History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 45

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 818

USA > Ohio > Delaware County > History of Delaware County and Ohio > Part 45

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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, well 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

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

265

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

108

8,860

Horses died from disease (during year) Cattle died from disease (during year)

132

3,684

730

3,135

Hogs died from disease (during year) .. 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 Acrea.

Number of Bushels.

Wheat.

18472

208096

Corn.

39245

1245833

Oats.

7449

230512

Rye.

711

7242

Buckwheat

264

2316

Barley

872

Potatoes.

994

83705

Timothy .- 28,447 acres ; 39,202 tons of hay. Clover .- 1,838 acres; 2,418 tous 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 stagnant 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

266

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. * * * * *

" 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.

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

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 I can be made available. Few farmers can so

267

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 " Finally, it seemed to be proven that the mor- tality from hog cholera may be greatly diminished by careful, humane and intelligent treatment. 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- | Other measures may be more efficacious than those

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 siok 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. * *

268

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, Seck-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.

" Peaches, by reason of the unfavorableness of climate before mentioned, are exceedingly uncer- tain, and are but little planted. Late frosts in spring usually cut off the crop, either in the blos- som or when the young fruit has just formed. And, in addition to this, there occurs, every few years, a winter of such severity, that even the trees themselves are seriously injured or destroyed. The peach crop is much more precarious than it was thirty years ago, the climate seeming to have be- come more variable and the winters colder. The remarks upon peaches are also, to a considerable extent, applicable to cherries of the finer kinds- the sweet cherries, as they are usually called, of the heart, or Bigarreau class-as the trees are some- what tender, and the blossoms liable to be de- stroyed by late frosts in spring. The hardier kinds, such as the . Early Richmond, the Morellos, and the May Duke, with others of its class, are much more reliable and hardy and often yield fine crops.

" Plums are scarcely grown at all, owing to the prevalence of the curculio insect, although the trees grow well and remain healthy. The Black- knot, which is so destructive to plum-trees in many sections, is here unknown.

" The smaller fruits, raspberries, blackberries, currants and strawberries, are considerably culti- vated throughout the county, mostly in the neigh- bcrhood of the towns and villages, and with average success, when intelligently cultivated.

" Pears are planted in a small way, principally in gardens ; but no extensive pear orchards are known to exist in the county. There is no other

269

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

reason why pears should not be grown extensively and become as plentiful as apples, except the tend- ency to blight, which the pear-tree shows here as well as in most other localities in the United States.

" Grapes are found to succeed reasonably well in most parts of Delaware County, though the exten- sive culture of vineyards in a large way has not been attempted. The Delaware and the Concord grapes have been more extensively planted than any others; but the Delaware grape requires more skill for its successful cultivation than many others, and often fails from mismanagement and neglect. It is very liable to become enfeebled by heing permitted to overbear; and then suffers from weakness and a kind of mildew which at- tacks and destroys the foliage and prevents ripen- ing of the fruit.

" This remarkable and celebrated grape - the Delaware -- was first disseminated from this county, and took its name from the town of Delaware, somewhere about the year 1850, when it was dis- covered growing near the banks of the Scioto, in the hands of a Mr. Heath, and Mr. Warford, who brought it from the State of New Jersey a dozen years or more before that time. Mr. Thom- son, the editor of the Delaware Gazette, who was, in those days, an enthusiastic and intelligent hort- iculturist, discovered the merits of this grape in 1853, sent specimens of the fruit to Maj. P. Barry, who was then the editor of the Horticultur- ist, and its superior character was recognized and made public. The introduction of the Delaware grape created quite an excitement in the horticult- ural world and gave rise to a furor in grape-grow- ing which has often been called the ' grape fever.' The abilities of grape propagators were taxed to their utmost to supply the demand, and Delaware grape-vines were sold in enormous quantities at prices ranging from $1 to $5 each. The wildest ideas prevailed, and the most extravagant anticipa- tions and expectations were entertained as to the profits of grape-growing, and thousands of persons embarked in this pursuit without either the skill or the knowledge requisite for success, and the re- sult was just what might be expressed in the single word failure, so far as the great mass of inexperi- enced cultivators was concerned. The Delaware grape, however, maintained its high character, and is still recognized as the finest in quality of all American grapes, and one of the most valuable, in all localities suited to its culture.

"The origin of the Delaware grape, is, and must always be, a little doubtful. In New Jersey, it

was found growing in the garden of an old French- man by the name of Paul H. Provost, and there was a story of its having been sent from France with a lot of other vines, about the beginning of the present century. But it has been found so entirely devoid of the characteristics of all foreign grapes (both itself and seedlings from it), so purely native American in habit of growth and adapta- bility to our soil and climate, that the idea of its foreign origin has been abandoned by the most in- telligent horticulturists. It is now supposed to be a chance seedling which sprung up in the garden above mentioned, from some of our native grapes, possibly fertilized with pollen from some foreign kind. The latter supposition is hardly probable, for the reason that no seedling from the Delaware grape has been produced resembling the foreign sorts, all showing unmistakably their native Amer- ican character. And, besides this, the strictest search among foreign varieties has never discovered the prototype of the Delaware.

"The discovery and introduction of the Dela- ware grape is one of the most notable and impor- tant events connected with the horticultural history of Delaware County, and the credit for this, mainly, is due to the enterprise, as well as the judgment and discrimination, of Mr. Abram Thomson before mentioned. This gentleman had also about that time one of the most complete and extensive ama- teur collections of the finer varieties of pears, not only in the county, but in the State; as well as a fine collection of strawberries and other choice gar -. den fruits.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Delaware County and Ohio, Part 45

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892? Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 818

Author: O. L. Baskin & Co; Perrin, William Henry, d. 1892?
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Chicago, O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 818