Stanton — The Lead Region of Wisconsin. 207 



capita in any product since the soil is not so fertile as that in 

 the other groups/ Indeed the only very poor land in either of 

 the counties is found in this group. Along the Mississippi and 

 Wisconsin rivers extend wide tracts of sandy soil, which reach 

 in many cases far into the interior. The only poor soil in La- 

 fayette county is found in the eastern part, which is included in 

 Group III. 



The influeuce of the early lead industry is thus shown to be 

 very important. The greater the importance of lead mining in 

 early days the more marked the decline and stagnation in the 

 economic life of the later period. Thus it is that the region 

 least affected by the early lead mining industry has been able 

 even under more unfavorable conditions of soil to show the 

 greatest advance both in wealth and population. What the 

 other influences are which differentiate these groups can not be 

 determined until investigation has been made into the subjects 

 of immigration and nationality and the still more difficult one 

 of politics. 



1 There are some areas of prairie land iu this {?roup yet they are much smaller thaa 

 those in the other groups. 



