Page:Rural Hours.djvu/558

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510
RURAL HOURS.

We turn to the proceeds of the forest:


 No., Value, &c., 
in County.
 No., Value, &c., 
in State.
 Otsego Co. ranking as—




Lumber, value, $39,934 
Value $3,891,302 
 Value  7,613 
Am't 15,550 
 XXIV.
Pot and Pearl Ashes, tons.  122   XX.
Skins and furs. none  ——
 
Various other items stand as follows:
 
Cast-iron Furnaces,
No. 186 
Value $2,895,517 
Value $1,566,974 
No. 8,308 
Value $1,106,208 
Value $966,220 
Value $2,456,792 
No. 1,238 
No. 5,198 
 IV.
Machinery mnft'd, value, $4,750   XXXVI.
Hardware mnft'd, value, $660   XXII.
Small Arms mnft'd, 565   III.
Precious Metals mnft'd, $2,120   XVI.
Granite and Marble, $2,120   XXI.
Various Metals, $21,000   XII.
Brick and Stone Houses, 10   XIX.
Wooden Houses, 134   XV.

Upon some occasion, when assailed by the statistics of his opponents, Mr. Canning is said to have quietly observed, that “few things were more false than figures, unless it be facts,” an assertion no doubt as true, as it is witty. There are probably many errors in all these tables; perhaps one might point out two items which are not strictly accurate in the statement of things in our own county. It is said, for instance, that no flax is manufactured here, while there is very frequently a little used in this way in home-made manufactures. Then, again, no furs and skins are reported: but a few fox skins are sold in the village, probably, every year. Still, the general view is sufficiently accurate to be very interesting. What a striking difference there is already, for instance, in this new county, between the produce of the forests and that of manufactures and agriculture! Furs and skins have entirely disappeared, and in the place of the beaver and deer, our valleys now feed a greater number of sheep than any other county in the State. The produce of the lumber is already less than that of the orchards. The value of the maple sugar nearly equals