FILLMORE COUNTY. 277 



Elevations.] 



they have been undergoing ever since a process of re-excavation. This 

 process is revealed in the occasional collapsing of the surface soil, and thus 

 the formation of a new sink-hole, and in the enlargement of others, since 

 the settlement of the county. 



Elevations in Fillmore county on the Southern Minnesota division, Chicago, Milwaukee and 



Saint Paul railway. 



From George 15. Woodworth, assistant engineer, La Crosse. 



Distances in miles Hightsinfeet 

 from La Crosse. above the sea. 



Rushford, - 29.9 714 



Peterson, 31.6 748 



Whalen, 43.4 778 



Root river bridge, 46.0 793 



Root river bridge, . 47.5 816 



Lanesboro, 48.0 833 



Root river bridge, 51.7 865 



Isinour's, 53.6 891 



Fountain, 59.3 1294 



Depression, grade, 60.6 1251 



Summit, grade, 64.7 1322 



Wykoff, - 66.6 1302 



Summit, grade, 68.6 1359 



Spring Valley, - 73.6 1258 



Mean elevation of the county. From the contour-lines shown on the 

 map the average elevation of each township is estimated as follows : 



Rushford, 1025 feet above the sea; Norway, 1150; Preble, 1050; New- 

 burgh, 1150; Arendahl, 1075; Holt, 1050; Amherst, 1150; Canton, 1175; Pilot 

 Mound, 1025; Carrollton, 1050; Preston, 1125; Harmony, 1200; Chatfield, 1100; 

 Fountain, 1200; Carimona, 1175; Bristol, 1250; Jordan, 1200; Fillmore, 1225; 

 Forestville, 1225; York, 1275; Sumner, 1275; Spring Valley, 1275; Bloom- 

 field, 1300; and Beaver, 1300. The mean elevation of Fillmore county, 

 derived from these figures, is approximately, 1170 feet above the sea. 



Soil and timber. The soil of the county is generally very fertile. The 

 immediate surface is a loam. This varies in color and composition, as well 

 as in origin. That portidn of the county covered with the northern drift 

 has primarily a drift soil, which consists of gravelly clay. Where this 

 forms the immediate surface, which is the case only on knolls and on the 

 brows of the river bluffs, it affords a soil of an ashen color, if dry. In tim- 

 bered belts it is more stony or gravelly. In the open prairies, and in low 

 ground, it is covered with a loam. This is believed to have resulted from 

 the natural decomposition of the coarse materials of the drift, under the 

 calcining influence of the prairie fires, and the frosts of the ages. It has 



