PEOPJA COUNTY. 251 



SVoj'7. The modified drift deposits, forming the terrace upon which 

 the city of Peoria is mainly built, will furnish an inexhaustible supply 

 of sand of various qualities, adapted to the varied economical uses to 

 which this material is applicable, and it will also afford an excellent 

 moulders' sand, in quantities sufficient for the supply of all the adjacent 

 region. 



Gravel. An inexhaustible supply of clean gravel may be obtained 

 from the gravel beds forming the bluffs at Peoria, and along the north 

 side of the Kickapoo for a distance of eight or ten miles above the out- 

 let of that stream. All the railroads in the State might obtain here an 

 ample supply of ballast for their road beds, without greatly diminish- 

 ing the amount of this material to be found in this county. 



Timber. There is an ample supply of timber in this county, the pro- 

 portion of timber and prairie laud being originally about the same. 

 The timbered land is mostly confined to the ridges and valleys of the 

 streams, though occasionally fine groves are met with on the level land 

 adjacent to the prairie. The growth upon the upland is mostly black 

 and white oak. pig-nut and shell-bark hickory, elm, linden, wild cherry, 

 honey locust, wild plum and crab-apple ; while on the bottom lands and 

 the slopes of the hills, we find white and sugar maple, black and white 

 walnut, pecan, cottonwood, sycamore, ash, red birch, coffee-nut, hack- 

 berry, mockernut hickory, post, Spanish and swamp white oak, red bud, 

 dogwood, persimmon, mulberry, service berry, buckthorn, three or four 

 varieties of willow and box alder. 



Soil niul Agriculture. As an agricultural region this county ranks 

 among the best in this portion of the State. The western and northern 

 portions of the county are mostly prairie, and generally level or gently 

 rolling. The soil is a dark chocolate-colored loam, rich in organic mat- 

 ters, and producing abundant crops annually of corn, wheat, rye. oats 

 and barley, and, with judicious cultivation, this kind of soil will retain 

 its fertility for an indefinite period of years, without the application of 

 artificial stimulants. On the more broken lauds adjacent to the streams, 

 the soil is of a lighter color, but where it is predicated upon the marly 

 beds of the loess, it is still productive, and scarcely inferior to the best 

 prairie soils. Where the soil overlies the yellow drift-clays, the timber 

 is mostly white oak and hickory ; the soil is thin, and would be greatly 

 improved by an annual application of manure liberally applied. These 

 lands, however, produce fine crops of wheat and oats, and are excellent 

 for fruit orchards and vineyards. The soil on the terrace and bottom 

 lands is a sandy loam, and generally very productive. 



In closing my report on this county, I desire to express my obliga- 

 tions to many of its citizens for their earnest co-operation and manifest 

 interest in the work of the survey, and especially to Mr. MARK AIKEN. 



