annual mean temperature is only six-tenths of a degree higher than that of the latter place.[88]
The lands of the State of Ohio are understood to be more fertile than those of Pennsylvania.—With good culture, from sixty to a hundred bushels of maize per acre, are produced. On an acre of land, near the mouth of the Little Miami, one of the first settlers raised the extraordinary quantity of one hundred and fourteen bushels. The advanced state of population, in the southern part of the State, has withdrawn the most choice tracts of ground from the land-office; good lots, however, may still be bought from private individuals at a moderate price. The higher country, lying nearly {159} equidistant from the river Ohio and lake Erie, is understood to be healthy, fertile, abounding in springs of water, and possessing a good navigation downward, in wet seasons of the year, by means of the rivers Muskingum, Scioto, and Miamis. The northern part of the State is described as having many large prairies, of a rich quality, but unhealthy.
Kentucky, and the western part of Virginia, have much land of the first rate quality; but the influx of new settlers is greatly prevented by the insecurity of titles. Surveyed at an early period, when the country was in the possession of the hostile aborigines, and before the new method of laying out public lands was adopted, much confusion as to boundaries prevails.[89] Many conflicting*
