SOIL SURVEY OF LOUISA COUNTY, IOWA. 47 



alone are relied on to carry off the water, which is allowed to accumu- 

 late in low places, never cultivated, until sucli time as the pipes re- 

 m.ove it. 



During the last few years the levees have sometimes broken while 

 the river was at flood stage, ruining a large part of the crops. Such 

 breaks have probably boon due to faulty construction of the levee in 

 the first place, or to inadequate measures for its maintainance. 

 Some farmers state tiiat the substratum underlying the Iowa River 

 bottom soils is different and has more quicksand than is the case in 

 the Mississippi bottoms, and that therefore leveeing should not 

 be attempted in the Iowa bottoms. Owing to their small area, 

 the cost, and the damage done to farming land by being cut with 

 channels and covered with sand in the vicinity of a crevasse, when 

 one occurs in the levee, there seems to be some doubt whether it is 

 more profitable to construct levees or to assume the risk of losing the 

 crop b}^ untimely floods. 



SUMMARY. 



Louisa County lies at the eastern edge of the State of Iowa, in the 

 third tier of counties from the southern boundary. It has an area of 

 396 square miles, or 253,440 acres. 



The county consists of two areas of upland and two areas of low- 

 land. The upland areas are separated by the Iowa River Valley. 

 One of the bottom areas follows the Iowa River Valley while the other 

 lies on the western side of the Mississippi River Valley. The alluvial 

 areas are made up of first bottoms, naturally subject to overflow, and 

 second bottoms or terraces, not subject to overflow. The average 

 elevation of the terraces above the first bottom is about 30 feet, 

 while that of the upland above the terraces is about 100 feet. The 

 fii'st bottoms are generally level, and the terraces level to undulating, 

 while the upland varies from level to sharply rolling or broken. 



The highest point in the county, m the southeast part of Morning 

 Sun Township, is nearly 900 feet above sea level. The western up- 

 land slopes to the northeast, while the eastern upland, with the ex- 

 ception of a few square miles in the northeast corner, slopes to the 

 west. A small proportion of the eastern upland di'ams to the Mis- 

 sissippi River. Nearly all the remainder of the county drams to the 

 Iowa River. 



The first white settlement was made in this county m 1834. The 

 county was formed in 1836. In 1910 the population was 12,855, or 

 32.5 persons per square mile.^° All the population is classified as 

 rural, and settlement is well distributed. The inhabitants are prac- 

 tically all white, and mostly native born. 



Transportation facilities are good, five lines of railroad passuig 

 through the comity. The principal markets within the comity are 



10 See footnote, p. 9. 



