USA > Ohio > Delaware County > History of Delaware County and Ohio : containing a brief history of the state of Ohio biographical sketches etc. V. 1 > Part 45
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The present agricultural association of the county dates from its re-organization under the act of the Legislature above referred to, thus making the last exhibition the thirty-second annual meet- ing. The meetings of the association were held first one place and then another, wherever circum- stances favored, until 1854. In February of that year, a lot of ground was purchased from the heirs of M. D. Pettibone, deceased, comprising seven acres, for which the Society paid $150 per acre. It was inclosed and improvements made to enable the Society to hold its next exhibition upon the newly acquired grounds. Since then the grounds have been enlarged, by purchasing additional land, until it comprises about thirty acres or more, sub- stantially inclosed, and possesses comfortable and commodious buildings. The estimated value of the ground is about $150 per acre, although some of it cost, at the time of purchase, $200 per acre. as we were informed by Thomas F. Joy, Esq., and the additional value of improvements, buildings, etc., is about $1,000. The grounds are beautifully situated on the east side of the river, a con- venient distance from the city, and are well adapted for the purposes for which they are designed. The following are the officers of the association for 1879 : John J. Fleming, President ; L. P. McMaster, Vice President; C. M. James, Secretary, and C. D. Potter, Treasurer. The Board of Manage- ment was composed of James Dyer, Geno ; Riley Graves, Harlem ; James Scott, Kingston ; R. K. Willis, Liberty ; Rufus Carpenter, Orange , John McCay, Porter ; Stephen Thomas, Radnor ; Silas Rodefer, Troy; Al Shaffer, Trenton, who were elected for one year ; John Finch, Berkshire ; A. Freshwater, Berlin ; N. T. Longwell, Brown ; E. J. Healy, Concord ; John Sanderson, Dela- ware ; Elias Cole, Marlborough; Seth Slack, Ox- ford ; J. S. Jones, Scioto, and Samuel Shoup, Thompson, who were elected for two years. The last report shows nearly 900 members of the Society. Its annual exhibitions have increased somewhat in importance since that first exhibition and cattle show held in 1834. At that meeting there were but twenty-seven premiums awarded ; now it takes quite a pamphlet to contain the differ- ent classes, premiums and awards.
At the exhibition held in the fall of 1856. a melancholy accident occurred, which closed the meeting unceremoniously, and cast a shade of'
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
gloom over the city and county. A new steam engine, built by Bradley, Burnham & Lamb, of Delaware, was on exhibition, when, from some defect in the boiler, which had been made by Pearsol & Moore, of Sandusky City, it blew up, resulting in the death of Mrs. A. Walker, Thomas Williams, F. Smith, James Nicholson, Wiley Finch, Louis Powers, Hiram Nafus, Henry Stimmel, Tone, Oscar Markle, and an unrecognized stranger. A number of others were wounded, of whom Mrs. Markle, Mr. Wade, and Mr. Newberry died in a few days. A meeting of condolence was immedi- ately called, of which Hon. T. W. Powell was Chairman. Business was entirely suspended, and the most intense sympathy manifested for the sufferers, and resolutions to that effect unanimously adopted. Subscriptions were made, the society declined paying any premiums, but added the funds in its treasury to the subscription, for the purpose of defraying the burial expenses. Welch & Lent's circus, which was to have exhibited in the town on the day of the funeral, at a request from the citizens, postponed their exhibition, and nobly tendered the use of their wagons and horses for the funeral, which was gratefully accepted. The sad occurrence cast a shadow on the com- munity, and left a mournful sorrow behind it that was not soon forgotten.
The people of Delaware County display much interest, and devote a good deal of attention, to the breeding of fine stock. We have the authority of Thomas F. Joy, that his father, Wilder Joy, and Judge Williams, brought the first blooded cattle to the county, about 1826. They purchased them in Pickaway County. Among the number was a short-horn bull, a dark roan, and a very fine animal for that early period, when most of the fine breeds in this section had been crossed until their blood was getting thin. About 1836, Gilbert Van Dorn brought some short-horns into the county, and, in a few years, Mr. Jones, of Radnor, brought in some Durhams, which he had pur- chased from M. S. Sullivant, of Columbus. These were followed by other purchases and importa- tions in different parts of the county. At the present time, there are some half-dozen or more very fine herds of blooded cattle in Delaware County. The largest and finest herds belong to Messrs. Jones, Hills, T. F. Joy, Norman Perfect of Sunbury, John Worline and N. Leonard. There are many others owning smaller herds.
