Powell's river and Poor Fork of the Cumberland and be- tween Pound river and Elkhorn creek, tributaries of the Big Sandy to Russell Fork of the latter stream it should thence proceed by straight line north, 45 degrees each, to the Tug Fork of Sandy, by thence down the middle of this stream to the forks and that of the combined streams to the mouth. It is said that a rain up the rivers the day before brought Tug Fork out with a greater flood than Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 3 Levisa Fork, and hence the selection of the former as the main fork, though in reality it is the smaller stream. By this fortunate rain Kentucky acquired all the territory between the Tug and Levisa forks, in all some 2,000 square miles. The north and northwest boundary, from the mouth of Sandy to the Mississippi, follows the low water on the right bank of the Ohio river, because in the act by which Virginia ceded the North- west Territory to the general government in 1784, she still re- tained control of this portion of the Ohio river. The western boundary, that from the mouth of the Ohio to the Tennessee line, originally established in 1763 in accordance with a treaty between France, Spain and England, is the oldest boundary legacy Kentucky has received. It follows the middle of the river. Islands Nos. 1, 2, 3, 5 (Wolf Island) and 8 were by act of 1820 given to Kentucky. The southern boundary, that from Cumberland Gap to the Mississippi river, does not follow in unbroken course the straight east and west line originally intended. When Walker and Hend- erson were appointed by North Carolina and Virginia to run the boundary between the two States, they were directed to follow the parallel of 36 degrees and 30 minutes. Owing to the wilderness character of the country and the impossibility of making correc- tion for magnetic variation in that early day, they veered to the northward of the true parallel and at Cumberland Gap, from which pent Henderson returned, they were about seven miles north of this line. Walker continued the survey westward from this point and ended at the Tennessee river, some twelve miles north of 36 degrees and 30 minutes. This line, which after some dispute, be- came the boundary between Tennessee and Kentucky, is known as 'the "Walker line." By this error of a surveyor Kentucky lost be- tween 2,000 and 3,000 square miles of territory. Still, though the jurisdiction was given to Tennessee, the land in it was made sub- ject to entry in the land office at Frankfort, and such entries are still (1899) occasionally made. West of the Tennessee river the southern line was not estab- lished until 1819, when the Indian titles to this territory were ex- tinguished by treaty— the Jackson-Shelby Treaty — and the part of Kentucky lying west of this river has ever since been known as the Jackson purchase. Determining the point on the Mississippi river where the parallel of 36 degr* f-s and 30 minutes crossed, Alex- ander and Munsel, the two surveyors, ran the true line eastward to the Tennessee river. This is known as the "Munsel Line." The 4 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. Tennessee river forms the common boundary connecting the east extremity of the Munsel line and the west extremity of the Walker line. The islands in this course of the river, however, were given to the jurisdiction of Kentucky. There are other minor eccentricities in the boundary line of Kentucky the explanations of which are interesting contributions to local history as, for instance, the little jog in the northern line of Simpson county. As a result of all these boundary adjustments with their inci- dent gains and losses to the territory of Kentucky, this State has now its characteristic westward tapering form and an area of 40,400 square miles, 400 of which is water. PHYSICAL FEATURES (SURFACE.) Kentucky is divided into a number of well-marked physical regions, the direct expi^ession of atmospheric erosion acting upon rock formations differing in hardness and other characters. The Bluegrass Region, roughly described as lying north of a semicircular line drawn from Vanceburg to Louisville and pass- ing through Junction City and containing 8,186 square miles, is the blue and gray limestone area,^ the soil of which has been formed by the decay of the underlying limestone and to some extent by inheritance from formations that were once above but have been removed by erosion. This soil is remarkably deep and rich, the richest being that formed from the upper part of the oldest forma- tion in the State and indeed in the Ohio Valley— the Trenton forma- tion, a highly phosphatic limestone, furnishing by decay just those ingredients the bluegrass needs in order to attain its greatest lux- uriance and perfection of growth. This typical bluegrass region contains aJjout 1,062 square miles and is included in tlie counties of Bourbon, Scott, Fraukliu, Woodford, Mercer, Boyle, Garrard, Jes- samine and Fayette. The surface lying between 800 and 1,000 feet above the sea is gently rolling. It is pitted in some places by cir- cular shaped depressions or sinks, and small caves, and copiously gushing springs are frequent. The lower part of the Trenton formation — the Birdseye limestone — forming picturesque cliffs :i long the Kentucky river from Boonesboro to Frankfort, furnishes undei' (ho name of "Kentucky River Marble," a good building stone. The Knobs. — Bounding on the east, south and west of the Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 5 region just described is a strip of country diversified by conical shaped sandstone hills rising to a height of 1,200 to 1,300 feet above the seat (300 to 400 feet above the surrounding country). These are detached outliers of a limestone capped plateau lying further back. In the west the edge of this plateau presents to- wards the bluegrass a continuous bold front or escarpment, known as "Muldraugh's Hill." In the east the plateau is made somewhat higher by the capping of a third formation, a coarse-grained sand- stone, and the edge of this being deeply dissected, gives a very rough country indeed. The lower sandstone, called the "Waverly" or "Knobstone," is a part of the sub or lower carboniferous forma- tion, and the strip as defined by the limits of this, and that of a black shale immediately below it, occupies 5,609 square miles. Its soils are naturally thin and poor, though occasional instances of careful treatment, particularly at the hands of the foreign popula- tion (Swiss and German colonists in Lincoln, Trappist Monks in Nelson) show they are susceptible of great improvement. The fruit-growing industry thrives here. Quarries of valuable build- ing stone (freestone) occur in the hills. The Mountains. — All the State east of a line drawn from op- posite Portsmouth on the Ohio river to the "Wayne-Clinton county line on the Tennessee border is commonly called "The Mountains." This region is identical with the Eastern Kentucky coal field, con- taining 10,450 square miles. Physically it is a deeply dissected plateau with true mountains of elevation on its southeast border. The general height of this plateau, the extension of the Cumber- land plateau of Tennessee, slopes from 1,500 feet near the Tennes- see border and the Pine mountains to 1,000 feet and lower near the Ohio and Big Sandy rivers. The western and southeastern por- tions of this region are rugged in the extreme. All along the western border the hard outcropping "basal con- glomerate" of the coal measures presents precipitous escarpments to the westward and has been deeply trenched by westward flowing rivers and their tributary cross streams, so that the whole strip has been compared to a "Chinese Wall," tending to shut out eastern from central and western Kentucky. It is with difficulty that railroads can penetrate this region. The Pine and Cumber- land mountains of the southeast border form even topped ridges with few gaps or breaks in them. The Cumberland range presents its steepest slope to the eastward, the Pine mountains its steepest slope to the westward. The latter is a mountain range of the typical thrust-fault type, such as characterize this portion of the 6 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bnreau of Agriculture. Appalachians. The crests, in some cases rising into peaks 3,000 feet above the sea, are capped with the same hard conglomerate or coarse sandstone which forms the western rim before described. Cross mountain ranges of equal or greater height connect the Cumberland and Pine mountain ranges. The whole mountain region of Kentucky is ill adapted for agriculture, but possesses stores of undeveloped mineral wealth in the form or iron and coal, and its lumber resources are also yet very great. The Western Coal Fields. — Area, 4,683 square miles presents many of the same characters as the eastern, but it is not so ele- vated or rugged except along the border where the same hard con- glomerate appears. The two fields were evidently once connected, if not across the whole State, at least over the southern part. The Cavernous Limestone Area. — (8,882 square miles.) Sur- rounding the western coal field in a wide band and skirting the western margin of the eastern field in a narrower band with a slight interruption between the two strips, is a limestone plateau second only in height to the Cumberland plateau. It slopes from 1,200 feet in the eastern to 600 feet in the western part. This up- land country is nearly everywhere pitted with circular depres- sions or "sinks," through which the surface water finds its way into underground passages. These passages, enlarged sometimes into truly spacious galleries and domes, constitute the caves that have rendered this region the most famous cavern region in the world. The surface is somewhat broken and diversified by knobs capped with sandstone. Famous among these is Green River Knob on the borders of Pulaski and Casey counties, 1,800 feet above the sea, the highest point between the eastern and western coal fields. These sandstone capi)ings are remnants of a once continuous sheet of sandstone, which united the bases of these two coal fields. The soils are generally intermediate in character between those of the bluegrass and those of the mountains. A large portion of the central and southwestern portions of this region was found by the early settlers to be treeless and received ',hc name of "The Barrens." Now, however, it enjoys an excellent Igricultural reputation, and tracts of it support a good timber ;jrowth. The Jackson Purchase. — (2,587 square miles.) This area, ac- quired in 1820 by purchase from the Chickasaw Indians, in- cludes all the State west of the Tennessee river. It constitutes both geologically and physically a region distinct from the rest of the State. The surface elevation is below 500 feet. Gravels, Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 7 sands, clays, and loams, geologically recent and hence but slightly consolidated, constitute the surface formation. These were formed in an embayment of the Gulf of Mexico when it reached as far north as the mouth of the Ohio, Kentucky would have been a Gulf State then. The soil exhibits considerable diversity in richness, but the average productiveness is high. This region is the only one in the State surveyed according to the regular government township-section system. The counties present a regularity of form not seen elsewhere in the State. DRAINAGE. The rivers of Kentucky cut deep and in general are character- ized by steep rocky banks. This is particularly true where they emerge from the eastern mountain region, and again when they traverse the limestone district either of the bluegrass or of the region of caverns. The depth of these channels is from 300 to 400 feet and this measurement is often given by the walls of a nearly vertical river cliff. A little distance back from the river the land again rises by a gentler slope to the general level of the surround- ing country. This upper shallow basin is the old bed of the river before it trenched its present gorge. Old river deposits (gravels, sands, and clay) strew this ancient flood plain. They date from a time when the whole country stood at a much lower level and the rivers emerging from the uplands (present mountain area), trav- ersed the old base-levelel plain in winding courses to a not very distant sea. Then came an elevation of the land and the streams sunk for themselves channels along the meandering paths previ- ously marked out. The rivers of Kentucky to-day, though hem- med in by rocky banks, still inherit this crookedness. The general course of Kentucky rivers is northwest into the Ohio. The two rivers that cross the Cincinnati arch, do so by making bends to the southward, resuming their northwest trend again be- fore entering the Ohio. This throws the Cumberland for the greater portion of its navigable course without the limits of the State entirely. The Kentucky, in its sharp bend to the southwest from Boonesboro to Camp Nelson, follows the line of a very old fault. Kentucky is fortunate in the number of miles of navigable water within and along her borders. During a good stage of water one might travel by steamboat from Pikeville, Poke county, to Burnside, Pulaski county. 6 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bweau of Agriculture. The navigability of Kentucky rivers is favored by their crooked- ness which decreases their fall per mile. On each side of them are^ "big bends," five to seven miles around and only a few feet across the narrowest part, which are well known to river men. Most famous among these is the "Big Bend" on the north fork of the Kentucky river at Jackson, through the narrow neck of which a water tunnel was cut; the head of water thus obtained was used in running a mill. NATURAL CURIOSITIES. Mammoth Cave, with its miles of galleries, its domes, its sub- terranean lakes and rivers is justly famous; but there are hundreds of other caves in this cavernous limestone region, some of which rival in grandeur and beauty Mammoth Cave. The Carter county caves in the northeastern extension of this region are cele- brated. Caverns are largest and most numerous in the upper Green river country, because the limestone is of a great thickness here, 400 to 500 feet, and has been protected in large measure by a covering of sandstone. Through this sandstone and 250 feet into limestone below the Green river has trenched its course. This gives a range of 250 feet to downward percolating streams, and this is the vertical extent of the intricately connected domes and passage ways of the larger caverns. The course of the rivers where they break through the hard con- glomerate measures bordering the eastern coal field are usually marked by rapids and falls. Famous among these are ''The Nar- rows," on Rockcastle river and the "Devil's Jumps" and Cumber- land Falls on Cumberland river. Emerging from the Pine Mountain gorge this river has a gentle flow between wide banks until it strikes the conglomerate strip. Here it soon narrows up and plunges sixty-five feet over a sandstone escarpment and then for a distance of seven miles boils and cascades through a narrow boulder-filled gorge, which here marks the trail of the fall's re- treat up the river. Several natural bridges occur in this same conglomerate belt. Three of these are famous. One in Pulaski county, not far from the line of the Cincinnati Southern railroad^ one in Powell county, on the line of the Lexington & Eastern rail- road, and one in Wolfe county. All these bridges span divides between streams, which, cutting back their sources, have met in the soft shales underlying this sandstone. These sandstone natural bridges have not, therefore, Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 9 been formed in the same way as the more celebrated limestone natural bridges. A small bridge of the latter type occurs on the Cumberland river near Creelsboro. Conspicuous elevations, commonly called 'Tilot Knobs," occur at frequent intervals over the State. These are isolated outliers of once more continuous plateaus and afford magnificent views over the surrounding country. Such a knob is the Montgomery Pilot Knob on the borders of Powell and Montgomery counties, and Green River Knob, before referred to. From the top of the latter the horizon is so extended that on a clear day the borders of the two coal fields, here eighty miles apart, can be seen. In the limestone regions both of central and southern Kentucky, streams often sink and disappear from view. Many of these may appear again as "big springs" often with volume enough to turn mills. CLIMATE. The climate of Kentucky is healthful and pleasant. The mean annual temperature is about 55 degrees Fahrenheit, and the mean annual rainfall 46 inches. The mean temperature increases uni- formly from about 50 degrees on the Cumberland range to about 60 on the Mississippi river. The rainfall is least (38 inches) in the Big Sandy valley and greatest (50 inches) along the southern boundary. Southerly to westerly winds prevail. MINERAL WEALTH. This consists mainly of the coal and iron in the eastern and western coal fields. Some iron occurs without these limits, as the famous Oriskany and Clinton carbonate and hematite ores of Bath county, the first ores worked west of the Alleghany mount- ains; and the limonite ores of the lower Cumberland river region, from which the first Bessemer steel in this country was made. Kentucky was at one time fourth State in the Union in the pro- duction of iron, but the industry has languished greatly in recent years. Lead and zinc ores occur sparingly' in pockets and veins in the limestones of central and southwestern Kentucky. All at- tempts to work them with profit have failed. Fluorspar and baryta, associated in occurrence with the lead and zinc ores, have been exploited to some extent for commercial purposes. The former is used in iron fluxing and the latter in the making of white paint. The fluorspar veins of Crittenden and 10 Fowrteenth Biennial Report Bweau of Agriculture. ueighboriug counties and the baryta veins of the bluegrass region seem to ofifer the most encouragement for development. Gold and silver, except in the most minute quantities, will not be found in Kentucky. This statement needs to be made positively, as a great deal of time and money has been wasted in the search for these metals in a region where all geological precedents are against their occurrence. Petroleum has been known to occur in the State since the days of the salt well boring industry. The first flowing oil well struck in this country was in the boring for salt on Little Kennick's creek, near Burksville, Cumberland county, in 1828. The oil spreading out over the water of the Cumberland river, and be- ing set on fire, furnished the strange phenomenon of a ''burning river," heralded far and wide in that day as one of the seven wonders of America. Later, some time in the "sixties," another- gushing oil well was struck on the banks of the Cumberland at the mouth of Crocus creek and the burning of the oil on the waters produced a conflagration that rivaled that of the Ren- nick's creek strike. Since the beginning of the development of the petroleum industry in this country, the production of oil in Kentucky, though at no time very large, has been reasonably con- stant. The southern tier of counties from Wayne to Allen have led in this production. A pipe line conveys the oil from the Wayne county field to Somerset. Developments are now going on there and in the eastern mountain counties. The Bath and Kowan county wells near the Licking river, producing a high grade lubricating oil, have demonstrated the existence of a new oil horizon for Kentucky. They obtain their supply from the Clinton formation, here a magnesian limestone. Natural gas in quantities sufficient to warrant its being piped to Louisville has been found in Meade county, and the product of the Warfield district in Martin county has recently been piped to Huntington, West Virginia. Salt has been obtained from brine springs and wells since the days of the early settlers. Famous places as resorts for salt making (and as resorts for wild animals) were Big Bone Lick in Boone county and Blue Licks on the Lick- ing river in Nicholas county. Big Bone Lick has been famous also since the days of the French traveler, Longuiel (who visited the locality in 1739, before the days of permanent settlement by the whites) for the great number of mastodon and other extinct ani- mal bones found entombed in the muck about these springs. . Phosphate of lime occurs abundantly in the limestone and soil of the bluegrass region, and to some extent in the strip immedi- Fowrteenfh Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 11 ately bordering this. It is not unlikely that deposits of this min- eral will yet be found in commercial quantities in the State. Min- eral waters are furnished by springs and wells in all parts of the State, but the region in which they are especially abundant is the black shale outcrops immediately encircling the bluegrass area. Valuable beds of building stone occur in various portions of the State. The sandstone comes chiefl}^ from the Waverly formation of the knobs district. A marble-like limestone, the so-called "Ken- tucky River Marble," is obtained from the white limestone forma- tion of the Kentucky river outcropping from Boonesboro to Frankfort. A beautiful oolitic limestone much prized for facings in buildings, is obtained from the sub-carboniferous formation of the cavernous limestone district. It is known commonly as "Bowling Green Stone." A highly bituminous sandstone, called "Kentucky Asphalt Rock," is obtained from a belt of sandstone (the Kaskaskia and lower coal measure sandstones), surrounding in a belt about five miles wide the western coal field. Similar de- posits have also been found in Carter county, Kentucky, at about the same geological horizon, or a little higher. It has been used in Louisville and in several Northern cities for street paving. Hydraulic limestone is quarried and used in making cement at Louisville. ''Mexican onyx," a lime deposit from springs and underground streams, is reported from the cavernous limestone district. Polished, it furnishes a beautiful ornamental stone. AGRICULTURAL WEALTH. The soil in Kentucky is the great heritage it has received from the past. The qualities of this in different regions are different enough to stimulate the cultivation of a variety of crops and the development of a diversity of industries closely related to them. Stock raising, particularly the breeding of fast horses, is the distinguishing industry of the bluegrass counties. Tobacco is a staple product, especially in the limestone districts, and also in the Jackson Purchase region. Hemp is more extensively raised in the bluegrass counties. Fruit raising is an industry in the Ohio river counties south from Cincinnati to Louisville and again along the line of the knobs. Corn is raised everywhere. Lumbering is an industry carried on at the heads of the larger rivers. The logs are commonly "splash-dammed" out of the smaller tributary streams and then rafted, or floated down singly, to mills along the middle and lower courses of the main stream. Yellow poplar (or the tulip tree) is the mainstay of this industry. 12 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. MANUFACTURING Is closely related to the agricultural products produced. Chew- ing and smoking tobacco, bagging and rope, flour and corn meal, and distilled liquors would rank first among the manufactured' products. Iron smelting is at present very little carried on within the- limits of the State. There was a time, however, when this was a thriving industrj^ and dismantled furnaces in the Red river and Slate Creek regions and along the lower course of the Cumberland, still remain as evidence of a glory that has departed. VEGETATION AND ANIMALS. The natural flora and fauna of Kentucky is a mingled Northern and Southern one. Such typical representatives of the Appalach- ian flora as the trailing arbutus, the laurel, the rhododendron, the spruce, thrive as well in the eastern mountain section of the State as they do in New England, In the southwestern part the south- ern pecan and the cypress grow\ As characteristic of Kentucky may be mentioned the Kentucky coffee tree and the mountain mag- nolia, or cucumber tree. The tulip tree, or yellow poplar, is still abundant in eastern sections. The walnut thrives on rich lands. The ash, bearing tufts of mistletoe on its branches and carpeted with bluegrass at its roots, is a noble tree in the north-central stfjcj^-i^ising counties. The oak, black-jack, and white, and post, is.-tlie prevalent timber in south central portions and in what was once called "The Barrens." With the exception of a few- bear and some deer in the wildest portion of the eastern mountains, and in the "coalings" between the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, in the western part, Ken- tucky contains no large game. Wildcats are still quite numerous in the more unsettled regions, and the wild turkey is occasionally seen. Among the smaller mammals may be enumerated the rac- coon, opossum, fox, skunk, muskrat, rabbit, ground hog, squirrel. Among birds, the pheasant, quail (bob-white), heron, crane, crow, singing birds, like the red-bird or "Kentucky Cardinal;" birds of passage like ducks and geese and finally the passenirer pigeon. Kentucky was once the home of this bird, now apparently extinct KENTUCKY. SKETCHES OF THE COUNTIES, Alphabetically Arranged. Adair County. Adair County, the first alphabetically and the forty-fourth in order of formation, was, in the year 1801, erected out of a part of Green county. It was named in honor of Gen. John Adair, a distinguished sol- dier and statesman who commanded tLe Kentucky troops at New Orleans and who was subsequently a senator and member of the House of Representatives in the United States Congress. The county is situated near the middle of the southern part of the State. The face of the country is rolling and hilly. The soil is fairly good, resting mainly on a slate and limestone foundation. The river and creek bottoms are quite productive. Its chief pro- ducts are corn, wheat, oats, sorghum, the various grasses, and tobacco; the latter, however, has not been extensively cultivated for a few years past. Considerable attention is given to hogs, horses, mules and cat- tle. Many parts of the county are well adapted to sheep. Lands suitable for this purpose can be secured at very reasonable prices. Green liver, wiiich runs across the northern part of the county from east to west, is the largest stream. Russells creek, running through it in the same direction, drains the central part. There are, in addition, Casey creek, Glen's Forks, Peltus Fork, Big creek, Leatherv»ood, east and west forks of Crocus, and Crocus, all of them considerable streams, and affording fine water power to pro- pel machinery. There are many smaller streams tributaries to these, having their fountains heads in fine springs of pure water. In fact, almost every farm has on it one or more good springs, which furnish excellent water for domestic and stock purposes. None of our streams are navigable to steam boats, but some could' 14 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. be made so by locks and dams, (xreen river and Russell's creek are navigable for rafts and flat boats on the tides. Some gas and oil (petroleum) have been found in the county, but the development has been limited in area and not thorough. The county is well supplied with timber and all kinds to be found in this climate, except walnut, which has been exhausted. The best of the poplar, and much of the hickory has been cut and removed in recent years, yet there is a tine growth of young poplar and much marketable hickory remaining for future demands. The inroads on other kinds of timber have not been so serious. There are only a few timber tracts of large extent under one control, although nearly two-thirds of the county is covered with forests in smaller tracts. The county is diversified with farm lands and forests. The farms are largely devoted to grasses and the rais- ing of the crops named above. Vegetables grow in profusion and in great variety, but are confined largely to local markets; truck farming and dairying are not carried on. Apples, pears, plums and peaches on the high lands, grapes and small fruits do well with proper attention and cultivation. Most of the uplands are especially adapted to fruits. We have one line of turnpike, extending from Campbellsville, the nearest railroad station, to Columbia, a distance of twenty miles, on which tolls are collected. There are no free turnpikes in the county. The public roads are maintained under the gen- eral law, and are kept in fairly good condition, yet not as they should be. There are no railroads in the county. The county seat is about equidistant from Campbellsville and the Cumber- land river. There are several chalybeate and sulphur springs in the county, some of them of local resort, and there is an excellent sulphur well (private property) at the county seat. Todd's Cave, two and one-half miles from Columbia, is one of the natural curiosities. It has been explored for a distance of about one-half mile, and its winding way, its ascent under diffi- culties, its avenues leading in one direction to the "tan-yard," and in the other to the "meat-house," its lofty rooms with stalactites and stalagmites and other objects, the growth of ages, have for many years made it a resort for visiting and picnic parties. The average price of farm lands, improved and unimproved, is about $4.30 per acre, prices ranging from |1.50 to |40 per acre, depending upon location and improvements. Farm laborers can be had at from fifty to seventy-five cents per day; by the month Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 15 with board and lodging at eiglit to nine dollars, and where the laborer furnishes his own board and lodging, thirteen dollars. There are no foreign colonies in the county and but few persons of foreign berth or parentage. , Lands could be secured in a body to establish a colony at very reasonable rates. There are no vegetable and fruit canneries and no creameries and cheese factories in the county. With a soil adapted to fruits and vegetables; with an abundant supply of pure running water, and with all the grasses growing luxuriantly, we see no reason why these interests, under prudent management, could not be made profitable to persons who would engage in them, and at the same time be of great benefit to the communities in which they might be established. Columbia is the county seat, and has a population of about eight hundred, mostly whites. The colored population in the main live outside the corporate limits. It has two public schools open five months in the year, and two high schools, the Columbia Male and Female High School and the Columbia Christian College, open nine months in the year, where the higher branches of edu- cation are taught. They have each the advantage of more than a quarter of a century of successful service in the cause of higher education, and their refining and elevating influences are seen and felt not only in the community in which they are located, but also in all of the surrounding country. There are four church organi- zations in the town and each one has a handsome church building. The town is healthy and its moral and social tone is such as is found in all educational and Christian centers. The public schools of the country are in good condition and im- proving yearly. There are seventy-five school districts for the whites and fourteen for the colored, in which schools are taught. The high schools in the town are well patronized by the young ladies and gentlemen preparing themselves for teachers, and as a gratifying result, the teachers' standard is being elevated from year to year. The public schools are maintained by the school fund, and, in many districts, private schools are taught after th« close of the public school year, and in this way excellent educa- tional advantages are given in many districts eight and ten months in the year. The county has no bonded indebtedness and the rate of taxation is fifteen cents on the hundred dollars of assessed property, and a poll tax of one dollar and fifty cents for county purposes. 16 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of AfjricuUure. Adair county is situated in the Eleventh Congressional. Third Appellate, Twentv ninth Judicial, Sixteenth. Senatorial and Thirty- seventh Legislative districts. PosTOFFiCEs: — Absher, Breeding, Cane A'allev. Casey Creek. Col- umbia, Craycratt, Crocus, Eunice, Fairplay, Gentry's Mill, Glen's Fork, Grady ville, Joppa, Keltner, Knitley, Milltown, Montpelier, Neatsburg, Nell, Pellyton, Purdy, Sparksville, Tarter, Vester, Watson. Allen County. Allen County was formed out of the southern parts of Bawen and Warren CDtiiiti€« in the year 1815, and extends to the bound- ary line between Kentucky and Tennessee. The surface is hilly, but the soil is productive, and in the valleys is quite fertile. The county is well watered. Big Barren river with its tributaries sup- ply it abundantly on the eastern and northern portions, while Big Trammel and Drake's creek supply the southern and western por- tions, the central part being supplied with Little Trammel, Puncheon Camp, Long, Walnut, Big Difficult, Little Difficult, Sul- phur Fork, Middle Fork, Bay's Fork, Rough and Snake creeks, most of which are good sized streams. The soil is principally adapted to corn, wheat, oats and tobacco. The forest lands are well timbered with as fine a variety as can be found anywhere and at present the timber industry is the leading one in the county, and while there are a number of mills operating the supply seems inexhaustible. Very fine qualities of building stone abounds; both gas and oil have been found, but neither have been developed. There is some evidence of coal and iron. Mineral waters abound all over the country. ''Forest Springs," with several different kinds of sulphur water, is one of the finest health resorts in the State iind is largely attended every year. The Chesapeake »S; Nashville railroad terminates at Scottsville, but the route has been surveyed to Glasgow, Ky., and it is only a question of time until the road will be extended. A small mileage of turnpike ex- ist, but the people are now organizing good roads societies and everything points to improved roads, which will add much to the county. The agricultural industry in the county is improving. Roads Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 17 are worked by hands, "warned" out, but by use of plows, scrapers, etc., the work is much better done than formerly. Some new spoke and handle factories. Land sells at from |10.00 to |50.00 as to improvements, and |2.50 for unimproved; timber land, |2.50 to |10.00 per acre. Farm hands are paid 75 cents per day and board; fl.OO to |1.25 without. The public school system is the same as the rest of the State. The school buildings on an average are very good. Scottsville is the county seat; it has a population of about 1,200. There are several small villages in the county, the most important of which are Holland, Petroleum, Gainesville, New Roe and Alexander. The county has a population of about 16,000 and is situated in the Third Congressional, Second Appellate, Eighth Judicial, Eleventh Senatorial and Twenty-second Legislative Districts. PosTOFFicEs: — Adolphus, Allen Springs, Alonzo, Amus, Cedar Springs, Chapelhill, Clare, Doddy, Gainesville, Godfrey, Halfway, Halifax, Holland, Maynord, Meador, Mount Aerial, New Roe, Petroleum, Pope, Redeemer, Scottsville, Settle, Trammel, Travis. Anderson County. Anderson County has had a separate existence since the year 1827, when it was formally established by the organization of its courts and the installation of its officers, a portion of the counties of Franklin, Fayette and Mercer counties having been cut off for that purposes. It is now bounded by the counties of Franklin, Woodford, Mercer, Washington, Nelson, Spencer and Shelby and has an area of about 200 square miles. The population, almost entirely made up of the Anglo-Saxon race, is now about 13,000. The county occupies two high and fertile plateaus, separated from each other by Salt river, which flows through the central part of the county. The land on top of the table lands is gently rolling, and the slopes leading down from the uplands to the rivers are somewhat precipitous. The Kentucky river, which borders the eastern portion of the county for a distance of about twenty miles, is navigable throughout the year. Salt river in the central part of the county and Chaplin on the southern border, are not navigable, but all of these streams are capable of furnishing un- 18 Fom'teenth Biermial Repwt Bureau of Agriculture. limited water power for all purposes. Beside these streams, the county is traversed in every direction by smaller ones, which af- ford the most ample supply of water for stock and crops under all circumstances. The scenery along the Kentucky river and its tributaries is unexcelled in its boldness and in its picturesque features. The Salt river bottoms are famous for their fertility. The soil of the county is of a limestone formation, with a clay subsoil, and is generally fertile and productive. It is well adapted to the production of corn, wheat and tobacco. Oats, potatoes, garden vegetables and fruits of all kinds also do well in every part of the county. .The tobacco grown in this county is always of the finest quality, and ranks among the best crops to be found in the Louisville and Cincinnati markets. Anderson county farm- ers, because of the fact that they always get the very best prices going for their tobacco have made this the leading crop of the county. The large crops of timothy and clover that may be pro- duced from a given quantity of ground, with the bluegrass which is indigenous, makes this one of the best counties in the State for stock farming. The number of cattle shipped from Anderson county to Eastern markets and to Europe, is increasing rapidly every year, and stock raising promises soon to become one of our leading industries. The timber is principally white oak and beech, with a fair pro- portion of sugar maple. The hickorj^, walnut and poplar has been nearly all cut off and disposed of in the markets. The timber left in the county is now being generally saved by the people for fencing and repairs to the buildings. Very good timber lands can be bought in the county at from $10.00 to |20.00 per acre, ac- cording to location and distance from the railroad. Improved lands range in price from $15.00 to |75.00 per acre, the location having much to do with the price. Owing to the present demand for farming lands in this county, the value has increased at least twenty-five per cent, within the last year. Numerous and what is believed to be valuable deposits of lead and zinc have been found in the county, within a few miles of the county seat, but because of a lack of capital, no great effort has been made to develop any of the mines. One of these mines has been recently lea-sed to Eastern capitalists who will proceed at once to work their lease to its full extent. There is undoubtedly natural gas in paying quantities in the county, and wells have been sunk in which the gas has burned Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 19 steadily for a number of days before the pocket has been ex- hausted. Mineral wells and springs abound, which produce sulphur, iron, magnesia and salt waters in abundance. Many of these springs and wells would afford ideal sites for summer hotels and health resorts. V, The people of this county are almost entirely engaged in farming. The onlj' manufacturing enterprises in the county are the numerous and famous distilleries and the cooper shops connected with them. The McBrayer, Searcy and Ripy whiskies are known the world over and are justly renowned for their excellence and purity. The Saffell distillery which has not been in existence for so long a time as those named above, is rapidly acquiring a reputation second to none in Kentucky. The flouring mills, of which there are a number, are all doing a large business, both local and gen- eral. The Lawrenceburg Roller Mills, the Bond Mills at Mc- Brayer, and the Franlvlin Mills at Orr, are well and favorably known throughout the United States, and their brands are staple in all markets. - There is no doubt but there is a fine opening in this county for u number of manufactories, such as a canning factory for preserv- ing fruits and vegetables. Fruits can be had in abundance and the soil is especially adapted to the raising of such vegetables as are used in these establishments, and the supply, with encourage- ment, could be made almost unlimited. A woolen and knitting factory would also find here a most excellent location for that business. All the domestic wool needed could be obtained in this and adjoining counties, and the foreign product required could be as easily obtained here as at any other place in the country. The city of Lawrenceburg also needs water works, an electric plant and an ice factory, and the Business Men's Club stands ready to give substantial encouragement to persons proposing to establish any legitimate industry within the limits of the city. The shipping facilities are as good as those of any other city of the same size to be found in the State or in the entire South. The Southern Railway has its main line running entirely through the county from west to east, and a branch line tapping the Cincinnati Southern at Burgin in Mercer county. It also connects at Lex- ington with roads running east and north as well as south. At Louisville with the many lines running west, northwest and south. Louisville is sixty-five miles west and Lexington twenty-five miles east from Lawrenceburg. These lines of railroad give Lawrence- 20 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. burg sixteen passenger trains every day, and an increase in the- volume of business would undoubtedly bring an increase of serv- ice. An electric railway to connect Lawrenceburg and Frankfort is projected and will in all probability be built in the near future. The Kentucky river is only four miles from Lawrenceburg, and is a valuable competitor for the railroads in the matter of freight rates. Anderson county has about 160 miles of turnpike road which is kept in the best of repair by the county. These roads were all made free some four years ago, and notwithstanding the prophec- ies made by pessimists at that time, they are kept in better con- dition for travel than under the old toll system. The county is doing as much or more than any other county in the State by way of furnishing good roads for the people, having expended $40,000 within the last eight years for the construction of turn- pikes, and yet the entire debts of the county will not exceed |10,- 000. The few remaining dirt roads are kept in repair by the people of the county working under the direction of a surveyor appointed by the county judge. Improved methods of working these roads are being put into practice and within a very short time every road in the county will be macadamized, without the incurrence of any debt by the county. Labor, both white and colored, is plentiful and can be had at reasonable rates. Unskilled labor here may be hired at from fl.OO to |1.50 per day. Mechanics and skilled laborers receive from 11.75 to |2,50 per day. Farm labor may be had for about 118.00 to 120.00 per month, without board, and at from |10.00 to 112.00 per month, with board. The school