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not overflow will produce excellent crops of corn. In Clinton the average is 
fixed at $12 per acre, a large proportion being as good farming land as any in 
the State, mostly owned by non-residents. Linn county $10, prairie, all good, 
mostly first-rate wheat and corn land. Dubuque, $10 per acre, quite rolling, 
mostly covered with hazel brush, and a young growth of red and white oak 
timber; soil a black loam, with clay subsoil. Allamakee, $7 to $10 per acre, 
well adapted to the cereal and root crops; the portions too hilly for cultivation 
being fitted for pastures and vineyards. Chickasaw and Mitchell, $5 per acre, 
mostly prairie of the best quality for general farming. Winnebago $3, prairie 
land of good quality, but not convenient to timber, that can be purchased at a 
reasonable price; will produce good crops of wheat, oats, barley, and potatoes, 
and fair crops of corn. Kossuth is sparsely settled, and much of the land can 
be secured under the homestead laws, though in favorable locations land is worth 
$3 to $5, and rapidly advancing ; the greater portion of the county is prairie, 
with belts of timber along the rivers and creeks. In Emmett and Palo Alto 
these lands are held at $2 50 to $4 per acre, principally prairie, with scarcity of 
timber ; considerable government land still vacant. In Sioux and Cherokee, 
$1 25 to $5, prairie, with little timber. Sac $6 per acre, three-fourths of the 
county unimproved, but as good as any taken up. Calhoun and Crawford $3 
per acre, land of best quality ; the former contains 300,000 acres of these lands. 
Audubon $5, prairie, with about ten acres of timber to the quarter section; a 
rich alluvial soil. Harrison $5 to $10, varying from level bottom to high, roll- 
ing prairie; soil first rate, capable of producing 40 to 80 bushels of corn, 15 
to 40 bushels of wheat, and other crops in proportion. Cass $2 50 to $10 per 
acre, prairie, good soil. Adams and Union $4, Montgomery $2 50 to $5, Fre- 
mont $2 to $8, Clarke $4 50; good tillable land, some of it of the very best 
quality ; timberscarce. Decatur $5, northern half mostly prairie, the southern 
half timber; soil good, two to three feet deep, no better land for corn, oats, 
vegetables, &c. Wayne $3, quality good. Lucas $5; Appanoose $8, rough 
lands $4 to $5; timber $6 to $20; soil equal to that of lands under cultivation. 
Jefferson $10, chiefly prairie; some timber; the former consisting of as fine 
farming lands as can be found in the State. Keokuk $6, good prairie. Marion 
$7 50 per acre, embracing all qualities of land from best to poorest. Warren 
$8, light alluvial soil, adapted to growth of cereals. Jasper $8, capable of pro- 
ducing 60 to 100 bushels of corn, or 20 to 40 bushels of wheat to the acre. 
Marshall $8, good prairie. Story $5, capable of producing 60 bushels of corn, 
18 bushels of wheat, or 40 bushels of oats per acre. Hamilton $4, prairie, 
suited to grain or stock growing. Black Hawk $10 per acre. Benton $5 to 
$15, prairie, best quality, said to be capable of producing 75 bushels of oats, 40 
bushels of wheat, and 100 bushels of corn, when properly cultivated. Des 
Moines $12, and Louisa $15; quality of soil good. ; 
3. Of the mineral resources of Iowa, coal is the most valuable and abundant, 
and is said to underlie an area of not less than 20,000 square miles, in all 
embracing a country equal to two-fifths of the whole State. The Lowa river 
runs near the eastern boundary of these deposits, which extend southwest into 
Missouri. It is upwards of 200 miles in the direction of the valley of the Des 
Moines across the great coal-field while westwardly it extends nearly to the 
Missouri river. The beds are of immense thickness, in some places said to be 
100 feet or more, and lying near the surface are capable of being worked easily 
and at small expense. This vast bed of mineral wealth has as yet been very 
slightly developed, though there are inducements for working it to far greater 
extent than at present. Our Marion county reporter writes : 
We probably have more timber land than any other county in the State, and of coal unques- 
tionably more. ‘There is a seven-foot vein of coal underlying nearly the whole of the county ; 
and in the southeastern corner we have veins ten feet thick. The coal in this township will 
average 350 000 cubic feet to the acre. 
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