Draft horses also receive their full share of attention, quite a large number having been bred
in the last fifteen or twenty years. The principal breed, and the one seemingly best adapted to this section, is the Percheron, or Percheron-Norman, so called from La Perche and Normandy, in France, where they are extensively bred, and whence they are imported to this country. Without going into a detailed history of these famous horses (which our space will not allow), a few facts in regard to them may not be out of place. The Percherons are noted for their docility, mild- ness, patience, honesty, kindness, excellent health, and a hardy, elastic temperament. They are pos- sessed of great bone, muscle, tendon, and hoof, which gives them immense strength as draft horses. Their color is a fine silver-gray, the best adapted to withstand the burning rays of the sun in the midst of the field or on the highway. The first Percheron-Norman horse ever brought west of the Alleghany Mountains was " Louis Napo- leon," or, as he was familiarly called, " Old Bob." He was brought to Union County, Ohio, by Charles Fullington, in 1851, and, some time after, became the property of Mr. Lee, of Delaware, and, still later, of Peter Engard. Finally, he was sold to parties in Illinois.
The following description of this breed of horses is said by horse men to be a correct one : " Head clean, bony, and small for the size of the animal ; ears short, mobile, erect and fine-pointed ; eyes bright, clear, large and prominent ; forehead broad ; nostrils large, open, and red within; jaws rather wide; chin fine; lips thin; teeth round and even; neck a trifle short, yet harmoniously rounding to the body ; throttle clean, crest rigid, rather high, and gracefully curved; mane abundant with silky hair ; breast broad and deep, with great muscular development ; shoulders smooth, and sufficiently sloping for the collar to set snug to them ; withers high; back short and strongly coupled ; body well ribbed-up, round, full and straight on the belly, which is much longer than the back; rump broad, long, and moderately sloping to the tail, which is attached high ; hips round and smooth at top, and flat on the sides ; quarters wide, weil let down, and swelling with powerful muscles."
Among the first importers of the Percheron- Norman horse to this county, and who still are extensive breeders and dealers, are the Covell Bros., of Delaware. They were concerned. also, with the Radnor Importing Company, and the Delaware Importing Company, and have made several trips to France for the purpose of purchas- ing horses for this country. W. H. Case was also
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
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among the early importers of Percheron horses. Among those who are now breeding and handling these horses, are the Covells, Mr. Chase, John and Edward Thompson, Capt. Weiser and Stephen Thomas, of Radnor, whom we may mention as perhaps the most extensive dealers and breeders in the county. In addition to the Percheron-Nor- man, there have been some of the Clydesdale and Belgium horses brought to the county, but they have never been so popular as the former.
Many farmers are interested in fine sheep and hogs. Miner Tone (now deceased ), of Liberty Township, was the owner of one of the finest herds of sheep in the State of Ohio. Mr. Willis, his son-in-law, at present has charge of his flock, and devotes the same attention bestowed on it by Mr. Tone. Mr. Green, in the east part of the county, also has a large herd of fine sheep. The favorite breeds are Leicesters, Merinos and Southdowns. Many fine breeds of hogs are also to be found throughout the county.
In no way can we so well give an idea of the kind and amount of productions of the county, as by the following condensed abstract from the Assessor's books :
STOCK.
Number
Value.
Horses
8001
$467.336
Cattle.
17743
342,003
Mules
146
7,270
Hogs
31898
80,187
Sheep
101698
215,805
Horses died from disease (during year)
108
8,360
Cattle died from disease (during year )|
132
3,684
Hogs died from disease (during year) ..
730
3,135
Sheep died from disease (during year) Sheep killed by dogs (during year) ....
1510
3,252
370
1,113
Wool shorn, 402,092 pounds.
PRODUCTS.
Number of Acres.
Number of Bushels.
Wheat
13472
208096
Corn.
39245
1245833
Oats
7449
230512
Rye ...
711
7242
Buckwheat.
264
2316
Barley
30
872
Potatoes
994
83705
Timothy .- 28,447 acres ; 39,202 tons of hay. Clover .- 1,838 acres; 2,418 tons of hay; 2,200
bushels of seed.
