96 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS. 



and brushwood extend for miles along the streams and over the inter- 

 vening highlands. Here and there a grove of better timber may be 

 seen. Small prairies, prairie openings, and long stretches of prairie 

 still exist in every direction, but it soon becomes difficult to tell whether 

 the rather poor timber or the irregular prairie laud predominates, es- 

 pecially after passing nearly into the northern third of the county. 



The same general remarks apply to this third of the county, except 

 that considerable wet and swampy laud is noticed. Many of the streams 

 of the county take their origin in these low lauds. The north-western 

 part of the county has considerable prairie, and much wet laud ; the 

 north-eastern has more timber, is higher and dryer, and on towards the 

 " Big foot " prairie, in Wisconsin, contains good farming lands. 



The timber consists mostly of black, white, burr, red, yellow, and 

 some rarer varieties of the oak, black walnut and butternut, shell-bark 

 and common hickory, cottonwood, sugar maple, honey locust, sycamore, 

 water and slippery elm, haw, dogwood, common poplar, white and red 

 ash, red cedar, white pine, linden or bass wood, common swamp willow, 

 and a few other shrubs and plants. Many of these are seldom met with, 

 and indeed the groves in this part of the country are made up princi- 

 pally of the common black and white oaks to be met with in the poorer 

 timbered regions of Northern Illinois. The alluvial lauds skirting the 

 larger streams are the only places where many of the above species of 

 trees can be noticed at all. 



Booue county, for the most part, is well watered. The Kishwaukee, 

 here called a river, enters it on the east, not far from the center of the 

 eastern line of the township of Bonus, and crosses in long, easy flowing 

 curves, entering Winnebago at the village of Cherry Valley. It is a 

 stream of considerable size, not very swift current, reasonably clear 

 waters ; and affords fair water powers at Cherry Valley and Belvidere. 

 Coon creek comes in from the south-east, and falls into it near the cen- 

 ter of the township of Bonus. This is the only tributary worth naming 

 ou the south side, within the county limits. On the north, the Piscasaw 

 creek comes in almost exactly on the center of the eastern boundary 

 line of the township of Booue, and flows in a south-west direction, until 

 it is lost in the Kishwaukee at Belvidere. It is a light stream too 

 light for available water powers. Beaver creek conies in at the north- 

 eastern corner of the county, flows in a direction west of south, and 

 joins the Kishwaukee a short distance above the town of Cherry Valley. 

 It is similar to the Piscasaw, and not valuable for water powers. Some 

 small streams, in the township of Manchester, in the north-west part of 

 the county, flow over towards Eock river, but they are small and in- 

 significant. These water courses and their small tributaries abundantly 

 water the county, and adapt it to stock raising and agricultural purposes. 



