The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-04-20
GARRETT COUNTY.
Extract From the First Annual Re-
port of the Bureau of Industrial
Statistics.

Area, OoO square miles; pOpula'
ton, l4,2l3; white. 4,030; negro,
1888 Increase over 1880, 2,O3S. or
1874 per cent. Area per capita,
or twenty-one persons to a square
mile. Assessed value of property,
1880, 745. County tax rate,
Sl.07. Size of farms, so to $50
acres. Price of farming lands, $40
to $50. Principal industries, aAi-
culture. Principal farm products,
buckwheat, oats, wheat, corn and
POTATOES. Transportation facilities,
Baltimore & Ohio, Oakland & State
Line. Cumberland & Pennsylvania
and the West Virginia Central Rail
roads. County seat, Oakland.
BY far the most serious obstacle
which bars the path of Garrett
county in its march towards pros
perity Is the small population within
its borders.
While the population during the
ten years from 1880 to 1890 in
creased from II, 800 to 14,213, the
greatest increase made during that
period by any county in the State.
except Anne Arundel, it is still
much less than is needed for the
development of its vast resources.
Baltimore county. which is smaller
than Garrett. has population of
nearly $4,000 and at the present
rate Of increase, Garrett would
scarcely have so great population
as Baltimore county now has in a
hundred years from this time.
Garrett county cannot, therefore.
look to the natural increase of its
population for its prosperity. 1t
must be apparent to the most casusl
observer that immigration is need
ed. and very much needed. lmmi-
grants are not, however, needed so
much as farm laborers, because
there is not more than ten per cent.
of the territory cleared and under
cultivation. The other ninety per
cent. is covered by virgin forests.
What is needed, therefore, are pur-
chasers for these forest lands who
will fell the timber and develop the
agricultural resources of the county.
There are no old, WORKOUT, I'M
cultivated nor abandoned lands in
Garrett county. The small percent
age of the land which is cleared is
being farmed. The soil is very pro
ductive, and the farmer may always
expect "a fair return for his labor
and outlay. Fine crops are raised
without the application of fertiliz-
ers. The farms are generally
small, but great deal of the tim
Der land is owned in large bodies,
as will be shown by reference to
several sales which have been made
lately. The Yough Manor" tract
containing nine thousand acres was
sold for forty five thousand dollars;
the "Kunkle" tract, of about six
thousand acres, was sold for fifty
thousand dollars, and the tract
called "Swanton," containing over
thirty thousand acres, was sold
few months ago for fifty-four thou
sand dollars. All these immense
bodies of land haye been purchased
chiefly for their timber, and can be
readily obtained in small lots at
very reasonable prices.
The proportion of farms under
cultivation which are for sale is
small. There is an advantage to
purchasers in buying timber land,
as in most cases they can pay for
the land and support their families
from the sale of timber while they
are opening up farms. When they
have the land cleared. they can
raise better crops without the aid of
fertilizers than can be raised in
many places with heavy outlay for
manures. While the other resources
of the county are immense, its fu-
ture is agriculture. If thrifty
class of immigrants can be induced
to locate here, the day is near at
hand when Garrett will be one of
the greatest farming counties in the
State.
The farms are chiefly owned by
those who cultivate them. There
are, in fact, very few farms cult
waited by renters. The supply of
farm labor is nearly or quite equal
to the demand and farm hands can
be had during the busy season for
seventv-five cents per day and board
while farm laborers by the year can
be hired for from S120 to $50 and
board. There is large army of
men employed about the numerous
saw mills and lumber manufactor-
les, which are found in almost every
locality. Those who cut the timber
and haul or float it to the mills gen
orally work by contract at so much
per thousand and usually make big
wages. Those who work about the
mills command from 81 % to 81 10