I 



22 GEOLOGICAL REPORT. 



and our people, nourished by the grape and its pure wines, 

 would become as robust and hardy as they are now daring and 

 indomitable. 



Natural Terraces. The bluffs of the numerous streams in 

 Southern Missouri usually slope back into knobs and ridges, 

 which are frequently surrounded by numerous natural ter 

 races, so regular and uniform that they appear like the work 

 of human hands, as seen in Plate VIII. These terraces are 

 produced by the decomposition of the strata of Magnesian 

 Limestones which form the bluffs. Their height varies from 

 one to six feet, and the width of the top from two to twelve, 

 according to the angle of the slope and the height of the ter 

 race. Their surfaces are nearly level, and arc usually covered 

 with a light, warm and rich soil, containing fragments of chert 

 and the decomposing limestone, all wonderfully prepared by 

 nature for the planting of vineyards. These terraces generally 

 surround high, open ridges and knobs, exposed to the free 

 circulation of the dry atmosphere of the region under con 

 sideration. 



We have as yet observed but one objection to their use for 

 vineyards. In some places the soil does not appear to be 

 sufficiently deep to secure the vine against the effects of 

 droughts. But, as an offset to the want of depth, it always 

 contains large proportions of carbonate of magnesia and 

 humus, which give it great capacity for absorbing and retain 

 ing moisture, as these substances possess this capacity to a 

 greater degree than any of the other ingredients of our soils. 

 And, besides, the thinnest soils on these terraces sustain a 

 vigorous growth of prairie grasses, flowers, shrubs and vines, 

 which produce the finest quality of grapes in great profusion. 



Caves. There are numerous spacious caves in all parts of 

 this interesting country. The temperature of those measured 

 ranges between 50 and 60 F. Many of them would make 

 most excellent wine cellars, as their temperature is sufficiently 

 low and uniform to prevent that acidity to which the wines of 

 all temperate latitudes are predisposed. 



These facts respecting the native vines, the climate, the expe 

 rience of our vine-growers, and the soil, clearly prove the 

 capacity of Missouri to become the great wine-growing region 

 of our continent. They should encourage those noble spirits 