facilities of the county will compare favorably with those of any other county of the same population and wealth to be found in the State. The white schools furnish employment for about fifty teachers, the majority of whom are women. Nearly all of these hold first-class certificates, and all of them are wide- awake and progressive both in the matter of qualification and methods. The schools of Lawrenceburg give employment to six regular teachers, and have a special teacher of drawing and also of physical culture. So well is the work done here that gradu- ates always take first rank in their classes when they enter the colleges of this or other States. There are no private schools in the county. The people are so well satisfied with the work of the graded schools that such institutions can obtain no footing here, Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 21 unless it be a college in fact as well as in name. The course of study in these schools is as broad and the instruction is as thorough as can be had in many cities of much greater population and wealth. The local tax for school purposes is thirty cents on each |100 worth of property and there is no poll tax. Lawrenceburg, the county seat, has a population of 2,025, and i;i finely located on a plateau between the Kentucky and Salt rivers, and on the line of the Southern railway. It has five white and three colored churches, the white churches being the Presbyterian, Christian, Baptist, Methodist and Catholic. It is well supplied with dry-goods and grocery stores, which compete successfully with the larger cities both in quality and price of the goods offered for sale. A cooperage factory, employing some twenty-five hands in the busy season, is located here. A large roller mill, having a capacity of 300 barrels per day, has been running twenty-four hours per day for more than two years, and ships its product all over the United States. There are here three drug stores, one hardware store, one bakery, three livery stables, two hotels and several boarding houses, one meat store, one newspaper office, three banks (with a united capital of $195,000) and the largest in- surance agency in the United States. Lawrenceburg is a city of the fifth class, has Main street paved with vitrified brick, has some of the finest residences and business houses in the State, has a tax rate of only thirty cents on each |100, and has doubled its population in the last ten years. More than fifty thousand dollars has been expended here during the season just closed for the erection of dwellings and business houses, and yet there is not a single vacant dwelling house in the city. There, is also a large and commodious court house, with office accommodations for all the county officers. Tyrone, on the Keutuckj^ river, four miles from the county seat, is the next most important town in the county, with a population of about 500, and is noted for being the seat of the Ripy and Dowling distilleries. It has an industrious and intelligent popu- lation which is dependent on the distilleries for employment. Alton, on Crab Orchard and Louisville pike, is a pleasant vil- lage of about 250 population. It has no factories or other in- dustries aside from the stores and shops usually found in a village of its size. Camdenville, or Orr, as it is called in the post ofiice directories, is ten miles west of Lawrenceburg, and is a village of 150 popula- 22 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. tion. It is located on Salt river and has a flourishing flouring mill and several general stores. Anderson county is situated in the Eighth Congressional, Third Appellate, Twelfth Judicial, Twentieth Senatorial and Fifty-sev- enth Legislative Districts. Its vote in the last Presidential election was as follows: Bryan, Dem., 1,485; McKinley, Rep., 1,148; Wooley, Pro., 10; Barker, Pop., 10,; and scattering, 2. W. P. Marsh. Ballard County. At the sitting of the Legislature in the winter of 1841-2, the county of Ballard was brought into existence by a curtailment of both McCracken and Hickman counties. Blandville was at that time made the county seat. The soil of Ballard county is mostly of a black loam with yellow clay subsoil, except the valleys, which are a black sandy loam with generally blue clay foundation, and very productive. The miner- als that exist in the hills of the county are undeveloped and to what extent they exist is not known. The timber resources of the county have been greatly abused, but good timber land can be purchased at this time for from seven to twelve dollars per acre. Diversified farming is carried on to a considerable extent, but fruit growing, which could be made profitable, receives but little attention. About thirty miles of the boundary of the county is on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, and this, with twenty miles on Mayfield creek, constitutes all the navigable waters touching the county. The county has no turnpike or metal roads, but has a good graded dirt roads, maintained by a system of taxation, as* there is to be found in the State. The Illinois Central and Mobile & Ohio are the railroads that touch Ballard county, and jointly contain twenty miles of road; this, in connection with the river frontage, renders transportation easy of access, and freights reasonably low. Farm land will average in price about fifteen dollars per acre, and good white labor can be had at eighteen dollars per month. There is a good opening for the establishment of a wagon, plow and implement factory, as well as flour mills and canning factory. A creamery would also do well. Wickliffe is now the county seat of Ballard county, and is locat- Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 23 ed on the Mississippi river six miles below Cairo, Illinois. It has a chair and furniture factory, two potteries, one wagon and buggy factory, and a large flouring mill. Blandville Baptist Col- lege, located at Blandville, is the only institution of learning in the county, except the common schools, which are in a flourishing condition, the State fund being supplemented by local taxation. There is no bonded indebtedness of the county, and the tax rate for county purposes is seventeen cents on the one hundred dol- lars of taxable property. Ballard county is situated in the First Congressional, First Ap- pellate, First Judicial, Second Senatorial and Second Legislative Districts. PosTOFFicEs:— Bandana, Barlow City, Blandville, Gage, Hazel- wood, Hinkleville, Ingleside, Lovelaceville, Ogden, Oscar, Slater, Wickliffe. Barren County. Barren was taken from a portion of Green and Warren counties in 1798. It was the thirty-seventh county formed in the State. It is bounded on the south by Monroe and Allen, west by Allen, Warren and Edmonson, east by Metcalfe, and north by Hart counties. The county seat is Glasgow. It is a beautiful town laid off in a square with broad streets and a handsome new court house in the center of the square. It contains two very commod- ious and modern arranged school houses. Liberty Female Col- lege, and the public school building. Excellent schools are now being taught in both of these buildings. The county is laid off in school districts, and in every neighborhood fine schools are being taught. North, northeast and northwest of Glasgow the land is very fertile, the surface is smooth enough to admit of easy cultivation and rolling enough to drain well. The southern portion of the county is not so well favored in fertility of the soil and a smooth, even surface as the northern, as it is more broken or uneven. Yet in timber, fine running water and in oil productions it greatly excels the northern portion. Some of the finest oil wells in the State are found in this section of Barren county. Some of these 24 Fourteenth Biemiial Report Buretai of Agriculture. wells have been flowing for twenty-five years and others have been pumped for a period equally as long, without showing any signs of exhaustion. Natural gas has also been found, but I do not think thorough development as to the abundance of its existence has ever been made. The natural products of Barren county may be summed up as follows: Natural products: Oil, gas, pure water and a reasonable amount of timber — consisting of oak, poplar, beech, hickory, gum and cherry. Agricultural products, tobacco, corn, wheat, oats, hay and sorghum (in commercial value these rank in order named.) In grasses, clover, orchard grass, timothj, red top and bluegrass are the chief sorts grown. In fruits, apples, peaches, pears, plums, cherries, grapes, strawberries and goose- berries, all are grown with more or less success. Dirt roads form the principal thoroughfares. However, there are two pikes (known as the upper and lower L. & N. pikes,) that extend through the county. One of these for its entire length in the county has been macadamized, and the other partially so. These, as well as all the dirt roads, are kept up by the county and all are entirely free from toll. The L. & N. railroad runs through the county about ten and one-half miles, the Glasgow branch railroad beginning at Glasgow Junction, a station on the L. «& N., terminating at Glasgow, a distance of ten and one-half miles. The Mammoth Cave railroad runs five miles in Barren county, making in all twenty-six miles of railroad in the county. There are no navigable streams in Barren county, but many of them will furnish an abundance of water power to propel any kind of machinery. There is no public effort whatever made to pre- serve the timber and but very little private inclination in that direction, nor is there any public and but very little priveate in- terest manifested in growing new plantations of timber. In fact, the timber is rapidly being cut away and in a few more years, if the destruction keeps on as it is now going, all the northern portion of the county at least will be entirely nude of even fire wood. Among our farmers there is a very perceptible disposition to improve and increase their farm products by the use of improv- ed seed and improved farming implements and by a better and more thorough system of cultivation. There is also a general incli- nation to improve the fertility of the soil by a rotation of crops and the use of fertilizers, but in many instances both of these systems are executed in a crude manner and not in a practical, scientific way that would lead to better results. Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 25 Within the last few years there has been but little immigration to and but little emigration from Barren county, consequently our population has increased slowly, only from natural causes. Barren county is situated in the Third Congressional, Third Ap- pellate, Tenth Judicial and Nineteenth Senatorial Districts. PosTOFFiCEs: — Austin, Bear Wallow, Beckton, Bessie, Bonayr, Bristletown, Bruce, Cave City, Corahill, Dryfork, Eighty Eight, Etoile, Finnej^ Freedom, Glasgow, Glasgow Junction, Goodnight, Haywood, Hiseville, Jennie, Juniata, Kino, Lucas, Mosby, Nobob, Ocala, Oil Cit}-, Oleoak, Pageville, Park, Petercreek, Kockyhill, Eoseville, Slickrock, Temple Hill, Tracy. Bath County. Bath County was organized in ISll, out of parts of Bourbon and Montgomery. It is situated in the northeastern part of the State. The county seat is Owingsville, a town of 1,500 inhabitants, forty- six miles east of Lexington. The northern and western portions of the county are undulating and belong to the famous "bluegrass belt." This portion of the county is devoted to raising short horn cattle, corn, wheat and tobacco and contains some of the finest farming land in the State. The southern and eastern portions ot the county are somewhat broken and hilly, though all the cereals grow well. In the extreme eastern portion of the county there is to be found some of the finest timber in the State, such as oak, poplar and walnut. The Licking river runs along the eastern and northern boundary of the county and would be navigable as far as West Liberty, in Morgan county, if locked and dammed. The Licking is a splendid outlet for the shipment of timber, a large amount of which is floated down the river to market by means of "rafts." Timber lands in this county, of which there is a great abundance, sell for from ten to thirty dollars per acre. One of the finest iron ore deposits in the United States is found in the eastern portion of the county, about five miles east of Owings- ville, the county seat. These mines are at present being operated by the Rose Run Iron Co. There are many other ore deposits in the county that remain undeveloped. Eight miles southeast from the county seat is situated the justly famous Olympian Springs^ 26 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. These springs were, at one time, owned by the great commoner, Henry Clay, and it was here that the late George D. Prentice wrote greater part of the life of Clay, when he was a candidate for the presidency. White, black and salt sulphur, chalybeate, Epsom, alum and soda are the waters to be found all within a radius of one-half mile. These springs, for the past two years, have been frequented by a large number of guests. On Slate creek, a tributary of Lick- ing river, two miles south of Owingsville, stands the stack of the first iron furnace built west of the Allegheny mountains. This furnace was built by Jacob Myers, Christopher Greenup and others in the year 1790. The stack is in a fairly good state of preser- vation. It was at this furnace that the cannon balls were made that Gen. Jackson used at the battle of New Orleans. This county has but one railroad, the C. & O., which runs through the southern and eastern portions of the county. There is also a narrow gauge road running from Salt Lick, on the C. & O., to the timber and coal lands on the Upper Licking river; this is valu- able as a feeder to the C. & O. The hope of this county is that the Midland railroad will be extended in the near future from Paris, Ky., on to the coal fields in Morgan county. This county has about 15(j miles of turnpike, which is now kept up by means of taxation. There are no toll gates on any of the pikes. The dirt roads are good for the most part and, indeed, all the roads are gradually improving. The average price for farm labor in this county is from $12 to |15 per month including board. The school facilities in this county are good. Bath Seminary, situated in Owingsville, offers splendid inducements to those wish- ing to avail themselves of a higher education, while at Sharps- burg that town has a normal school that any place might be justly proud of. The public" schools in the county, taken as a whole, are as good as the best. Owingsville, the county seat, is one of the prettiest and most cultured and wealthy towns of its size in the State. It has a population of about 1,500 and is blessed with all modern improvements. It has two strong banks, two news- papers, four churches, all good buildings, electric lights, telephone exchange, and will soon be connected with the outside world by telephone. She has a citizenship equal to the very best. The town has long needed a flouring mill, and an industry of this character would doubtless bring large returns. The town is situ- ated on a high hill and has natural drainage and splendid water. Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 27 and is therefore one of the most delightful towns in the State in which to reside. Sharpsburg, situated in the northwestern part of the county, is a town of importance; it has three churches, a well equipped col- lege, one bank, a large flouring mill and is surrounded by some of the finest farming lands in the State. Bethel, five miles east of Sharpsburg, is an important village and is a large shipping point for cattle, hogs and tobacco. W^'oming, Odessa, Keynoldsville, Forge Hill, Olympia and Yale are all thriving villages. Salt Lick, on the C. & O. railroad, in the eastern portion of the county, is the largest shipping point in the county. More than 500 men are now employed in the forest south of Salt Lick, making staves and getting out timber for shipment east. This is a thriving town and a splendid point for enterprising men with capital. The timber lying adjacent to this place is of the best quality and the quantity is almost inexhaustible. Bath county affords manj' attractions to those seeking homes or for a place in which to make profitable investments. The land in the eastern portion of the county can be purchased from |10 to |20 per acre, and this land is peculiarly adapted to fruit culture, timothy grass and the cereals. Bath county is in the Ninth Congressional, Seventh Appellate, Twenty-first Judicial, Thirtj'-fifth Senatorial and Ninety-fourth Legislative Districts. PosTOFPiCEs: — Bethel, Craigs, Crooks, Flatcreek, Forgehill, Marshall, Moore's Ferry, Odessa, Olympia, Owingsville, Keynolds- ville, Saltlick, Sharpsburg, Sweet, Wyoming, Yale, Young. Bell County. Bell County was named in honor of Joshua F. Bell, who was a member of the Legislature from this district at the time of the organization of the county in 1867. It was taken from the counties of Harlan, Knox, and Whitley. It is bounded on the north by Knox and Clay counties, on the east 28 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. by Leslie and Harlan counties, on the south by Tennessee and Vir- ginia, on the west by Knox and Whitley counties. It is the impression of many people living in western, central and northern Kentucky, and people living in other States, that when one enters Bell county he or she is in great danger of being killed by a "mountaineer," as we are termed, without any provocation whatever. I deem that this short sketch of Bell county would be incomplete if I did not try in some way to eliminate this false im- pression from the minds of those thus impressed. When one comes to Bell county they find the best people on earth, not many are what may be termed rich, but they are the most charitable people in the world. If afflictions or adverse fortunes renders one of our people (or any other people) a fit subject for assistance, no appeal is necessary other than the mere fact that they are a fit subject. It is fact that Bell county up to a few years ago has had a bloody record, but at the last term of the Bell Circuit Court, Judge Hall cleared tjie docket of murder cases, and to-day with as many miners as there are in the county, and while the character of labor all over the county is in the greatest turmoil, we are a peaceful people. Of those who think we are barbarous, uncivilized peple, we invite them to come to our county, and we will show them our school houses and churches up every creek and hollow in the county, and we will show theni the happy, church-going people who used to take a delight in shedding the blood of their fellow men, but "we have changed with the times." Cumberland river and its tributaries furnish an abundant supply of water for all purposes, for the entire county. Clear creek empties into the river near Pineville on the south side of Pine mountain, and Straight creek on the north side, affording mag- nificent water power and drainage. Yellow creek, running direct- ly through the city of Middlesboro, affords sufficient drainage for a city of 100,000 people. The mild climate, uniform temperature and splendid water and drainage combine to make this county an extraordinarily healthy one. Pure rhombohedral iron ore abounds in most every section of the county. The north side of Pine mountain shows three hundred feet of the best subcarboniferous limestone, while the northern side of same mountain is a solid mass of the finest building blue-gray sand- stone in the country; it is easily worked, uniform and durable. The Fuurteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 29 best of domestic and coking coal in the market is mined and made at Pineville, Middlesboro and Chenoa. More than one-half million acres of the finest timber in the world is accessible to the people of Pineville and Middlesboro, through the different streams and railroads converging at these points; poplar, walnut, ash, walnut, oaks of all kinds, lynn, chest- nut and chestnut oak, the latter furnishing the finest tanbark in the world. " New coal mines are being opened up continuously. Coal lands are being sought after and are being bought extensively at prices ranging from five dollars to twenty-five dollars per acre. The public roads are not good in this county and are kept up by the road militia which would indicate that the old ''warning out system" is getting to be a failure. The Cumberland Valley branch of the Louisville & Nashville railroad has within this county 20.23 miles of railroad. The Cum- berland River & Tennessee railroad 12.50 miles. The West Vir- ginia, Pineville «& Tennesse has 2.25 miles. The Middlesboro Belt Railway Co. has 18.03 miles. The Knoxville, Cumberland Gap & Louisville railroad has 3.50 miles in the county. The five railroads furnish ample transportation for the products of the county. Chalybeate, sulphur, magnesia and other mineral springs of purest quality abound. The agricultural products of the county are hardly sufiflcient for home consumption, while vegetables and fruits of all kinds can be had and are produced in abundance. Grains are grown success- fully where interest is taken. It is said that clover and orchard grass give better results than others. No better location could be found for a furniture factory than in Bell county. Pineville, the county seat, is situated at the base of Pine Mount- ain, which, at this point, rises to a height of 2,200 feet above the sea level, and 1,500 above Cumberland valley. Here the Cumberland river flows through a narrow defile in the mountains, and then broadening out incloses the valley in which the town stands. Pine- ville is the central point of distribution for Southeastern Kentucky, and is the only water gap from Jellico to the "breaks of the Big Sandy." At the junction of the three principal streams of South- eastern Kentucky, Cumberland river. Big Clear creek and Straight ^reek, with Harlan court house and Big Stone Gap on the east, 30 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. and the "magic city" (Middlesboro) situated in the southern part of Bell county, on the south, and the beautiful city of Barbour- ville on the west, and the counties of Clay, Leslie and Pike, rich in coal, iron and timber on the north, Pineville is of necessity the center of the commercial and material development of the sur- rounding territory. Although the town has suffered much from the "boom" of a few years since, yet such are its surroundings that in time we may expect to see its people prosperous and happier. Pineville has a population of about 1,900. Middlesboro University, a branch of the Richmond (Ky.) Univer- sity, is located at Middlesboro, and its workings do credit and honor to its mother institution. Of the public schools in Bell coun- ty and the rapid strides they have made toward the front in the past two years, too much can not be said. The teachers have a library of two hundred and forty volumes, eighty-nine of which constitute the prize given by the State to the county showing the largest per cent, of its teachers enrolling in the State reading cir- cle, completing the course and receiving certificates for the year 1895. Out of the fifty-two districts in the county, forty-five have globes and maps and charts, and in most all the districts the "backless bench" has disappeared, and desks of the very latest patent have taken their place. No district has supplemented the public money to extend the term of the school beyond the term of five months. The bonded indebtedness of Bell county is $38,000; in 1894 this debt was |60,000. The rate of taxation for county purposes is sixty cents per one hundred dollars. This county has a population of 15,701, census, 1900. It is situ- ated in the Eleventh Congressional, Seventh Senatorial, Seventh Appellate and Twenty-sixth Judicial Districts. PosTOFFicES^ — Ark, Bingham, Callaway, Chenoa, Cubage, In- gram, Ivy, Knuckles, Lock, Middlesboro, Pass, Pineville, Slusher, Town's Creek, Wasioto, Straight Creek, Walsend, Tinsley. Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 31 Boone County. Boone County, the thirtieth formed in the State, was organized in 1798, and was formed out of part of Campbell county and was so named in honor of Daniel Boone. It is the 'most northern county in the State, and is bounded on the north and west for a distance of forty-two miles by the Ohio river. It is bounded on the east by Kenton and on the south by Grant and Gallatin counties. The area of the county contains 152,869 acres. The principal water courses of the county are the Ohio river, which washes its northern and western border for forty-two miles, and Big- Bone, Mud Lick, Gunpowder, Middle, Woolper and Ashby's Fork creeks. These creeks supply an abundance of stock water, but are not available for water power or navigation. The soil of Boone county along the river bottoms is of almost inexhaustible fertility, and the hill lands are well adapted to the growth of all kinds of agricultural products that can be grown in this latitude. The crops now principally grown are corn, wheat, hay and tobacco. There is about ten per cent, of the area of this county in timber land, including the varieties of oak, gum, poplar, hickory, ash, walnut, beech, sycamore, lynu and water and hill maple. There are no bodies of timber land in this county for sale. Our timber is mostly used for home consumption and a few trees are occas- ionally sold to be manufactured into furniture and for veneering purposes. In the way of natural curiosities this county has her Rock Springs, which are located on a branch of the same name, a fork of Middle creek, about six miles from the county seat. Clear, cold and pure water gushes forth from a large bowlder-like stone in a cliff. Neither the rainy season nor the drouths affect this natural water main, which for ages has poured forth its refreshing waters in profusion for the surrounding community, and slacks the thirst of the weary traveler, as it is but a few feet from the public high- way. The noted Big Bone springs, situated near a hamlet of the. same name in the southern part of the county, was visited as early as 1773 by Capt. Thomas Bullitt, and the McAfee party. James Douglass, of this party, remained here for some time to explore these springs, examine and drink of their health-giving waters. 32 Fourteenth. Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. Some of these springs are salt, some sulphur and others whose- waters contain chalybeate, sulphur, magnesia and other minerals^ possess properties of great medicinal virtues. There is a large hotel at the springs, and the place is now used to a considerable extent as a health resort, and as a pleasure and picnicking ground. The accommodations for the entertainment of visitors are inadequate, meager, not up-to-date and altogether unsatis- factory. The right kind of a hotel under proper management, would be a money-making investment, for then people far and near would come to visit this place of national reputation to drink of these healing waters. An electric railway from Coving- ton, a distance of twenty-two miles, to these springs has been projected and is now much talked of, and doubtless will be built at no distant date. At one of these springs salt was manu- factured by the early settlers and this was continued until a few years ago. One large spring and two acres of land is owned by the count3^ Anywhere here for acres around a well can be sunk and these same waters obtained. The largest bones of the mastodon ever discovered in the world,, of which history relates, were discovered here and are now in a museum, in London, England. Some idea of the immensity of size^ of these gigantic animals of tradition can be realized when one has seen a tusk over sixteen feet in length and fifteen inches in circumference, this being the size of one that was unearthed here just a few years ago. The ground for several acres around one of these springs is of a fullatinous formation, in places upon which a man can stand and shake the surface for quite a distance around him. Other places a stone thrown on the surface sinks out of sight, or a fence rail can be started down endwise and it will immediately and forever disappear. Split Rock, located on the banks of the Ohio river, three and a quarter miles below Petersburg, and over a quarter of a mile above the mouth of Woolper creek, is, in all the term implies, a natural curiosity. At this place the river banks are high and precipitous^ and on a shell-like space in a bank is an immense stone, about 150 feet long, 50 feet wide and 50 feet high, which has in ages past, by some upheaval of the earth, cracked, split, and separated so that there is now a space varying from eighteen inches to five feet, the^ entire length of the stone, that a man can, with all ease, walk through it. There are for several hundred yards cliffs of solid rock, numerous places which have split and separated so that a horse and buggy can be driven between them. Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of AgrlcuUure. 33 Several very brilliaut sapi)hires, almost equaling the diamond in hardness and brilliancy, have been picked up here. Pleasure seekers and tourists for many miles around visit this curiosity of nature every summer. In the immediate vicinity of t^plit Rock and situated on Taylor's creek are several caves, one of which is an almost square room, sixteen feet each way, in which a number of mummified j)igmies of the human race have been found, some of which appear to be children but a few days old, petrified, retaining perfect form and features. In the way of industries this county has a large distillery., cooper shop, flouring mill, saw and planing mill, steam and water grist mill, numerous tobacco warehouses and canning and pre- serving factories that sell their products not only in this country, but in Europe. On account of the cheap sites, transportation facilities by water and rail and its close proximity to the best markets in the country, Cincinnati, Ohio, Covington and Newport, Kentucky, this county offers splendid inducements for factories- and manufacturing establishments of various kinds. The Ohio river, which runs almost two-thirds the way around the county, and the Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific, and the Louisville & Nashville railway's, which run through the east- ern edges of the county for a distance of 9.13 and 9.48 miles, re- spectively, furnish the county with ample transportation facilities. No other roads are projected at this time. The county has eighty-four and three-quarter miles macadam roads, maintained by the statutory charges of toll. The county has about 350 miles of dirt roads, which are maintained by a propertj' tax of ten cents on the one hundred dollars worth of tax- able property, and the working of these roads is supervised by overseers appointed by the county judges. The roads are fully up to the average for such roads through the State. However, we do not find that the management of the road system in this county deserves any words of praise. With the exception of a few negroes, the labor of this county is performed by native white men. The average price per month for farm labor with board is about twelve dollars; without boards about seventeen dollars per month. The League Institute, of Verona, and the Walton Academy, of Walton, are both institutions of learning that are an honor and credit to the county. Our common schools are managed by an efficient and worthy superintendent and capable teachers. 2 34 Fourlieiilli liieuniul litporl Buratii of Ayrimliurc. Burlington, tlie county seat, is situated near the center of the county and eight miles from the nearest railroad station, Erlanger. The town has about three hundred inhabitants, two general merch- andise stores, one drug store, a bank, a good hotel, a printing office, which is owned and managed by W. L. Riddell, editor of the Boone County Recorder, one of the best papers in the State, out- side the city of Louisville, also four nice church buildings, Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist and Uniyersalist. The town is laid off in a square with a beautiful court house in the center. All the county officials have their offices in the court house. The streets of the town are wide and well shaded, making a beautiful and desirable place of residence. The town is connected with the outside world by long distance telephone. We have an omnibus line making two trips a day between here and Erlanger. This is a local option town and the law is rigidly enforced. Petersburg, situated on the Ohio river, ten miles northwest of the countj' seat, has a population of about eight hundred people. The town is above high water mark and has an excellent steam- boat lauding. It has a distillerA', with a three hundred barrel per day capacity, and this distiller}' feeds hundreds of cattle every year. The distillery also has connected with it a large cooper shop. The town also has a flour mill that can make one hundred barrels a day of the best flour the country aft'ords. There is a lumbei' yard and stores of ,all kinds to supply the trade of the surrounding country. The lown is well lighted by oil lamps. There is also a good town hall Avith a seating capacity of eight hundred. Bellevue, a tOAvn of about one hundred people, situated on the Ohio river, seven miles from Burlington, and about thirty miles below Cincinnati, Ohio, by water, is in a region of extremely fertile lands, that raise an enormous amount of corn and hogs, and on account of these two ]U'oducts, cheap land sites and transportation facilities, this would be an ideal place for a pork packing estab- lishment. Florence, six miles east of Burlington, is a nice little town of four hundred people. It has good hotels and is nicely located on the Lexington turnpike, and just two miles from a railroad station. The county fair grounds are situated at this place. It is a delight- ful place of residence for people engaged in business in Cincin- nati, Covington or Newport. The town has first class accommo- dations for the traveling public to and from railway station and is connected with the world by long distance telephone. Fourteenth Biennial Report Binxcic of Agriculture. 35 Walton is located in the southeastern part of the county on a crossinji of the C, X. O. & T. P. and L. .Jc N. railways. Population about six hundred. Industries: iSaw and planing mills, lumbei.' yard, tlour mill, tobacco warehouse and tAvo tomato canneries and preserving companies that sell their products all over the civilized world. Constance, located on the Ohio river, six miles northeast from the county seat and nine miles from Covington, Ky., by water, is a nice little village of one hundred and tifty people, with a good steam ferry connecting it with the Ohio side, where one can take an electric car and be in Cincinnati, Oliio, in thirty minutes. P. E. Cason. Hoone county is sitnat»Ml in the Sixth Congressional, Sixth Ap- pellate, Fifteenth -Indicial, Twenty-third Senatorial and Seventy- eighth Legislative Districts. PosTOFFiGEs: — Beavorlick, Berkshire, Big Bone, Bullittsville, Burlington, Constance, Crescent, Florence, Grant, Gunpowder, Hamilton, Hathaway, Hebron, Limaburg, Petersburg, Rabbit Hash, Riclnvood, Fnion, Utzinger, ^'erona, Walton. Bourbon County. Formed in 1775 from Fayette county and named in honor of the famous Bourbon family of France. Bourbon county was one of the nine counties organized by the Virginia Legislature before Kentucky became a State. It is bounded on the north by Harri- son, the east by Montgomer}', the south by Fayette, and west by Scott, and is Avatered by Stoner, Hinkston, Houston and Boone creeks and the south fork of the Licking river. The county has a population of l(').l)7(t. Located in the heart of the bluegrass region, the gently undulating soil is wonderfully fertile, producing generous .yields of wheat, corn, barley, oats, hemp, tobacco, etc. The virgin half of the soil produces about 150,000 bushels of blue- grass seed per year, which sells at twenty-five cents per bushel from the stripper, and furnishes grazing for sheep, giving an annu- al wool clip Avortli 115,000, for valuable horse, mule and hog stock, and for .f:>00.(lOO worth of tine export beef cattle every year which grow to an average weight of 1,150 pounds. Scores of the best race horses the turf lias ever known were bred in Bourbon countv. 36 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. The soil furnishes an abundance of primitive limestone, not sus- ceptible to polish, for building purposes. In the county are two undeveloped lead mines— one in Paris and the other near Millers- Jburg. Near North Middletown is an oil well bored during the civil war. Oak, ash, hickor}^, elm, sugar-tree, wild cherry, mul- berry and box elder constitute liberal timber resources. The wal- nut timber is being rapidly cut away. Though the soil is finely adapted for dairying, truck-farming and fruit-growing, it is not ■extensively carried on. The fruit crop averages probably |G,000 per year. None of the streams are navigable. There are two hundred and seventy-six miles of excellent turn- pikes and thirty-nine miles of dirt roads in the county' — every mile being free. The roads were acquired by the fiscal court by pur- chase, gift and condemnation. The aggregate cost of the pikes was 155,000. The pikes were freed without a lawless or violent act. The rate of the taxation for the purchase and maintenance of turnpikes is twenty-five cents on the one hundred dollars. The thirty-eight miles of the Louisville & Nashville railroad compris- ing branches in four directions — to Lexington, Covington, Win- chester and Maysville — and the Frankfort & Cincinnati'' (Ken- tucky Midland) eleven miles, going to Georgetown and Frankfort, afford railroad competition and give Bourbon excellent shipping facilities. It has been proposed to extend the Frankfort and Cin- cinnati road to the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. In Bourbon are several salt and sulphur springs, but none have sufiicient merit to justify being made health resorts. There are no water falls or rapid streams in the county, though the waters of Stoner and Hinkston are utilized in operating the machinery of several flouring mills. Bourbon has no natural curiosities save a few Indian mounds, and a buffalo trace on Cane Ridge, but in her soil reposes the remains of Edward Boone, the pioneer and Indian fighter and brother of Daniel Boone. Bones of mastodon have been found in excavations near Paris. The average price of farm land in Bourbon is sixty dollars per acre. The farm hands employed are mostly colored, the wages f being fifteen to eighteen dollars per month. There are no foreign ^colonies in the county. Bourbon has no fruit or vegetable can- neries or cheese factory. There is an excellent opening for to- bacco, hemi>, broom-corn manufacturing interests and fruit-can- ning enterprises. The county furnishes an abundant supply of these products. Fourteenth Biemiial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 37 The county seat of Bourbon is Paris, a beautiful and enter- prising city of about 7,500 inhabitants. The city is located on high ground, and Stoner and Houston creeks, which flow through the corporate limits, offer fine advantages and locations for fac- tories. The city is healthy and is a delightful place of residence, having electric lights, water works, electric fire alarm system, competitive telegraph and telephone communication, ice factory, handsome business blocks and residences, w^ell appointed stores, fioses. They have not been developed as places of health re- sorts, but the splendid medical qualities of the water and the present progress of the county makes it a question of a short time until they will be used as places of health resorts. Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 45 The county is being dotted over with mills used for the pur- pose of manufacturing lumber. This business is increasing al- most daily. Tracts of timber land are being purchased, and by non-residents, and mills erected to cut the timber into lumber, which is hauled to the railroad and shipped to market. From the demand for timber it seems that good profits are being realized. The Lexington & Eastern Railway runs from Lexington to Jackson and will, in the near future, be extended to Big Stona Gap, a distance of about seventy-five miles. » There are sixty-seven public schools taught in the county. The^ S. P. Lee's Collegiate Institute, a branch of Central University, Richmond, Ky., is located at Jackson and has about two hundred pupils enrolled. This is a splendid educational institution and has a manual training, domestic science and musical department, and offers all the advantages to be found at any preparatory school in the State. The soil of this county is well adapted to grass, especially tim- othy, clover, red top, orchard and English bluegrass. With this quality of soil and the vast boundaries of lands unoccupied, which can be bought at small cost, a splendid opportunity for sheep culture is offered. Sheep will do well in the woods most of the year, and are always healthy. J. B. Marcum. Breathitt county is situated in the Tenth Congressional, Seventh Appellate, Twentj-third Judicial, Thirty-fourth Senatorial and Ninety-second Legislative Districts. PosTOFFicEs: — Athol, Bays, Bushbranch, Canoe, Clayhole, Cope- branch, Crockettsville, Elkatawa, Frozencreek, Herald, Howard's Creek, Jackson, Jettscreek, Lambric, Lostcreek, Ned, Noble, Oak- dale, Paxton, Peartree, Rousseau, Shoulderblade, Smithbranch, Stephenson, Taulbee, Terry, Turkey, Wharf. Breckenridge County. (Revised 1901 by Judge William Ahl.) Breckenridge County was formed in 1799, and lies in the north- western part of the State on the Ohio river. Water courses: Sinking creek, Hardin's creek. Clover creek, Tarfork creek, Calamese creek Rough creek. Bull creek and Town 46 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. creek. None of the^e streams are navigable, (hat is for steamers. The water power is fine in many places. The soil is generally very fertile and grows magnificent crops. Tobacco, wheat corn and aj^ples are the principal prodncts, and originall}^ was very heavily timbered, and even up to this time has a great variety. White oak, poplar, hickory, walnut, chestnut, red oak, black oak, ash, beech, elm etc. The average i)rice of land is about six or seven dollars per acre. Minerals: Asphalt, limestone, sandstone, natural gas in abund ance in certain localities. The celebrated white sulphur and tar springs situated four and one-half miles south of Cloverport has been famous for years the world over. It is a noted health resort. (It is said it will be overhauled, new buildings erected and beautified and ]iut in splendid shape for the accouimodation of (inite a num- ber of boarders etc. in 15>()2.) There arc other mineral springs in the county, but none so famous for their medical jiroperties. The industrial development of the county is gradually being- recognized. There are mills and factories in different localities; at Cloverport there are three vitrified brick plants, one of them in operation, the L. H. & St. L. railway shops, one large fiouriug mill and one saw mill. Hardinsburg is the county seat, centrally located, lies ten miles from the Ohio river, accessible by rail and can be reached within one and one-luilf hour's drive over the turn- pike from Cloverport. It has a |40,000 court house, a |12.000 jail (stone cells), and has several very costly private residences and two good hotels, two large flouring mills, one stave factory and there is also a large quantity of tobacco ]>urchased at this point. There is also located here the IJauk of llandinsburg. with capital stock of 125,000.