XIII INTRODrCTIoX. 



In tlic northern ]»;irt of the City, filoug Grand River, gubcarbonif- 

 (M'ous limostone lies above the gypsum, and crops out in tlie bed 

 <»f llie River. In the soutlieni part of the City and south-west to 

 (^randvillc, the gypsiferous series of shales, hydraulic limestone 

 an<i gypsum, is upjjerniost, and comes to the surface at the mouth 

 of Plaster Creek. Ra]>id variations in the altitude of the rock sur- 

 face make it evident that the limestone is much eroded. 



In S!>ction 1 i>, Paris Township (near the '-brick school-house" 

 on South Division Street) a ledge of this subcarboniferous lime- 

 stone crops out and is traceable for a mile northward and again 

 appears half a mile to the south. About a mile north-cast of the 

 school-house, it lies 30 feet behnv the surface, then dips to the 

 north 200 feet to the mile. 



Tlie fertility of some of the sandy soils of this district is thought 

 to be due in some degree to the presence of gypsum fragments in 

 them. The pulverized limestone also has, no doubt, contributed 

 to the enrichment of this area, disseminated as it has been through 

 the drill. 



Tllb: FLORA OF GRA^D RAPIDS AND VICINITY. 



In the western and southern part of the district, beech and ma- 

 ple timber predominate, Avhile in the eastern, the oans are the chief 

 forest trees. The lowlands are wooded with red maple, hackberry, 

 elm, black ash, burr oak, swamp oak, sycamore, black willow, but- 

 ternut, walnut, viburnums, dogwoods, etc. As this district is just 

 within the southern limits of the pine region, white pine from sin- 

 gle trees to groves of considerable extent is intermingled with the 

 hard wood. The largest tracts were formerly about Mill Creek, 

 in the eastern part of Alpine, in the center of Georgetown, and 

 east of Fisher Station; but they have been cut for timber. All 

 the sections previously mentioned, however, are more or less in- 

 termingled and pass into one another. 



Since the district has become more thickly settled, it is undergo- 

 ing r:-i]ii<i tranHf<)rin:il!<^ns. >[;ieh of the swamp land is being 