Flax .- 681 acres; 125,553 pounds of fiber ; 6,567 bushels of seed.
Sorghum .- 94 acres ; 77 pounds of sugar; 5,743 gal- lons of syrup.
Maple Sugar and Syrup .- 13,924 pounds of sugar ; 9,871 gallons of syrup.
Bees and Honey .- 1,579 hives; 25,169 pounds of honey.
Dairy Products .- 547,601 pounds of butter; 5,175 pounds of cheese.
The following extracts from an article on the sys- tem of drainage, published in the Ohio Agricultural Report of 1867, and written by a citizen of Dela- ware County, is not inappropriate in this connec- tion, and will be found of some interest to the agricultural class : " From the first settlement of the county, some attention has been paid to carry- ing off staguant waters from the surface of our lands. After sowing the wheat crop, furrows have been made along the low places to carry off the surface water, and usually the ground is thrown up in lands for wheat, so that the water may find its way off in the dead furrows. To convert the swamps into dry lands, open drains have been dug ; but these, filling up in a very short time in the black lands, were a serious obstruction to cultiva- tion while they lasted. For these reasons a prac- tice prevails in some parts of the county, of plowing these drains out to the width of ten to twenty feet. depending upon the depth required, and either hauling away the earth and spreading it upon the high and poor lands, or taking back and spreading it out evenly on the banks with a road-scraper. Such a job will be permanent, will never fill up. and can be conveniently driven over with wagon or plow. Some underdrains have been con- structed, and wood, stone and tile used, and the unanimous testimony of all who have used either, is most decidedly favorable to underdraining.
"In some of our best flat lands, oak plank have been set up at the sides of the ditches, and the tops covered with staves of the same material, placed just low enough so as not to interfere with the plowing. The object in making these drains is not to make the land more friable, as is our pur- pose in clay lands, but simply as a most convenient method of taking off the surface water without interfering with the cultivation of crops. By con- structing these cheap drains along the swales, some of our white-elm. swamp lands have been made to produce corn as well as the best bottoms. *
We have drains upon our lands constructed with poles, with broken stone and with tile, and as yet we can perceive no difference in their operation- the water being discharged just as freely from the two former as from the tile drain, and they seem in all respects to have as good an influence upon the
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
soil. But we have not used the tile drain long enough to witness the full effect of their action. The drains of wood and stone have been in opera- tion several years. Their influence upon tillage crops is very marked, much more so than upon grass. In winter, when the land is in wheat, the difference in the appearance of the soil near the ditches is strikingly manifest; it is much dryer and much warmer, as is proved by the fact that the snow thaws much sooner near the drains than upon other parts of the same field. There has not been underdraining enough done in Delaware to test fairly the effect upon the production of crops. There has been no thorough drainage of any farm, and we have, therefore, no accurate means of determin- ing how much it adds to our products. But the general opinion is, that upon lands which require draining, as most of our clay lands do, the increase will be about one-third.
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" It appears that the rudest methods in under- draining afford such conclusive evidence of its ad- vantages, that parties who once make a begin- ning in the work, never fail to go on with it, or to finally adopt what has been clearly demonstrated to be the best material-the drain tile. It is obvious that although but a small amount, comparatively, of underdraining has yet been done in this county, the work will very rapidly spread and increase in the future. All we now require to insure this re- sult is the establishment of tile works in the county. There is no doubt but it would at once find a demand for all the tile it could turn out. * * Whatever branch of agriculture a man may be engaged in, whether mainly in tillage crops or in stock, there cannot, in either case, be any profitable results, unless he have his land in good condition. Large crops are always profitable; small crops are always grown at a loss.'
The article quoted from was written before drain tile was much known. Their trial has but demonstrated their utility over other systems of drainage, and the several factories now in opera- tion in the county, are very good evidence of their growing popularity among farmers.
