22 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS. 



say exactly where this seam belongs in the general section of the Coal Measures, 

 but from the appearance of the coal, as well as from the stratigraphical position 

 which it occupies, I am inclined to regard it as No 2, or the equivalent of the 

 Murphysboro and Colchester coals. It is not very uncommon to find this seam 

 divided as it is here, and sometimes it is so equally divided that neither divi- 

 sion is thick enough to be worked separately. If this conclusion is confirmed, 

 then No. 1 would be represented by the black shale said to have been penetra- 

 ted at the depth of about fifteen feet below the main seam, and No. 3 would 

 belong about the horizon of the concretionary, gray limestone that lies about 

 sixty-five feet above it. But little has yet been done towards developing the 

 coal in this county, although the mines were opened in the river bluffs at an 

 early day, and have been worked at intervals for years. This seam has only 

 been opened at two or three points, away from the river, where the coal was 

 found outcropping in the ravines by which the Coal Measures are intersected. 

 Coal seams no thicker than this, are worked with profit in many portions of the 

 State, where the market facilities are no better than they are here, where the 

 outcrop is on the bank of the Mississippi, and the coal would all find a ready 

 market without incurring the expense and risk of transportation. 



Brine Springs. On the northwest quarter of section 16, town 11 south, 

 range 2 west, there is a large sulphur spring, slightly impregnated with salt. 

 The water is said to have been a much stronger brine formerly than now, but a 

 boring was made to the depth of 198 feet, which changed the character of the 

 water flowing from the spring, so that it is now a strong sulphur water, but so 

 strongly impregnated with salt as to render it rather unpalatable. This spring 

 flows out from the horizon of the Cincinnati group, but the water probably comes 

 from the Trenton limestone, or else comes up through a crevice in that rock 

 from some old formation, as that limestone was struck in the well at a depth of 

 twenty-two feet. Fine springs of fresh water abound in the central and north- 

 ern portions of the county, where the Burlington limestone is the prevailing 

 rock. 



Soil and Agriculture. The surface over a large portion of the uplands in this 

 county, is quite broken and hilly, and in some portions the hills are too steep 

 for cultivation, but the soil is excellent, being generally predicated upon the 

 Loess, and as a fruir, growing region it is hardly surpassed by any portion of 

 the State. The soil is generally a chocolate colored clay loam, such as we gen- 

 erally find over the regions adjacent to the river bluffs, where it rests upon the 

 Loess. It has a complete surface drainage from the rolling character of the 

 country, and is very productive in all the cereals and fruits of a temperate cli- 

 mate. This county has but recently attracted the attention of horticulturists, 

 and a number of extensive fruit farms have been opened within the past five 

 years. Extensive peach and apple orchards are already in bearing, and show 