- Hardinsburg, Cloverport, Ste]»hensport, Ii'vlugtou. AN'ebster, Harned, Kirk, Glendean, Rockvale, Mattingly. Vnion Star, and Custer are some of the important towns. We have about seventy miles of railroad in the county operated by the L. H. & St. L. Ry. Co.; it runs through some of the best ])orti(>ns of the county and has been the means of a large improve- ment and development. Ten miles of macadamized road in the (■(Hinty leading from Hardinsburg to Cloverport, and more being coustructed on the public roads throughout the county. The educational faculties are splendid. The Breckenridge Nor- mal College situated at Hardinsburg is a first-class institution. Cloverport has another fine school and so has Glendean, There Fourteenth Biennial Report Burma of AgricuUwre. 47 are good public schools taught iu every district in the couuty for five months in the year with competent teachers in control. The county is in the Fourth Congressional, Second Appellate, :Ninth Judical, Tenth Senatorial and Twenty-eighth Legislative Districts. The county is pracLically local option; we Iiuve three still houses. Two sell their products in quantities not less than one (luart and one sells in quantities not less than five gallons and one tavern, with the privilege of selling liquor by retail. The county has a road tax of twenty cents on the one hundred dol- lars worth of property subject to taxation for State and county purposes, and the fiscal court apply the labor clause as they deem necessary. For the year 1899, they required all hands subject to work on roads under the road law to work six days in the year; in 1900, four days, and in 1901, two days, and under this manage- ment the roads have been improved at least 100 per cent. The county has a population of about 21,000. PosTOFFicEs:— Addison, Askin, Axtel, Bewleyville, Buras, Che- nault, Clifton Mills, Clover-port, Constantine, Custer, Franks, Fry- mire, Garfield, Glendean, Hardinsburg, Harned, Holt, Hudson, Irvington, Kirk, Limbach, Lodiburg, McDauiels, McQuady, Mat- tingly, Mook, Mooleyville, Planters, Rockvale, Rosetta, Sample, Stephensport, Tarfork, Union Star, Vau/.ant, Webster, WestView. Bullitt County. Bullitt County, named in honor of Capt. Thomas Bullitt, who in company with a brave band of hardy Virginians, did considerable surve^dng in the vicinity of Shepherds ville and Bullitt's Lick, in 1773, was carved out of Jefferson and Nelson counties in 1796, and was the twenty-second county to be formed after Kentucky became an organized State. Bullitt county is traversed from east to west by Salt river, which is navigable for a distance of twelve miles. Salt river has two trib- utaries of importance, the Rolling Fork, which flows into the river from the southeast and Floyd's Fork, which flows from the Bear- grass country on the north. Rolling Fork is navigable for a dis- tance of ten miles, for small boats, and the farmers along its banks depend upon the river to market their crops and stock. Salt river^ 48 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. EoUiug Fork and Floyd's Fork are well stocked with fish, and Salt river affords fine bass fishing in April and September. Bullitt is bounded on the north by Jefferson, on the east by Spencer, on the south by Nelson and on the west by Hardin. The western part of the county is hilly and broken in places. Middle Bullitt is rolling generally, and all of it produces well when carefully cultiAated. The soil of Bullitt will produce any crop grown in the State, with the possible exception of hemp. Wheat, corn, oats, rye, barley, all kinds of grasses and vege- tables are grown in this county, especially wheat and corn. The Salt river valley. Cox's creek bottoms, Rolling Fork bottoms, and Floyd's Fork bottoms, are equal to any land in the State in the production of corn, and where the uplands have been taken care of and manured and clovered, twenty-seven bushels of wheat have been aA'eraged on large fields per acre. Timber is growing scarcer every year, owing to the continuous Tunning of saw mills. Good timber lands sell for fifty and seventy- five dollars per acre. It is usually sawed and shipped to the mar- ket in commercial dimensions. Hickory, ash, oak, pine, locust, linn, poplar, cedar, cherry and in fact all kinds of timber indigen- ous to Kentuck}^, grow in Bullitt. Bullitt county contains many mineral wells, whose waters abound in medicinal virtues. Chief among these is the well at Parocfuet Springs, famous in ante-bellum days as the foremost summer resort in the South. The town of Shepherdsville lies on the north bank of Salt river where the main stem of the Louisville & Nashville R. R. crosses that stream, and lies about eighteen miles south of Louisville. It is the oldest incorporated town in Kentucky, with the single excep- tion of Harrodsburg, and has a population of about three hundred. It enjoys the distinction of having the largest and best stores to be found in the State, outside of the large cities, and in past few years many handsome residences have been erected. By reason of it superior railroad facilities, Shepherdsville would be an excellent point for factories of anj^ kind, there being an abundance of water to run them, and building sites could be secured at low rates. A canning factory would certainly pay at this place. All kinds of fruit and vegetables are raised, and the canner could market his goods at a nominal cost. Foremost among the many things which stamp the people of Bullitt as a progressive people is the Fourteenth Biennial lieport Bureau of Agrienlturc. 49 Bullitt County Fair, which is regarded as one of the best in the State. IShepherdsville has a good graded school, which is abh' conducted, ^nd a colored school with a large attendance. Lebanon Junction, the railroad town of Bullitt, lies twelve miles south of Shepherdsville, at the junction of the main line of the L. & N. R. R. and the Knoxville division of the L. & N. R. R., and has a population of one thousand. It has a graded school, •employing three teachers, and has a good colored school. The tow'n of Mount Washington lies ten miles east of Shepherdsville, has prosperous churches and schools and is inhabited by a thrifty, peaceable people. Among the other towns are Belmont, Pitts Point, Brooks and Smithville. At Smithville is located a large flour mill, which does a big business, furnishing not only the farmers of the surround ing country with flour, etc., but shipping to Louisville and other points. The only other flour mill in Bullitt is at Zoneton, although there are a number of grist mills in the county, many of them being run in connection with saw mills. The rugged hills of Bullitt are full of ores of different kinds. In the day of the old stone furnace, all the furnaces in this county were run by ore mined near by, and that ore, said to be of a fine -quality, is still here in inexhaustible quantities, waiting for capital to take it into the markets of the world. Gas and oil exist in Bullitt in paying quantities but as yet but one attempt has been made to find it. At Pitts Point, F. M. Hardy dug or bored a gas well last year and found gas in goodh' quanti- ties, but it was drow'ned out by salt water. Too much dynamite is said to have caused the influx of salt water. Bullitt county can boast of the finest building stone to be found anywhere in the State. It lies at Clermont, six miles southeast cf Shepherdsville, on the Bardstown branch of the L. & N., in inex- haustible quantities, and is used exclusively by the L. & N. for bridges and culverts. There is also a fine grade of sandstone in the hills north and west of Shepherdsville, but owing to the difiiculty of hauling it, there has been no efl'ort to put it on the market. On the knobs west of Shepherdsville, about seven miles distant, the w^riter found a fine quality of gray limestone, a few years since, which would be Tery valuable if nearer the railroad. Fruit growing is the chief occupation of the people of western 50 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. Bullitt. The knobs are covered with thrifty peach and apple orchards. Owing to the fact that the peach crop has been killed by the late frosts, for several years, the apple is coming more and more into favor. Ben Davis, Johnson's Fine Winter, the Greening, Winesaps, and a few other less popular varieties, are the kinds of apples grown in Bullitt. Bullitt has twentj^-six and one-tialf miles of completed railroad, belonging to the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company, and if the L., H. & St. L. will complete its extension from West Point to Louisville, it will give about ten miles more. The plan adopted a few years ago of crushing stone at the ex- pense of the county and letting the citizens along the proposed pike haul the stone on the pike free of charge, has worked well, and Bullitt now has some nine or ten miles of pike built in this way, A handsome modern court house has been built by the fiscal court at a cost of 117,400, and is an ornament to the county and a source of pride to her citizens. There is but one college in Bullitt county and that is for colored citizens. It was built by Eckstein Norton, for whom it was nam- ed, and has a large attendance. Bullitt bears the reputation of being one of the most law abiding, counties in the State. The character of labor employed by our farmers and others is as a rule high and wages very good. The Bullitt County Fair has done much towards bettering stock Fine horses and fine cattle, hogs and sheep, can now be seen on the farms of all thrifty farmers. If this improvement goes on for ten years more old Bullitt will be a vanguard county in the production of fine stock. It is in the Fourth Congressional, Third Appellate, Tenth Judi- cial, Twelfth Senatorial, and Forty-first Legislative Districts. PosTOPFicEs: — Bardstown Junction, Barrallton, Belmont, Brooks, Cane Springs, Chapeze, Clermont, Crisp, Cupio, Fancy, Huber, Knobs, Lebanon Junction, Lutes, Mount Washington, Pitts Point, Salt river, Shepherdsville, Smithville, Solitude, Ting, Weller, Whitefield, Zoneton. Fourteenth Biennhil Report Bureau of Agriculture. 51 Butler County. In 1810 the county of Butler was carved out of the counties of Logan and Ohio. Two years later Morgantown was incorporated and established as the county seat. The population of the county exceeds 15,000 people. The surface of Butler county is somewhat broken, hills, flats and valleys everywhere abounding. The soils of the uplands of the limestone section, which are restricted to the southeastern portion of the county, are very rich and productive, and are well adapted to all Kentuckv products, particularly to wheat and to- bacco; the sandstone uplands of the rest of the county are hardly so fertile, but are well adapted to lighter grains, fruits and melons. The valley lands and bottoms are as rich as any in the State, and their yields of corn can not be exceeded. Nearly all of these last named lands have been cleared and are in a state of cultivation; likewise a great deal of the higher lands, but of these there yet remain thousands of acres in timber. Poplar, oak, gum, ash, hickory, chestnut, beech and sycamore are the principal timbers of value indigenous to the soil; and these, though they have been cut and sold to the market for many years, yet abound. Annually thousands of dollars' worth of togs are run down the creeks to Green river, and thence to the localsaw mills and the Evansville market. The cross tie business and stave bus- iness are now consuming more timber than perhaps any other branch of the lumber industry. Timbered lands command good prices, their convenience to the water courses or the railroads determining the figures at which they are purchasable. The white oak of this, the Green river section, is claimed to be the finest in the world, awards to that effect having been giving in sundry competitive exhibits both at home and abroad. . Everywhere the finest sort of sandstone for building purposes is to be found, and the quarrying and the sale of such stone has come to be one of the iirincipal features of the business of the Aberdeen Coal & Mining Company, a concern to be mentioned hereafter. The clays are well adapted to brick making, and good fire clay is to be found in the county. Butler county is in the Western Kentucky coal field, and has some of the finest bituminous coals in the State. Its mines have 52 Fourteenth Hicnnial Report Bureau of Agriculture. not been developed or its coals worked to the extent that they should have been, principally owing to the fact that the county has no railroads within its borders, and is compelled to depend solely on transportation by water. The annual output of com- mercial coal is more than 30,000 tons, and finds a market in Bowl- ing Green, Evansville, and intermediate points along Green and Barren rivers. The principal mines are those located at Aber- deen, on Green river, and within one mile of Morgantown. The Aberdeen Coal & Mining Company, and the West Aberdeen Coal Company operate these mines. Aside from Green river, already mentioned, which flows through the county from east to west, are many minor streams which empty into. Green and Barren rivers. Chief among these smaller streams are the creeks known as Big Reedy and Little Reedy, Welch's Indian Camp, Big Muddy and Little Muddy, Sandy and Panther. Moreover, Mud river, a stream of some magnitude, w^ashes the southern boundary of the county for many miles, and finds its way to Green river at Rochester. Nearly all freights to and from market are shipped by river, and a fine line of steamers ply from Bowling Green to Evansville, affording ready and reason- able rates of transportation. A system of locks and dams on Green and Barren rivers permit navigation throughout the year, and the boats not only run from Bowling Green to Evansville, but go to points far up Green river into Edmonson county, as well. On the latter stream the Government is constructing a lock between Woodbury and Brownsville which when completed will permit all j^ear navigation to the latter point, and prove of incalculable benefit to both Butler and Edmonson counties. The principal towns of the county are located on the river. Chief among these is Morgantown, the county seat, already mentioned. It has a population of more than a thousand people and is most picturesquely situated, standing as it does on a high plateau over- looking the river. A fine mill, an excellent school, a flourishing bank, as well as many first class business concerns, contribute to make the town a commercial and educational center. Roches- ter is located on the same stream, by land sixteen miles distant from Morgantown and by water nearly forty miles distant. It draws its commercial, life from three counties which bind at its borders, viz., Butler, Muhlenberg and Ohio. Lock No. 4 is here located. It has a first-class college and a bank. It has also a Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 53 splendid roller mill. Its timber merchants do the most exten- sive business of any in the county. Woodbury, above Morgantown six miles, at lock No. 5 and the confluence of Green and Barren rivers, is one of the oldest towns in the Green river valley, and draws its trade from one of the richest sections in the count}'. Huntsville, Forgyville, Berry's Lick, Herschel, Sunny Lane and Sugar Grove are thrifty inland villages in the southern section of the county, while Brooklyn, Gilstrap, Welch's Creek, Lee, Reedyville, are some thriving ham- lets in the northern section. Either of the three river towns, Morgantown, Woodbury or Rochester, furnishes excellent advantages for the manufacture of furniture and lumber, as well as for the conduct of other business enterprises. Situated as they are, in the heart of the timber and coal regions of Western Kentucky, with the very cheapest rates of transportation bj^ river to the markets, the cost of living to em- ployees the most reasonable, and the rate of taxation as low per- haps as may be found in any other section of the State, no better towns can be found anywhere for the launching of industries of the character mentioned. The school sj^stem of the county will average with that of any county in the State of like conditions. Some of the most promi- nent men in the State, and many who have gone into other sections of the nation and won place and honor, have received their early education and life inspirations here. It is a noteworthy fact that the people of Butler county have not waited for foreign capital to flow into their community to begin the work of development. They have realized their advantages and begun the work which shall bring their county to the forefront of industrial advancement. The most prosperous business con- cerns, the mining and chief timber industries, are owned and con- trolled by local capital, and business men of other sections are turning their attention to these home enterprises, and are seek- ing investment and business association with them. Mineral springs, chalybeate, and sulphur waters, are to be found in various portions of the county, and some of these have fully as much medicinal value as those of the more widely known and advertised of the State. Old Sandy Spring and Pipe Spring, both near Morgantown, are locally historic and of healing virtues, while the Copperas Springs in the southern portion of the county, are known far and near. Blowing Springs, situated near the Warren 54 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Afjriculture. count}' line, above Sugar Grove, is a natural curiosity, and is aptly named. The scenery along upper Green river in Butler county can not be excelled by that of any other in Kentucky. Green river itself is the most classical stream in the State, and its hills and valleys abound with legends of earlier times. Indian Rock, a few miles below Morgantown, bears on its surface the hierogly- phics of the aboriginal tribes, and, to those who delight in the study of primitive symbols, affords themes of study. Further down the stream are traces of Indian, or prehistoric mounds, in which are to be found and read the traces of earlier people. Butler county is embraced in the Second Appellate Court Dis- trict; in the Third Congressional District; in the Seventh Sena- torial District; in the Eighth Judicial District; and together with Edmonson county constitutes a Legislative District. H. ^I. Thatcher. PosTOFFiCEs: — Aberdeen, Americus, Bannock, Berry's Lick, Brooklyn, Davenport, Dexteryille, Dunbar, Eden, Embry, Factory. Gilstrap, Harreldsville, Herschel, Holston, Huutsviile, Lee, Little- bend, Little Muddy, Logansport, Mining City, Morgantown, Quality, Reedyville, Rochester, Roundhill. Sharer, South Hill, Sugar Grove, Sunnylane, Threlkeld, Tilford. Townsville, Welch's Creek, Welcome, Wood, Woodbury. Caldwell County. Caldwell County was the fifty-first organized in the State, and was formed in 1809 from a part of Livingston county. It is bounded on the north by Crittenden and Hopkins, on the east by Hopkins and Christian, on the south by Trigg and Lyon, and on the west by Lyon and Crittenden counties. The southern i»ortion of the county is level, the soil very fertile, which makes it very productive, while the northern part is hilly and heavily timbered with the best quality of oak, poplar, walnut and hickory. There is much valuable stone, which is used to ad- vantage in different ways, such as keeping the roads in repair, building purposes and in being made into lime by the two large lime works, which are in operation. Coal has been found in many localities but it is only being worked in two or three places at present. Spar also abounds in the county and the mine now in Fourteenth Biennial Beport Bureau of Agriculture. 55- operation will likely prove a great source of wealth to the county. The oil helds are abundant and a stock company organized in this county will begin operating wells at once. The oil is abundant and of good quality. The roads are in very good condition, and are kept so by a county fund raised for that purpose. It has two railroads, which intersect each other at the county seat, one running north and south and the other east and west. They are both of the Illinois Central system. Caldwell county is one of the best counties in the western por- tion of the State for stock raising ,and large numbers of cattle, sheep and hogs are shipped to market every year. Fruit grows wel! in all parts of the county, consisting of apples, pears, peaches, grapes, plums, strawberries, etc. The Tradewater river with its tributaries water the northern portion of the county, while the southern part is watered by springs and creeks. There are quite a number of mineral springs in various parts of the county, which are capable of being made beautiful health, and pleasure resorts. Some streams capable of operating machinery are found, the water of which is being utilized for such purposes. There are many natural curiosities in the county, such as caves, hills, and projecting rocks, towering far above us and often presenting the most beautiful scenery. There is in the county a Spanish fort and an Indian fortification that have many strange historical facts connected with them. There is an ice cave in which may be found ice at any time of the year. There are many caves, some of which have been explored for sev- eral hundred .yards. In the northern portion of the county are some of the most beautiful scenes in the way of natural curiosities, consisting of high towering rocks and pinnacles. They are very beautiful in spring and summer and are visited by thousands of people. On top of these is the Indian fortifications. The agricultural products of the county are corn, wheat, oats, rye, tobacco, fruits and vegetables. The grasses are clover, tim- othy, orchard grass and bluegrass. The farmers use the best im- proved machinery. Princeton, the county seat, a city of about .S,.500 inhabitants, is located near the center of the county, and is the center of a rich agricultural region. It has many factories, foundries and mills. It has two of the largest tobacco factories in the world, one of which is claimed to be the largest. 56 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. The coimty lias sjjlendid educational advantages. The public schools of the county are in thiivinj; condition, while the city of Princeton can boast of one of the best colleges in AVestern Ken- tucky. Princeton Collegiate Institute enjoys a large and increas- ing patronage from a number of the surrounding States. The city schools of this city are also in good condition and enjoy a good representation outside the city. Other growing towns in the county are Fredonia, Kelsey, Crider and Cobb. The county has a population of about 14,500. It is situated in the First Congressional, First Appellate, Fourth Ju- dicial, Fourth Senatorial and Ninth Legislative Districts. T. W. Vinson. PosTOFFiCEs: — Claxton, Cobb, Creswell, Crider, Curry, Dulaney, Enon, Farmersville, Fredonia, Friendship, Hopson, Kelsey, 'Mc- Oowan, Otter Pond, Princeton, Quinn, Rufus, Tluth, Scottsburg. Calloway County. Calloway County is situated in the southwestern portion of the State, and lies along the Tennessee State line. It is bounded on the north by the county of Marshall, on the east by Trigg county and the Tennessee river, in fact, the Tennessee river forms the whole eastern boundary; on the south as stated, by State of Ten- nessee, and on the west by the county of Graves. This county is abundantly watered and well drained by the Tennessee and Blood rivers, and the east and w^est forks of Clark's river, and their several tributaries, the Tennessee and Blood rivers draining the eastern section of the county and the east and west forks of Clark's river draining the more central and western portions of the county. In the western portion of this county the land is level, while in the eastern section it is broken and hilly. It is a fact, nevertheless, that all the land of the county, as a general thing, is fertile and productive. It is especially fine along the river and creek bottoms, where most magnificent farms are located. The labor on the farms is performed by native white and colored hands, whose services can be procured for from ten to fifteen dollars per month and board. The staple products of the Calloway county farms are corn, wheat, oats, hay and tobacco. There is yet considerable timber remaining in the county, though no effort has been made to prevent the wanton destruction of our Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 57 raluable forests. Much good timber, of oak, walnut, poplar, beech and ash can be fouud in the county at reasonable prices per acje. There are no turnpikes in the county, the public roads be- ing the ordinary county or dirt roads, and are under the supervis- ion of road overseers appointed by the county court, and are kept in fair condition. The Paducah, Tennessee & Alabama railroad runs through the central part of the county from north to south. School facilities are furnished by the common school system of the State, and in most of the districts are good and comfortable school houses; the schools are well attended and are in a flourish- ing condition. The population of the county in 1900, according to the twelfth census, was 17,()33. Murray, the county seat of Calloway county, is situated near the center of the county on the Paducah, Tennessee & Alabama rail- road; is a nice little town, with a population, according to the last United States census, of 1,822. It has churches and schools. Calloway county is situated in the First Congressional, First Appellate, Third Judicial, Third Senatorial and Fifth Legislative Districts. PosTOFFicEs: — Almo, Backusburg, Blood, Branden, Browns- grove, Cherry, Coldwater, Crossland, Daisy, Dexter, Edgehill, Faxon, Flint, Hamlin, Harrisgrove, Hazel, Hico, Kirksey, Knight, Lynngrove, Murray, New Concord, New Providence, Pottertown, Rhea, Shiloh, Stella, Vancleave, Wetzel. Campbell County. Campbell County was organized in 1798 and was the nineteenth county formed in the State; when formed, it included Kenton county, and is bounded on the north and east by the Ohio river, on the west by Licking river, and on the south by Pendleton county. It has two railroads running through it, the C. »& O. R. R. and L. & N. R. R., together, about thirty miles. Fort Thomas in located in the north end, about three miles south of Newport, with an electric car line from Fountain Square in Cincinnati, to Fort Thomas, and a second line running to Evergreen Cemetery, a dis- tance of three miles, with a fair prospect of being built to Alex- .58 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. andria, the county seat. It also has located in tlie county the Government rifle range on the bank of Licking river, where every regiment in the United States army comes to practice target shooting. The county is about twenty-live miles from north to south and about seven miles Avide from east to west,, and because of its being located between the Ohio and Licking rivers, it is said to be the best fruit county in the State, equal to the famous fruit belt of Michigan; all kinds of fruit that are suited to this climate are raised in this country to perfection and in abundance, some farmers having fifty to one hundred acres in small fruit. It was conceded at the Ohio State Horticultural Society that the apples and peaches that came from Campbell county had the finest flavor and the highest and brightest color of any that were on ex- hibition. The reason given for these qualities is that no differ- ence what course the wind blew, it came over one of these rivers that brought with it a mist or fog that induced this color or flavor, and as it is so close to Cincinnati, the market is as good as any in the county, and for that reason the county is so largelj' en- gaged in fruit growing. There are several fine mineral springs in the county that have been analyzed by Prof. Decory of Cincinnati, and he says they are of the finest of waters, equal to any in the State. We have two county seats, Newport and Alexandria, have sixty miles of turnpike and four hundred and forty miles county roads, but have a good system of road bridge work in the county. The common schools are as good as any place in the Union. As a rule all of the people take a great interest in the schools and school buildings, and fully 90 per cent, of the children at school age can read and write. The original timber was hardwood, such as ash, oak, hickory walnut, beech, maple, sugar tree, poplar and buckeye, but 95 per cent, is cleared. We have a stock law in this county, and have no use for fences, only for each man to fence for his own stock, and it Is as satisfactory as could be. There is some immigration to this county, mostly Germans, and as a rule, they are good law-abiding people and good agricultur- ists and horticulturists. Our farmers vie with each other in hav- ing the best of farm implements and seeds. All kinds of grasses grow here; the Kentucky bluegrass is indigenous to this county. In the southern part of the county there is regular farming and «tock raising, horses, cattle, sheep and hogs, and all kinds of grain Fou't'teenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 59 and tobacco, but in the northern part it is all tilled as a garden and fruit farm. Campbell count}^ is the third in the State in point of wealth and population. Newport has several iron plants, one large rolling mill and bolt works, one shoe factory, one pipe fac- tory, one watch-case factory, and has a poj)ulatiou of about 40,000; has two iron bridges spanning the Ohio river and two iron bridges spanning the Licking river and two suburban towns of about 7,000 each, and the county is as healthy as any place in the land. The face of the county is undulating, so no stagnant water is left. The Ohio river is navigable the year round. Licking is navigable as far as Falmouth about six months of the year. Our present congressman had an appropriation made for the improvement of Licking river, and the Government engineers are at work, making a survey with the view of having slack water navigation the year round. Geologists say the glacier flow reaches the upper end of Campbell county and runs through into Kenton and Boone counties, and across the Ohio river into Indiana, and is the furthest south there is any marks of it. There is unmistakable evidence of it in Campbell county. Campbell county is situated in the Sixth Congressional, Sixth Appellate, Seventh Judicial, Twenty-fifth Senatorial, and Eighty- third Legislative Districts. PosTOPPicEs: — Alexandria, Brayville, Brent, California, Camp Springs, Carthage, Claryville, Coldspring, Dayton, Flaggspring, Fort Thomas, Grant's Lick, Gubser, Hawthorne, John's Hill, Kane, Melbourne, Mentor, Newport, A. (Dayton), No. 1, (Fort Thomas), Oneonta, Pool's Creek, Ross, House, Tenmile, Trace. Carlisle County. (Revised 1901 by John W. Ray.) Carlisle County was formed May 4, 1886, from the south half of Ballard county, and is bounded by Ballard county on the north, Graves county on the east, Hickman county on the south, and by the Mississippi on the west. The surface is slightly rolling and the soil very productive. Mayfield creek, along the northern boundary, is the largest stream in the State called "creek." It affords an abundant supply of water that could be utilized for 60 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. power. In fact it now runs a seventy-five barrel flouriug mil!, and has been used in years gone by at other places for the same purpose. Bordering along the south line is Obion creek, almost as large as Mayfield creek; has been used for power. Besides these streams, there is Wilson's creek, west fork of Mayfield, Herrington, Lick, and Truman, all tributaries of May- field. Then Skaggs, fork of Obion, and Cane, tributary to Obion, then the chain of lakes, so called, along the western part of the county, some two miles from the river, that are emptied into the river by Town creek. With these streams always flowing, there is always plenty of water even in the dryest years. W^ater can be easily found at from twenty to sixty feet under ground and is splendid for family use. The soil is a clay loam; no rock, except in a few places there is drifted gravel of the Paducah variety. Bordering the river the usual rich sandy bottoms skirt the whole western line. In what is termed bottoms is the better land, if it were tiled; some have been. This land does not overflow so as to drown out the crop, but after rains, it does not dry out and is termed cold, but in reasonable years produces excellent wheat, corn and the grasses. There is no minerals of any kind known to exist in this county, but there are clays. In this county enough clay can be had to make a million ton of ware, and the quality is of a good (not the best) kind. It will make any ware except the pure white. Fortunately the clay is close to where the tile is needed and in the near future the tile will be demanded and the tile works will be a necessity and the clay is there. Fine art tiling articles have been made out of our clays. Again, the clays are within 100 feet of the Mobile & Ohio railroad. There are still some very fine bodies of oak timber that can be had, but railroad timbers are supplied from the county in large quantities. Cottonw^ood can be had in almost unlimited quanti- ties. With our water and wood paper could be made very cheaply. The great draw^back heretofore of the county has been its roads, but now that is overcome. By a system of taxation of twenty- five cents on the one hundred dollars the roads of the county are worked and are in splendid condition. No tolls, no toll-gate raiders. The Illinois Central railroad and Mobile & Ohio railroad both cross the countv, having a mileage of about ten miles each, and to- " Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Ayriculture. 61 getlier furuish all the outlet for our products in any direction, fcsix hours to St. Louis thirteen hours to Chicago or Cincinnati, ten hours to Louisville or Memphis, eighteen hours to New Orleans, Mobile or Detroit. With these facilities and the market at our door, the farmers have taken advantage. The berry crop of 11)01 exceeded |50,000, and the beans, spinach, melons, cantaloupes, and such garden products are almost equal to the berry. A year ago about 1,500 acres of spinach alone were sown. If you are a truck farmer, come to Carlisle. While this count}' is healthful we have mineral springs. McGee Springs, in the northern part, four miles from Bardwell, has been visited by health seekers, with beneficial results. Chalybeate water is found in Bardwell in wells. Farm lands in the county are worth from |8 to $40 per acre, wide range, the difference being largely on account of the proxim- ity to market, the higher priced being for fruits and vegetable lands near railroad stations, and the low priced for out-of-the-way, unimproved lands. If you want land, we can suit you in price. The farm labor is native white, and they are paid about |15 per month and board. There is at Arlington a vegetable cannery, whose annual out- put is worth on an average of |15,000, tomatoes mostly canned. There are seven merchants flouring mills in the county, with the capacity of TOO barrels daily. There are two box factories, making boxes and crates for the berries and vegetables shipped. Several saw mills and two planing mills. The towns of the county are all connected by telephone, which also connects with adjoining counties and Cairo, 111. The county seat is Bardwell, an enterprising town of 1,600; has three white and two colored churches, public graded school build- ing, costing |7,000, and where five teachers are employed ten months in the year, maintained by taxation at fifty cents per one hundred dollars, ad valorem, and |1.50 poll; average attendance, 325; non-sectarian strictly, been in operation eight years. The curriculum embraces higher mathematics, Latin, philosophy, etc., and tuition free to all free school pupils. There are also two banks, capital stock, .f.36.000, deposits, .fllO.OOO. Hotel, costing |6.000, opera house, two flouring mills, saw and planing mills, box factory, electric lights, steam laundry; in fact a first-class, enterprising 62 Fourleenth Biennial Report Bureau of Ayrieulture. town. Bardwell in on the Illinois Central- railroad. They are putting in a system of water works. Besides Bardwell there is Arlington, just six miles south on the same line of railroad, that is scarcely second — strong rivals. Arlington has the cauner}', is the center of the berry trade, lias three churches, a bank, and as line school and mills as Bard- well, and is made up of wide awake business men. Milburn, the old church town, is in the eastern part of the county, and is sur- rounded by a staid, old religious people. These people near Mil- burn all live at home and have homes to live in, land well improved and divided into small tracts. It also has a splendid school. Generally, education is decidedly a fad with our people, and we are willing and do pay local taxes to keep up the public fund. We have no county bonded debt; everything on a cash basis. Taxa- tion for county purposes twenty cents and twenty-five for roads; a total of forty-five cents, and poll of |1.50. This pays it alll and leaves a surplus generalh'. There never was sale of land for taxes in this county. Of all these we are proud, but we most delight to tell the out- side world that we are prohibition, practical prohibition. There has not been a saloon in tfie county since 1884, and more than that whisky is not sold in the drug stores, nor by tigers. No, not sold at all, and we don't want it. Carlisle county is in the First Congressional, First Appellate, First Judicial, Second Senatorial, and Second Legislative Districts. PoSTOPPiCEs:— Arlington, Bardwell. Burkley, Cunningham,, Kirbyton, Laketon, Milburn, Rudd. Carroll County. Carroll .County is located on the extreme northern border of the State, midway between Louisville and Cincinnati. It was organized in 1838 and was formed out of portions of Gallatin and Trimble counties, and named in honor of Charles Carroll, of Car- roflton, Maryland. The Ohio river extends along its entire northern boundary, while upon the east it is bounded by the county of Gallatin, on the south by the counties of Owen and Henry, and on the west by the county of Trimble. Fourteenth Biennial Beport Bureau of Agriculture. 63 The principal streams which drain the county are the Kentucky river, the Little Kentucky river, White's run, Eagle creek and Locust. The Kentucky river flows through the center of the county in a northwesterly direction and empties into the Ohio river at Carrollton. The Little Kentucky river flows through the county in a northerly direction, draining the western portion of the county and empties into the Ohio river about one-half mile below the mouth of the Kentucky river. The bottom land of the Ohio river is very wide and remarkabh- fertile. . The same is true of the broad valley of the Kentucky river and the bottom lands of the various streams traversing the county. Corn and tobacco, especially, are well adapted to these low lands and are grown in great abundance. The uplands which is excellent limestone land, produces all the cereals, also hay and tobacco, and affords fine pasturage as well. The specialty of the county is Burley tobacco, which is produced in immense quantities and of the finest quality. After tobacco comes wheat, corn and hay, which are produced in abundance without the aid of commercial fertilizers. Facilities for travel and transportation by land are furnished by the Louisville & Kashville railroad, which runs through the en- tire length of the southeastern part of the county, and the Ohio and Kentucky rivers furnish abundant, cheap and convenient transportation by water. The county has one farmers' clul). the Carroll County Agri- cultural and Improvement Bociety, which is doing much toward the promotion of agriculture. Farm labor is supplied by both white and black, who are em- ployed at prices ranging from |12.00 to |15.00 per month and board, or from .^16.00 to .f20.00 per month without board. The prices of laud range from $10.00 to $40.00 per acre for hill land and from |40 to $100 per acre for bottom land. The county has excellent roads, of which about one hundred and twenty-five miles are macadam and are free from toll. The free turnpike sys- tem so far has given satisfaction. The county has no road commissioner: each magistrate in the county has the general supervision of the roads in his district, and under him road overseers. The roads are worked by taxation and the old system of warning out hands combined. The question of road improvement is being much agitated in the county. The educational facilities of the county are furnished principally 64 Foitriiviith Bknnial Report Bureau of AgriciiJfiire. hy the graded and common schools, which are well attended audi are under good management. Carrollton is the county seat and is situated at the junction of the Ohio and Kentucky rivers, and is a growing business town of about 2,800 population. The principal industries are the Barker Tobacco Company', which handles from three to five million pounds- of tobacco annually; the Carrollton Furniture Company, the Car- rollton Pressed Brick Company, the Old Darling Distillery Com- pany, the Jett Bros. Distilling Company, the Cameron Flouring Mill Company, the Adkinson Bros. Saw and Planing Mill Company, Hill's Tobacco Factory. The town has water works, electric lights and telephone ex- change, customhouse, opera house, a fine iron bridge across the Kentucky river, and an electric road arranged for to connect the town with the L. & N. railroad at Worthville. The next town in size and importance is Ghent. It is situated m the eastern portion of Carroll county and stands on a beautiful plain above high w^ater mark. The town is exceedingly w^ell built and well laid out. There are a number of beautiful homes and hand- some business houses. The Masonic Temple and public school Duiidmgs are not equaled in an}^ tow^n in the state approximating Its inhabitants. It has five churches, a bank, a roller flour mill, saw mill, three large tobacco rehandling houses operated respect- ively by F. & S. Stucy, Scott Bros., and J. E. McDonald & Son, and re-drying some millions of pounds per annum. A free rural mail delivery is being arranged for with the distributing office at Ghent. H. M. Froman. Carroll county is in the Sixth Congressional, Fifth Appellate, Fifteenth Judicial, Twenty-first Senatorial, and Fifty-third Legis- lative Districts. PosTOFFicEs: — Adcock, Carrollton, Carson, Eagle Station^ Easterday, English, Ghent, Locust, Prestonville, Sanders, Tandy, Worthville. Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 65 Carter County. Carter County was formed iu the year 1888, from parts of Greenup and Lawrence couuties, and was named for Col. Wm. G. Carter. Jt was the eighty-third county formed in the State. It is located in the extreme northeastern part of the State, having only one county, that of Greenup, between it and the northern boundary, and only one, that of Boyd, between it and the eastern boundary. The surface of the county is divided into hills and valleys, but there are no mountains nor any near its borders. A good many acres of fertile table lands are found within its boundary. The principal water courses are the Little Sandy River and Tygart's creek, and they and their tributaries constitute the water courses of the county. The waters of these two streams are used for the operation of a number of water mills and steam mills and for floating timber to market and to the mills along their banks. No steamboat navigates them. The soil in the eastern portion is largely alluA'ial, a light sandy loam that produces well and washes very little. The western portion has a limestone foundation, and the soil is very fertile. The county is well watered and drouths are almost unknown. The soil is adapted to the growth of corn, oats, wheat, rye, barley, millet, sugar cane, tobacco, and all kinds of vegetables usually grown in the temperate zone. The timber consists of poplar, oak and pine, but a great portion has heretofore been severed from the ground and marketed. It is now sent to market in the form of lumber, saw logs, cross-ties, square timber, hoop poles and hoops. Beneath the soil is found in many localities iron ore, limestone, fire clay, cannel coal and bituminous coal. No iron ore is now being taken out, but a number of excellent fire clay mines are in operation and are being worked profitably, and with every pros- pect of more extensive and profitable development. There are several large coal mines in operation, and the Ken- tucky Cannel Coal Company, whose mines are located on Stinson creek, are mining a very superior grade of coal, all of which is exported, Spain being the principal customer. Our greatest natural curiosity is the Carter caves in the west end of the county, which are grand structures and have been explored for a distance 3 66 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. of ten miles, or more, and abound with grand scenery, and are visited every summer by a large number of tourists. There are caves also at Oligononk, several miles north of the great caves. We have sulphur wells that have medicinal properties which are being used by a limited number of people for their medical properties. They are situated near Willard, and at Aden Springs. So far, no mills of large capacity have been erected, but several of small capacity for grinding wheat are in operation. The farming lands are being more extensively developed, better care is being taken of them and the grade of stock is being improved. To- bacco is the staple crop. At Olive Hill an extensive fire brick plant is in operation, and a stone crushing plant, employing a large quantity of limestone daily, which is used for various purposes. Capital could be profitably employed in the country in flour mills, furniture factories, fire brick works, wagon works, or tobacco rehandling houses, with almost certain success. The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway passes through the county from east to west, and the Eastern Kentucky from north to south. Transportation facilities are amply sufficient for all the demands of the people. The public roads are not macadamized, but are kept in fair condi- tion and are easily traveled except in prolonged seasons of rain in winter. They are maintained under the provisions of the general law, the county being divided into two road districts, and the roads being worked by persons in the various districts, under a super- visor appointed by the fiscal court. The principal labor is farm work, and average wages for that class of work about fifteen dollars per month and board, and a little more, of course, when the party boards himself. The skilled labor about the mines, and manufacturing plants is much higher. The common school sys- tem is flourishing and improving all the time as to methods and teachers. There are excellent graded free schools at Denton, Grayson, Olive Hill, and Willard in a most satisfactory condition. The sentiment among the people is for better educational facili- ties. Timber lands sell for about five dollars per acre. Timothy, clover, bluegrass and orchard grass flourish. Grayson is the county seat; contains about eight hundred inhabitants, four churches. Christian, Presbyterian, Methodist, and colored Method- ist. Has a fine graded school, employing three teachers, and is in session nine months in the year. Good public buildings, a number of dry goods stores, two groceries, two drug stores, two millinery stores, two hardware stores, two blacksmith shops, two Fourteenth Biennial Report Bweau of Agriculture. 67 undertaking establishments, and one steam mill. Local option is in force in the county and has been for years, consequently there are no saloons in the county. Other important towns are Denton, Willard, Olive Hill, Carter City and Enterprise. At the first two, or near them, extensive coal mines are in operation. Carter City and Enterprise are timber centers, and near the latter large de- posits of asphaltum. The population of the county is now over 20,000. The climate is very healthy, and the people hospitable and industrious. Thos. D. Theobold. Carter county is in the Ninth Congressional, Sixth Appellate, Twelfth Judicial, Thirty-fifth Senatorial and One Hundredth Leg- islative Districts. PosTOFFicEs: — Auglin, Boghead, Brinegar, Carter Caves, Char- lotte Furnace, Count's Crossroads, Cox, Denton, Enterprise, Everman, Fireclay, Fontana, Gartrell, Grayson, Jacobs, Kilgore, Lawton, Lego, Leon, Limestone, McGlone, Mt. Savage, Music, Olive Hill, Pactolus, Prater, Kesort, Riggs, Rooney, Rosedale, Saulsberry, Seney, Smith's Creek, Smokey Valley, Stinson, Upper Tygart, Warren, Wesley ville, Whitt, Willard. Casey County. Casey County was organized in 1806 out of a part of Lincoln county, and has 414 square miles of territory. It is bounded on the north by Boyle county, and on the east by Lincoln, on the south by Pulaski and Russell, and on the west by Adair and Tay- lor. The surface of the county is hilly. The soil is thin and broken, except portions of the bottom lands, which is very pro- ductive. This is especially true of the valley of the Rolling Fork of Salt River, that portion within the borders of Casey county containing as fine lands as there is in the State. Corn, wheat and potatoes are the chief agricultural products, of which a sur- plus is raised. The county is well supplied with turnpikes, kept in excellent condition and on all of which toll is collected. The dirt roads are good and are kept in repair by the general road law of the State. The timber of Casey county is unsurpassed by any in the State though great inroads have been made on it of late years. The schools are in good condition, with commodious houses and an excellent corps of teachers. There is a school in Middleburg, in 68 Foxtrteenth Biennial Repmt Bureau of Agriculture. the eastern end of the county, in which all the higher branches are taught. Li-berty is the county seat, is on Green river, and has about IjOOO inhabitants. Casey county is in the Eleventh Congressional, Third Appellate, Twenty-ninth Judicial, Eighteenth Senatorial, and Forty-third Legislative Districts. PosTOPFicEs: — Atterton, Baldock, Eethelridge, Chilton, Clem- entsville, Douglass, Dunnville, Ed. Ellisburg, Evona, Gilpin, Grove, Harveytown, Humphrey, Joyce, Kidd's Store, Liberty, Linnie, Middleburg, Mintonville, Phil, Poplar Hill, Powers, Rheber, Rife, Rollings, Teddy, Windson^ Yosemite. Christian County. (Revised by Dr. J. D. Clardy.) Christian County w^as named in honor of Col. William Chris- tian, a noted soldier and Indian fighter, and formed in 1796 out of a part of Logan county. It is situated in the southwestern part of the State and is a border county to the State of Tennes- see. Is one of the largest and most productive counties in the State, producing more wheat and more tobacco than any other county in the State. Has produced the enormous amount of 17,000,000 pounds of tobacco in one year. Christian county is about equally divided between the sub-car- boniferous limestone formation, which is the basis of the south- ern, and the carboniferous lime and sandstones, which are the basis of the northern half of the county. The northern half is broken, and in some parts quite hilly. The soil, while not so rich as the southern half, responds kindly to modern methods of good cultivation, and excellent corn, tobacco and other farm crops are grown. It is far better adapted to the use of commercial fertil- izers than the southern part of the county, and with their use makes the finest quality of tobacco. It is also much better adapted to the growth of fruits. The southern half of the county is level or slightly undulating, has a rich clay soil, well adapted to the growth of wheat, corn, tobacco and all other products which will grow in this latitude. The northern half of the county is heavily timbered, of which there still remains an ample supply for all purposes, and of the best quality, the hard woods mostly abounding. There is also an ample supply of coal and iron ore. Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 69 This is surely a most desirable county for general farming and stock raising. The principal water courses are Little river, Pond river, Red river, West and Little West Forks of Red river, Tradewater, Sink- ing Fork of Little river and a few other minor streams. Excel- lent water power mills or other manufacturing purposes are fur- nished by Little river, West Fork, Pond river and Tradewater; none, however, are navigable for steamboats. In the southern part of the county the soil is a rich grayish or dark stratum, six to ten inches deep, underlaid with a very red clay. The northern half of the county is a sandy, and in some parts, gravelly soil, underlaid with a subsoil of yellowish clay. The timber of Christian county is of excellent quality, the hard wood greatly predominating, such as red oak, white oak and post •oak. Also some walnut and considerable poplar. There is probably one-third of the county still nominally in tim- ber, but much of the best has already been sawed up into all kinds ■of building lumber and marketed in this form. Timber lands are worth all the way from five to forty dollars per acre, owing to location and amount of timber still uncut. The mineral deposits consist mostly of bituminous coal, iron •ore and building stone. Quite a number of mines have been opened, furnishing employment for many hands and yielding many thousands of tons of coal annually. The coal fields are found in the northern part of the county, occupying, however, a much less area, and not worked to anything like the same extent of the great mines of Hopkins county. Very valuable building lime- stone and in unlimited quantities is found in this county. No gas or oil has been found in paying quantities. In some parts of this county may still be found what is called Indian ^'mounds," in which are found many relics of this most interesting race of people, now rapidly passing away. There are quite a number of mineral springs and wells, with water con- taining valuable medical qualities. These waters are used by neighbors and casual visitors, but none of them lay claim to being public ''health resorts." Quite a curious freak of nature is found on the border of this county and Todd. It consists of a huge mass of limestone rock which rises almost perpendicularly to the height of two hundred feet above the surrounding plain; covers about one acre in area :and furnishes from the top a commanding view of the surrounding 70 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. country for many miles. The top is comparatively flat, with a stubby growth of trees, and furnishes a picturesque spot for pic- nics and other social gatherings. There are quite a number of excellent wheat and corn mills, run by water power, in this county. In most of these mills the new "roller process" for making flour has been introduced. And the very best grades of flour are made. There are also other manufacturing establishments for both iron and wood work in the smaller towns of the county. There are, however, ample op- portunities for further development in this line and with promise of good results. The more important manufactories will be more particularly described in connection with a description of the city of Hopkins ville. We have in this county no direct water transportation, but are in easy reach by rail of the Ohio and Cum.berland rivers. There are in this county about seventy-two miles of railroad; thirty miles of the L. & N. line from Nashville through Hopkinsville to St. Louis. The Princeton branch from Clarksville to Gracey, twenty-seven miles; fifteen miles of the Illinois Central, running from Hopkinsville to Evansville. These roads give fairly good facilities for the transportation needed in the business of the county. The only prospect for additional railroad facilities is the now talked-of extension of the Illinois Central from Hop- kinsville to Nashville. The roads in this county are for the most part excellent in the summer, but when the fall rains and the freezing come, where not macadamized, are of the very worst. The old antiquated system of calling out the "hands" between the ages of eighteen and forty- five still prevails in this county, and, of course, good roads can not be maintained under so unjust a system, where the laborers of the county are compelled to work the roads, and the property owners to a large extent, and the property entirely, exempt. The matter of "good roads" is receiving far more attention and thought than formerly, and is now being agitated with some en- thusiasm, and it is thought a better system of keeping up the com- mon roads will be adopted. The county has purchased all the turnpikes and made them free of toll. Farm laborers are plentiful in this county, largely furnished by the colored population, of which there are about fifteen thousand in the county, and I must say to their credit, they make the best Fourteenth Biennial Repoi-t Bweau of Agriculture. 71 everyday farm laborers we are able to get. The average price of farm labor per month with house and board is, for men, eleven dollars; without board, fifteen dollars. The average assessed value of land in this county is about ten dollars per acre, 405,071 acres. The facilities for acquiring an education, both common school and classical, while possibly not up to the standard of some other States are good; with a common school taught in every school district, with separate schools for white and colored chil- dren, no child need go without a fairly good business education. There are also several high schools and colleges where a full clas- sical education can be obtained, notably the High School of Major Ferrill; the "South Kentucky College," for both male and female students and the "Bethel Female College," exclusively for females. Hopkinsville, the county seat of Christian county, is a hand- some, well built city of over eight thousand inhabitants, with the best built streets and sidewalks of any city of its size in the State, with all modern improvements, such as electric lights, water works, etc. As mentioned above, with two excellent colleges, a high school, an excellent system of graded schools for white and colored students, its educational facilities can hardly be sur- passed in any city in the State. Hopkinsville is centrally located in the great dark tobacco grow- ing district and with seven firms, commission merchants and twelve large warehouses, affords ample facilities for the handling and sale of all the dark varieties, including a large amount of ex- port tobacco, selling annually from ten to twenty-three thousand hogsheads. It seems a little strange, with all this raw material and every facility that could be offered, there is but one plug tobacco factory and one cigar factory. Here is an opening which certainly gives promise for profitable employment of large capital and many laborers. There are a number of more or less important smaller towns in this county. Of these, Pembroke is the most important with one thousand inhabitants, with a large trade in tobacco and wheat, and well represented in other branches of trade and citizenship of most excellent and well-to-do people. Other towns are Lafay- ette, Gracey, Julian, Newstead, Howel, Garretsburg, Bell, Oak Grove, Kennedy, Bellview, Crofton, Kelly, and not least, Fair- 72 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. view, celebrated as the birthplace of Hon. Jefferson Davis, pres- ident of the Confederate States. This county is well supplied with banking capital, four banka^ at Hopkinsville, with capital stock of nearly $500,000, and de- posits of $600,000; two banks at Pembroke and one at Lafay* ette. There has been no special influx of population, but a gradual and natural increase, now amounting to over thirty-five thousand inhabitants. In the past few years there has been a general im- provement, not only in the methods of farming, but in stock rais- ing, road making and in education. The county has about one hundred churches, a number of parsonages and one hundred and sixty school houses. Christian county is in the Second Congressional, First Appellate, Third Judicial, Sixth Senatorial and Tenth Legislative Districts. PosTOFFicEs: — Ax, Bainbridge, Bell, Bennetsville, Beverly, Carl, Caskey, Church Hill, Clardy, Crofton, Elmo, Empire, Era, Fruithill, Garretsburg, Gracey, Haley's Mill, Hawkins, Herndon, Hopkinsville, Howel, Johnson, Julian, Kelly, Kennedy, Lafayette, Larkin, Laytonville, Longview, Macedonia, Mannington, New- stead, Oakgrove, Pedee, Pembroke, Pon, Kedhill, Sinking Fork, The Square, Westfork, Wynns. Clark County. Clark County was organized by act of the Legislature in Decem- ber, 1792, out of parts of Fayette and Bourbon, and was the four- teenth in order of formation. It originally comprised most of the territory between the Kentucky river and the Middle Fork of the same and Cumberland Gap on the east and south, Licking river and Pound Gap on the northeast and extending from Boone's creek to the Virginia line. Four years later much of its territory was taken off by the formation of Montgomery county. In 1806, it yielded part of its territory to the new county of Estill, and in 1852. it contributed to the formation of Powell. It was named for Gen. Geo. Kogers Clark, and Winchester, the county seat, was named for Winchester, Virginia, by John Baker, who once owned the land on which the city now stands. The county stands on the dividing ridge between the waters of Kentuck}' and Licking rivers. The southern and eastern portions- Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 73 ■are drained by Lulbegrud, Upper and Lower Howards, Two Mile, Four Mile creeks and Red river, all tributaries of Kentucky. The northern part is drained by Stoner, Strode's and Hancock creeks, which flow into the Licking. The Kentucky river borders the southern line of the county for about twenty-five miles, and the new lock at Valley View will bring slack water navigation to the border of the county. The soil varies much in quality. A large portion of it is com- posed of the best of the famous bluegrass lands of the State and is worth as much as similar land anywhere. For many years the Burley tobacco of this section of the county has broken the record price of the year in the Louisville and Cincinnati markets. Other portions of the county are hilly and broken, but produce well. In the extreme eastern portion of the county land is quite thin. Fine building stone and stone for lime exists in various portions of the county, and evidence of oil and gas are strong in the eastern part of the county. Very little timber is left in the county, although some walnut lumber is still shipped from here, most of it going to Europe. The crops are those usually found in the bluegrass region: Corn, wheat, rye, oats, hay, Burley tobacco, hemp and bluegrass seed are grow^n, while of late years considerable quantities of small fruits, principally strawberries, are raised. More attention is also be- ing given to fruit growing. Owing to the natural fertility of the soil, not much attention has been given to the use of fertilizers in the past, but their use is increasing rapidly. The latest and most improved farming implements are generally used. Clark county has always stood high in stock raising ranks, be- ing especially noted for her shorthorn cattle. More cattle are sold from this county than from any other in the State in propor- tion to its size. Of late years considerable attention has been given to the breeding of Jerseys and other breeds of dairy cattle. Horses, mules, sheep and hogs receive close attention, and of late years Winchester has been the seat of a thriving trade in eggs and dressed poultry, including thousands of turkeys, which bring highest prices in the markets of Boston and other Eastern points. The 255 square milerj in the county are traversed by 175 miles of turnpikes and 200 miles of dirt roads, all of which are free and are kept up by taxation, under a road supervisor. Three independent and competing lines of railroad run through the county, giving Clark county more miles of railroad in propor- 74 Fourteenth Biennial Report Brnxau of Agriculture. tion to area than any county in the State, except Jefferson. The Louisville & Nashville passes through the county from north to south, the Chesapeake & Ohio from east to west, while the Lexing- ton & Eastern runs from the Kentucky river coal fields to Lex- ington in the same general direction as the C. & O. Clark county's taxable wealth is about |10,000,000 and the credit of the county is of the highest class. Her bonded debt is not burdensome; and is being steadily reduced. The price of farm land runs from |5 per acre up to over |100, and the average as- sessed value of land is about |31 per acre, making Clark one of the four richest counties in the State, outside of the five which contain large cities. With the exception of a few planing mills and other manufacto- ries, the labor of the county is mostly unskilled. Farm laborers receive from |10 to |15 per month with board, but much of the land is tilled "on shares." The public schools of Clark county are above the average and most districts have good schoolhouses, which are well equipped. Winchester, the county seat, has a population of about 7,000 with the fine system of water works, electric light, a splendid fire department, two telephone systems, with lines running to other cities and to many parts of the country. Seventeen churches, a fine system of public schools, two colleges, fine public buildings, and enterprising and successful business houses of many kinds. The city is very healthful, being one of the highest county seats in the State. The assessed valuation of the city is something over 12,000,000. Ford, situated on Kentucky river, where the L. & N. crosses, is largely engaged in lumber manufacturing. About 25,000,000 feet of timber is cut here each year. Much of it is exported to Europe, and the weekly pay-roll of the mills is quite large. The Masons, Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows, Red Men, Elks, Maccabees, and other secret societies have prosperous lodges here. E. E. Ltddane, Clark county is situated in the Tenth Congressional, Seventh Appellate, Twenty-fifth Judicial, Twenty-eighth Senatorial and Seventy-fourth Legislative Districts. PosTOFFiCEs: — Becknerville, Bloomingdale, Boonsboro, Dodge, Elkin, Flanagan, Ford, Hedges, Hunt, Indian Fields, Jasper, Kidd- ville, Locknane, Loglick, Merritt, Pilotview, Pinegrove, Rightangle, Ruckerville, Sanger, Sycamore, Thomson, Tulip, Wades Mill, Win- chester. Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau ■of Agriculture. 75 Clay County. Clay County was formed in the year 1806. Situated in the south- eastern portion of the State, bounded by the counties of Laurel, Knox and Bell on the south; Leslie and Perry oh the east; Owsley and Jackson on the north and Laurel on the west. The county has over two hundred miles of navigable water within its boundary, in the streams of Red Bird, Big Goose creek and Little Goose creek. The two former unite in the county and form the south fork of the Kentucky river, at what is known as the Buckskin Salt Works. The soil of the .river bottoms, which are wide and extend the length of the rivers, is as productive as any soil in the State. The hills are productive of grass and fine crops of corn, oats and wheat. The hills also contain a supply of coal, both soft and cannel, unex- celled in any other portion of Kentucky. So plentiful is the co£Sl that it is dug and delivered to the county seat at four cents per bushel. The supply is inexhaustible. The portion of the county lying on the Big Goose creek contains fine salt water and ever since the formation of the county the salt works have been operated by the Whites, Garrards, Combs, and Bates. All, however, except the works owned by Gen. T. T. Gar- rard have suspended. His works supply this and many of the sur- rounding counties with salt made from his works, two miles from the county seat. No county in the State has such an inexhaustible supply of "nat" ural gas," as has* this county. On Sexton's creek there are two wells, or natural gas springs, where the gas comes through the pores of the ground in quantities that will support great fires for whole seasons, especiallv at one place on Sexton's creek. The owner of the land where this gas is located, has a common box set over the place of escape, and by means of a pipe laid over ground, supplies a store, school house and church from an unde- veloped well. Scientists say that no county has a finer and more abundant supply of natural gas than does the county of Clay, which developed, would supply any of our greater cities of the country. The scenery along the water courses is picturesque and in gran- deur has nothing in the State that can excel it. The farming lands along the river are worth from seven to fif- teen dollars an acre, while that on the water courses is only worth 76 Fourteenth Biennial Repoi't Bureau of Agriculture. from five to ten dollars an acre. The average price in the county is about ten dollars an acre. The county seat, Manchester, is located in the central portion of the county on Goose creek, and has about 800 population, made up of the very best citizenship of Eastern Kentucky. S. H, Kask. Clay county is situated in the Eleventh Congressional, Fifth Ap- pellate, Twenty-seventh Judicial, Thirty-third Senatorial and Sev- enty-first Legislative Districts. PosTOFFiCEs: — Alger, Ammie, Bear Creek, Benge, Big Creek, Brightshade, Brutus, Burning Springs, Byron, Choice, Dory, El- vira, Eros, Gooserock, Grace, Larue, Laurel Creek, Malcom, Man- chester, Ogle, Oneida, Pigeonroost, Portersburg, Seeley, Seth, Sexton's Creek, Sidell, Skidmore, Spring Creek, Tanksly, Teges,. Tinker, Urban, Vaughan, Willowdale, Woolum. Clinton County. Clinton County was created by an act of the Legislature ap- proved February 20, 1836, and the territory within its limits was taken from Wayne and Cumberland counties. Spurs of the Cumberland mountains enter the county on the east and extend to near its center. They contain veins of excel- lent bituminous coal about three feet thick. Between these spurs are fertile valleys, which, under a proper state of cultivation, yield crops of corn, wheat, oats, clover, or- chard grass, timothy, fruits, etc. The western portion of the county is undulating and is not so fertile as the valleys in the eastern part of the county except on the rivers and creeks, but yield remunerative crops by the use of fertilizers. Potatoes and garden vegetables grow abundantly in all parts of the county, as the soil is generally well prepared by deep plowing, pulverizing the soil and using stable manure. The climate and soil are adapted to the growth of fruit trees, which yield abundantly of well matured and healthy fruit. The peach crop never fails on the hills, but does not do so well in the lowlands. There is an abundance of fine timber in the county, such as poplar, white oak, black oak, hickory, sugar tree, cedar, dogwood, chestnut, maple, elm, beech, etc. There is an abun- Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 77 dance of blue, gray and white limestone, and other rocks suitable for building purposes. The county is well watered; in addition to the rivers and creeks, there are many bold springs of pure water in all parts of the county. Salt has been manufactured on Willis' creek in the northwes- tern part of the county, and it is believed that the county is in the oil belt. There is an abundance of marl which, if utilized, would enrich the whole county. The climate is healthy, and the summers, in- stead of being oppressive, are delightful in the timbered valleys. There are chalybeate springs on a high plateau, northeast of Albany, the county seat, where a view of the surrounding country for many miles, can be had, which gives great pleasure, as the scenery is so varied. The Cumberland river on the north is navigable a part of the year from Nashville, Tenn., to Burnside, Ky., a station on the Cincinnati Southern Railway. The roads of the county are divided into districts and are worked by the hands in the road age, under the supervision of a surveyor (or overseer.) The falls at Seventy-six on Indian creek are perpendicular about seventy-six feet. The price of farm lands ranges from about three dollars to fifty dollars; average about ten dollars. The price of farm labor will average about twelve dollars per month for men. There are no foreign colonies here now, but one would do well. There is a good opening for vegetable and fruit canneries, and a woolen mill, especially the latter. Albany is the county seat, on the south side of the center of the county, and is abundantly supplied with water by two bold springs and many wells, from thirty to sixty feet deep. At this time there are six general stores, two drug stores, one grocery store, one sad- dlery, .two blacksmith shops, two hotels, two water mills, one steam roller mill, saw mill, planing mill and carding factory, under one management, one high school, one bank, three churches, but no saloons. The public schools of the county are in fair condition and the children are making progress, but the State aid is not supplemented by local taxation. There is no railroad in the county and the 78 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. nearest station is Burnsides, a distance of forty miles from the county seat. Two routes for railroads have been surveyed through the county. The county has a new and commodious^ court house. The first settlers of the county built log cabins, cleared land of heavy timber and cultivated the soil with "bull tongue" plows and hoes. The women had their cotton and flax patches, a few sheep, the "big wheels" and the "little wheels," the looms, the barks and dyes of the forest, and manufactured the clothing for the family. The shoes and hats were manufactured in the county from home made materials. The Baptists organized a church at Clear Fork, in 1802, and an- other at Seventy-six soon afterwards. The Methodists organized churches at Davis and Five Springs, Said church organizations have been maintained to the present time. Thos. E. Bramlette and P. H. Ijeslie, two of Kentucky's gov- ernors, were born in Clinton county. James Semple, a United States senator from Illinois, and Sam Bell Maxey, a senator from Texas, grew up to manhood in this county. Edward Cross, a representative in Congress, was born in this county. Robinson Semple, a Clinton county boy, was the president of the first constitutional convention of California. Without mentioning others who became distinguished, it will be seen that this county is a good place for the development of the mind as well as the body. During the late war over one-half of the male population en- listed in the Union army, and several of the others served in the Confederate army. On both sides they distinguished themselves for courage and devotion to the banner under which they en- listed. The people of this county are hospitable, and emigrants would be heartily received and furnished homes at cheap rates for lands. The resources of the county are abundant, varied and valuable, but, except to a very limited extent, remain undeveloped. Clinton county is situated in the Eleventh Congressional, Third Appellate, Twenty-Eighth Judicial, Sixteenth Senatorial and Thir- ty-sixth Legislative Districts. PosTOFFicEs: — Albany, Alpha, Brown's Crossroads, Cartwright, Cook, Cumberland City, Desda, Forest Cottage, Highway, Ho- bart, Hunterville, Ida, Illwill, Maupin, Naval, Nora, Savage, Sev- enty-six, Shipley, Snow. Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. Crittenden County. Crittenden County was formed out of part of Livingston county in 1842, and made the number of counties then in the State ninety- one. It is situated in the southwestern part of the State on the Ohio river. The Ohio river forms its northern boundary, while on the east it is bounded by the counties of Union and Webster, on the south by Caldwell and Lyon, Livingston forming its western boun- dary. The land is high and rolling, well watered and drained by the Ohio on its northern boundary and the Tradewater on the northeast and the Cumberland river for a considerable distance on its southern border, besides numerous streams flowing through the county, principal among which are Caney Fork and Crooked creek, emptying into the Ohio on the north, and Pine creek, Long Branch and others which flow into Tradewater on the northeast. The soil of Crittenden county is good, but that attention to fertilizing, which the subject demands has not been paid to it by our farmers, nor has the proper attention to the rotation of crops been had; nevertheless, a large surplus of farm products are ship- ped out of the county to other markets each year. Corn, wheat, oats, rye, tobacco and hay are the principal staples of the Critten- den county farm, timothy being the most profitable of all grasses grown in the county. The high and rolling lands of the county make it a most excellent locality for fruit culture, and all fruits^ grown in Kentucky are grown in this county most abundantly,. The timber supply of Crittenden is good and abundant; hickory and oak most abound and great forest tracts of this valuable tim- ber can be had and at reasonable prices. The Ohio Valley Rail- road runs through the county, the county seat being situated on same; and this railroad and the water courses, spoken of afford good local facilities for transportation, either by land or water. There are no turnpike roads in the county, the public roads being the common dirt roads of the county, which are maintained and kept in repair by the road overseers, appointed by the county court, under the road laws of the State. Diversified farming is only engaged in for domestic uses, saving fruit growing, there being more fruit grown in the county than is sufficient for home consumption. The educational facilities of the county are mostly confined to 80 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. the common schools, which are in good condition, well attended and under good management. Marion is the county seat of Crittenden county, situated a little southeast of the center of the county on the Ohio Valley Railroad. It is a flourishing town of a population of nearly 1,000. Crittenden county is situated in the First Congressional, First Appellate, Fourth Judicial, Fourth Senatorial and Seventh Leg- islative Districts. PosTOFFiCEs: — Crayneville, Dycusburg, Ford's Ferry, Frances, Gladstone, Hardesty, Irma, Ironhill, Levias, Marion, Mattoon, Mexico, Piney, Repton, Rodney, Shadgrove, Sheridan, Starr, Tola, Tradewater, Tribune, View, Weston. Cumberland County. This county was formed in 1798 from a part of Green, and named for the Cumberland river, which flows diagonally through the county from northeast to southwest. It is bounded on the north by Metcalfe and Adair, east by Russell and Clinton, south by the Tennessee State line and Monroe county, and west by Monroe and Metcalfe. The Cumberland river and its tributaries cut through every rock formation, from the upper coal formation until in this county it reaches the cambrian or lower Silurian blue limestones. A small portion of this county lies on the sub-carboniferous lithostrotion limestone, but the greater part of the countj^ is based upon the waverly series which are cut through by the rivers and creeks so as to expose the devonian shales and the upper Silurian in thin stratifications and the lower silurian blue limestones in the beds of the rivers. There appears to have been much distur- bance in these formations, caused probably by a succession of earthquakes at an early period in their formation. There is no coal in the county; but oil in paying quantities has been found by wells sunk in the river and creek bottoms. At one time several Northern and Eastern companies bored for oil, but, on account of the lack of facilities in transportation, they have temporarily abandoned the field. The first noted "American oil" well ever bored in the United States is situated three miles from Bui'ksville, on the banks of the Cumberland river. The oil was struck while boring for salt water, in 1830, at a depth of one hundred and sev- Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 81 enty-five feet, and spouted up to a height of fifty feet above the surface. This oil well continued to run for many years, and the product was sold under the name of "American Oil," to be used as £i cure for rheumatism, burns, scalds, etc. At that time nothing was known of the lubricating and burning properties of coal-oil. Salt water abounds in this section, and some iron ores, but not in such quantities as in several of the neighboring counties lying to the north and east. The general surface of the county is broken and hilly and abounds in knobby formations of thin soil, but the bottoms are of great fertility. There is much excellent building rock in this part of the State, which may some day become valuable. Cumberland river, which is navigable by steamboats the greater part of the year, with its tributaries, drains the entire county. The United States government has begun a series of locks and •dams on the river, which will soon be comjjleted up to this point, and which will open up and give an impetus to many new indus- tries. Its iH'incipal tributaries are Marrowbone, Crocus, Big Renox, Little Renox, Willis, Bear, and Goose creeks. The county abounds in sulphur and chalybeate water. The most noted of these springs are on Renox and Sulphur creeks and possess re- markable health-giving properties. The greatest wealth of the count^' lies in its timber. It abounds in the best qualities of oak, poplar and chestnut, besides walnut, cherry, ash, maple, hickory, and many others. The hardwoods of the county are very valuable. The}' are being shipped to Nashville, Tenn., both sawed and in rafts of logs. When the series of locks and dams now in course of construction are completed the industry will assume enormous proportions. Many of the farmers have planted thousands of walnut trees on their idle land, and at no distant date the trees will be worth far more than the land. The writer has 7,500 young walnut trees growing on his farm. He has induced others to plant 50,000 and has assurance that 20,000 more will be planted this fall (1899.) There are several companies engaged in getting out staves, which industry has been found Aery profitable. Corn, wheat, oats, rye and tobacco are the staple crops and the principal grazing and hay grasses are clover (which is also grown for the seed), redtop, timothy, orchard grass, blue grass and millet, till of which grow luxuriantly. 82 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. Stock peas for liaj and sorghum in large quantities for fatten- ing cattle are also grown. The land is well adapted to the growth of dark tobacco, and when there was a demand for it this county produced more than any other county in the United States. The soil and climate are also adapted to small fruits but their cultivation is as yet very limited. The farmers pay a good deal of attention to the raising of thor- oughbred stock. No prettier horses are to be found in the State. The fattening of cattle for market is a profitable industry, while the abundant mast all over the county affords excellent facilities for fattening hogs, large numbers of which are shipped to Louis- ville, Cincinnati, and other points, commanding the best of prices. Poultry and eggs are shipped in immense quantities and bring more money into the county than any two of the other products combined. Many people, during the summer months, are engaged in pearl hunting, and many pearls of great size and brilliancy have been found. Burksville, the county seat, is situated on the north side of the Cumberland river, and is the largest shipping point above Nash- ville, Tenn. It has a good court house, several churches, a dozen stores and groceries, one bank, a large roller mill, and many hand- some private residences. It is the seat of Alexander College, founded in 1872, which has a beautiful building and an endowment of several thousand dollars. There is also an excellent public school building. Marrowbone is a flourishing town, with three churches, large roller mill and several stores. Bakertown, Peytonsburg, Leslie, Cloyd's Landing, Amandaville and Waterview are wide-awake vil- lages. The Christian, Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian and Cumberland Presbyterian are the chief religious denominations. There are many beautiful church buildings located throughout the county. The public schools are in good condition and are within easy reach of every child in the county. Dr. J. A. Dixon. Cumberland county is situated in the Eleventh Congressional, Second Appellate, Twenty-ninth Judicial, Sixteenth Senatorial and Thirty-seventh Legislative Districts. PosTOFFiCEs: — Amandaville, Arat, Bakerton, Beck's Store, Big Renox, Burksville, Cloyd's Landing, Ellington, Greengrove, Kettle, Leslie, Marrowbone, Modoc, Peytonsburg, Waterview, Whetstone, Xerxes. Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 83 Daviess County. (Revised 1901 by Judge E. P. Taylor.) In the year of 1815 a part of Ohio county was cut off and made into a new county which was called Daviess, in honor of that brilliant lawyer and orator and gallant soldier, who gave up his life for his country on the bloody field of Tippecanoe, Col. Joseph Hamilton Daviess. The county contains about 400 square miles. It is situated in the far-famed "Pennerile" section of the State. It is bounded on the north by the Ohio river, on the south by McLean and Ohio counties, on the west by Green river and Henderson county, and on the east by Ohio and Hancock counties. The county has about forty miles of frontage on the Ohio river and twenty-five miles of western boundary on Green river. The county is splen- didly watered and drained by Yellow, Pup, Blackford, Panther, Delaware and Rhodes creeks. The county may generally be divided into one-half level, one- fourth rolling and one-fourth hill land. There are several varieties of soil, from the gray and chocolate loams with red clay subsoil of the hill to the gray and black sandy alluvial of the bottom lands. Most of the land in the county is a, rich, sandy alluvial, very deep and productive; land that it is impossible to wear out. About one-fifth of the land in the county is creek bottom, of which there is no richer land in the world. All of the soils of the county are adapted to the growth of corn, wheat, tobacco, timothy, clover and other cereals of this latitude. Potatoes are largely grown, all of our soils, with the exception of the black loams, being particularly adapted to them. Tomatoes are now grown in large quantities for the canning factory. Fruits of all kinds are grown all over the county excepting the creek bottoms. In the last five years a great deal of attention has been paid to the cultivation of strawberries and raspberries, resulting in our market furnishing the very finest specimens of these fruits to be found. Many farmers have turned their attention to raising to- matoes, sweet corn, beans and peas for the canning factory, claim- ing that they get more money out of these crops *han any other and are able to get their money immediately. You can raise a 84 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. crop of peas and sweet corn on the same ground; the peas are gone in time for the corn. While Daviess county is famous as a producer of corn, wheat and tobacco, it is in regard to the latter that she stands pre-emi- nently at the head. Our soil is suited to the finer grades of Bur- ley as well as the heavier grades, but it is for the heavier grades of dark tobacco that the county is best known. As a tobacco market, Owensboro leads them all, being the largest loose tobacco market in the world. There are over forty large stemmeries which buy their fullest capacity each year; tobacco from all of the surrounding counties is marketed here; it is put on the breaks loose and sold without the trouble and ex- pense of prizing. This is undoubtedly the best county in the State for the tobacco raisers, for he is always sure of getting the high- est market price for his tobacco, whenever he is ready to put it on the market. The Cellulose Company has the largest plant in the world lo- cated in Owensboro. From the pith of corn stalks they manufact- ure cellulose for packing behind the armor of war ships; they also intend making smokeless powder and many other articles out of the same material, but as yet they have not been able to fill all their orders for cellulose. The company buys all the corn stalks it can get from the farmers of the county, paying enough for them to net the farmers a handsome profit for this article which used to be a waste. Stalks will average from $4 to |12 per acre. Many distilleries are scattered over the county and besides hav- ing made "Daviess County Whisky" famous, they furnish a live market for all surplus corn. Four large flouring mills and elevators, besides buyers from Louisville, are always in the Owensboro market for the wheat crop. There are nine other flour mills scattered over the county. Our local and shipping market for hay, potatoes and stocK of all kinds is as good as can be found. The farmers of the county are alive and progressive; in late years they have made rapid strides in improved methods of cul- tivation, bringing to their aid the latest agricultural implements. PJvery year it is noticed that more attention is being paid to the raising of stock, as the number of high grade cattle and blooded stock shown at the annual Daviess county fair is always increas- ing. Fourteenth Bietinial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 86 The schools and roads of the county have been greatly improved in the last few years. Our school system is as good as the best. With the exception of twenty-three miles of gravel roads, over which toll is charged, all of the roads of the county are of dirt. The roads are kept well drained and graded, and are as good as dirt roads can be made. The system of working the road is by taxation, the amount expended on roads and bridges being about fifteen cents on the one hundred dollars. Our total levy for county purposes including roads and bridges is twenty-five cents on the one hundred dollars. County out of debt with con- siderable surplus. The county owns its teams, forty-two mules and nine steel graders, shovels, etc. Roads worked by hiring men to operate these teams, etc., paying from $1 to $1.25 ])er day for labor. Under this system the roads have been greatly improved by working with graders and tiling, are now 100 per cent better than a few years ago under the old hand system and the present system seems to be giving very general satisfaction and don't suppose there is a man in the county who would be in favor of going back to the old hand system. Lands: The lands have been greatly improved within the last few years under the drainage law. Many large ditches have been opened and waste lands reclaimed thereby. There is a great spirit of progress both in the city of Owensboro and county; other lands are being yearly improved and prices of lands enhancing. The hill and more stony lands from |5 to $20 per acre, the table and better lands from eight to fifteen miles from the city about $20 to $50 per acre, and improved and near Owensboro, from $50 to $125 per acre. The lands are worked both by tenants and hired labor, for the most part white labor; wages on farm $12 to $15 per month and board or $16 to $20 per month when party boards himself. There is a great deal of coal in the county, worked in small independent banks. The county is in the Western Kentucky coal and Illinois coal fields. Mines are scattered all over the county furnishing fuel to every one at an average of, $1.25 per ton. For manufacturing pur- poses fuel can be had in Owensboro for fifty cents per ton. In the eastern part of the county many varieties of excellent fire clays are found, such as potters, kaolin, terra cotta, all colors of tiling. Several varieties of mineral paints are known to exist in this same section. There are two large brick and tile works which utilize some of these clays in the manufacturing of drain 86 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. tile, sewer pipe and brick. There is a most attractive opening liere for pottery — fuel, material and shipping rates are all that couM be desired. There is still considerable timber in this county which furnishes material for many wood working factories located in Owensboro, among them being the Owensboro Wagon Factory Co., makers of the celebrated "Owensboro" wagon; the Owensboro Wheel Factory; three buggy factories; two furniture factories; chair factory; two foundries, and machine works; five planing mills; two large saw mills; two cooperage and several stave yards. There are three trunk lines of railroad in the county; the L., H. & St. L. E. R.; the Illinois Central R. R., and the L. & N. R. R. These railroads, in connection with the Ohio river and Green river, forever guarantee the cheapest of shipping rates to and from this county, forever guaranteeing the best markets for everything. The county, besides being well supplied with common schools, has the following colleges: Owensboro Female College, St. Frances Academy, at Owensboro; St. Joseph's Academy, at St. Joseph; Ellendale Commercial College, at Ellendale. The high school in Owensboro, in connection with the city graded schools, is one of the best in the State. Owensboro, the county seat, with a population of 16,500, is one of the most progressive towns in the State; it is situated on the Ohio river, has gas, electric lights, electric street cars, twenty- five churches, two daily newspapers, eight banks and two trust companies, two telephone companies, two telegraph companies, three express companies, Y, M. C. A. building costing $25,000. The very best of city schools. A healthy locality. (See further description in the list of cities.) West Louisville is situated in the southwestern part of the county, fourteen miles from Owensboro; population 500; one bank, flouring mill and saw mill. Whitesville is sixteen miles east of Owensboro on the I. C. R. R., has a population of 1,000; one bank, large flouring mills, several tobacco stemmeries, large Catholic church; an important town. An electric railroad is now under construction between Owens- boro and Calhoun, and will greatly benefit that part of the county through which it will run. Fowrteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 87 The county has no debt of any kind; there is a steady stream of immigration. Tobacco, pounds 10,518,515 10,529 acres Corn, bushels 850,600 29,925 acres Wheat, bushels 479,868 20,629 acres Oats, bushels 6,225 Hay, tons : 8,200 15,257 acres Assessed valuation, |11,788,313; value per acre, |18.50. Legal voters, white, 7,132; colored, 1,012. L. Freeman Little. Daviess county is situated in the Second Congressional, Second Appellate, Sixth Judicial, Eighth Senatorial and Fifteenth and Sixteenth Legislative Districts. PosTOFFiCEs: — Anderson, Auds, Birks City, Brown's Valley, Corena, Curdsville, Delaware, Dermont, Ensor, Gatewood, Griffith, Grissom, Habit, Herrwood, Knottsville, Laffon, Livia, Macea, Ma- sonville. Maxwell, Mosleyville, Newman, Owensboro, Panther, Pettit, Philpot, Pleasantridge, Rome, St. Joseph, St. Lawrence, Scythia, Sorgho, Stanley, Southerland, Thurston, Tuck,. Utica, West Louisville, Whallen, Whitesville, Yelvington. Edmonson County. (Revised in 1901 by Judge J. C. Dorsey.) Edmonson County, the seventy-ninth in the order of formation, was formed in the year 1825, out of parts of Warren, Hart and Grayson counties and was named in honor of Capt. John Edmon- son, who was killed in the battle of River Raisin on January 22,^ 1833. It lies on both sides of Green river and is bounded on the east by Hart and Barren; on the south by Warren; on the west by Warren and Butler, and on the north by Grayson. The surface of the county is generally uneven, part of it hilly and broken, and most of it gently undulating. The river and creek bottoms and valleys afford some rich and productive soil, but the ridges and table land are usually thin and much less productive. Its principal streams are Green and Nolin rivers, Bear and Beav- 88 Fourteenth biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. er Dam creeks, besides numerous smaller streams which afford some fine locations for grist and saw mills and factories. The county abounds with excellent timber, principally poplar, oak of all kinds, hickory, ash, walnut, sycamore, gum, and beech, which is marketed principally in the shape of saw logs and cross ties, which are cut and rafted down the various streams to Evans- ville and Henderson markets. The county is also underlaid with extensive beds of coal and iron which are, as yet, undeveloped. The lock and dam now being built on Green river, below the mouth of Bear creek, will extend navigation up Green river to the mouth of Nolin and will also extend navigation up Bear creek some ten or twelve miles. The navigation of Green river is being improved by locks, and mines of coal, asphalt etc. are being opened up. Land sells at |10 to |25 per acre improved, and |5 to |10 unimproved. Labor on farm is mostly white and wages fifty cents with and seventy-five per day without board, or $12 per month with or $18 without board. Roads are worked by calling out hands; road tax is talked of. Brownsville, the county seat of Edmonson county, was establish- ed in the year 1828, and was named in honor of General Jacob Brown. It is located on the banks of Green river at the head of navigation and is a thriving little town of about 250 inhabitants. It has an excellent court house and a good jail building; contains three dry goods and a grocery store, three hotels, two churches, one bank, one male and female academy. Brownsville lies in latitude 37 degrees and 14 minutes, and longitude 9 degrees and 15 minutes. Edmonson county surpasses any other county in the State in its natural curiosities and strange formations. Indian Hill lies one mile from Browmsville, is circular at its base and one mile in circum- ference, its altitude eighty-four feet, and except on one side, which is easy of access on foot, perpendicular. The remains of a fortifica- tion are seen around the brow and a number of mounds and burial places are scattered over this area. A fine spring of water issues from the rock near the surface. Dismal Rock is a perpendicular rock on Dismal creek, 163 feet high. The Mammoth Cave is about one-half mile from Green river, twelve miles from Brownsville and about seventy-five miles from Louisville, Ky. The cave abounds in minerals, such as nitrous earth, sand flint, pebbles, red and gray ochre, calcareous spar, chalcedony, crystallized carbonate of lime, crystals of quartz, sul- Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 89 phate of lime, Epsom and Glauber salts. The cave extends some ten or twelve miles, and to visit the portions already traversed, it is said, requires 150 to 200 miles' travel. It contains a succes- sion of wonderful avenues, chambers, domes, abysses, grottoes, lakes, rivers, cataracts and other marvels which are too well known to need more than a reference. One chamber — the Star — is about 500 feet long, 70 feet wide, TO feet high, the ceiling of which is composed of black gypsum and is studded with innumerable white points, that by dim light resemble stars, hence the name of the chamber. There are avenues one and a half and even two miles in length, some of which are incrusted with beautiful formations and present the appearance of enchanted palace halls. There is a natural tunnel about three quarters of a mile long, 100 feet wide, covered with a ceiling of smooth rock 45 feet high. There is a cham- ber having an area of from four to five acres, and there are domes 200 and 300 feet high. Echo river is some three-fourths of a mile in length, 200 feet in width at some points, and from 10 to 30 feet in depth, and runs beneath an arched ceiling of smooth rock about 15 feet high, while the Styx, another river, is 450 feet long, from fifteen to forty feet wide and from thirty to forty feet deep, and is spanned by a natural bridge. Lake Lethe has about the same length and width as the Styx, varies in depth from three to forty feet, lies beneath a ceiling some ninety feet a'bove its surface and sometimes rises to a height of sixty feet. There is also a Dead Sea, quite a soundless body of water. There are several other interesting caves in the neighborhood, the principal of which are the Colossal Cavern and Grand Avenue cave, which rival the Mammoth Cave in the beauty and grandeur of their chambers and excel in the number and variety of stalag- mites and stalactites. The Chameleon Springs and the Chalybeate Springs are popu- lar summer resorts and watering places, and some remarkable cures are said to have been effected by the use of their waters. Ample hotel accommodations are provided and hundreds of pleas- ure and health seekers visit them each summer. Edmonson county is situated in the Third Congressional, Sec- ond Appellate, Eighth Judicial, Eleventh Senatorial, and Twenty- fifth Legislative Districts. 90 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. PosTOFFiCES' — Arthur, Beespring, Bigreedy, Brownsville, Cedar- bluff, Mills, Chalybeate, Chameleon, Chaumont, Cloud, Fairchild, Goff, Grassland, Huff, Mammoth Cave, Nash, Nick, Ollie, Pig, Proc- tor's Cave, Khoda, Rockhill Station, Segal, Stockholm, Sunflsh, Sweden. Elliott County. Formed by an act of the Kentucky Legislature in 1869 and 1870 situated on the head waters of Little Sandy river. Within the county are several water courses navigable for floating out lum- ber, staves, etc. The soil is a deep loam with clay subsoil, well adapted to and on which we grow fine crops of clover, orchard grass, timothy, oats and wheat; also excellent corn crops. Cattle are being extensively raised at a good profit to our farmers. We have all the varieties of lumber of this climate; much valuable oak and yellow poplar is now being marketed. We have bituminous and cannel coal; the bituminous coal ia from two to four feet thick; cannel coal runs five feet thick. This deposit is in the southern part of the county. It is thought that we have large deposits of asphalt, as Elliott borders on Carter, near the asphalt mines now being developed at Soldier, Ky. We have good saw and flouring mills. The public roads are in fair condition with iron bridges across the principal streams, and the roads are being materially improved. Average price for farm labor is |13 per month with board, $18 without bo'ard. We have a splendid corps of teachers in the common schools and two normal training schools, where many are being prepared as teachers. Sandy Hook is the county seat, beautifully located, well watered and healthful. Newfoundland is a village with two stores, and shops where wagons are built and repaired. In the southeastern part of this county are dikes, and diamonds are supposed to be deposited. Many geologists have visited these dikes, where some mining has been done. Some silver mines with a small per cent, of silver have been found. There is a bright future for Elliott county when the fine deposits of black and yellow oil on the Mid- dle Fork are developed. M. M. Redwine. Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 91 It is situated in the Tenth Congressional, Seventh Appellate, Twentieth Judicial, Thirty-second Seiiitorial and One Hundredth Legislative Districts. PosTOFFicEs: — Backbone, Bascom, Bet, Blevins, Bruin, Burke, Culver, Dewdrop, Fannin, Fielden, Gimlet, Green, Halcom, Ibex, Isonville, Leadingham, Little Sandy, Lytten, Newcomb, Newfound- land, Ordinary, Riddle, Roscoe, Sandy Hook, Sarah, Stark, Steph- ens, The Ridge, Trench, Wyett. Estill County. Estill County was established by an act of the Legislature of 1807, and was organized in the year following. It is composed of portions of Madison and Clark counties, and is bounded on the north by Clark and Powell, on the east by Powell and Lee, on the south by Jackson, and on the west by Madison. The Kentucky river washes the shores of the county for approximately fifty miles, and receives within its course numerous tributaries of greater or less extent, of which Station Camp, Miller's creek, Buck and Doe, Drowning and Cow creeks are the most important. The banks of the Kentucky and its affluents are thickly wooded with choice timber of both hard and soft varieties, and the river and creeks are utilized during the rainy season of the year for floating millions of feet of choice timber to the mills. Mill sites of the finest char- acter with water power in abundance dot the river banks on both sides for the entire water front of the county. The soil along the river and creek bottoms is of remarkable fertility and admirably adapted to the cultivation of the coarser cereals. Indian corn is raised on these bottoms with great success, the annual inunda- tions furnishing sufficient silt to enrich and rejuvenate the soil for endless successive crops. The rougher portions of the county are well fitted for sheep grazing, an industry, however, which is yet in its infancy, there being but one sheep ranch in the county. The timber lands of Estill are fast disappearing, the market in that line being yearly stocked with -rafts of all kinds of building woods, to be converted into lumber by the mills; also with railroad ties, staves and tanbark. The county receives at the present time much splendid timber for the counties lying farther up the river, and when the river is completely locked and dammed, a work now in progress under the direction of the general govdrnment, the facilities for obtaining these supplies will be easily trebled. 92 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. Iso county in the State is richer in its mineral deposits than Estill, although they lie as yet in an almost totally undeveloped state. Immense lields of bituminous coal, miles of iron ore of un- surpassed quality, which lie unused for lack of transportation facilities, zinc in paying quantities, petroleum that shows on the surface its great extent, in one instance bubbling from the ground in a continuous flow so that it can be seen in considerable quantity for a mile on the surface of the stream on which it is located; build- ing stone, scarcely inferior to granite, in inexhaustible deposits, hundred acres of workable clays, containing kaolin, aluminum and all the best material for pottery; all these are the known minerals of Estill county, known without any effort made to discover, much less to develop them. There are many mineral springs in the count}^ all of the varieties of sulphur, alum and chalybeate being represented, in several instances as many as five springs in close contiguity, having no two waters alike. The Estill Springs, situ- ated on the outskirt of the county seat, have been a popular water- ing place for nearly three-quarters of a century, and is well pat- ronized during the summer season. Irvine has two mammoth saw- mills that run as long as the river will furnish them timber, be- sides scattered through the county there are scores or more of mills of less capacity for sawing lumber. There are also four stave fac- tories and one for the manufacture of excelsior. The Louisville & Atlantic, running from Versailles to Irvine, a distance of sixty- one miles, is at present the only railroad tapping Estill county. The road contemplates building in the near future an extension of thirty-nine miles, passing through extensive coal fields and tim- ber lands and terminating at Beattyville. There is a good macad- amized road from Irvine to Richmond, and outside of this the system of roads is deficient, being maintained by the surveyor and allotment of hand system. Irvine, the county seat, is located in the Kentucky river valley, beautified and adorned by the loveliest of nature's scenery and is healthful, the air being pure and salubrious, and the waters noted for their health-restoring properties. It has a population of near- ly a thousand, and its people are polite, courteous and to a large extent cultured and refined. It is quite a lumber emporium, quite an amount of capital being invested in that business. Its posi- tion on the border between the Bluegrass and the mountains, the purity of its air and water, and many other things, make it one of the best locations for schools of high order in the State. Es- Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 93 till county was named in honor of Capt. James Estill, and Irvine, for Col. William Irvine, two noted Indian fighters at an early day. L. A. West. Estill county is in the Tenth Congressional, Seventh Judicial, Twenty-ninth Senatorial and Seventy-third Legislative Districts. PosTOFFiCEs: — Cobhill, Fainville, Fox, Furnace, Ironmound, Irvine, Jinks, King Station, Locust Branch, Miller's Creek, Patsy, Rice Station, Sams, Spoutspring, Station Camp, Unionhall, Wagers- ville, Winston, Wisemantown. Fayette County. Fayette is the central county of the celebrated bluegrass region of Central Kentucky. It is bounded on the north by Scott, on the east by Bourbon and Clark, on the south by Madison and Jessa- mine, and on the west by Woodford, and includes an area of 275 square miles. As originally constituted by the Legislature of Virginia, it was one of the three counties — Fayette, Lincoln, and Jefferson — composing the district of Kentucky, and was named after the distinguished General LaFayette. It then included "all that part of the said county of Kentucky which lies north of the line, beginning at the mouth of the Kentucky river, and up the same and its middle fork to the head, thence south to the Wash- ington line;" thus including about one-third of the present State. By the cutting off of many other counties it has dwindled to its present area. The topography and geology of the county are described in the following paragraphs by Prof. A. M. Miller, of the State College. Topography. — The surface of the county is a rolling upland with the general level of the highest portions about 1,000 feet above «ea level. The country becomes more broken towards the Ken- tucky river, which forms the southern boundary for about fifteen miles, and falls off very abruptly from the brink of the river hills to the 600 contour line. art of the county on the west side of Little Barren river is an onyx quarry, which has been partially developed and from which some very nice onyx has been taken. Among the natural curiosities of Green county may be mentioned what is called the Narrows of Pitman. About two miles west of Greensburg, Pitman creek makes a bend, bear- ing to the right, running about three miles and circling back to within a few yards of the place where this circle begins, thus form- ing a very narrow peninsula; hence the name, The Narrows of Pit- man. At this point where the creek completes the circle is a grist mill and a channel is cut through the peninsula. From the mill-dam across the peninsula to the mill is about twenty yards, but if you follow the stream you will find that the mill-dam is about three miles above the mill. In the western part of the county, about two miles from the mouth of Little Barren river, is a large cave about three hundred yards in length, through which flows a small stream of water. The outlet to this cave is on the cliff of Little Barren river. The entrance to it is rough, but after hav- ing once descended to the bottom of the cave, the explorer, if he is well supplied with torches, may easily pass through the cave, provided he does not arouse the millions of bats that take their autumnal slumber there. There are two great grist mills on Little Barren river, one near the mouth of the river, the other at Osceola; the last named has 122 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau, of Agriculture. lately been converted into a modern, well improved roller mill. There is also a grist mill on Big Brush creek and one on Pitman creek. There is a roller mill on Craney Fork creek near Harkinsville, one on Greasy creek at Liletown, one at Summersville and one at Greensburg. There are about six miles of railroad in this county. There is plenty of rock and gravel to turnpike and gravel every public road in Green county; the roads are worked only under the State law, and their condition is usually not good. There are but few hired laborers in this county; those that work for wages are natives of the county and work mainly on the farm. The educational facilities of this county are as good as those of any adjacent county. The county is well furnished with good school houses, many of which are supplied with modern appara- tus. The religious denominations that have permanent organizations and regular worship in the county are Baptist, Methodist, Cumber- land Presbyterians, and Presbyterians; the Baptists have about twenty-five churches; Methodists, eleven; Cumberland Presbyter- ians, four and Presbyterians, two. Greensburg is the county seat, the most important and most populous town in the county. It has very good streets, and many wells that furnish an abundance of excellent water; several of the wells, recently bored, have as good sulphur water as can be found in this part of the State. The town has five churches, tw^o Baptist churches, one w^hite, one colored; two Methodist churches, one white, one colored; and one Presbyterian church. They are all very handsome structures and stand as monuments to the enter- prise of the people who worship there. The public school build- ing, at this place is a handsome two-story building built in 1894, equipped with globes, maps and charts, and is the property of the public school of the district. The building cost about $3,000, and since its completion in 1894, an academy or high grade school has been taught in the same building in connec- tion with the x)ublic school; and many of the most successful teachers in Green county have taken the teachers' training course at the Greensburg Academy. The merchants of this place do a profitable business, and the town has for many years been a great lumber market. Other good Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 123 business places are Harkinsville, Gresliam, Thurlow, Pierce, Osce- ola, Eve and Summersville. Green county is situated in the Fourth Congressional, Third Ap- pellate, Eleventh Judicial, Thirteenth Senatorial, and Thirt^'-eighth Legislative Districts. PosTOFFicEs: — Allendale, Bale, Bloyd, Brushy, Camp Knox, Coakley, Crailhope, Dezarn, Donausburg, Eve, Exie, Fry, Gabe, Greensburg, Gresham, Hudgins, Kidd Mills, Liletowu, Lobb, Milby, Pierce, Rollingburg, Ruby, Summersville, Thurlow, Webbs, White- wood. Greenup County. Greenup County is situated in the extreme northern part of the State, and is bounded on the north by the Ohio river, on the east by Boyd county, on the south by Carter and on the west by Lewis county. It was made a county in the 3'ear 1803 and named in honor of Gov. Christopher Greenup. It is well watered and drained by Tygart's creek. Little Sandy river and their tributaries, which empty into the Ohio river. The soil of Greenup county is good, particularly the river bottoms. The wide bottoms adjacent to the Ohio river and the magnificent bottom lands in the valleys of Ty- gart's creek and the Little Sandy river furnish the most desirable farming lands, and are fertile and strong, producing in great abundance. There are good veins of both cannel and bituminous coals found in the county, and also iron and the very best quality of fire clay. In this county is offered the best inducement to es- tablish works for making fire brick. Only about one-eighth of the county is covered with timber, though much valuable timber is yet to be had. White oak predominates; pine, beech and other woods are plentiful. Diversified farming is not engaged in only for do- mestic uses, but this is a good county for fruit culture, and much attention is beginning to be paid to that industry. Fruits of all kinds and berries do well in this county. The Ohio river forming the northern boundary of the county for about thirty-fivemiles, is the only navigable water course accessi- ble to the county. The Little Sandy river and Tygart's creek are navigable only for flatboats and rafts. The Little Sandy, how- ever, could easily be made navigable and cheaply so, for some 124 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. IweJirv-five or lliirty miles above the Ohio by a system of locks and dams. (xreeniip county has no turnpike roads, the public or county roads are all the common dirt roads and are kei)t up by the county oourt under the road laws of the State, and are kept in very good repair. There are about fifty-three miles of completed and oper- ated railroads in the county, the Chesapeake & Ohio and the Eastern Kentucky railroads, giving us railroads traversing the county from east to west and from north to south, which, with our river border, gives us unexcelled facilities for transportation, both for traA'el and for shipping our surplus products to market. The staples of the Greenup county farm are corn, wheat, oats, hay and tobacco. The hill or uplands produce the finest pastures and the hillsides also grow the most magnificent tobacco. Stock raising is largely engaged in and sheep raising is particu- larly an important industry with the farmers of this county. Tlie labor of the county is very generality performed by the native whites, who can be employed for |10 to |15 per month and board. Lands with or without timber on them can be purchased in large or small tracts to suit the purchaser at prices ranging from $2 to |10 per acre. The schools of the county are such as the com- mon school system provides and are in a flourishing condition. Good school houses may be seen in the different districts, and they are provided with the modern appliances for teaching and in the main are jtrovided with good and competent teachers. The schools are well attended. The county has a number of good church buildings with flourishing congregations. All in all, Greenu]» is a good county to live in. Tt has a population accord- ing to the eleventh census of 11,1)1]. Greenup is the county seat of Greenup county, situated in the northeastern part of the county, on the Ohio river, and the Chesa- peake & Ohio railroad. It is a nice, flourishing town, with a popu- lation, according to the census of 1S90, of 060, but now estimated to be about 1,000. It has a good trade, enterprising merchants, good hotels, good citizens, churches and schoolhouses. Greenup county is in the Ninth Congressional, Sixth Appellate, .Nineteenth Judicial, Thirtj-second Senatorial and Ninety-ninth Legislative Districts. PosTOFFiCES: — Advance, Argentum, Argilite, Brushart,Danley- ton. Downs, Euclid, Frost, Fullerton, Greenup, Hoods, Hopewell, Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 126 Hunnewell, India, Little, Load, Lvim, liowder, Mackoy, Malone- ton, Nonchalanta, Oldtowii, Kice, Kiverton, Russell, Samaria, Seliultz, Springville, Tongs, Tygait's Valley, Walsh, Warnock, Wurtland, York. Hancock County. Hancock County was organized in 18:29, and named in honor of John Hancock. It is in the northwestern ])art of the State, on the Ohio river and has an area of about 200 S(iuare miles or nearly so. Its northern boundary is the Ohio river, distance of twenty- five to thirty miles, with Breckinridge county on the east, Ohio county on the south and Daviess on the west. The county is drained by Indian and S^ndy creeks and its tributaries in the east- ern portion, and Blackford creek and its tributaries in the south- ern and Avestern sections. The bottom lands adjacent to the Ohio river are very rich and productive. These bottoms and creek bottoms comi)rise about one-third of the area of the county, and make most desirable farms. These bottoms are of fine, rich, sandy soil; the hills or rolling lands arc composed of clay soils. Nearly all of the county is underlaid Avith bituminous coal, and the well-known Falcon and Hawes coal is found in the western part of the county, and the famous cannel coal mines are situated in the eastern portion. Potters' and tire clay are also found underlying the coal and else- where in the county in great abundance. Some of the finest red sandstone in the world is found in this county. Graphite and other minerals are known to exist, but have not been developed. Gas and oil are both known to abound in the county, but neither has yet been developed. The supply of timber is well nigh ex- hausted, bu.t there can yet be found nearly all the varieties indig- enous to this latitude, though in limited quantity. But little 'attention, thus far, has been paid to diversified farming, though there is a sentiment of steady growth among our farmers to ex- tend their operations in that direction. There are no navigable streams within the count^v, the Ohio river, on its northern boundary, furnishing the only water trans- portation, which, as stated aboAe, covers a distance of about thirty miles. There are no turnpikes in the county, the public roads being 126 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. such as are known as dirt roads, and are under the supervision of road surveyors, appointed by the county court. The roads are kept up by the county court, the overseers or surveyors "calling out" to work on same such citizens as are liable, under the laws of the State, to do road duty. The Louisville, St. Louis & Texas railroad runs through the county with its northern boundary, and nearly parallel with the Ohio river, and not very far as a general thing, from it, making some eighteen or twenty miles of road, which is the only railroad in the county, and there is none other in prospect. The Barker Springs, situated in this county, are quite popular as a health resort; there are also two other mineral springs near Patesville in the eastern part of the county, of real merit, which are worthy of special notice and capable of being converted into successful health resorts. The natural scenery of the county is without special features, save the Jeffrey Cliffs, in the eastern portion, which take on all the grandeur of a natural curiosity. The price of land meets the two extremes, ranging from |2 to |60 per acre; about |20 for improved and |12 for unimproved farm lands, however, is a fair average price in the county, the average taxable value being about |9 per acre. The labor employed is mostly native white and colored hands for which a good price i& paid, averaging |1S per month. Educational facilities are furnished alone by the common schools of the county, the school fund in some instances being sup- plemented by local taxation. The schools are well conducted and very well attended. The county has no bonded debt; the rate of taxation for county purposes is forty-three cents on the one hun- dred doJlars. Hawesville, the county seat of Hancock countj^, is situated in the northeastern part of the county on the Ohio river, and on the Louisville, St. Louis & Texas railroad, is a flourishing town. Hancock county is situated in the Second Congressional, Second Appellate, Sixth Judicial, Tenth Senatorial and Twenty-ninth Legislative Districts. PosTOFPicEs: — Adair, Cabot, Chambers, Dukes, Easton, Floral, Goering, Hawesville, Lewisport, Lyonia, Martindale, Patesville, Pellville, Petri Station, Skillman, Utility, Victoria, Waitman, Weber. Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 127 Hardin County. Hardin County was named after John E.Hardin and was created T^y act of the Legislature in 1792 out of a part of Nelson county. Several other counties have since been formed out of a part of this territory. The first settlement was at Elizabethtown, the county seat, and was known originally as the Severn valley settle- ment. Its poj)ulation is largely made up of descendants of Vir- ginia and Maryland families. Its foreign population is very small, the percentage perhaps being as small as any county in the State. The foreign element is almost exclusively German and confined for the most part to Elizabethtown and the territory adjacent. The county has produced some of the leading men in the State, notably Gov. John L. Helm, Gov. John Young Brown, Gen. Ben Hardin Helm, who was killed at Chickamauga. It was also the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, the old Lincoln homestead having been subsequently included in what is now Larue county. Gov. John Ireland of Texas, spent all of his youth in this county and read law while he was driving a stage coach. President James Buchanan and Judge Joe Holt lived in Elizabethtown at one time and practiced law. The county extends from West Point on the Ohio river to the Hart county line, a distance of forty-two miles north and south. The distance from the Nelson county line to the Breckenridge line, east and west, is about forty miles. The county in territory is one of the largest in the State. The county is exceedingly well watered. It has Salt river and the Rolling Fork on its northern boundary, fed by numerous smaller streams. The land in this part of the county consists of rich bottoms improved every j^ear from the rich deposits made from the backwater from the Ohio. Most of this land has been cultivated with corn for a hundred years and the yield is from sixty to a hundred bushels to the acre according to the season. South of the Rolling Fork Valley is the range of Muldraugh Hills extending entirely across the county from east to west. On the slopes of these hills is the finest fruit region in Kentucky. Peaches, apples, pears and grapes grow there to the greatest perfection and bring the highest prices in all the city markets. At the west- ern end of this range is the town of West Point on the Ohio and 128 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. Salt rivers. It is a thrifty village and has grown very rapidly in the past year. It has a number of natural gas wells and the gas is used in the town exclusively for lighting, heating and cooking purposes, and could be utilized for manufacturing purposes. West Point has also two railroads. On the southern slope of Muldraugh Mill is Elizabethtown, the county seat of Hardin, three hundred feet above Louisville. It has a population of over 3,000, and has grown wonderfully. The city has a fine system of water works; the source of supply is a spring that flows over a million gallons in twenty-four hours. A fine system of electric light has just been completed with the most improved machinery. The town has two telephone exchanges with over two hundred customers. In fact Elizabethtown is in every respect an up-to-date town with a bright promise of future growth and prosperity. From Elizabethtown extending south is the famous Nolin Val- ley, watered by Nolin river and its numerous tributaries. The lands in this section are as fertile as any in Kentucky. They are worth from forty to fifty dollars an acre and produce in a good season an average of twenty-five bushels of wheat to the acre and sixty bushels of corn. The cattle industry has grown wonder- fully in the county in the past two years. Nearly a half million dollars' worth of cattle were shipped out of the county in the past year. No county in the State is in better fix financially. It is on a cash basis, has |30,000 in the county school fund, has spent in the past few years |100,000 in cash on its public roads, and owns 800 shares of Louisville & Nashville stock. The county ranks first in the State in its public school interests. H. A. SOMMERS. Hardin county is situated about the center of the Fourth Con- gressional District. It is also situated in the Third Appellate, Ninth Judicial, Twelfth Senatorial and Thirty-first Legislative Districts. PosTOFFicEs: — Amity, Arch, Cash, Cecilian, Colesburg, Dorrett's Run, Eastview, Easygap, Elizabethtown, Franklin Crossroads, Glendale, Grandview, Harcourt, Hardin Springs, Howe Valley, Limp, Longgrove, Meetingcreek, Melrose, Nolin, Redcloud, Riney- ville, St. John, Solway, Sonora, Stephensburg, Stithton, Summit, Tipton, Tunnelhill, Upton, Vertrees, Vinegrove, West Point, White Mills, Wiggington. Fourteenth Biennial Eeport Bureau of Agriculture. 