As a matter of interest to our farmer readers, we make the following extracts from an article on the " Losses Occasioned by the diseases of Domes- tic Animals," written by N. S. Townsend, which will be found to contain some valuable hints, and farmers will do well to profit by the suggestions therein made : "Domestic animals are subjected to unnatural conditions, as well as to much hard
treatment ; to these causes may be attributed much of their sickness. Horses are driven hard when the weather is extremely cold ; the necessar- ily increased amount of cold air taken into the lungs, may be, of itself, enough to produce diseases. After hard driving, horses are often allowed to stand only partially protected, or wholly unpro- tected from the cold ; the result is likely to be inflammation of the lungs, or some other disease of the respiratory. organs. Horses are frequently kept fasting too long, then they are overfed or otherwise fed improperly, and hence, colic, indi- gestion, or inflammation of the stomach or bowels. Then what innumerable lamenesses come from overdriving, overwork, or unskillful shoeing. * * In 1866, a succession of cold storms about shear- ing time destroyed a great many thousand sheep in Ohio, almost all of which might have been saved if shearing had been delayed, or sufficient shelter and protection had been afforded. The contagion of hog cholera is believed by many to be gener- ated in the intestinal canal, and to be propagated by the evacuations of diseased animals ; yet how few farmers take pains to secure clean quarters for their swine, even after cholera has made its appearance. * * * * *
" The death of so many sick animals in Ohio is caused by little or no appropriate medical or surgical treatment. Whatever the disease, many sick animals receive absolutely no treatment ; the owner does not understand the disease, does not know what to do, and, perhaps wisely, does nothing. In another case, the owner of a sick animal con- sults all his neighbors, and finally resolves on some- thing, after the opportunity of arresting the disease at its outset by a timely remedy has already passed. An animal may be known to have some form of disease; the owner of the animal is also the owner of a work on veterinary medicine, but unfortu- nately he may not be accustomed to examine the pulse, has no means to ascertain the temperature, and no skill on judging of the stage of the dis- ease, or of the condition of the patient. He gives what his book advises, and what would be the right thing in a particular stage of the disease, but which at another may be the worst thing possible. Some farmers make the mistake of supposing that all the veterinary help they require can be ob- tained from the columns of a newspaper, but unless a disease is trivial, or has become chronic, too much time is likely to be lost before this method can be made available. Few farmers can so
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
describe a case that a veterinarian can obtain a cor- rect idea of the actual condition of an animal ; or if that were done, there is no assurance that the condition will remain unchanged until a prescrip- tion finally appears in another number of the paper. Much valuable information on veterinary topics is given through agricultural papers, but this is rather applicable to future than to present cases.
" By the prompt employment of skillful veter- inarians (wherever such can be found), a skillful and not expensive operation may save the life of a valuable animal; so a timely dose of medicine may prevent serious illness and loss of life. The ordinary operations that all farmers make, or pro- cure made, are often so unskillfully managed that the losses within the State, in a single year, would afford a good living for ten times our present num- ber of competent veterinarians. Perhaps it will be said that we have but few competent veteri- narians within the State, and that the employment of such as we have is uncertain, and often unsatis- factory. If this be true, it is much to be regret- ted, but it is equally to be regretted that the stock-owners in Ohio are doing so little to secure a better state of things. Is it not remarkable that Ohio, with domestic animals assessed at $78,- 000,000, and actually worth one-third more, or $117,000,000. and sustaining annually a reported loss of more than 3} per cent. on the whole amount, should exhibit such lack of interest ? Well-educated and accomplished veterinarians ought to find appreciation and plenty of encour- agement in Ohio; such men are needed, not only to treat disease, but to investigate its hid- den sources, and to devise better sanitary, a well as curative management. Many diseases are already better understood than formerly, but there are others which need more careful investigation.
" A better knowledge of the anatomy and phys- iology of animals, on the part of intelligent and enterprising farmers, would greatly diminish our losses ; not by enabling them to dispense with the services of veterinarians, but by suggesting success- ful measures for preventing disease. Sanitary science, or the science of preserving health. is as applicable to animals, as to human beings. Many losses might be avoided, if all stock-owners would constantly keep on hand a few effective remedies, and a few needful instruments to meet promptly the emergencies that will arise. Just as a prudent mother will keep castor oil, hive syrup, and pare- goric ; so a prudent farmer should never be with-
out Glauber's salts, saltpeter, tartar emetic, lauda- num, and spirits of turpentine.
