FLLLMOBE COUNTY. 313 



[Drift, 



the Shakopee limestone. The above named localities are nearly all em- 

 braced within the boundaries of the driftless tract as already defined in 

 Fillmore county. These patches of northern drift present the appear- 

 ance of greater age than the drift of the w c:,4^ r ^ portion of the county, and 

 are believed to belong to a glacial epoch that preceded the epoch that 

 produced the great drift-sheet of the Northwest. An " interglacial epoch " 

 separated them. It was probably during that interglacial epoch that grew 

 the peat and coniferous vegetation that has been found in considerable 

 abundance embraced within the great drift-sheet (or at least below fifty feet 

 of drift materials), around its outer margin, as mentioned in the report on 

 Mower county, and as further demonstrated in Fillmore county. It is the 

 older drift that is covered deeply by the loess loam, and it is within the 

 loam-covered portion of the comity that true river-terraces of alluvial composition 

 are found* 



Ancient peat and vegetation in the drift deposits. There were found to be 

 quite a number of places in the western portion of the county where farm- 

 ers in digging wells have struck a bed of vegetationf similar to that also 

 described in Mower county. No opportunity has been afforded to make a 

 personal inspection of this bed, and owing to the indefiniteness of the in- 

 formation derivable from the farmers themselves, and its contrariety, it is 

 thought best to give only the statements of Mr. Calvin E. Huntley, of 

 Spring Valley, a professional well-driller. Throughout the whole of the 

 county there is much difficulty in obtaining ready water for farm and do- 

 mestic use, and a great many wells are drilled deeply into the rock. This is 

 owing to the canoned character of the rock surface, both within the drift 

 area and the loam-covered portion. These canons serve as subterranean 

 drains, though they are generally filled with drift in the western part of 

 the county. Mr. Huntley furnished the following facts concerning this bed 

 of vegetation. Some of these localities are within the limits of Mower 



county. 



N. W. J sec. 6, Beaver, land of Andrew Oleson (Early). It was found here at the depth of 

 thirty feet, situated on a ridge in prairie country. It was two or three feet thick, and had a blue 

 clay both above and below it ; then struck a limerock. 



N. E. J sec. 12, LeKoy, Mower county, land of D. B. Bosworth. This was also on a high 



Compare Geology of OMo, Vol. II.. Report on Delaware county. 



tFpr further information on the subject of vegetation in the" drift deposits of the Northwest, the reader is referred 

 to a paper by the writer in the proceedings of the American.. Association for the Advancement of Science, 1876, Detroit 

 meeting. 



