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are believed to be more nearly a pure carbonate of lime; at least they do not 

 contain so large a proportion of carbonate of magnesia. 



The rocks that form the solid basis of the State are usually covered with loose 

 materials, consisting of clay, sand, gravel, and boulders, constituting what is 

 known among geologists as the " northern drift." These materials, of course, 

 greatly modify the nature of the soil. You may find, at any place, fragments of 

 various kinds of rock mingled together, and forming, by their decay, a very dif- 

 ferent soil from that 2:)roduced by the solid rock below. Thus nature has equal- 

 ized her gifts and bestowed a rich soil upon districts where we would otherwise 

 only look for sterility and barrenness. 



In many localities the clay, sand, and gravel, are arranged in regular order of 

 superposition, and in strata, like those of the more solid rocks. At Fond du Lac 

 these layers are so arranged as to give origin to the ever-flowing fountains so 

 readily and fortunately obtained by penetrating the impervious clay. These- 

 regular deposites appear to be a distinct formation, subsequent to the drift pro- 

 perly so called, and in some cases cover deposites of marl with recent shells, peat, 

 and even sticks of wood, (fee. There are places where this clay, sand, or gravel, 

 impart their peculiar character to the soil ; there being a predominance of some 

 one of these ingredients. In each of these cases a difi'erent system of agriculture 

 should be adopted, suited to the nature of the soil ; or eftbrts should be made tO' 

 render the soil uniform by supplying the deficient materials. When the soil 

 consists mostly of clay, it assumes upon exposure to the sun and the weather, a 

 whitish color, and is but poorly adapted to the culture of winter wheat, though 

 the various spring crops flourish well. 



If your Society could discover and make known some cheap and simple- 

 remedy for this defect in in a portion of our soils, so as to enable the farmers to 

 raise winter instead of spring wheat, it would add vastly to the annual production 

 of the State, as a little calculation will show. If we suppose there are one hun- 

 dred thousand acres of this land yielding twenty bushels per acre, or two millions 

 of bushels, and multiply this by fifteen cents, as about the average diflerence in 

 the market value of spring and winter wheat, we shall find that Wisconsin sus- 

 tains an annual loss of three hundred thousand dollars for want of such a remedy. 

 This is a matter deemed to be worthy of attention and investigation ; and it 

 should stimulate every good citizen to aid and encourage this Society in its 

 eftbrts to benefit the farming interests of the State. There are, doubtless, nu* 

 merous other cases, where a little investigation by competent persons, and the 

 publication of the results, would prove equally beneficial. 



A portion of the limestone district of Wisconsin, lying west of Sugar River, 

 and south of the great dividing ridge running' parallel with, and a few miles 

 south of the Wisconsin River, is known as " the mineral region," and is destitute 



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