" The most serious losses reported for the year have been occasioned by hog cholera. It may be difficult for farmers to change at once the form of farming for which their soil is so well adapted, but to some extent it would seem to be a part of prudence to rely less on the production of their great staples. corn and pork, and to turn their attention to other crops less subject to uncertainty and disappoint- ment." The writer here describes a visit to the university farm, when the hog cholera was pre- vailing, and closes with the following : "The first point which appeared to be established is, that the infection of hog cholera may be carried by a stream from an infected region above, to farms below. Unless this be true, we cannot explain the appear- ance of the disease' on the university farm. Acting on this conviction, all the hogs were removed from yards through which the stream ran ; and, without shutting the hogs from the brook, they could not have been induced to take the articles we desired to give in their drink. The removal to fresh quarters from where the disease was first manifested, and to a fresh place day by day, was resorted to, from the conviction that this disease bears a close analogy to typhoid fever of the human subject. The contagion of hog cholera, whether it be analogous to a ferment. or consists of parasitic organisms, carries with it the power of reproducing its like, and whether communicated by direct contact, through the atmosphere, or by a stream, or by all of these, it would seem to be wise to remove animals from all places already reached by the infection. * * ₭ *
"A diet of corn exclusively is doubtless very fattening to healthy hogs; but in the sick it ex- cites a high grade of fever, and the more fever the more local inflammation, and the greater the dan- ger. Potatoes, beets and pumpkins are better than corn for sick hogs, but a fluid diet is best of all ; milk, sweet or sour, is the best food ; or, if it were convenient to make a soup from butchers' offal, this would equally well replace the nitrogen consumed in the course of the disease. In ty- phoid of the human subject, milk and beef tea constitute the diet, to the exclusion of solid food. *
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" Finally, it seemed to be proven that the mor- tality from hog cholera may be greatly diminished by careful, humane and intelligent treatment. Other measures may be more efficacious than those
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HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.
adopted on the university farm. We had, how- ever, the satisfaction of getting through the dis- ease with the loss of less than a fourth of the animals affected, and much less than a fourth of the value of the herd. No specific has been dis- covered, and we doubt if one ever will be ; our success was not what we wished, though the result has been more favorable than we feared. It is something to say that we are not discouraged, but are persuaded that we might profit by some mis- takes, and secure a still better result, if ever com- pelled to make the trial again."
In matters pertaining to horticulture, the inhabitants of Delaware County have, until re- cently, paid little attention. Considerable pro- gress, however, has been made, in the last few years, in these pursuits, and an improved taste is being manifested by the people generally in beau- tifying and adorning their homesteads, by the lib- eral planting of fruit and ornamental trees, vines and shrubs. Time and experience have demon- strated that, with care and attention, certain vari- eties of fruits can be successfully grown. Many owners of " country seats" take pride and pleas- ure, in this age, in fine grounds and tasteful gar- dens; and in the cities nearly every house has its garden-spot, tastefully arranged with choice flow- ers, vines and evergreens, and kept in the neatest order.
The following article, on the horticulture of this county, was written by George W. Campbell, Esq., of Delaware, especially for this work. His repu- tation as a horticulturist is sufficient introduction : " Horticulture, or gardening, in its restricted sense, can hardly be regarded as a very prominent or important feature in the history of Delaware County. If, however, we take a broad view of the subject, and include orchards, vine-growing, small-fruit culture and all kindred branches out- side of agriculture, we should find more of inter- est and value. The climate of Delaware County is not well adapted to general fruit culture, by reason of great variability of temperature, being subject to frequent and sudden changes, to ex- treme cold in winter, and to late and severe frosts in the spring, as well as to early and killing frosts in autumn.
" The apple is the hardiest and most reliable of all fruits for this region, and there are probably more acres in apple orchards than in all other fruits combined, in this county. We have no ac- curate data of the earliest planted orchards in the county, but there are still remaining within the
limits of the city of Delaware, apple-trees, the re- mains of orchards planted forty-five to fifty years ago by Mr. William Little, and Rev. Henry Van Deman, both deceased, who were among the early settlers of the town of Delaware. Many of the varieties were such as are still planted, and held in high estimation by fruit-growers. Among them were Rambo, Bellflower. Seek-no-further, Putnam, Russet, Autumn Strawberry, Black Gilliflower, Rhode Island Greening, Spitzenberg, Willow Twig, Early Harvest, Early Strawberry, besides many other kinds of inferior character, whose names have not been preserved, and which probably never had more than a local reputation. Among the largest growers, and most successful orchardists, in the county, are Horace P. McMasters, of Brown Township, and, as a general fruit-grower, Mr. Westervelt, of Genoa. There are other extensive growers, but their names cannot, at the moment, be recalled.
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