129 Harlan County, Harlan County was formed out of parts of Knox and Floyd counties in ISl'J, and is situated in the southeastern part of the State, and is bounded on the north by Leslie, Perry and Letcher, on the east and south by the Virginia State line, and on the west by Bell county. It is the most rugged and mountainous of all our mountain counties. It was named in the honor of Major Silas Harlan, a young Virginian, a gallant and accomplished soldier in our Indian wars. The Cumberland river runs westward and southward through the county, and with its various tributaries, waters and drains the county. There are no navigable streams in the county, though the Cumberland is used for rafting and flatboating during the high water season. The timber resources of the county are the very best. Oak, beech and pine are most valuable hardwood timbers. Valuable tracts of fine timbered lands are to be had at very reas- onable prices per acre. There are no turnpikes in Harlan county. Our county roads are the common country dirt roads and are worked and kept under the old road laws of Kentucky, and are kept in pretty good repair. There are no railroads in the county now, but various roads are in contemplation for developing the vast timber and mineral re- sources of the county, and at no distant day it is probable that the county will be penetrated with railroads. Though the surface of the county is very bold, rugged and moun- tainous, the soil is very fertile and produces well. Corn, wheat, oats and hay are produced in sufficient quantities for home con- sumption, but none for market elsewhere. The labor of the farm is performed by native whites. The people are industrious, hon- est people, and as the bloody feuds, which at one time disturbed the peace of the county, have been settled, this county is now as quiet and as peaceful as any in the State. The Presbyterians have established a church at Harlan Court House and have erected a nice substantial church building. The school facilities of the county are furnished by the common school system, and in the main the schools are furnished with good teachers. Harlan Court House is the county seat; it is situated in the western part of the county at the junction of Clover Fork and 130 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. Martin's Fork of the Cumberland river. It is a nice little moun- tain town with a church and a school. Harlan county is situated in the Eleventh Congressional, Sev- enth Appellate, Twenty-sixth Judicial, Thirty-third Senatorial and Ninety-third Legislative Districts. PosTOFFicEs: — Avondale, Baxter, Cawood, CloAerfork, Coxton, Creech, Day, Dizney, Est, Evarts, George, Glass, Harlan, Hurst, Jane, Klondyke, Layman, Ledford, Leonard, Nolansburg, Pans}', Poorfolk, Salts, Saylor, Smith, Walling's Creek, Yowell. Harrison County. Harrison County was formed in 1703, out of parts of Bourbon and Scott counties, and named after Col. Benjamin Harrison, who was at the time a representative from Bourbon county in the Kentucky Legislature. Col. Harrison also represented Bourbon in the several conventions that met at Danville prior to the State's admission into the Union. He then became a member of the first constitutional convention. From the original territory of Harrison portions have been taken to help form Campbell county in 1794; Pendleton and Boone, in 1798; Owen, in 1819; Grant, in 1820; Kenton, in 1840, and Eobert- son in 1867. It is situated in the north middle section of the State, lying on both sides of South Licking river; is bounded on the north by Pendleton country; northeast by Bracken and Robertson; east by Nicholas; south by Bourbon; west by Scott, and northwest by Grant county. Main Licking runs through a small portion of the county in the northeast, cutting off a small section known as "Little Harrison" in a corner between Bracken and Robertson. The creeks empty- ing into Main Licking are Cedar, West, Beaver, and Richland while Indian, Silas, Mill, Twin, Raven and Gray's Run flow into South Licking. The county is thus well watered. About one- half of the county is gently undulating, rich, and very productive; the other portion hilly and also quite productive; the whole well adapted to grazing; the soil based on red clay with limestone foundation. Lead has been discovered about one mile south of Lair on the farm of Hinkston Brothers, and some fine specimens have been ex- hibited, but the mine has not bieen developed. Iron ore and cop- Fmirtecnth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 131 per also exist but have not been found in paying quantities. There are no longer any extensive timber resources in this county. In recent years diTersiiied farming has been made very profitable, both by private enterprise and co-operative capital, but mostly by the former. Corn, wheat and tobacco are the principal pro- ducts while the county has always been famous for the production of whisky. There are no navigable streams in Harrison county, and none capable of being made so. We have over 300 miles of turnpike, all the roads being free, and the fiscal court has recently let con- tracts for the construction of additional pikes. A bond issue of $50,000 has been voted for the purchase of all pikes in the coun- ty, and two commissioners attend to all repairs and extensions. The dirt roads are still kept up by the old system of "warning out hands." There is one rural free delivery route over beauti- ful roads in the southwestern part of the county, and arrange- ments have been made by the Postoffice Department for establish- ing five more routes in the eastern section. The inspector who estab- lished these routes was greatly pleased with the fine roads in Harrison county, and complimented highly the manner in which they were kept in repair. There are about twenty-five miles of completed railroad in the county, the Kentucky Central branch of the L. & N. running for the most part along the banks of South Licking, and the Cincinnati Southern through a sm.ill section of the western part of the, county. Water possessing fine medicinal properties abounds in the county, but no springs are used as health resorts. The average price of farm land is placed by competent judges at twenty-five dollars per acre. Most of the labor employed in the county is un- skilled labor, farm hands receiving an average of thirteen dollars per month. Cynthiana, the county seat, was established December 10, 1793, and named in honor of Cynthia and Anna, tw^o daughters of the original proprietor, Robert Harrison. It is situated on both sides of South Licking river, thirty-three miles from Lexington, and sixty-five from Cincinnati, being connected with both cities by rail- road. The census of 1900 gave the city a population of 3,257, this number being increased to at least 4,000 by including the in- habitants of two flourishing suburbs. Its business men are of the most substantial character and well known for enterprise and 132 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. thrift. A commercial club has been organized to advance the interest of the city. The Cynthiana High School was organized thirty years ago, and is a continuation of Harrison Academy, which was chartered in 1798, and opened in 1804. From that year there has been an acad- emy or high school maintained in the town without interrup- tion. A principal and ten teachers are now engaged in the work of instruction, and the number of graduates of the High School is 173. Several good private schools have always existed, maic ing Cynthiana's educational facilities equal to those of any town m Kentucky. She was the pioneer in the establishment of a first- class graded school. The public schools of the county are in fine condition, as they possess a very competent body of teachers. Tho State fund is supplemented in some districts by local taxation and subscription. The county has always aided liberally in public improvements, the bonded indebtedness being now $100,000, and the rate of taxation for county purposes fifty cents on the one hun- dred dollars, C. A. Leonard. Harrison county is in the Ninth Congressional, Sixth Appellate, Eighteenth Judicial, Thirtieth Senatorial and Seventy-sixth Leg- islative Districts. PosTOFFicEs: — Alberta, Antioch Mills, Avena, Baptist, Berry, Boyd, Branch, Breckenridge, Broadwell, Claysville, Colville, Con- nersville, Cynthiana, Dunaway, Havilandsville, Kelat, Lair, Lees- burg, Leeslick, Oddville, Poindexter, Renaker, Robinson, Rut- land, Selma, Shadynook, Smitsonville, Sunrise, Silvandell, Venus. Hart County. (Revised 1901 by Judge W. J. Macy.) Hart County is located in the western central portion of the .•^tate, its northern boundary line being only sixty miles south of Louisville, on the line of the Louisville & Nashville railroad. It was formed out of the portions of Barren and Hardin, and estab- lished by an act of the General Assembly, approved January 28, 1819. It was named in honor of one of Kentucky's most distin- _guished pioneers, Captain Nathaniel Hart. The topography of Hart is far from uniform, embracing con- Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 133 siderable level laud aud mucli that is broken and undulating, interspersed with numerous hills and knobs. Green river Hows through the county from east to the west, dividing it into almost two equal sections, and the soils of the southern section are, for the most part, limestone of exceeding fertility aud strength, yield- ing abundant harvests of all the grains and grasses grown in the State, and are unsurpassed for the production of the fine grades of tobacco. On the north side of Green river the upland soils are gener- ally much lighter than in the southern section, being a sandy loam, but in the numerous vallej's and rich bottoms, skirting the river and creek, fine bodies of land are fouud that are exceedingly pro- ductive and well adapted to the growth of any and all crops raised in this latitude. In fact every class and variety of soil can be found within this county, while the supply of pure, fresh, running- water is unlimited. The crops now principally grown are corn, wheat, oats, rye and tobacco. Peaches, apples, pears, plums, grapes, and all the berries common to the climate grow well in every portion of the county. Only a small percentage of the original forest is left standing in the southern section, but in the section north of Green river there is still a considerable quantity of hardwood timber, suitable for sawing into lumber. The growth consists of the different species of oak, hickory, ash, walnut, poplar, beech, and some wild cherry. This timber is now being cut into lumber, staves, ax-handles, spokes, etc., by portable mills, and hauled to towns and railroad for market. Green river is the only river of any considerable size in the county, while Nolynn river on its western boundary is next in size, but neither of these is large enough to be available for navigation, without the aid of locks and dams, an aid which it is hoped and believed will soon be supplied by the general govern- ment. The county is well watered and drained by the two rivers above mentioned, Bacon creek, Lyncamp creek, Cub Run, Dog creek. Cane Run, and many smaller creeks and runs, all of which afford ample water power to propel machinery. The Louisville & Nashville railroad divides the county near its center, running through same north and south and crossing Green river at right angles near Munfordville, the county seat. Something more than twenty-six miles of said railroad are within the county and while Green river is not navigable for boats, a survey is being made by the government, with the purpose of extending slack water naviga- 134 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. tion to a point east of this county. When this work is completed the transportation facilities will be extremely good, as each of the four sections of the county, divided by the intersection of railroad and river, will have convenient access to each as a means of convey- ance. The county has about fifty miles of turnpike roads, which are all open to travel free from toll and kept up by the county in the same manner as the other county roads are, and run through the principal towns and villages of the county. The other county roads are mud and dirt roads and are fairly good for traveling, ex- cept during the rainy season. The execrable system under the general laws of the State is the onh^ existing provision for work- ing the public roads of this county, and while upon the whole the sj'stem and methods of working and repairing these roads is some- what improved, much remains to be desired in this direction. A good vein of iron ore extends through the eastern end of the coun- ty, northward from Green river to the Larue county line, and in the part two furnaces, the old "Clay" and "Etna, "did a flourish- ing business working it, but for lack of cheap transportation these furnaces are now abandoned. An excellant quality of white lime- stone, suitable for building purposes, is found in different parts of the county in abundant quantities, while recent discoveries of large quantities of onyx marble give promise of the development of very valuable quarries of this fine stone in the near future. In Hart, as in most other counties, manj- natural curiosities and singular formations exist, that are pointed out with pride by the in- habitants, but as they are onl3' interesting because they are curios, will mention but one. About four miles east of Munfordville, on Green river, a large, well known spring is situated, which ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four hours, with the same regularity and in the same manner as the ocean tides. The educational facilities of the county are materially improved within the past decade, there being now eighty-six white and thirteen colored schools taught under the common school system, with a corp of efficient and enthusiastic young teachers, while "The Green River Collegiate Institute" at Munfordville, "The Horse Cave Normal Training School," at Horse Cave, "The Gilead Institute," "The Lillian Academy," at Canmer, and other good schools in the county furnish ample facilities for the prosecution of more advanced studies. During the past ten years considerable advance has been made Fourteenth Bieniiiul I\vport Bureau of Agriculture. 135 in the developmeut of industries in tlie county. Several new mills, with improved machinery, have been erected; a number of small factories for the manufacture of ax-haudles, wagon spokes, staves, etc., are now in active operation. Oil wells are now being bored in the western portion of the county, where strong indications of oil have been found. Gold, silver and lead in limited quantities have also been found and tentative efforts are being made b}' local people to develop same. Fire claj', lithographic stone, as- phalt and coal are also being discovered in quantities that promise rich returns in working the deposits, and the resources of the county are such as to justify the profitable employment of much more capital in these and other industries. Both white and colored labor is available in the county, the larger portion being colored, however. For farm work, good reliable laborers are paid from fifteen to eighteen dollars per month, without board and from twelve to fourteen with board. Ordinary hands can be had for from two to five dollars less per month. For other classes of labor,' prices vary from fifteen to twenty-five dollars per month. Munfordville, the county seat of Hart county, is pleasantly situ- ated upon a high elevation, overlooking Green river, at the point where the Louisville & Naslmlle .railroad crosses same. It is seventy-two miles south of Louisville, has a population of six hun- dred, with three churches, two white and one colored, a good pub- lie school building, modern court house and public offices, a bank, w-eekly newspaper and a good system of water works. It is the principal shipping point for the section lying north of Green river, and large quantities of tobacco, lumber, live stock and miscellane- ous products are forwarded from this point. Horse Cave is a flourishing town on the Louisville & Nashville railroad, eight miles south of Munfordville and eighty miles from Louisville. It has a population of twelve hundred and is the most important shipping station in the county, the exports consisting jirincipally of wheat, tobacco, live stock, fruits, etc. it is the ship- ping point for an extensive territory lying north and eastw'ard, has a good hotel, bank, weekly newspaper, three churches, a large well equipped flouring mill, a number of fine business houses and several handsome residences. Kowietts, on the Louisville & Nashville railroad, three miles south of Munfordville, has a population of one hundred; Bon- nieville, on the same railroad, has a population of seventy-five; 136 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. Canmer. on Bardstown and Glasgow turnpike, nine miles east- ward from Munfordville has a population of 150; Hardy ville, situ- ated on the same pike, has a population of 125. All are progres- sive and thriving villages. Hart county is situated in the Fourth Congressional, Third Ap- pellate, Tenth Judicial, Thirteenth Senatorial, and Thirty-third Legislative Districts. PosTOFFiCEs: — Bonnieville, Blenco, Canmer, Celery, Cub Run, Defries, Dennison, Detroit, Dogcreek, Elmer, Fairhorn, Forrest- ville, Hammonville, Hardyvile, Hinesdale, Horse Cave, Kessinger, Lines Mills, Linwood, Monroe, Munfordville, Northtown, Pascal, Pikewiew, Powder Mills, Priceville Rex, Rio, Roseburg, Rowletts, Sett, Seymour, Three Springs, Uno, Wabach, Woodsonville, Winesap, Zero. Henderson County. Henderson County was formed out of Christian county in 1798 and was organized June 4, 1799, and was named in honor of Judge Henderson, more commonly known as Col. Richard Henderson. It is situated in the southwestern part of the State on the Ohio river, which forms its northern boundary for a distance of about seventy miles. Daviess and McLean counties bound it on the east, Webster on the south and Union on the west. Green river runs along its east- ern border for a considerable length, thence in a northwesterly direction, emptying into the Ohio some five or six miles above the city of Henderson. Both streams are navigable for steam- boats at all seasons of the year. The bottom lands along these rivers embrace many thousands of acres, the soil of which is ex- tremely fertile, producing corn and tobacco and other crops in enormous quantities. In the production of corn, wheat and to- bacco, Henderson county ranks among the foremost of the State, taking the lead in tobacco, her area considered, her soil being particularly adapted to this product, as is shown by some two hundred analyses of soil taken from all parts of the State, which showed her tobacco soil to be the richest with but one exception. The soil is well adapted to the growth of all the cereals known to this latitude, the uplands comprising about three-fourths of the area of the county; besides being well adapted to agriculture,. Fourteenth Bienniul Report Bureau of Agriculture, 137 as also well adajjted to fruit culture, there being some as flue fruit ^rown here as cau be found elsewhere in the State and very lately there has been considerable attention paid to this branch of in- dustry. There has been some fine commercial orchards planted of apples, peaches and pears, notably one of pears of 1,100 trees, adjoining the town of Cairo. When our citizens consider the fact that there is a special adaptability of these fruits to the soil and climate of this county, and consider the great facilities of the railroad in placing it on market in a few hours' run, then it will be they will begin to realize that fruit culture in Henderson county for profit will exceed many times that of other indus- tries. There is an abundance of timber and while there is a very great variety, oak, ash, hickory, poplar and gum largely predominate. There is a great disposition of late to diversified farming, it proving much more profitable and safer to the ordinary farmer. This mode of farming, taken in connection with the milling and manu- facturing industries, gives employment the year round to all the laborers of the county at remunerative prices. The labor of the county is noted for its intelligence and thrift and in some measure accounts for the general thrift and wealth of her citizenship. Farm labor commands from twelve to fifteen dollars per month with board the year round. The cropping system is very much in vogue. The population of the county is rapidly increasing. The city of Henderson is the county seat and stands on the banks of the Ohio fully thirty odd feet above the highest water known. Her water and railroad facilities for transportation, sur- rounded as she is with any amount of coal and timber, ought to be a sufficient guarantee for the successful employment of capital looking for investment in the manufacturing industries. When incorporated as a town in 1810, Henderson had a population of only 160 persons; so steady has been the growth that to-day the population is near 15,000. The city has a most excellent system of schools, whereby the poorest child may obtain a liberal educa- tion. She owns her electric light, gas and water works which in- sures these necessities at the very lowest cost possible to the con- sumer. She is noted for her well graded, graveled and broad paved streets, her fine residences and particularly for her wealth. Henderson has a lucrative trade. Her intelligent and enter- prising merchants deal in almost all the channels of trade that go to make up civilization, and in their different lines furnish the 138 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. people of the county with the hitest innovations. Her manufac- turing interest is considerable, her woolen and cotton mills, the latter of which are very extensive, are noted for their successful management and superiority of their goods. Her flouring mills and grain elevators are of such capacity as to enable them to handle millions of bushels of grain, of which Henderson is getting to be a great center. Her tobacco stemmeries, nineteen in num- ber, handle more tobacco than any other city of like size on the face of the earth, and she is doubtless the best market for loose tobacco in the State. Henderson is surrounded by many market gardens. This and the fact that the soil of the entire county is so well adapted to truck gardening, taken in connection with the phenomenal in- terest of late in fruit growing, ought to make it one of the very best locations for a canning factory in the State; certainh^ on« is very much needed there and from a business standpoint there is nothing that offers better inducements for profits on capital in- vested. The great steel truss bridge that spans the Ohio at this point enables the railroads of this county (of which there are forty-eight and a half miles in operation) to run in ever}" direction. The county has twenty-two miles of gravel roads, which were formerly built and owned by stock companies, on which toll was charged and collected, the same have been recently purchased by the count}' and the gates thrown open. There are five miles more under construction by the county which, when completed, Hender- son will have five miles of graA'el road leading from her limits in almost every direction. The county has a most excellent sys- tem for working her public roads, there being a special act allow- ing her to levy and collect a tax for same, the amount being about 116,000 per year at present. Education is attracting a great deal of attention; the school houses are all being modernized and the facilities for an education are not to be surpassed elsewhere in the State. There are two nurseries in the State, one at Cairo and one at Kobards, both seeming to be doing a thriving business. Telephones are being put up along all the most public roads, and are tapping a great many farm houses, and it is thought that it is only a question of time when a farmer can sit by his fireside and converse with his brother farmer at almost every point in the county. There is one mineral spring near Green river, which very recent- ly is attracting considerable attention, many going thither to Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 139 drink the waters for their health. A considerable amount of coal is being mined at different points in the county. Lands have a steady increased money value. The chief products are corn, tobacco, wheat, rye, oats, hay and potatoes. There are several towns deserving mention, viz.: Audubon, Spottsville, Zion, Hebbardsville, Robards, Cairo, Corydon and Dixie, besides many smaller places, all seeming to be doing business in a substantial way. The population of this county is intelligent, generous and hospitable, who stand with open doors and outstretched arms ready to welcome immigrants of brain, brawn and capital. It has been said that of all the worlds the good Lord ever created, the one on which we live is the best. We believe that the United States is the grandest country on the face of the earth; that of all the States, dear old Kentucky is the best, and that of all the counties that comprise the grand old Commonwealth, our own Henderson is the best. Geo. S. Baldwin. Henderson count3' is situated in the Second Congressional, First Appellate, Fifth Judicial, Fifth Senatorial and Thirteenth Legisla- tive Districts. PosTOFFiGEs: — Alzey, Anthoston, Baskett, Bluff City, Cairo, Carlinburg, Corydon, Dixie, Geneva, Hebbardsville, Henderson, King's Mills McDonald Landing, Niagara, Pyrus, Reed, Robard, ScuffletOwn, Smith's Mills, Spottsville, Utley, Wilson, Zion. Henry County. Henry County was formed in 1798 out of Shelby and was named in honor of Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia. A glance at the map of the State shows it situated along the northern border near the center, its closest point only a few miles from the Ohio river and contains over 167,000 acres. It is bounded on the north by Trimble and Carroll, on the east by Kentucky river, on the south by Franklin and Shelby and on the west by Oldham. The land is generally rolling and along water courses quite hilly. The eastern part for more than twenty miles lies along the Kentucky river. The Little Kentucky runs through the western side of the county and Drennon's creek runs through the central portion and emp- ties into the Kentucky river near the famous Drennon Springs. 140 Fourteenth Bioiiiial Rciwrl Jiiircuu of lyricuUurc. The character of the soil varies — some very rich and productive — producing in abundance all of the best products grown in the State. A large portion of the hill land is rich and produces as fine quality of tobacco as is grown in the Burley district. None so inferior that it can not be made good pasture land. These lauds are located along the "fruit line," and produce as fine apples, peaches and pears as are to be found anywhere. The bottoms along the river have been growing corn for one hundred years,^ and are still very productive. Some splendid homes are seen along these bottoms. At one time Henry county was one of the largest corn producing counties in the State and fattened thousands of hogs annually. Now, corn, wheat and tobacco are extensivelj'^ grown, tobacco the principal crop. Herds of cattle and sheep are increasing and can be made profitable owing to abundance of pasture lands. The timber of the county consists of oak, walnut, hickory, beech and sugar-tree. The demand for oak, walnut and poplar lumber and the remunerative prices for a fine quality of tobacco have de- pleted the area of timber in every locality; but good lumber from the mills, in many places, can be obtained at fair prices. A large portion of the timber has been shipped in the log, owing to good railroad and water transporting facilities. Locust for posts is produced in abundance and sells for from fifteen to twenty cents. Lead ore is found cropping out along the bluffs of Kentucky river and a vein of same crosses Drennon's creek, two miles above its mouth, to Kentucky river and into Owen county'. There are traces of silver found; in working lead mines years ago it was found in moderately j)aying quantities. With a few exceptions there is an abundance of gray limestone for all practical purposes and in some places building stone can be had from two to eighteen inches in thickness. Gas has been found in boring for water in western portion of county, along the line of railroad to Cincinnati. Eminence is situated -in the crown hill of four streams of water — Clear creek, Fox Eun, Brennon and Little Kentucky. It is the highest point between Louisville and Lexington. Here ?i cut was made in grading the railroad in which skeletons of the Mammoth were found. The dirt from this cut, principally decom- posed bones, was used to fill a pond, where the park is now lo- cated. When this cut was made there were unmistakable signs of the existence, at one time, of an immense lake. The tracks of Fourteenili Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 141 monster animals were plain and were filled with white sand. From beneath this bed of bones flows a stream of water that began to attract attention in the decade of '50. Dr. Bashaw was then owner of the land where the spring is located. When any stock was missing it was usually found at this spring. Thinking there was something in the water, and the doctor being in poor health, began drinking the water and improved rapidly. When the town of Eminence Avas founded the whole peofjle used water from this spring. In 1S54, Dr. David Dale Owen, then State geologist, analyzed this water and said there was no better water in the State. His analysis can be found in one of the three volumes, published about this time. It contains common salts, magnesia, soda and iron. From the fact that sulphur springs are found in all four of the streams above mentioned flowing out from this spring, it is sup- posed that Drennon Springs has its origin here, too. The water from the north side of the depot building in Eminence runs into the Ohio river, while that from the south side flows into Salt river. Drennon Springs were discovered early in the history of the State and a settlement made. They are located on Drennon's creek, from which it took its name^ — near where the creek empties into Kentucky river. At an early day all the salt used in this section was made here. About the years '48 and '50, it was an immense watering place and at the time the most prosperous. There was a large hotel and cottages to accommodate a thousand people or more, and persons from every part of the country were found here. About this time the buildings were burned, rebuilt and burned again. The waters from the Black and White Sulphur, the Chalybeate and Salt Springs flow just the same, attracting the attention of the invalid and benefitting all who come. For all skin diseases and rheumatism and other ailments, there have been cures al- most miraculous. The industrial development is not such as the county demands and is capable of sustaining. There has been a rush from the farms to town, but it has not been for an investment of capital. Booming towns and land booms in the West have caught the capitalist and home advancement has sufi'ered. There are four good flouring mills in the county doing a good business. There is no investment in factories of any kind but which promise good returns and have been made prosperous in less inviting fields. 142 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. The Louisville «& Nasliville short line to Cincinnati runs through the western portion of county; the Louisville & Lexington through the southwestern, while the entire eastern section is furnished with a natural line of transportation by Kentucky river, even at lowest stages of water, carrying timber, tobacco, corn, wheat and other products to the markets of the world. There are two locks and dams in Henry county — Lock No. 2 at Lockport and Lock No. 3 at Gestville. A charter has been granted for a continuation of a railroad through to Carrollton and Madison, Ind., with some prospect of building in the near future. With fair railroad and water transportation facilities, the public roads suffer for want of a general road system covering the entire State. There are over four hundred miles of roads, two hundred and twenty of which are macadam. They are maintained by taxation, toll system and common laws for road working under overseers. The condition of the roads is improving. The contract system for working roads is being extended and proving satisfactory, and some new pikes are being made. The labor system like the roads is not a perfect one, nor the character of labor employed. It ranks about with other counties and is varied as the people. There are no "strikes," except when a hand wants to quit, but prices go up and down with demand and supply of labor. Prices paid are generally from fifty cents to one dollar per day and from ten to fifteen dollars per month "with board." With the present educational facilities there comes a demand for better teachers, more interest on the part of school directors, less partiality for teachers, more painstaking to make the school houses attractive and comfortable, less opposition to taxation for school purposes. In the long ago Henry county not only boasted of her wealth, palatial homes, refinement and educational advantages, but her reputation was well earned. In this matter here is an inviting field to the educational worker and energetic teacher who will honor the profession. The people are awaking as from a long slumber. Education is putting on new life, new and substantial school houses are taking the places of old ones and there is im- provement all along the line. New Castle, the county seat, is one among the oldest towns in the State. Some of the old landmarks remain, giving proof of age. Like many other important places, it has had to give way Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau, of Agriculture. 143 to railroad towns. It can boast of a flue court house, fine resi- dences and good people. New Castle does a good business not- withstanding a railroad runs north and south of it, and has daily coniuiuuication at Eminence with Louisville, Frankfort and Lex- ington, rieasureville on the Louisville & Lexington railroad has an immense trade, surrounded b^' a good farming localitj', with an enterjjrising people. Eminence on same line of road, four miles west, boasts of man}' advantages, as an inland town, churches of all denominations, school buildings, two banks, stores, shops, a high and healthy location, surrounded by a good countr}'. Smith- field, five miles west, Pendleton on Short Line overlooking Little Kentucky; Sulphur, located on same stream, six miles north; Campbellsburg, a little farther on, pushing along with business, Turner's Station on same line of road, all boasting of advantages and sharing in the honors of Henry county. Henry county is in the Seventh Congressional, Fifth Appellate, Twelfth Judicial, Twenty-first Senatorial and Fifty-fourth Legis- lative Districts. PosTOFFiGEs: — Bar, Bethlehem, Blackwell, Campbellsburg, De- foe, Drennon, Drennon Springs, Eminence, Fallis, Franklinton, Gest, Harper's Ferry, Hillspring, Jericho, Lacie, Lockport, New Castle, Noe, North Pleasureville, Orville, Pendleton, Pleasure- ville. Port Royal, Smithfield, Sulphur, Turner's Station, Vance. Hickman County. Hickman County formerly embraced all that territory now sub- divided into Ballard, Carlisle, Fulton, and Hickman counties, lying in the southwestern extremity of Kentucky, bordered on the west by the Mississippi river, and on the south by the State of Ten- nessee. Hickman county was organized by an act of the Legis- lature in 1822, and in 1842 Ballard and Fulton counties w^ere sub- tracted from it, leaving 22G square miles of territory, now one of the richest farming sections in the State. The county was named in honor of Capt. Paschall Hickman, a native of Virginia, who emigrated to Kentucky when but a bo}', with his father, Rev. William Hickman, who settled in Franklin county. Capt. Hick- man won his military title in the early Indian wars, and he was severely wounded in the battle of the River Raisin. The general face of the country is undulating, broken at inter- 44 Fourteentli Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. vals by hills aud valleys. In the bottom section contiguous to the river and creeks there remains yet a large area of wild land, in forest; but by degrees the land is being cleared for cultivation, and the once dark forests are rapidly disappearing to make room for more homes. The soil is generally a rich brown loam, with streaks of sand and clay deposits. It is a fertile soil and pro- duces abundantly when properly handled. The principal crops are corn and wheat, but tobacco is also raised successfully, as well as all of the garden crops. Stock raising has become a con- siderable factor in the county's resources in late years, and most of the corn grown is fed here at home and sold "on the hoof." In good seasons the wheat ^ield is from twenty-five to forty bushels per acre, and the corn yield from fifty to seventy-five bushels. Sweet and Irish potatoes, especially in that section known as the ^'Potato Patch," grow as abundantly as "Carter's oats." In recent years the value of farm land has steadily advanced, until now the price averages about thirty-five dollars an acre. Many of the farms are well improved, and a ride along the country road reveals an unwonted growth of log cabins into modern houses, surrounded by all the conveniences which make American farm life the ideal life of the well-to-do. Clinton is the county seat, and it is a progressive little city of 2,000 inhabitants, on the line of the Illinois Central railroad. The town is situated in the very heart of the county, and is sur- rounded by the best farms the county boasts. The court-house was built seventeen years ago at an expense of |25,000, and it is a handsome brick structure, ornamenting the public square and surrounded by solid brick business blocks. The educational advantages of Clinton have attracted to it many desirable inhabitants. We have two colleges, Clinton Col- lege (Baptist), founded by Father Willis White, in 1873, and Mar- vin College (Methodist), organized in 1SS4. Both colleges have large commodious brick buildings, and are in a prosperous condition. In 1898 local capital furnished the town a fine system of water- works. The county tax is only thirty-five cents ad valorem on the flOO,- and 11.50 poll tax. The city tax is fifty-five cents ad valorem and 11.50 poll. Both the Christian and Baptist denominations have compara- tively new and modern houses of worship, centrally located and Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 145 highly ornamental to our city. The Methodists are pushing for- ward towards the erection of a splendid new brick edifice for their worship, and hope to have same completed early in the next year (1902). Since the advent of the Illinois Central railroad here in 1873, Clinton has made rapid strides forward, and is now the com- mercial-center of the county as well as the seat of the county government. Hundreds of car loads of hogs and cattle are shipped from here every year, bringing in many thousands of dollars. The Clinton Roller Mills buy up thousands of bushels of wheat and market the flour by car loads all through the south. Timber shipments are also a steady source of revenue to our people. The past summer (1901) Beshers &: Jackson, two of our enter- prising citizens, have erected a new roller mill in Clinton, with a capacity of 150 barrels of flour a day, and in connection with it they built an elevator of 25,000 bushels capacity. The mill is now in successful operation and the farmers are availing themselves of the use of the elevator — a convenience that we have long needed. Besides Clinton, there are several other wide-awake towns in the county, viz.: Columbus, on the Mississippi river, a town of about 1,000 inhabitants. It has a number of manufacturing in- dustries, and is also in the fruit and berry growing belt. The strawberry crop brings to Columbus and Aicinity from |30,000 to 150,000 every season, other fruit crops around there are also a regular source of income to the people. Other small towns in the county are Moscow and Oakton, on the Mobile & Ohio railroad, Spring Hill, Beelertown, Croley, Cypress, Bugg, Hailewell, Stubbs, and Fulgham. We have more than fifty public school houses in the county, and the general interest in education is a safe index to the char- acter of our people. At Columbus and Oakton free graded schools tire in successful operation. At Columbus there are several im- portant manufactories: The Cowles Whipstock and Stirrup Manu- factory, a heading factory, stave factory, and Rocker's large pottery. These concerns ship their products to all parts of the world. They employ hundreds of men and boys, and their pay- rolls run into thousands of dollars a month. Nearly as many churches as the various denominations, also thrive in this county, and there are several Masonic lodges and other charitable and social societies flourishing here in towns and countrv. 14G Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. The criminal division of our courts is seldom overburdened with business, for we have little crime to mar the good name we have established. In the past few years there has been a steady stream of immi- gration here, men of means from other counties of the State, and from Tennessee, Illinois, Missouri, etc., having purchased valuable town and country homes here. There is enough cheap land here yet to provide homes and farms for many families, and land of this kind can, as a rule, be bought on easy and satisfactory terms. E. B. Walker. Hickman county is situated in the First Congressional, First Appellate, First Judicial, First Senatorial and First Legislative districts. PosTOFFiCEs: — Baltimore, Beelertown, Bugg, Beulah, Clinton, Columbus, Croley, Cypress, Hailewell, Moscow, Neal, Oakton, Spring Hill. Hopkins County. By an act of the Legislature of Kentucky, approved December 29, 1806, Hopkins was, in the year 1807, formed into a county. This territory w^as taken from the southern portion of Hender- son county and lies between the 87th and 88th parallels of west longitude and 37th and 38th parallels of north latitude. It is bounded on the north and the northwest by Webster county, on the west by Caldwell, on the south by Christian and on the east by Muhlenberg and McLean. Tradewater river, a small and un- navigable stream, forms the boundary between Hopkins and Cald- well, while Pond river, another small stream, marks the boundary between this and Muhlenberg and McLean counties. The extreme length of the county is about forty miles, while its width is some- thing over half its length, thus giving the countj' an area of nearly 500 square miles. The county was named in honor of General Stephen Hopkins, one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence. The surface of the county is in some places rough and hilly, but most of it generally undulating. The soil is productive, on which are grown tobacco, wheat, oats, rye, potatoes, sorghum and all kinds of garden vegetables. Fruits, such as apples, peaches, pears, plums, grapes, etc., are produced in abundance. Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 147 Where orchards have received proper care and attention thej have paid most liberally. In connection with this, it is found that this county is well adapted to the growing of berries of all kinds, and especially strawberries. Farmers are finding that the fruit crop is a paying one and the}^ are turning their attention to the culture of the orchards. The coal fields of Hopkins county are almost inexhaustible. More than one-fourth of the coal mined in the State of Kentucky is taken from the mines of this county. The St. Bernard, with headquarters at Earliugton, has three large mines, one at Earling- ton, one at Morton's Gap, and one at St. Charles. There is the Hecla, near Earlington, the Ilsey mines, the Carbondale mines, the Stull mines, the mines at Barnsley, and two at Madisonville, the Rienecke, and the Monarch. All these mines are in a prosper- ous condition. The yearly output is more than 20,000,000 bushels. This gives emploj^ment to a large force of men and their families. A great many of our miners own their own residences, they are our own people, and they feel interested in all our institutions. When strikes were on at other places, the miners of Hopkins county continued at their work. There are at all times the very best of feeling between the operators and their men. The pay roll of these mines amount to many thousands of dollars per month. The attempt to unionize the labor in these mines has caused considerable disturbance in 1901, and is still unsettled as this arti- cle goes to press. The St. Bernard Company, at Earlington, operates extensive coke works, and this gives employment to a large number of men. The products find a ready sale where this kind of fuel is used. There are about 150 ovens that are used all the time in the manufac- ture of coke. Hopkins county has a variety of timber, and that of the very best kind and quality. Oak, walnut, ash, poplar, hickorj^ and many other kinds that are valuable, abound in the forests along the streams. It is estimated that there are over one hundred differ- ent kinds of timber growing in this county. Hopkins county is a fine agricultural district. Here nearly everything that can be grown in the State of Kentucky can t)e produced from our soil. Tobacco is the leading staple and this finds a ready sale in the markets of the world. There are less than a dozen counties in the world that produce more pounds of tobacco than does Hopkins county. The soil produces corn, wheat, oats. 148 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. rye, clover, and peas. It is a fine agricultural section and as a re- sult, a good deal of attention is given to raising of stock of all kinds, such as horses, hogs, cattle and sheep. Year by year the people of the county are turning their attention to stock raising. The county has sixty-four miles of railroad. The Illinois Cen- tral passes through the southern portion of the county and has twenty-two miles of railroad in the county. The Louisville & Nashville, Henderson division, passes through the county seat, while the Providence branch of the same road has its terminus at this place. These two divisions have forty-two miles of road in the county. On account of the scarcity of material suitable for such pur- poses, Hopkins county has no turnpikes. The roads are dirt roads, but are kept in tolerably good condition most of the year. There is at present a very strong feeling on the part of the people to haA^e still a better system of roads for the public. This county is peculiarly blessed on account of its fine mineral water. Dawson has almost a national reputation as a health re- sort. The waters of that place have a reputation that are second to but few in the country. The water is chalybeate of the very finest quality and also fine salts water at the same place. There is also a very fine chalybeate well at Madisonville and at other points in the county. The sulphur springs at Kichmond and at Mani- tou are well known and the water is of the very best quality. It is rather a difficult matter to state the exact price of farm lands. It ranges in price from a few dollars up to $50 per acre according to location and the kind of land w^anted. To the man who wants to come here to make his home, and who wants to make a good citizen, we can say that he can get such a place as suits him at a price that is by no means extravagant. Hopkins county has not as yet become noted as a manufactur- ing center, though there is no good reason why we should not in the future have manufactories of all kinds in our midst. We are waiting for capital to make investments that would certainly pay the investor. We have fuel in limitless quantities and at a price that defies competition. We are accessible to the outside world and are situated in the county that it seems ofl'ers every induce- ment that is necessary. There are in the county eighty-eight white school districts and about thirty districts for the education of the colored children. In each and every one of these districts there is a public school Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 149 taught every year for a term of five months. In many of these dis- tricts the terms are lengthened to eight, nine, or ten months. There is, perhaps, no county in the State where there is more at- tention paid to the public schools and to public education than there is in Hopkins county. In Madisonville are several private schools where the higher branches are taught. The West Ken- tucky Normal School is also located here and it has a good patron- age. The county owes but a small debt and it will be but a few years until that is paid. The county tax is only fifty cents on the one hundred dollars' worth of property. Madisonville is the county seat. The town is near the center of the county, in a fine agricultural district. It is on the Hen- derson division of the L. & N. railroad, fifty miles south of Evans- ville, Ind., and 107 miles north of Nashville, Tenn. The town is a city of the fourth-class and contains a population of about 4,500. It is one of the most progressive towns in this portion of the State. It has churches and schools. The people are an in- dustrious, honest and intelligent people, who are noted for their high standard of right. J. J. Glenn. Hopkins county is situated in the Second Congressional, First Appellate, Fourth Judicial, Sixth Senatorial and Eleventh Legis- lative Districts. PosTOFFiCEs: — Ansonia, xVntons, Ashbyburg, Barn?ley, Charles- ton, Dalton, Dawson Springs, Earlington, Hamby Station, Han- son, Ilsley, Madisonville, Manitou, Mortons Gap, Nebo, Nortonville, Olney, Richland, Saint Charles, Silentrun, Veazy, Whiteplains, Yarbro. Jackson County. (Revised 1901, by T.^J. Coyle.) Jackson county was formed April, 1858, out of parts of Clay. Laurel, Rockcastle, Madison, Estill and Owsley counties and lies in the southeast-central part of the State, and is bounded by the afore- mentioned counties, and is about one hundred and fifty miles south of Louisville, and one hundred miles north of Cumberland Gap, and nearly on a direct line from one to the other. Jackson county commemorates and was named in honor of the venerable A ndrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States. 150 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. The headwaters of the Kentuck}' and Cumberland rivers find their source in this county; tliat is, their main tributaries. The main water courses of the county are: Terill's creek, Moore's creek. Pond creek, Laurel Fork, Indian creek and Horse Lick tributaries to the Rockcastle river, which washes its shores for more than thirty miles and then makes its w^ay off by way of the Cumberland and Ohio rivers to the mighty ''Father of Waters," where it com- mingles its waters with the waters of South fork, Middle fork, War fork, and Cavenaugh fork of Station Camp creek, the other water courses of Jackson county, as it is borne along to the mighty "Father of Waters," by way of the Kentucky and Ohio rivers. None of these streams are navigable, or used as a means of transportation, save in the transportation of logs and lumber, though all are available for water power, for the running of ma- chinery, mills, etc. The soil of Jackson county is considerably varied. The north- west and western parts of the county are very fertile, but much broken by hills, which are quite steep, the soil being a mixture generally of lime and sandstone, underlaid with limestone. The eastern and southern parts are nearly level, being slightly un- dulating, with soil fairly fertile and productive, comprising by far the best farming lands of Jackson county. The character of the soil is therefore so varied that it is suited to most all crops, the principal ones of w^hich are named in order of their importance: Corn, wheat, oats, tobacco, potatoes, fruits, etc., etc. Price of land is from |2 to |10 per acre. The county at one time before settlement presented an unbroken forest of fine timber averaging not less than fifteen to twenty-five thousand feet per acre, fully 70 per cent, of which still remains in its natural state. The principal growth is white oak, poplar and pine, w^hich greatly predominates and is of good quality. The other kinds of timber are the various species of oak, pine, beech, linden, hickory, buckej'e, cedar, maple, birch, sugar-tree, walnut, gum, chestnut, etc., etc. The great body of forest land is being- consumed very slowly commercially, and what is being so con- sumed reaches market in the shape of hoops; staves, ties, tan bark, lumber in the rough, etc., etc., being hauled on an average of fifteen to twenty miles to market. No other county in the State has finer or better fields of mineral lands than Jackson comprising co.al, which is yet but little mined, iron, copperas, saltpetre, oil, building stones, clays, etc., in abund- Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 151 ance. The coal veins in this county are often found ranging in thickness from thirty to sixty inches, and two and three strata, one above the other, in all the hills at land. This wealth of min- eral, like the timber wealth, remains in an undeveloped state for the lack of transportation of any kind. There is nowhere a bet- ter field for cai)italists than here. Every avenue is oj^eu and the fruits abundant. And nowhere are there more inducements for railroad ijhilanthropists and a possibility for more success. The northwest part of the county has many caverns, caves, ravines, cascades, waterfalls, Indian mounds, Indian graves, sta- lactites, stalagmites, ortlios, chinoid heads, spikes, tomahawks and many other remains, sights and sceneries both interesting and attractive to sightseers, excursionists, mineralogists and others who visit that part. We have no health resorts in the county, but many mineral springs, such as the different kinds of sulphur, lime» lithia, etc., etc., whose waters possess the highest medicinal value and some day promise well. Our scenery and springs can not be surpassed, either in beauty or Aalue. There are many caves in the county, from one-fourth to one mile in length, and any one seeking i)leasure or profit can find no better place. Our industrial development is wanting; we have few mills or factories of any kind, and everything used most is shipped in, save corn, meal and stock. Our consumption and the readiness and abundance and cheapness of coal and water afford good oppor- tunity for investments in this line, with a fair promise of ample returns. We have no railroad nearer than the Louisville & Nash- ville, and the Cincinnati Southern, which is from eight to sixteen miles from the nearest boundary. We have no pikes, but the public roads are fairly good, and maintained by the militia labor; the road system is apparently on a standstill, or improving very slowly, and more adequate road laws are needed, and the atten- tion of the Legislature is invited to that fact. The people of the county raise stock, and farm on a small scale generally for a liv- ing. There is some work done in the lumber regions. The price of labor ranges (including boarding expenses, which are usually borne by the employer) from |10 to |20 per month. Or, in other words, .fl'S per month and board, or about |18 and board them- selves. Tn Jackson county we have sixty-eight public schools, somewhat upon the plan of all others in the State, only we can boast of the best school houses of any county in the State, as per our popula- 162 Fourteenth Bieiiiiiul Report Bureau of Agriculture. tion and wealth. Our county is fairly well supplied with churches, most every locality having a church house. McKee, the county seat, is a small town situated in the center of the county and not like Home of old on her seven hills, but between four hills on "Indian" creek, about one mile above where tradition says the Boone and Calloway girls Avere rescued by their gallant lovers July 17, 1776, something of which every one knows. We have few other towns. The people of Jackson county are w^anting a railroad, and the best route is up Laurel fork and Indian creek, through McKee, Moulder, Burning Springs, Manchester and on. With this our coal, timber and pasture and farm lands become available and our people wealthy. The county has a population of about 11,000. The county roads are bad, and worked by hands called out by overseers. They are better worked of late than heretofore. It is situated in the Eleventh Congressional, Fifth Appellate, Twenty-seventh Judicial and Seventeenth Senatorial Districts. PosTOFFicEs: — Alcorn, Anville, Clover, Bottom, Collingsworth, Driprock, Egypt, Ethel, Evergreen, Foxtown, Grayhawk, Green Hall, Knob, Isaac, Kerbyknob, McKee, Maudlin, Middlefork, Moore's Creek, Morril, Nathanton, Parrot, Peoples' Tyner, Welch- burg. Jefferson County. Jefferson County, named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, then governor of Virginia, was established by the Legislature of Vir- ginia, May 1, 1780. It was one of three counties formed of the old county of Kentucky, which had, by a similar eliminating process, been made out of the then county of Fincastle, in 1776. Fincastle county disappeared when Kentucky county was carved out of it, and Kentucky county in turn passed out of existence when Jeffer- son and the other two counties, Lincoln and Fayette, were carved out of it. Neither of their names are preserved in any subsequent county organization, either in the State of Kentucky or Virginia. When, however, Kentucky became an independent State, in 1792, the name Kentucky, which originally embraced its original terri- tory, was resumed. When old Kentucky county was dissected in 1780 and counties of Jefferson, Fayette and Lincoln carved out of it, the Virginia Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 153 Legislature probably intended to make tbe three new counties equal in territorial extent. The ignorance of geography at that early day, however, caused Lincoln to be made the largest, Fay- ette next, and Jefferson the smallest of the three. There were in the whole of old Kentucky county 26,408,320 acres, and of these, Jefferson got about 5,000,000, while Lincoln and Fayette secured the rest. Starting with 5,000,000 of acres, Jefferson county was pretty good picking for the horde of new counties that were to be born of her. Before the end of four years from its establishment, the Legislature of Virginia began dissecting it. In 1784 Nelson county was carved out of it. In 1792, Shelby, Washington and Hardin; in 1796, Bullitt; in 1798, Henry and Ohio; in 1799, Breck- enridge; in 1810, Grayson; in 1815, Daviess; in 1823, Oldham and Meade; in 1824, Spencer; in 1829, Hancock; in 1834, Marion; in 1836, Trimble; in 1843, Larue, and in 1848, Taylor. Here, then, were eighteen new counties, having an aggregate territory of 3,717,018 acres, which were carved out of Jefferson between 1784 and 1848. But besides these eighteen new counties, wholly carved out of the original territory of Jefferson, there were twelve other coun ties partly made up from it. These were: Mercer, 1785»; Green 1792; Franklin, 1794; Adair, 1801; Casey, 1806; Butler, 1810; Hart 1819; Edmonson, 1825; Anderson, 1827; Carroll, 1838; Boyle, 1842 and McLean, 1854. They embrace an aggregate of 2,037,630 acres But all of these acres did not come from Jefferson's original terri tory. Part came from Lincoln and part from Fayette. The loca tion of these twelve counties "along the old division lines between Jefferson and Fayette and Lincoln indicates that more than half their territory, or more than 1,000,000 acres came from within the original boundary of Jefferson. This dividing of old Jefferson could not continue always. The eighteen whole, and the twelve partial counties carved out of it had consumed nearly the whole of its original 5,000,000 acres. There remained only 233,206 acres in the original county, and that only made about an average county for territorial extent. The county of Jefferson as it now stands with its 2.33,206 acres, is bounded on the north by Oldham, on the east by Spencer and Shelby, on the south by Bullitt, and on the west by the Ohio river. Except in the eastern and southern portions where hills and knobs occur, its surface is generally level and well watered by Beargrass 154 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. creek, Floj'd's Fork and Pond creek. Besides Louisville, the chief city of the State, it contains some of the oldest villages, such a.^ Jeflfersontown and Middletown. Jefferson county may be said to have begun its political exist- ence on March 7, 1781, when its first county court was held. There was then no court house in which to hold court, and the magis- trates assembled in the old fort at the foot of Twelfth street. There is no reliable record of the names of the justices who held this first court, but they are believed to have been William Pope, John Floyd, George Slaughter, Isaac Cox and Andrew Hines. Eichard Chenowith was sheriff. Uninterrupted prosperity did not follow the opening of courts for protecting the rights and punishing the wrongs of citizens. The Indians were about and had something to say concerning the white men building houses and raising corn on their hunting grounds. They never came in large numbers into the territory of Jefferson, and no great Indian battle was ever fought here. They came, however, in small numbers, and lurked in the forest until they could kill the unsuspecting citizens. In this way many lives were lost, and among them some of the most important to the pioneers. In 1781, Col. William Linn, Capt. Abraham Tipton and Capt. John Chapman were killed by Indians in ambush. In 1783, Col. Floyd was ambuscaded and slain. In 1781, Walker Daniel was killed in the same way. In 1788, they killed the grandfather of President Lincoln. Such were the distress and annoyances caused by these secret murderers, that the inhabitants of Jefferson county, as late as 1795, entered into an agreement to pay a fixed sum of money for •every Indian scalp. There is a variety of soils in Jefferson county, some quite poor and some as fine as can be found in the State, ranging in price from 110.00 to |1,000 per acre, owing to quality and location. Al- most all the -land within six miles of Louisville is devoted to market gardening, and Jefferson county likely produces more of what is known as second crop potatoes than are produced in any other section. Enormous quantities of main crop potatoes (or first crop), onion seed, onion sets and onions are grown extensively throughout the county. The territory lying from eight to four- teen miles from the city is largely devoted to fruit growing and truck gardening. The small fruit industry is very extensive and no place in the world raises finer berries than those grown in the Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 156 Middletown, Jeffersontown, and Fern Creek region. Strawberries were grown at Fern Creek in 1899 and exhibited in Louisville, seven of which would fill a quart box. Farming proper is carried on quite extensively in a large portion of the county. Magnificent corn and wheat lands are found along Beargrass creek, Pond creek, Floyd's fork and other sections, while in the southern part of the county more attention is paid to early corn and hay. The people have splendid facilities for transportation of their products in every direction as there are no less than ten great railroads centering in Louisville, the county seat of the county. There has also been built within the last year the Louisville, Anchorage & Pewee Valley Electric railroad. And in addition to the railroads they have the Ohio river. The water power on the falls at Louis- ville only waits to be utilized. There are a number of turnpikes in the county which have been built and operated as toll roads, which are now free. The militia system of working of the county roads was abandoned years ago and all roads are worked by taxation, and more attention is given each year to macadam and many miles have been constructed in the last few years, and which may properly be called permanent roads; roads where the proper attention has been given to drainage and then crowned with crushed limestone rock are the best and the road is one that can be depended upon at all times. It is only a question of time when all important public roads in this county will be turnpikes. Timber is becoming very scarce, and remains only in most part on the rough and glady parts of the county. It is now mostly mark- eted in the log. The timber growth of the county has been mainly oak, poplar, walnut, hickory, ash, elm and beech. There are sev- eral excellent quarries of building stone and quite a number of brick and tile works. Perhaps the most noted> mineral water in the county is found near Floyd's fork, one mile below Fisherville,^ and the place is becoming quite popular as a health resort. Farm labor is largely employed and wages average about |15.00 per month with board, or fl.OO per day without board. Laborers are both white and black. The last assessment shows that 231,960 acres were assessed. The assessed value of the same was $12,- 888,749. The personal property of the farmers is assessed at 11,377,199, which is a total increase in the assessed valuation over last report of |1,320,495, more than ten per cent. The population of the county is 30,890. These figures are for the county outside the limits of the cit,y of Louisville, the boundaries of which have 156 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. been so extended recently as to take into the city much of the county's valuable lands and much of its population. In Jefferson county are numerous relics of the pioneer period. At Mulberry Hill, on the Poplar Level road, stands the two-story double log house, built in 1784 by John Clark, the father of Gen. George Kogers Clark, and at Locust Grove on the Ohio may be seen the old-style solid brick mansion house built by Col. William Croghan in 1709. In the family gravej-ard here the remains of Gen. Clark reposed from 1818 to 1869, when they were reinterred in Cave Hill Cemetery. On Beargrass creek are the sites of six original forts: Spring, Floyd's Dutch, Sturgis, Sullivan's and Linn's which sheltered so many i)ioneers from the Indians, and where lie in unknown graves the remains of men and women who helped to lay the foundation of the State of Kentucky. On the bank of Longrun, a branch of Ford's fork, stood Hugh's station, where the grandfather of President Lincoln was killed in 1788, and on the same stream was routed the little army of Col. Floyd, who went to the relief of Boone's Station in 1781. On Cheno- weth's Kun yet stands the stone spring house in which the sur- vivors of the massacre of the Chenoweth family took refuge in 1789. The ground itself of Jefferson county in many places is hallowed by recollections of the past: Yes Hallow^ed down to Earth's profound And uj) to Heaven. , E. T. DURRETT. Revised by M. F. Johnson. Jefferson county is situated in the Fifth Congressional, Fourth Appellate, Thirteenth Judicial, Thirty-sixth, Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth Senatorial, Fortj'-fourth, Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth, Forty-seventh, Forty-eighth, Forty-ninth, Fiftieth and Fifty-first Legislative Districts. PosTOFFicEs: — Anchorage, Avoca, Beechmont, Bishop, Buechel, Clark, Crescent Hill, Eastwood, Fairmount, Ferncreek, Fisher- ville, Glenview, Goosecreek, Harrod's Creek, Highland Park, Hikes, Hoertz, Jeffersontown, Lakeland, Lochland, Longrun, Lou- isville, Lyndon, Malott, Meadowlawn, Middletown, Newburg, O'Bannon, Oaklona, Orell, Pleasure Ridge Park, Prestonia, Pros- pect, Routt, St. Matthews. Shively, Smyrna, South Fork, Tucker, Valley Station, Worthington. Fourteenilt Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 157 Jessamine County. No extraordinary developments in its geological formation dis- tinguishes Jessamine county from other portions of the bluegrass country. It contains about 312 square miles of as fertile land as there is in Central Kentucky. The act creating Jessamine county was passed in the Kentucky Legislature February 14, 1797, but took no effect until August, 1798. Previous to this it was a part of Fayette county. Col. John Price, who had been the first to urge upon the people "the necessity of forming a new county, was the 'first representative, and was I'epeatedly elected to that position, and was a delegate from Jessamine county to the convention that formed the second Constitution of Kentucky in 1799. There is not a shadow of a doubt that to Col. Price belongs the honor of giving to Jessamine county her name, and the name was suggested to him by that flower growing in such profusion in portions of the county, and which is to be seen in some localities in the county even to this day. The silly story related by Collins in his history of Kentucky, and repeated since in other publications, that the county was named for Miss Jessamine Douglas, a young girl killed by the Indians in 1789, is a romance pure and simple, which I could prove beyond question did space permit. The Kentucky river forms the southeast and southwest boundary line, and, on the north is Fayette; east, Madison; south, Garrard, and west, Garrard, Mercer and Woodford counties. The boundary of Jessamine, east, west and southwest on the Kentucky river is very irregular as the river has many bends of considerable length, making a boundary line of water ninety-two miles. Jessamine county has no navigable streams. The Kentucky river is, or will soon be, by means of locks and dams, made by the United States Government, navigable the whole distance of nine- ty-two miles, bordering the county. Hickman, Jessamine and Marble creeks each afford water for propelling mills and factory machinery, and several large flouring mills are located on each. There are thirty-six miles of railroad, made up of sections of the Cincinnati Southern, running across the county from north to south, and of the Louisville Southern, known as the Nicholasville , Irvine & Beattyville road, which -crosses the countv west to east. 158 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. Jessamine is decidedly a stock-raising county, combined with ag- riculture, which constitutes a profitable adjunct to stock raising and farming. Nicholasville, the county seat, is located at the crossing of the Cincinnati Southern and the Nicholasville, Irvine & Beattyville railroad, was founded in 1798, and has a population of something over 3,000, at the present time. Sam'l. L. Duncan. Jessamine county is situated in the Eighth Congressional, Fifth Appellate, Twenty-fifth Judicial, Twentj^-second Senatorial and Sixty-third Legislative Districts. PosTOPFicEs: — Ambrose, Branuon, Camp, Nelson, Hanly, High- bridge, Jessamine, Keene, Little Hickman, Logana, Mount Leba- non, Nealton, Nicholasville, Pink, Pollard, Spears, Union Mills, Wilmore. Johnson County. Johnson County is situated in Central Eastern Kentucky, and was formed in 1843, and named in honor of a distinguished son of Kentucky, Col. Richard M. Johnson, who was the vice-president of the United States during the presidency' of Martin Van Buren. The county is bounded on the north by Morgan and Lawrence, on the east by Martin, on the south by Floyd, and on the west by Magoffin. The county is well watered and well drained. The Big Sandy river flows through the eastern part of the county, and Paint creek flows in a southeastern direction through the central part of the countj^ and empties into the Big Sandy. Paint, Tom's and John's creeks are the principal creeks in the county, though there are numerous others. The soil of Johnson county is probably as good, if not better, than that of any other county in Eastern Kentucky. It is of a sandy character and underlaid with a splendid clay subsoil, and is very strong and productive. The bottom lands along the numer- ous streams are very productive and as fertile land can be found along them as anywhere. The timber supply of Johnson is still very great, though great quantities of valuable timber have been cut and marketed. Porta- ble saw mills are found all over the county in the great timber belts, but fifty per cent, of the fine timber of -this county still re- mains. Poplar, ash, hickory, beech, oak, pine, locust, chestnut FoiirtC())ih Biennial Report Biircdii of A(jricuUnrc. 159 and s^Tamore can be found in large tracts and inaj be had at very cheap prices pei; acre. Diversified farming- is not engaged in in this county, though fruit grows well here. Timber is the principal product of the county. This county is well underlaid with coal, both cannel and bituminous, and the supply is practically inexhaustible. Veins of bituminous coal eight feet in thickness are found. A cannel coal mine is in operation about four miles south of Paintsville, the county seat, on the Sandy river. Iron ore of a superior quality is also found in some portions of the county. This county is rich in mineral and timber. The Big Sandy river is navigable for steamers for about two- thirds of the year. There are no turnpike roads in the county, and our county roads, which are the common dirt roads of the country, Are kept in reasonably good repair under a local road law we have for the county, and are traA^eled by buggies even in the winter time, and by stage coaches. There are only about four miles of complete railroad in fKis county, which is an extension of the O. «Sc B. S. railroad to Myrtle, in Johnson, and is located in the eastern part of the county. There have been other surveys made and roads talked of. Railroad fa- cilities are what we need to develop the coal and minerals of this county, and to carry out our timber after it is converted into lumber. Corn, wheat, oats, hay, potatoes, tobacco and sorghum are all raised, but onh' in quantities sufficient for home consumption, ex- cepting tobacco and sorghum, and especially is the latter raised in large quantities for market elsewhere. The labor of the county is performed mostly by native whites, farm hands being paid from $10 to .fl5 per month and board, while hands for timbering receive from |18 to .f20. Good churches are found throughout the county everywhere, and our common schools are in good condition. All the districts have good and comfortable school houses in them and the conven- ient modern appliances .for teaching have been furnished each school, and good teachers have been supplied, and the schools are under exceptionally good management. Paintsville is the county seat of Johnson county, and is situated on Paint creek, just a little southeast of the center of the county. It is a flourishing town with enterprising merchants, good church buildings, and live congregations; have as good graded schools 160 F()\iiii'V)iili Bieiiiiidi licport linrcini of Afiriciiltiire. and good new school buildings, with ample accommodations for all who see fit to attend. Hotel accommodations are good, and the- citizens are quiet and law-abiding and hospitable to strangers. This county is in the Tenth Congressional, Seventh Appellate,. Twenty-fourth Judicial, Thirty-third Senatorial and Mnet} -sixth Legislative Districts. PosTOFFiCEs: — Asa, Barnett's Creek, Boon's Camp, Coal, Den- ver, Eastpoint, Eliza, Flanery, Flatgap, Fuget, Galen, Jarvy, Kea- ton, Kerz, Laurel Hill, Lowmanville, Manilla, Mingo, Myrtle, Odds, Oil Springs, Paintsville, Redbush, Riceville, River, Saintmaur, Sampson, Sip, Soto, Straffordsville, Toms, Winifred. Kenton County. Kenton County was separated from Campbell in 1840. It lies in the extreme northern part of the State, at the mouth of the Lick- ing river. It is bounded on the north by the Ohio river; east, by Campbell, the Licking being the boundary between the mother county and Kenton; south, by Pendleton and Grant, the west by Boone. It is a narrow county, being about six to twelve miles wide and about twenty-five miles long The land is broken and hilly in many parts. The scenery ap- proaches the grand. The bluffs overlooking the Licking present one of the finest views in the State, and the heights back of Cov- ington, the metropolis, look dowm on half a dozen cities, a number of towns and five monster bridges spanning the Ohio and two over the Licking. Kenton bears no small part in suj)i)lying the wants of this great aggregation of human beings. From this point of view stretch out before the observer as if one city, Cincinnati and suburbs, Newport, Bellevue, Dayton, Covington, Milldale, Ludlow, West Covington, Central Covington, MuUingsville, Crescent Spring, the Latonia Agricultural grounds and buildings and "The Lagoon,"^ a summer resort which attracts large numbers of visitors during the summer. The fertile valleys of Kenton are market gardens for this popu- lation and this industry, together with the growing of small fruits and berries, gives employment to a large part of the population. Tomatoes and pickles are grown to supply the immense factories of Cincinnati, Covington, Milldale, Visalia and Walton. The facil- Fourfcoitli Biriniial Report BHrcaii of Agrh'uUure. 161 ities for (lausportutioii are excellent, especially since the turnpike law changed all the dirt roads into pikes. The K. C. railroad runs the full length of the county on the east- ern border and the Cincinnati Southern on the Avestern. The L. & N. Short Line runs through the county about twenty miles, from northeast to southwest. The Lexington pike runs the full western boundary, and the* Bank Lick & Independence & Colemansville pike runs through the center. There are fifty-one miles of turn- pike on which toll is taken at moderate rates. And there are 152 miles of free turnpikes in this county. It will be seen at a glance that there is a perfect net work of good roads, making it practicable at all seasons of the year to market products. The cities and towns on the Kentucky side of the Ohio river south of Cincinnati have exceptionally fine street ear facilities. From Fountain Square in Cincinnati the cars run to Fort Thomas, four miles east of Newport, to Bellevue, Dayton, Newport, Coving- ton, Milldale, Kosedale (one mile and a half south of Milldale;) La- tonia Jockey Club race course. West Covington, Ludlow ,The La- goon and intermediate points at a five cent fare from and to Foun- tain Square. The enterprising and liberal management of the electric line of street railway is fast populating the suburbs of Covington and Newport. A company has been incorporated to ex- tend the line to Krlauger and it Avill probably be completed and running Avithin the next eighteen months. Bank Lick creek is the principal affluent of ihe Licking. There are numerous other small streams that give an excellent natural water supjdy for stock. Wheat, corn and tobacco are extensively grown on the highlands and rich hillsides. The soil is excellent and the famous bluegrass thrives on it. Butter and milk dairies are numbered by the lum- dred and a large acreage of land is devoted to grass in order to sup- ply this demand and also to ship sweet and buttermilk and butter to the cities. All kinds of fruit do well, especially pears, which seldom fail. Much attention is paid to growing strawberries, dewberries, raspberries, gooseberries, currants and blackberries. With the immense population at its door to be supplied, there is a great future for a county so well located and that has such land facilities for market. An effort has been made to find gas and oil, but so far only a limited amount of gas has been found, which supplies light in a brewery located near the western bliitf of the city. 6 162 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. Kentou has no extensive timber tracts left. The woodmen and the civil war of the past generation did not spare the trees. The Ohio skirting the northern boundary for six or eight miles and the Licking in fair water form all the navigable water courses. The latter, however, with a sj'stem of locks and dams could Be made navigable all the year. A government appropriation has been made for a survey of the Licking with the object in view of building a dam which will afford navigation to Falmouth in Pen- dleton county. The roads are under the care of supervisors, one for each road district, and they are appointed by the fiscal court. This court •consists of the county judge and five magistrates. A tax of fif- teen cents on the |1()0 is levied for the purpose of keeping the bridges and turnpikes in repair, and persons in the various districts are required to w^ork six days in the year. The road supervisors have charge of the county dirt roads as well as the pikes. There are about fifty-three miles of complete railroad in the county. ''Keomezer,'' mineral springs on the Southern railroad about nine miles from Covington, are attracting great notice. Tliey were discovered only a few years ago and under good man- agement are becoming rapidly well known and patronized. Lands in the river bottoms near the city are moderate in price, but vary greatly on account of locality and altitude. Probably |60 an acre for improved land and |25 for unimproved land would be an average price. The laboring class is composed of Americans, Irish, Germans and negroes. The negro population is not as numerous as in the counties of Central Kentucky'. There is no distinct colony of foreigners in the county. The German population of Covington and Newport is large. Laborers on the farms receive an average price of .fl5 per month and board. The hands in the various fac- tories, mills, etc., in our city population receive the usual wages varying with the general laws of supply and demand. There is an opening for a creamery and cheese factory, as we liaA'e nothing of the kind in the county. A great deal of butter is made by the , small dairies. The county seat is the town of Independence. This is a village '^of about 200 inhabitants. The city of Covington is the metrop- olis and there are virtually two seats of government. Double sessions of all the courts are held. All the business of the first district is transacted at Independence. There are two court Fuitrtcciith Biennial Report Bureau of AyricuUure. 163 houses and two clerks' oflices. The rest of the business, that within the city corporation, is transacted at Covington. The county judge, circuit clerk and county clerk appoint a deputy who takes charge of the Independence clerk's office. There are likewise two jails, the deputy serving at lndei)endence. The public schools in the county are in average condition and the houses very good. Covington is noted for its excellent school system. Ludlow, Milldale, West Covington, Central Covington and. Erlanger have ten months' school, graded and supported by addi- tional taxation. Covington and Ludlow support free high schools likewise. At Independence there is conducted for five months a free school W'ith two teachers. There is also located at Independence u private institution of considerable merit known as the ''Independ- ence High School." It has prepared many pupils for entering col- lege and receiving certificates to teach in the public schools. L. E. Casey. Kenton county is in the Sixth Congressional, Sixth Appellate, Sixteenth Judicial, Twenty-fourth Senatorial and Eightieth, Eigh- f^^-first and Eighty-second Legislative Districts. PosTOFFiCEs: — Atwood, Banklick, Buffington, Covington, Cres- cent Springs, Erlanger, Fiskburg, Independence, Kenton, Keywest, Latonia, Ludlow, INIorgansville, ^Nlorningview, Mullinsville, Nichol- son, Finer, Pruett, Sanfordtown, Scott, Springlake, Staff ordsburg, Towers, Yisalia. Knott County. Knott County was formed in 1884, and named in honor of Gov. Knott. It was formed out of parts of Perry, Floyd, Letcher and r.reathitt counties. It is situated in the extreme eastern portion of the State and is bounded on the north by Breathitt and Floyd counties, on the east by Floyd, on the south by Letcher, and on the west by Perry and Breathitt. Its area is probably three hundred fjquare miles or nearly so. That section of the county formed from Floyd is drained by the Big Sandy river and its tributaries and the portion taken from the counties of Perry, Letcher and Breathitt is drained by the north fork of the Kentucky river and its tributaries. The character of soil is rich sandy loam, and the bottom lands along the many streams which traverse the county are peculiarly productive, rais- 164 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of AgrienJturc. ing magnificent corn, oats, and vegetables. Wheat is grown on the nplands and also fine pasture are produced there. Minerals, iron and coal, also oil and gas are known to exist in the county, but have not been developed. The county is in the oil an(l gas belt and on the line of the fine producing oil and gas wells on Beaver creek in Floj'd county, which creek also tlows through Knott county and the best wells in Floyd on that creek are but three miles from the county line. We have abundant forest of the finest and most valuable hardwood timber. The splendid poplar timber has about all been bought up and now is in the hands of a timber company but other good timbered land in great quantities can be bought at an aver- age price of |5 per acre. Diversified farming is not engaged in further than to meet do- mestic uses. There are no navigable streams in Knott county, about forty miles, however, being available to float or raft logs. We have no water courses capable of being made navigable by a system of locks and dams. There are no turnpikes in the county, the public roads being the country dirt roads and are kept in re- pair — bad repair — by the system provided for under the statutes of the State, being under the supervision of overseers or surveyors appointed by the county court. There are no railroads in the county; about forty miles of a proposed road through the county were surveyed some years ago but nothing has come of it further. Improved farm lands range in price from |3 to |5 per acre, and un- improved can be bought for |2. The character of labor employed in the county is mostly native white, farm hands getting |i;i a month, and hands for timbering from seventy-five cents to one dol- lar per day. There is one good college in the county, situated at Hindman, known as Hindman College; other educational facilities are afl;ord- ed solely through the common schools of the county, which are in good condition and well attended. While immigration to the county has not been appreciably large there has been a steady increase in the population of the county. Hindman, the county seat of Knott county, a nice little village, named after Lieutenant-Governor James K. Hindman, is situated a little southwest of the center of the county on Troublesome creek. Knott county is situated in the Tenth Congressional, Seventh FourteentJi Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 165 Appellate, Twenty-fourth Judicial, Thirty-third Senatorial and Ninety-seventh Legislative Districts. PosTOFFicEs: — Bath, Brinkley, Buncombe, Cody, Cordia, Dema, Dillon, Emmalena, Hall, Hemlock, Hindman, Kezer, Mallie, Omaha, Pinetop, Puncheon, Raven, Republican, Ritchie, Sassafras, Smiths- boro, Sylvester, Vest, Witch. Knox County. Geographically, Knox county is well up in the mountains of Southeastern Kentuck}-. Socially she is on the border land be- tween the mountain country and the Bluegrass. Intellectually, she is the peer of the best counties in the State; this is evidently due to the fact that the original settlers of this county were made up of an unusually large number of the better class of Virginian people, who, in their turn, were drawn from the better class of English people who settled Virginia. Knox (named in honor of Major-General Henry Knox, of Revo- lutionary fame) became a county in 1799, being in that year carved out of Lincoln, one of the largest counties then composing the State of Kentucky. Knox has since lost enough of her territory to make up the whole of the later established counties of Bell and Harlan, and large parts of Whitley and Laurel, yet it is a large county. The village of Flat Lick in the southeastern part of the county is the oldest settlement in Kentucky, having been peopled by the first of the emigrants from Virginia, who came through Cumberland Gap; the first house ever built in Kentucky was erected by Dr. Walker within the present limits of Knox on the Cumberland river, about three miles below Barboursville. Knox lies on both sides of the divide separating the waters of the Kentucky river from those of the Cumberland, at least nine- tenths of the county lying on the latter waters. The topography of almost the whole county is a series of mountain ridges winding in all sorts of fantastic curves, and separated by long, narrow and winding creek valleys. More than three-fourth of the terri- tory is steep mountain sides thickly covered with forests. The soil is disintegrated sandstone (in many places micaceous), except new ground where the timber has lately been cleared away, which is loose, black soil, very productive. Agriculturally Knox produces enough to feed her own people, no more; but under care- 166 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. ful cultivation, fruits might be produced in almost endless quanti- ties, especially on the higher lands on the south side of the Cumber- land river. Wool growing is one of the principal sources of the farmer's income, which might be greatly extended by choosing the proper grasses to clothe such of the mountain sides as have been cleared. The forest have been stripped of the larger part of the more readily marketable timber, such as poplar and walnut, but a vast amount of timber is still left, such as oak, in all of its varieties (white oak, black oak, chestnut oak, Spanish oak, post oak, spotted oak, etc.), hickory, beech, chestnut, ash, dogwood, sourwood, gum, maple, sugar tree, elm, sycamore, lynn, ironwood, birch, cucumber,, buckeye, service, willow, redbud, cedar, holly, etc. The chestnut oak (the tanbark tree) furnishes the Knox county land owners with,, perhaps, his principal source of revenue, so far as ready money is concerned. Thousands of cords of this bark are annually ship- ped, in so much that in a few years the supply will be exhausted. But the great resources of Knox county are in her coal and oil fields, in which she may be fairly said to be unsurpassed by any county in the State. All grades of bituminous and cannel coals are found in this county in great profusion. The writer has gone into some of the openings and measured cannel coal veins forty- eight inches in thickness, and from the height of the mountain above the opening the amount of coal in these veins evidently is practically inexhaustible. Nearly every farmer has a vein of coal opened on his place, which he works to supply his own fuel. In 1888, a. coal company began mining on a considerable scale within the limits of the county, since with time this company has contin- uously worked its mines, shipping large amounts of fine coal each year, and gives employment at present to several hundred miners. Within the last three years several other smaller companies have been operating coal mines with satisfactory results. Several oil wells have been latel.