WASECA COUNTY. 401) 



Elevation*. Soil and timber.; 



Elevations on the Minneapolis & Saint Louis railway. 

 From Robert Angst, assistant engineer. Minneapolis. 



Milts from Feet above 

 ^ Minneapolis, the sea. 



At the north Hue of Waseca county, - 67.0 1049 



losco, 69.7 '1146 



Summit, natural surface, 1168; grade, - 70.3 1154 



Loon lake, water, 75.7 1134 



Crossing Winona & Saint Peter railroad, - 76.0 1154 



Waseca, 76.2 1151 



Creek in sec. S, Otisco, water, 1071 ; grade on bridge, - - 81.2 1077 



Le Sueur river, water, 1103 ; grade on bridge, 84.8 1116 



NewKichland, - 88.7 1178 



The highest portion of this county is the east half of New Richland 

 and the southeast quarter of Otisco, which are about 1200 feet above the 

 sea. Its lowest land is where the Le Sueur river and other streams cros* 

 its west line, at hights between 1000 and 1050 feet above the sea. the ele- 

 vation of the Le Sueur river at this line being approximately 1010. 



Mean elevation of the county. Estimates of the average bight of the 

 townships of Waseca county are as follows : Blooming Grove, 1150 feet 

 above the sea; Wood ville, 1150; Otisco, 1160; New Richland, 1190; losco, 

 1100; Saint Mary, 1120; Wilton, 1110; Byron, 1150; Janesville, 1060; Alton 



j 



1060; Freedom, 1070; and Vivian, 1100. The mean elevation of the county, 

 derived from these figures, is approximately 1120 feet. 



Soil and timber. The black soil varies in thickness from one to three 

 feet, being least on swells and on the hillocks of the moraine, and greatest 

 in depressions. It is a very fertile gravelly clay, with occasional boulders 

 and differs from the subsoil, both of which are till, in having been enriched 

 and colored by the decay of vegetation through many centuries. This 

 glacial drift includes a considerable proportion of limestone, both as boul- 

 ders and pebbles, and also in a finely pulverized condition, which contrib- 

 utes in an important degree to the productiveness of the soil, and at the 

 same time makes the water of wells hard. Wheat, oats, corn, potatoes, 

 flax, sorghum, and all the crops that belong in this latitude, are successfully 

 cultivated. 



Timber covers the greater part of Janesville, the west half of Alton, 

 and northwestern losco, this being the southeast edge of the Big Woods. 

 About half of Blooming Grove is also wooded, and numerous large groves 

 occur in the townships of Saint Mary, Woodville and Otisco, and in the 

 northeast part of New Richland. The Le Sueur river is bordered by timber, 



