Marble of a fair quality is found in the county. Elk Ridge is very fertile, and almost as productive as the best valley lands. It is heavily timbered with poplar, oak, chestnut, walnut, sugar, linden and locust. The valleys of the Elk, Hurricane, Mulberry and their tributaries, have a rich alluvial soil, which is very productive. The staple crops of the county, are wheat, corn, rye and oats.
Blue grass is indigenous to the soil.
Clover, timothy and most other grasses yield bountifully with proper cultivation. Stock raising is carried on to some extent, and the county, with its numerous springs, is well adapted to dairy farming, which however is not carried on to any considerable extent. The farms are not in as high a state of cultivation as they are capable of being brought. A good turnpike road leading from Shelbyville to Fayetteville passes directly through the county, via County Line and Lynchburg. The county is high, healthy, and well drained.