456 THE GEOLOGY OF MINNESOTA. 



[Elevations. Soil nnd timber. 

 I 



Crossing branch of C.. St. P., M. & O. railway 166.1 1095 



Winnebago City 166.3 1096 



Blue Earth river, water 168.4 1014 



The elevations above the spa of the Blue Earth river and its tributaries in Faribault county 

 are approximately as follows: Blue Earth river at the south line of the county and state, 1125 

 feet; at the mouth of the East fork, in Blue Earth City, 1050; at the north line of the county, 

 990; Jones creek at the east line of the county, 1200; Walnut lake, 1125; Maple river at the north 

 line of the county, 980; and the Big Cobb river in Dunbar, 1075 to 1100. 



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

 townships of Faribault county are as follows: Dunbar, 1120 feet above the 

 sea ; Clark, 1170; Foster, 1200 ; Kiester, 1250 ; Seely, 1175 ; Brush Creek, 

 1125; Walnut Lake, 1125; Minnesota Lake, 1050; Lura, 1040; Barber, 1100; 

 Emerald, 1125; Rome, 1160; Elmore, 1160; Blue Earth City, 1120; Prescott, 

 1100; Delavan, 1050; Winnebago City, 1080; Verona, 1100; Jo Daviess, 1150; 

 and Pilot Grove, 1180. The mean elevation of the county is thus 1130 feet, 

 very nearly, above the sea. Its highest points, the hills in section 3, Kies- 

 ter, are about 1400 feet above the sea; and its lowest land, in the valleys 

 of the Blue Earth and Maple rivers, slightly less than 1000. 



Soil and Umber. The soil of Faribault county has the usual character 

 of the whole area of slightly undulating glacial drift which overspreads 

 the basin of the Minnesota river. It is almost universally the unmodified 

 drift, or till, consisting principally of clay, but enclosing a considerable 

 proportion of sand and gravel and occasional stones and boulders. A 

 thickness of about two feet of this deposit next to the surface Jias been 

 made dark by decaying vegetation, and is the black soil. On the top of 

 swells, and especially of the morainic hills and ridges, its depth is some- 

 times only about one foot, but is rarely much less; and in the depressions 

 it is often three or four feet deep. This soil has a sufficient intermixture 

 of sand to make it porous, easily allowing rains to soak into it and moisture 

 to rise through it to the surface in a drought. It is therefore ready for 

 early sowing and planting soon after the snow has melted in spring, and 

 can well endure either very wet or unusually dry seasons. Besides wheat, 

 which was formerly its leading crop, Faribault county is well adapted for 

 raising oats, corn, hay, horses, pork, beef, butter, amber cane, flax, potatoes, 

 and the ordinary vegetables and small fruits of the garden, all of which 

 now receive due attention in the agriculture of this region. 



Timber of large and dense growth usually occupies the bottomlands 