^ bored in nearly all of which petroleum has been found mor or less abundantly. In nearly all parts of the county a bright colored, greasy fluid appears on the surface, indicating the existence of fluid minerals beneath the sur- face. Sulphur springs are numerous throughout the county, while bored wells generally strike water impregnated with iron. A number of small mineral springs in the county are used to a limited extent as health resorts. The rock, both sandstone and slate, is laid down usually in level Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 167 strata, but in some places the stratas are tilted at various angles; the rock of a considerable part of the county lying on the Kentucky river waters, presents a curious system of anticlinals and syn- clinals. There are few rapid mountain streams in the county, nearly all the creeks having a very slight rise towards their heads, and wind- ing very slowly to their confluences and finding their way into the Cumberland, which itself meanders slowly and tortuously through the county, probably having at least forty miles of its own length within the limits of Knox. This section of the river offers fine in- ducements to fishermen at certain seasons of the year; fish weigh- ing more than forty pounds have been taken from this favored lo- cality, the varieties being catfish, bass, suckers, new-lights, perch, etc. All of the Cumberland lying within Knox is capable of being made navigable for steamboats, by about two locks and dams. Knox was entirely without railroad facilities until 1888, when the Cumberland Valley branch of the Louisville & Nashville rail- way was built through the county, and soon afterwards completed through the famous Cumberland Gap, which is twenty-five miles southeast of Knox county, to Norton, Va., where connection is made with the seaboard by the way of the Norfolk & Western railroad. Knox county is in the Eleventh Congressional, Fifth Appellate, "Twenty-seventh Judicial, Seventeenth Senatorial and Sixty-ninth Legislative Districts. PosTOFFicEs: — Artemus, Bailey's Switch, Barboursville, Bertha, Bimble, Birdseye, Bryant's Store, Campbell, Clate, Coalport, Crane- nest, Dewitt, Emanuel, Flatlick, Girdler, Gray, Hammond, Holden, Hopper, Indiancreek, Jarvis' Store, Knoxfork, Lindsay, Lunsford, Hesser, Mills, Place, Scalf, Trosper, Walker. Larue County. Larue County was once a portion of Hardin county, and was cut off from the mother county by an act of the Legislature in 1842. Larue county is below the average in size, but, in point of fertility of soil, the enterprise of its citizens and its educational progress, it is above the average of Kentucky counties. The principal crops of Larue county are corn, wheat, hay and tobacco. Through the county runs three branches of Nolin creek, 168 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. and the farms along all of these branches are fertile and produce abundantly. The remainder of our farm land is comparatively thin, but, with the use of fertilizers, it produces wheat almost as well as the better land, and since commercial fertilizers have come into general use it has increased in value. The live stock raised consists of horses, cattle, hogs, mules and sheep. Larue county has access to two railroads — the Illinois Central, which has a branch road running from Cecilian Junction and term- inating at Hodgenville, the county seat. The main stem of the Louisville & Nashville runs through the west end of the county and the Knoxville branch of the same road crosses the eastern border. The competition existing between these two roads gives the farmers very reasonable rates of freight on their products. The Bardstown and Green river Turnpike runs through the county from north to south and a pike connects Hodgensville and Buffalo, on both of which toll gates are yet maintained. We have had no toll gate raiding nor any disposition to raid them. The factories of the county consist of distilleries of J. M. Atherton «& Co., at Athertonville, which are now the property of the- Kentucky Distilleries and Warehouse Company and are the largest in the State, five or six other distilleries of smaller capacity, the Hodgensville Spoke and Lumber Company, at Hodgensville, which turns out two million spokes a year, and the planing mills of the Daugherty Brothers, also at Hodgensville. Hodgensville is the county seat. It is a town of 1,300 inhab- itants, and is a clean, healthful live country town with increasing business. The other towns of the county are: Buffalo 500 popula- tion and a brisk village in point of business ; Athertonville, whose life is the large distilleries there; Magnolia, Mt. Sherman and Roa- noke, all small villages. Larue county is making greater improvements in the educational line than a majority of the counties of the State, if she does not hold first place in that respect. There are two splendid colleges in the county — Kenton College, at Hodgensville, and East Lynn Col- lege, at Buffalo, both of which are prosperous and had an enrollment of over 300 pupils each year. Magnolia has a good high school and the district schools of the county are in good condition. Farm lands in the county vary in price, according to location and improvement. Fair land, with good improvements, may be bought for ten dollars per acre, while some farms are sold as high as sixty Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 169 dollars. The bill lands of the county have very little yaluation — a dollar or two an acre. Larue county contains the farm that is now noted as being the birth place of Abraham Lincoln. It is situated three miles south of Hodgensville, and is now the property of New York capitalists. The cabin in which Lincoln was born has been moved to New York and is in Central Park, though it has been promised that the cabin would be finally returned to the old farm. It is hoped by our cit- izens that the government will some day make a national park of the farm. Such a measure was once introduced in Congress but it was squeezed out of notice by other legislation. C. C. Howard. Larue county is situated in the Fourth Congressional, Third Ap- pellate, Tenth Judicial, Thirteenth Senatorial and Thirty-second Legislative Districts. PosTOFFiCEs: — Athertonville, Attilla, Buffalo, Eagle Mills, Foote, Gibson, Ginseng, Gleanings, Hibernia, Hodgensville, Lyons Station, Magnolia, Malt, Mount Sherman, Otter, Parkers Grove, Roanoke, Silva, Tanner, Touieville. ^Vilkins. Laurel County. Laurel County is situated in the southeasten part of the State, and was formed in 1826, and was named after the Laurel river which flows through the southern portion of the county, the river having been given its name from the laurel shrub and evergreen, which lines the shores of that stream. It is bounded on the north by the counties of Rockcastle and Jackson, on the east by Clay, on the south by Whitley and Knox, and on the west by Pulaski. The county is watered and drained by the Rockcastle river and its tributaries. The soil of Laurel county may be said, in a general way, lo be neither good nor bad.it strikes rather ahappy medium, though it is excellent, much of it, for tobacco, and grows very well all the vegetables grown in the State, and produces good grass. The sur- face of the county is very broken and rolling. It contains possi- bly the best coal field in Kentucky, and many mines are now in active operation within the borders of the county. Iron ore. too. has been discovered though the iron industry has not been develop- ed yet. Diversified farming is engaged in by the Swiss colonies in this county to a considerable extent; grapes and fruits of all 170 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. kinds grown in Kentucky are raised in great abundance. Fine cheese is made by them and many minor manufacturing industries en- gaged in. Good timber is still to be had in the county; about one-fourth of the original area of woodland is still here. The walnut and best poplar are gone, but white and black oak, black pine, beech, chest- nut, ash, and maple are still abundant. There are no water courses in or bordering on the county that are navigable only for the pur- pose of floating or rafting logs. There are no turnpikes in the county. The public or county roads are the ordinary dirt roads^ and kept up under the supervision of overseers, appointed by the county court, under the road laws of the State. There are twenty- nine miles of railroad in the county, the Knoxville branch of the Louisville & Nashville road running entirely through the county nearly from north to south. There are no minerals or medicinal springs in the county resorted to as health or pleasure resorts, though there are several very fine chalybeate springs which could be developed and made popu- lar, and no doubt profitable, as such. Nearly any or all of the streams of Laurel county can be easily used for the purpose of propelling machinery; no county has water power more available than this one. The labor on farms is mostly performed by native whites, and good hands can be had for |10 to $15 per month with board. There are four flourishing Swiss colonies in Laurel county; Bernstadt, East Bernstadt, Langnau and Strasburg, as referrea to above. The school facilities are furnished by the common schools of the county. London, the county seat of Laurel county, is a flourishing little town, with enterprising business men, good hotels, schools and churches, and is situated nearly in the exact center of the county on the Knoxville branch of the Louisville & Nashville road. Laurel county is situated in the Eleventh Congressional, Fifth Appellate, Twenty-seventh Judicial, Seventeenth Legislative Dis- tricts. PosTOFFicEs: — Abel, Abington, Add, Altamont, Andrews, Bald- rock, Bernstadt, Blackwater, Boreing, Bush, Canecreek, Congo, Crawford, Cruise East Bernstadt, Fariston, Fletcher, Greenmount, Grit, Hazelpatch, Ionia, Keavy, Lake, Langnau, Lily, London, Lynn Camp, McWhorter, Maplesville, Marydell-, Mershons, Oakley, Pitts- burg, Piatt, Eaccoon, The Glades, Tilus, Topton, Tuttle, Viva, Vose, Vox, Weaver. Foiiiifviith I'iciniial Rcpurt Burcdii of A(/ricnltiirc. 171 Lawrence County. Lawrence eoimty was formed iu 1821, from the portions of Flojd and Greenup counties, the dividing lines of tliose counties at the time being Main street of Louisa. It is located in the northeast- ern part of the State, bounded on the south by the counties of Martin and Johnson; on the north by the counties of Boyd and Carter; on the east by West Virginia and on the west by Elliott and Morgan counties. The surface of the county is largely hilly and broken, but not mountainous. There is, however, a large acreage of bottom land, -owing to the numerous water courses. The county is well watered. The Big Sandy river flows along its eastern boundary from its northern limit to Louisa, where it forks. The main fork, known as the Louisa Fork, flows tnrough the county to the Johnson .county line, the Tug Fork from Louisa to the Martin county line and is the dividing line between the county and West AMrginia, between those points. The river and its forks are navigable for steamboats for a large portion of the year. There is one lock and dam completed by the general government, just below the forks, near Louisa, which furn- ishes a pool of water for a distance of eight miles up each fork which enables the people living along or near it a cheap way of mar- keting their products. There is an appropriation for two addi- tional dams that are now being located, which, when completed, will furnish water at a depth of not less than six feet at the shal- lowest places, from the head of the navigable water in the dam now completed to the Ohio river at Catlettsburg, a distance of about thirty miles. The principal streams, flowing into the Big Sandy and its tribu- taries and through and in the county, are Blaine, Bear, Rove, Rush, Two Mile, Lick Three Mile, Griffith's Contrary', George's, Nat's, Donathan and Rock Castle creeks. None of them are navigable for ■steamboats and only one (Blaine) has any water falls, which, at the thriving little town of Fallsburg, has a water power running only a saw mill and grist mill, but which, if properly harnessed, would furnish power to run dynamos of sufficient power to run all the rail- way trains and all the machinery in the valley of Big Sandy. The soil in its virgin state, is fertile and the bottom lands still 172 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. remain so, but the hill lauds, owing to im^jroper cultivation, have become badly worn. All kinds of crops that can be grown successfully in the central States, can be grown here, and with as good returns, provided they receive the same care and attention as elsewhere. The principal crops are corn, oats, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, tobacco, apples, peaches, pears, plums, and small fruits, some attention being given of late to the cow peas and tufa bean, not only as a pay crop, but as an improver of the soil. The sowing of grass seed has increased five hundred fold during the past five years, of which red clover, mammoth and alsike take the lead, with orchard grass, bluegrass, timothy, tall meadow, oat grass, Italian rye grass, all of which have been found w'ell adapted to our soils. Crimson clover has not been a success. The adaptability of our lands for grazing purposes has stimulated the extraordinary sowing of grass seed. The northwest- ern portion of the county embraces the head waters of the east- fork of Little Sandy, a large portion of Bear creek and a number of the tributaries of Blaine, has a large number of farmers who graze from one to ten hundred cattle each year and most of them have been very successful. This section is known as the "Blue- grass" section of the valley. One silo was built in the county and that one of about four hun- dred tons capacity and which has proven a success for the four years it has been used, a success, not only from the standpoint of feed, but of economy in harvesting of crops in the dry weather of September instead of the wet cold weather of December. The timber suitable, for making first-class lumber is being ex- hausted at a rapid rate, but we are to be congratulated that nearly all of it at the present time is being worked up into lumber instead of being floated to the market in saw logs. There has never been a time wiien there were so many mills in operation in the county and it looks as though what hass been considered worthless w^ould, in the end, nearly equal in value the choice timber, viz.: Hickory and dog- wood poles, none over tw^o inches in diameter, are shipped for man- ufacture into smoking pipes. And sour wood and maple sprouts not over one-half inch in diameter for stems for same. The re- moval of so much of the smaller growth for which pay is obtained, makes the clearing and preparing our hill lands for grass much cheaper. The average value of timber on lands at the present time is ten to fifteen dollars per acre, if within reasonable distance of the river or railroad. Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 173 L, There is au u'oundanee of good caniiel and bituminous coal for domestic and steam purposes, and now that tlie Big Sandy river is certain to be improved, Ave have every reason to believe ihat many new mines will be opened in the near future. There are also large quantities of iron ore, much of it lying near the railroad and river. The quality is excellent, running from thirty-five to sixty per cent, metallic iron. It does not, how- ever, lie in such large veins as to make the mining of it cheaj). There are also large quantities of fireclay available. Oil so far found is at the depth of about three hundred and fifty feet, and is pronounced one of the best lubricating oils ever found, having a specific gravity of twenty to twenty-two degrees and equal to the best sperm oil and in point of endurance two and one- half times greater. We have no building stones but our sandstone, much of which is of a superior quality, free from impurities. There has never been any gas well found yet of sufficient rock pressure to nuike them commercially valuable. The piping of nat- ural gas from the wells in Martin count}^ through the whole length of our county, into Louisa, Catlettsburg and Ashland, in our own State, and Huntington, W. Va., and Ironton, Ohio, during the last ten months, has been of inestimable value, and assures them of an opportunity of the cheai)est of fuels to assist them in the develop- ment of our resources, and capitalists are becoming numerous in their visits to our county, looking for opportunities to invest and we can confidently hope that the resources of this and adjoining counties have been so fully explored as to satisfy every one of their prominence, as to warrant rapid development There is one first-class flouring mill in the county, and now that we have the fuel brought to our doors, we expect there will be a great increase in manufacturing industries, especially in wood working. There are two railroads in the county, one of which is the Big Sandy division of the Chesapeake & Ohio, running through the entire length of its eastern boundary and furnishing good transportation facilities for the coal mines at Peach Orchard and Torchlight and the numerous saw mills which are now in operation and the cannel coal mines at White House and Eliza, in Johnson county. The other is the Eastern Kentucky, running into the western portion of the county as far as Webbville. The oil development going on about ten miles south warrants the expectation of the people of that section, that it will be soon extended to those fields. The present 174 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Afiricultnre. means of transportation and the general favorable outlook for the immediate development of part of our resources, is inducing cap- italists to look favorabl3^ upon them, believing with our citizens that investments made in the near future must result in large pecuniary gain. There are no turnpikes or macadam roads in the couutv. There is a growing sentiment in the county in favor of good roads. The county owns a road machine which is working to great satisfaction and by persistent effort we hope to see a steady improvement in our roads. The labor of the county is largely white, for the most part good when properly directed, and improving each year. There need be no idle hands in this county at the present time, unless their owners so desire. Farm hands are scarce at thirteen dollars per month and board. Very ordinary hands can readily obtain that price. Where they board themselves, seventy-five cents per day for general work. We feel that one of the reasons for the increas- ed demands for labor is that our farmers by the purchase and use of improved farm machinery have thereby largely increased the acreage which is tilled. The largest increase in improved farm machinery for farm purposes has doubtless been in mowers and horse rakes. There are no colleges or academies in the county-, but there is a great interest in the public schools being manifested and increas- ing every year. After the public schools close, subscription schools are opened in most of the thickly settled districts. The county now has a population exceeding twenty thousand. Louisa is the county seat, situated on the eastern boundary of the State and on the Big Sandy river at the confluence of the Levisa and Tug forks. It is a thriving town of a little over one thousand inhabitants. Has two Methodist and one Baptist church, and two Methodist and one Baptist church for the colored popu- lation, one graded school of five rooms, besides the colored school. Other thriving little villages at each of which are prosperous stores, good schools and postoflfices are: Buchanan, Busseyville, Charley, Fallsburg, Glenwood, Lawmansville, Peach Orchard, Richardson, and Webbville. Other postoffices in the county are: Adams, Cherokee, Clifford, Cordell, Derifield, Estop. Gallup, vGeorge's Creek, Irad, Jean, Kinner, Madge, Martha, Olioville. Ossie, Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 175 Patrick, Patter, Prosperity, Eatclift'e. Skaggs, Yessie, Walbridge and Wilbur. Jay H. Northup. Lawrence county is in the Ninth Congressional, Seventh Appel- late, Twentieth Judicial, Thirty-second Senatorial and Ninty-eighth Legislative Districts. PosTOFFicEs: — ^Adams, Blaine, Brig, Buchanan, Busseyville, Cas- per, Charley, Cherokee, Clifford, Cordell, Davisville, Estep, Falls- burg, Gallup, George's Creek, Glenwood, Hicksville, Hulette, Irad, Ivory, Jean, Kinner, Louisa, Madge, ^lazie, Martha, Mattie, Olio- ville, Osie, Patrick, Peach Orchard, Potter, Prosperity, Katcliff, Richardson, Skaggs, Ulysses, Yessie, Walbridge, Watterson, Webbville, Wilber^ Yatesville, Zelda. Lee County. Lee County was formed in 1860, and named for Gen. Robert E. Lee. It is situated in the eastern part of the State, at the junction of the Three Forks of the Kentucky river, and is bounded on the north by Wolfe, on the east by Breathitt, on the south by Owsley, and on the west by Estill. The county is mountainous and is traversed by many streams. Besides the North, Middle and South Forks of the Kentucky river, and the main river, it contains many large creeks, which are used to some extent and could be largely used, as water power for various kinds of mill and factories. The Kentucky river is navigable to Beattyville for steamboats during six months in the year. The river and creek bottoms and corn land, of which there is a great deal, are very productive. Many river bottoms have been in corn for fifty years, consecutively, and produce on an average of one hundred bushels every ^ear and the soil is as strong now as when it first went under the plow. The upland is thin, but loose and level and pleasant to cultivate. The soil has a clay foundation, which retains manure, fertilizers, etc., when once applied, so that intel- ligent farming is profitable. The soil is adapted to all the grains, grasses and other crops grown anywhere in Kentucky, but corn is almost the only crop grown in any quantities. The uplands are wonderfully adapted to the orchard. Apples, peaches, pears, grapes and all the small fruits, berries and melons, grow to per- fection when properly cultivated. The demand for all farm pro- ducts is greater than the supply, and prices are good. 17G Foiirtaiitlt Jtiennial l^cl)0|■t liiireau of A{/ricultitre. About two-tliii'dfc; of the area of the county is covered with tim- ber, the best and most abundant for lumber being pine, oak and pophir, whicli reaches the market, some after being cut by the saw mills in this county, some by floating down the Kentucky river in the form of saw logs in rafts and some goes out by rail in the form of railroad ties, staves, tan bark, etc., etc. About one-third of the county is limestone land. Four miles below Beattyville, the limestone comes to the surface, and the remainder of the county is underlaid with sandstone. Both classes of the stone are suitable for building purposes. In the northern part of the county is found a very rich ore, similar to the noted Bed river iron ore. said to make the best car wheels in the world. In the same part of the county .is found a very fine cannel coal, but neither has been developed. In all parts of the county abundant bituminous coal in veins of from three to four feet abounds, some of M'hich veins are being successfully mined. Near the eastern border of the count}', abundant surface oil is found. There are several large tracts of fine timbered land in the county averaging some six thousand acres to the tract. In the coal fields, which have been developed, this land is worth about ten dollars per acre; in remote portions of the county the land is worth from $3 to |5 per acre. No turnpikes in the county. The dirt roads are maintained by the road militia, but the sentiment of the county now is in favor of building and maintaining roads by taxation. A good road club has been organized in the county and the indications are the roads of the county will be very much improved in the near future. The greatest natural curiosities in the county are the saltpetre caves, and. the bear tracks, implanted in a huge flat rock in the north- ern part of the county, which seem to be of very ancient origin. The saltpetre caves at a very early day were extensively operated. What is called the Big Ash Cave is a curiosity. It is filled to the depth of ten or twelve feet with ashes, which seem to be as strong as when first put there. No one has ever been able to go to the botUmi on account of the strangulation produced by the ashes. The principal character of labor employed is miners and laborers at saw mills and in timber cutting. The average price of farm labor is about thirteen dollars per month. We have no foreign colonies, but would offer great inducement to get them to locate licrc. The field is inviting for lumber mills of all kinds, chair, fiiiiiiture. spoke, ax and broom factories. Fourteoith Biennial Ncpoii Bureau of Agriculture. Ill The countj seat is Beattyville, located immediately on the Ken- tucky river, at the junction of the North, South and Middle Forks. It was named for Samuel Beatty, the original founder, and owner of the land on which the town is built. There is a handsome court house, situated in a beautiful maple grove, surrounded by a neat iron fence. Population about 1,000. In addition to flourishing public schools all over the county, there is a graded school in Beattyville, also an academy under the supervision of the Episcopal church. There is no bonded indebtedness in the county. The Lexing- ton & Eastern railway traverses the northern and eastern parts of the county for a distance of twenty miles. The Beatty- ville & Cumberland (Jap railroad connects the Lexington &: East- ern with the county seat, a distance of six miles. The Louisville & Atlantic has purchased the Richmond, Nicholasville, Irvine & Beattyville railroad, and also the Beattyville & Cumber- land Gap. The hiatus of thirty-five miles between these two roads is to be completed in the spring of 1900, which will connect Irvine and Beattyville by rail. The Louisville & Atlantic proposes to build its line on to the Atlantic seaboard. The United States Govern- ment has located locks and dams on the Kentucky'' river up to Beattyville. At present locks Nos. 8 and 9 are being built and as soon as three more locks are completed, Beattyville will have steamboat navigation all the year round. So at this time Lee county is an inviting field for capital and labor. Theo. B. Blakey. Lee county is situated in the Tenth Congressional, Seventh Ap- pellate, Twenty-third Judicial, Twenty-ninth Senatorial and Ninety-second Legislative Districts. PosTOFPioEs: — Beattyville, Brown, Delvinta, Donnelly. Fillmore, Fincastle. Monica, Primrose, Proctor, Radical, St. Helens. Tallega, Whvnot. Leslie County. Leslie County was formed out of parts of Clay, Perry and Har- lan counties, in April, 1878, the one hundred and seventeenth in the order of formation and was named in honor of Governor Preston H. Leslie, then governor of Kentucky. The county is hilly, the soil on the river bottoms is very fertile, the hillside lands 178 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau uf Agriculture. are rough and steep; farming machinery can not be used success- fully on the hillsides. The middle fork of Kentucky river runs the whole length of the county from north to south. Cutshin, Greasy Fork and Beech Fork are its largest confluents. All of them are navigable for rafts and flats boats, and afford ample water power facilities for proj)elling machinery. The whole county is well timbered, and a large per cent, of the timber is suitable for lumber and other merchantable uses. Like most of the mountain counties its greatest wealth lies in its timber lands and its minerals, which are coal and iron, is yet undeveloped, the coal veins ranging from three to six feet thick and of fine quality of cannel coal found in many localities in the county in veins ranging from two to three feet thick. The timber consists chiefly of poplar, ash, white oak, chestnut oak hickory, beech, maple and yellow pine; the poplar and white oak is exported from the county in large quantities, floated down the river to the markets on the Kentucky river. At least ninety per cent. *)f the total area of the county is well timbered. Land ranges in price from three to five dollars per acre. This being a mineral and mountainous region, the agricultural products of Leslie are consumed within the county, there being no surplus for export. The grasses best adapted to the soil are clover, timothy, red top and orchard grass. The farming lands in the county are not im- proving as the farmers have not as yet taken much interest in fertilizing either by grasses or otherwise. The population of the county is gradually increasing. There are eight saw and grist mills in the county, which supply the local market with lum- ber. There are as yet no railroads in the county. The county roads are in bad condition, and there is not much promptness in keeping them up. T. G. Lewis. Leslie county is situated in the Eleventh Congressional, Seventh Appellate, Twenty-seventh Judicial, Thirty-third Senatorial, and ISfinety-third Legislative Districts. PosTOFFiCEs: — Asher, Chappell, Confluence, Cutshin, Dryhill, Helton, Hoskinston, Hyden, Imlay, Maddog, Sandyfork, Shoal, Tracefork, Wooten. Fourteenth Bieuiikil Report Bureau of Agrieiilture. 179 Letcher County. Letcher County is situated in the extreme southeastern part of the State. It was formed in 1812 out of territory taken from Perry and Harh^n counties, and was named in honor of Gov. Robert P. Letcher. It is bounded on the north by Knott and Pike counties, on the east by the State of Virginia, on the south by Harlan, and on the west by Perry county. The surface of the county is mountainous, with narrow, fertile valleys between. Pine and Black mountains form part of the eastern and southern boundary, and these ranges jjresent some of the grandest scenery on earth. The north fork of the Kentucky river finds its source in the northeast and traverses the county to the southwest, a distance of some thirty-five miles. Other important streams are Rock- -house, twenty-six miles in length, and Live Oak, tributaries of the North Foi-k, and Poor Fork of Cumberland river. These streams, while not navigable for boats, furnish ample means for carrying away the millions of saw logs that this region holds for the markets, large numbers of which are now being moved away. The soil of the narrow valleys, coves, and, in fact, most of the uplands, is very rich, producinj» good yields of corn, oats, etc. Tobacco, grown only in small quantities for home consumption, does well on most of the lands. Clover, timothy, red top and other gra'sses grow to perfection. The various vegetables suited to this climate are successfully cultivated, potatoes, turnips, cabbage, etc., being produced abundantly with little eft'ort. This section is especially adapted to apple orchards. There are few places where the apple grows to such perfection in point of yield and flavor. The forests of Letcher county seem almost inexhaustible in their supply of fine timber. Thousands of poplar trees are annual- ly being converted into saw logs and drifted out of the streams to market. There is practically no limit to the oak and other timbers that are yet unsought by capital. A few trees are now being bought for fifty cents to one dollar per tree for oak in the woods by speculators who see in such investment good returns in the near future. The forests abound in oak, chestnut, ash, hickory, poplar, maple, etc. The best walnut has generally been taken awav. 180 Fourteenth Blenniul Report Bureau of Af/riciiltiire. The higher hills of this county contain five distinct, workable veins of coal, ranging in thickness from three to eight feet, in- cluding veins of the finest cannel and coking coals on earth, while under the lowest valleys are still other coal beds. Oil has not been prospected for but indications point to its presence. Beds of iron lie within a stone's throw of these coal beds. Fine build- ing stone abounds. In some sections there are indications of lead and other minerals. The natural curiosities, peculiar geological arrangement and formations in Pine mountain, are most attractive. Some wonder- ful caves have been discovered, but not extensively explored. The water is pure freestone, with the exception of an occasional miner- al spring, none of whose waters have been analyzed. Farming, stock raising and ^'logging" employ the people of the county. The logging industrj'- is the most important source of money at present, though a considerable number of cattle and some sheep go to market annually from the county. These are generally driven to the bluegrass counties. Lands sell for two dollars and a half to ten dollars per acre. Perhaps no region of- fers greater inducements for the investment of capital than this section. The undeveloped wealth of the county is incomprehen- sible. The county has no railroad connection with the outside world — the nearest point being Stonega, Va., twenty miles from the county seat. The nearest railroad point in Kentucky is Jackson, sixty-five miles from the county seat, the terminus of the Lex- ington & Eastern. This road has a line surveyed through the county. There are no turnpike or macadamized roads in the county. The common dirt roads are maintained under the general road laws of the State and are not in the best condition. The road system of the county as a whole has not improved, but has rather declined for a few years. A change in our road system or in its application, is much needed. The character of labor in the county is exclusively native white, farm hands receiving fifty to seventy-five cents per day, ten to thirteen dollars per month, and at timbering fifty cents to one dollar per day, including board. Educational facilities are afiforded principally by the public schools, which are well attended. Perhaps, no better exempli- fication of the utility of our common school system can be found Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 181 than in Letcher count}'. There is probably no county in the State where the general mass of children are as well up in the way of a common education. If a rival is to be found it must be in one of the neighboring mountain counties. Good school houses are being built in the various districts not previously well provided and good teachers are employed. There are sixty school districts in the county. Other good schools are usually maintained at Whitesburg and Kockhouse. There are some twenty churches in the county, including Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Christian- and one Mormon church. Whitesburg, on the north fork of the Kentucky river, near the center, is the county seat. John Collins. Letcher county is situated in the Eleventh Congressional, Sev- enth Appellate, Twenty-sixth Judicial, Thirty-third Senatorial and Ninety-seventh Legislative Districts. PosTOFFicEs: — Alice, Baker, Banks, Bently, Billville, Burdine, Chestnuthill, Colly, Colson, Craftsville, Crowne, Deane, Democrat, Eolia, Evans, Fremont, Gordon, Gourd, Ice, Indian Bottom, Jeremiah, Joseph, King's Creek, Lester, Linefork, Maggard, Mar- garet, Mandrake, Maykin, Millstone, Oscaloosa, Ola, Ovenfork,. Partridge, Potter's Fork, Kockhouse, Eoxana, Sergeant, Smoot- creek, Tillie, Vada, Whitesburg, Wright. Lewis County. Lewis County was organized April 27, 1807, being then a part of Mason count}'. The boundary line on the east leaves the Ohio river about six miles below Portsmouth, Ohio, in a curve south- west along the range of hills separating the waters of Kinnicon- nick creek (Lewis county) and Tygart creek in Greenup county, until, in reach of the watersheds of Fox and Fleming creeks and the head waters of ''Kinney" and North Fork of Licking where the line turns west and leaves the ridge and comes down to the North Fork, following that stream to the southwest corner of the county, thence a little east of north to the Ohio river and thence with said river forty miles to the beginning. Lewis county lies in the form of a "watershed," about one-half lying toward the southwest and the other half toward the north- east, the "Poplar Flat," section being table land and is in a higb 182 Fourteenth Biennial L'cport Bureau of AgricuUure. state of cultivation, especially as to fruit, which grows in abundan- ce and of the finest quality. The eastern portion is somewhat hilly and broken, but in the many small coves and on the hillsides grows the finest of tobacco and millet and sugar cane. Along the water courses and that portion lying on the Ohio river (forty miles front) is to be found the very choicest and best lands, producing from forty to sixty bushels of corn per acre and every other grain and vegetable in the same proportion. Melons and "truck" grow to perfection in all the river bottoms, the soil being as rich as c-ream and always ready for the plough. The same may truth- fully be said of the Salt Lick, Quick's Run and Cabin creek valleys, the latter being strictly limestone and is included in the blue- grass belt. The water courses, as indicated, run north and east and to the northwest, Kinney being the largest stream, and is over one hundred miles in length. Petersville, a very lively and prosperous little village, is situated near or about its source, thence it flows in a northeastern direction and empties into the Ohio river, about two miles below the town of Quincy. It has been declared navigable. Its bottoms are quite fertile. Cabin- creek is next largest in length and size and is in a very rich valley, broad bot- toms with some of the best improved farms in the State and a fine macadamized road running the entire length of the stream. Salt Lick is next and is a beautiful valley, equally well improved and a good pike (free of toll and the first built in the county) running also the entire length, having its terminus at Vanceburg, the coun- ty seat. Quick's Run, next largest, and along its banks sonie .n' the very best farms and farmers. Tobacco and corn gru-.va in abundance and of the very best quality and a good pike, newly built, and free to everybody, runs parallel with it and from its source to its mouth, a distance of twelve miles, and a constant stream and line of teams are to be seen every day bearing and hauling the timber (ties and staves) and large crops to the rail- road station and steamboat landings at its mouth and at Vance- burg also. Crooked creek and Sycamore are smaller streams, but there is to be found some good farming land, being limestone, and along the banks of each is to be found quarries and ledges of pure limestone rock and very fine for building purposes. The soils consist of clay, sand and strong deposits of limestone. The limestone in the Cabin creek valley mentioned shows all the fossils usually found iu the upper sihuian stratum, and the soil ly- Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. 18S ing above (the limestone deposit) is rich enough and strong enough to produce anytliiug that grows. The principal crops are corn, to- bacco, wheat and Chinese sugar cane and millet (especially in the "Kinney" valley and coves), and oats do well. Clover and timothy meadows grow to perfection as well as all classes of vegetables that grow in a like climate. Timber is not so plentiful as it once was, but remains in suffi- cient quantities to meet all home demands so far as building and for post fence is concerned, while we ship out and send away railroad ties, lumber and posts in large quantities. The principal varieties are oak and chestnut in the eastern half or the "Kinney" section, and a fair supply of poplar, sugartree, buckeye and lynn, or basswood, in the western half or the "Poplar Flat" section. That there are valuable mineral deposits and fine stone quarries and workable clays now remains without a doubt, as already there is a number of excellent quarries opened and are yielding the finest and very best of flagging stone and for fronts and founda- tions and seem to be lying in unlimited quantities. Natural gas is to be found in from forty to sixty feet, and already some of our enterprising citizens are lighting their rooms and parlors and us- ing it alone for fuel and from wells only a few feet from their doors. Natural curiosities and some strange formations are to be found and seen on our hill tops and a few caves along our hill sides and some \ev\ prominent cliffs and large rock ledges, notably the "alum rock," at Vanceburg. For mineral springs, both as beautiful health resorts and for the very best of medicinal qualities, Lewis county is pro.bably unequaled in the State, and one visit by the tourist or stranger to either Esculapia or Glen Springs will fully justify all that has been said of these two famous health resorts. JJimdreds of guests flock to both of these springs — about fourteen miles south of Vanceburg and a fine macadamized road all the way — and always return happy, well pleased and in better health. One visit to either Esculapia or Glen Springs is sure to so im- press the visitor as to insure his or her return. The industrial development of Lewis county is in rapid pro- gress, as is evidenced by the number of portable saw and grist mills that have lately come in, as well as other steam machinery, a large steam saw and planing machine mill having just been put in operation at Vanceburg, and looking at the large amount of timber in the county that has been waiting these years back for 184 Fourteenth Biennial Report Bureau of Agriculture. the saw and "bucker" (there is one of these '^bucking" machines also in Vanceburg and doing a line business), this county most cer- tainly affords the very best place and opportunity for the employ- ment of capital and promising the very best of returns. The railroad and transportation facilities are of the very best. The great Chesapeake