ECOLOGICAL CROSS SECTION OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 



147 



of the county, probably not more than one-half of a single 

 township. It is probable that the upper beds of the Keokuk 



m 



group are elevated above the surface at the axis above re- 

 ferred to but we met with no exposure of them. 



Soil. 



The first report on the soils of Missouri was that of Swallow* 

 in which those of St. Louis county received but brief mention. 

 The statement is made that a part of St. Louis county posses- 

 ses a very superior soil and from what follows is gathered 

 that reference is made to ^Hhe valley west of the city and in 

 the Florissant." The soil of the bluffs appears to be inferior 

 to this. 



The upland portion of that part of our territory situated 

 in Missouri may be classed under two heads, the more 



elevated portion where the soil directly overlies the lime- 

 stone, and the less elevated portion, where the soil is formed 

 on and by the upper portion of the loess which covers the 



limestone to a considerable depth. 



As far as the latter portion is concerned, the soil here is a 

 typical loess soil which in its upper layers contains varying 

 amounts of humus, the latter depending on the ground cover 

 (wood, prairie) and the slope. With the exception of a 

 second paper by Swallowf, nothing of importance on this 

 subject was published until the appearance of Schweitzer's 

 papcr.J Since the experiments with and the analysis of 

 the soil represent "a typical Missouri soil, made of what pro- 

 fessor Swallow has called the Bluff formation," they may be 

 made to apply in a general way to our section. The soil in 

 question rested on a limestone foundation and was at least 

 12 feet deep. Analyses of four samples of soil, taken from 

 the publication just mentioned, follow. Soilsamplcs nos. 

 1, 2 and 3 each consisted of topsoil (a), taken to a depth of 



* Swallow, G. C. Geological Report of the Country along the Line 

 of the south-western Branch of the Pacific Railroad, State of Missouri. 

 St, Louis. 1859. 



t Report of the Board of Agriculture of Missouri, 188 L 

 J Schweitzer, P. Soil, Weather, Field Trials with Corn. Missouri 

 Agric. Coll Exp. Sta. Bull. 5. 1889. 



