486 THE GEOLOGY OF MINNESOTA. 



[Boulders and gravel. Wells. 



a foot in diameter. The other large boulders are granite, syenite, and crystalline schists. The 

 red Potsdam quartzyte is scantily represented in the drift along the west border of these counties. 

 Itis almost entirely wanting farther east; but west of the Des Moines river, in Jackson county, 

 and through Dickinson county and southward in Iowa, this quartzyte is a principal ingredient of 

 the drift, making from one tenth to one half of its rock-fragtnents. At Clear lake in Lake Belt 

 township, thirty-live miles south-southeast from the east end of the ridge of Potsdam quartzyte 

 iu Adrian, scarcely one pebble in a thousand is from this source: while a quarter of the stones 

 over three inches in diameter, and two-thirds of the smaller gravel, are limestone. 



Wells in Watonwan county. 



Madelia. II. B. Wadsworth; Madelia village well, 50 feet deep; soil, 2 feet; yellow till, 

 spaded, 28 feet; much harder blue till. 20 feet; water rose ten feet in two hours from gravel at 

 the bottom. Most of the wells at Madelia are from 15 to 30 feet deep, having a good supply of 

 water that seeps from the yellow till. Lignite, in fragments up to three or four inches long, and 

 small pieces of wood, as of twigs or limbs, are occasionally found embedded in the till of these 

 wells. Their water is invariably good, except in occasional instances where it has been spoiled 

 by the decay of wooden curbing. 



Fielden. II. W. Wadsworth; sec. 21: well, 70 feet; soil, 2; yellow till, spaded, 25, with water 

 seeping sparingly in its last three or four feet; much harder blue till, picked, 43; water rose forty 

 feet in three hours from whitish gravel at the bottom. Several pieces of lignite were found in the 

 upper till. Wells in this township often find an ample supply of water at a depth of 25 feet or 

 less. The only flowing well learned of in this county is William Sargent's, on section 20, about 

 25 feet deep. 



Antrim. C. O. Martin; sec. 8: well, 29 feet; soil, 2; yellow till, 23 ; blue till, 4; water rose 

 twelve feet in one day from gravel and sand at the bottom. 



Robert Dewar; s;c. 10: well, 70 feet; soil, 2; yellow till, spaded, 25 ; sand and gravel, with 

 clay, interstratifled, 4 feet; blue till, harder than the upper till, yet much of it spaded, 39 feet, the 

 lowest two or three feet very hard ; at the bottom, water rose from gravel and sand twenty-five 

 feet in a half day. 



South Branch. Benjamin A. Town; sec. 14 : well, 23 feet; soil, 2 ; sandy yellow till, with 

 water in its lower part, 5 feet ; moist blue till, mostly spaded, 16 feet; water rose six feet in one 

 day from a gravelly streak in the blue till. 



Long Lake. William Evans; sec. 19: well, 21 feet; soil, 2; yellow till, picked, 19; water 

 comes slowly from sandy streaks at the bottom. 



Saint James. The railroad well here was dug 22 feet, and then bored about 10 feet more, 

 through blue till, to white sand, from which 1500 barrels of water have been drawn in ten hours. 



G. H. Eeynolds; Saint James : well, 28 feet ; all yellow and blue till; water came up unex- 

 pectedly at night, when the workmen had left the well dry the previous afternoon, tilling the well 

 to two feet below its top. The yellow till at this town is 10 to 20 feet deep, with blue till usu- 

 ally a little softer, below. 



John Schutz; sec. 10: well, 28; soil, 2; yellow till, 10; blue till, 16; water rose ten feet in one 

 hour. 



James Curry; sec. 18: well, 25; soil, 2; yellow till, spaded, 20; sand and gravel, with water, 

 1 foot; blue till, softer than the yellow, 2 feet. It was estimated that a half bushel of fragments 

 of lignite, up to six inches iu length, was found in the till here; but none was contained in the 

 sand and gravel. 



Adrian. Joel Parker; sec. 26: well, 22; soil, 3; yellow till, spaded, 20; with softer and moister 

 blue till below; water seeps in the lower part of the yellow till. 



Frederick Klein; S. W. J of sec. 30: well, 27; soil, 2; yellow till, 10; softer and moister blue 

 till, 13; gravel and sand, 2 feet, aud extending deeper; water rose two or three feet above the top 

 of the gravel; lignite was found in fragments up to three inches long. The water in all the wells 

 of this region is of excellent quality. 



Wells in Martin county. 



Nashville. Henry C. Henton; sec. 9: well, 24 feet deep: soil, 2 feet: yellow till, 19 feet; gravel. 

 3 feet, and reaching below; water rose fourteen feet in one hour. 



