284 GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS. 



for its manufacture in this part of the county. This county might 

 easily furnish the whole Mississippi valley with all the quicklime re- 

 quired for centuries, without exhausting the supplies for this material 

 now so abundantly at hand. 



Brick. Materials. Sand and clay suitable for the manufacture of com- 

 mon brick abound in almost every neighborhood, and may be readily 

 obtained. The brown clay subsoil on the highlands is generally well 

 adapted for this purpose, and where there is a deficiency of sand it 

 may be readily supplied from the banks of the adjacent streams. 



Soil and Agriculture. The varied character of the surface in different 

 portions of this county must necessarily result in an equally variable 

 soil and its products. On the bottom lauds along the river, and also 

 in the valleys of some of the small streams, the soil is a deep, sandy 

 loam, highly charged with humus from the vegetable matters that 

 have been produced and decayed upon its surface; and this soil is 

 exceedingly productive, yielding annually heavy crops of corn and 

 other cereals usually grown in this climate. These are the most pro- 

 ductive lands in the county, and where they are elevated above the 

 annual floods in the Mississippi, are also the most valuable. Next in. 

 order are the chocolate-colored soils of the small prairies in the eastern 

 portions of the county, and the timbered lands adjacent thereto, where 

 the underlaying rocks belong to the Chester group. These lands also 

 produce good crops' of corn, wheat, barley and clover, but require a 

 judicious rotation of crops, to retain their original fertility. Lastly, we 

 have the oak ridges along the river bluffs, and the sink hole region, 

 underlaid by the upper division of the St. Louis limestone. The soil 

 over this portion of the county is very thin, and consists of yellowish 

 or ashen-gray clays, with a yellow clay subsoil. These lands require 

 heavy manuring, if cultivated in corn, but produce fair crops of wheat 

 and other small grains, and clover, where the surface is not too broken 

 for cultivation. These are the best fruit lands, perhaps, in the county, 

 and apple, peach and pear orchards flourish here, and grapes are also 

 extensively cultivated. Alt the small fruits might be successfully cul- 

 tivated on these broken lands, and their near proximity to the St. Louis 

 market would make this branch of horticulture exceedingly profitable, 

 if properly conducted. Vineyards have been successfully cultivated 

 here for many years, and this county probably ranks about the third 

 in the State for the value of its wine products. The completion of the 

 railroad through this county will bring it within a half hour's ride of 

 St. Louis, and will greatly enhance the value of its lands, especially 

 those best adapted to the cultivation of the small fraits. 



Before closing my report on Monroe county, I desire to express my 

 obligations to Hon. HENRY TALBOT, of Waterloo, and his son, and also 



