BROWN COUNTY. 73 



manufactures perhaps none carried on in this State in which so great an amount 

 of labor and capital is annually employed. The subsoil clays at almost any 

 point on the uplands in this county, may be used for brick making, and where 

 this rests upon the sandy beds of the Loess, the necessary proportion of sand 

 may be obtained on the spot, and at other localities, it may be readily found in 

 the bed of some neighboring stream. As the country increases in wealth and 

 population, the desire for more artistic and substantial dwellings will also in- 

 crease, and with that, we shall have a just appreciation of the natural resources 

 so abundantly placed at our command, for this purpose. 



Soil and Agriculture. There is, probably, no portion of this county, where 

 the soil is so poor that it will not produce annually fair crops of most of the 

 cereals grown in this latitude, without the stimulant of any fertilizer, other 

 than that it naturally contains ; but there are some soils more productive than 

 others, and therefore more desirable for the agriculturist. First in rank, we 

 should place the timbered lands of the Loess, characterized by a growth of 

 sugar maple, elm, wild cherry, linden, etc., with the common varieties of oak 

 and hickory. Next, the prairie lands, and lastly, the white oak lands, which 

 occupy mainly the ridges along the breaks of the smaller streams. These last, 

 however, are very good fruit lands, and also produce fair crops of wheat, oats, 

 clover, etc. The principal growth of timber on these lands, is black and white 

 oak, and hickory." They have a thin soil, with a heavy clay subsoil, which will 

 improve under a liberal application of stable manure, applied annually, or by 

 fallowing, and the plowing under of green crops. The prairie region is quite 

 limited in this county, and confined to the northern and western portions. 

 The bottom lands on the Illinois river are very productive, and where they are 

 elevated above the annual overflow of the river, they may be ranked amon- the 

 most valuable farming lands in the county. The soil is generally a sandy loam, 

 and better adapted to the cultivation of corn than the uplands. The subsoil is 

 for the most part, quite sandy, which gives a free surface drainage, where the 

 land is sufficiently elevated above the river level. 



Mineral Springs. The Versailles Mineral Springs, three or four in number 

 are situated about a mile northeast of the village, in a little valley surrounded 

 by hills, composed entirely of Loess and Drift. The valley in which these 

 springs are situated, was originally a part of the ancient valley in which the 

 Illinois river now runs, and was excavated for a hundred feet or more into the 

 carboniferous rocks that were once continuous across the area now occupied by 

 this valley, and are now found underlying the Quaternary deposits in the ad- 

 jacent region. The springs, probably, originate in the Loess, or some other 

 Post Tertiary beds, which now form the surrounding hills, and derive the small 

 per cent, of mineral ingredients which the water contains, from these recent 

 formations. 



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