COTTONWOOD AND JACKSON COUNTIES. 497 



Elevations.] 



west part of the quartzyte ridge in southeastern Storden and southwestern 

 Amboy, and the tops of the Blue mounds, which are 1450 to 1525 feet above 

 the sea. The lowest land of this county, nearly five hundred feet below 

 these tracts, is where the Cottonwood river enters the northeast corner of 

 Germantown, at a hight of about 1030 feet above the sea. The elevation 

 of the Little Cottonwood river where it leaves the county is estimated to 

 be 1150 feet; and of the most northern tributary to the Watonwan river, at 

 the east line of Selma, 1100. The Des Moines river descends in this county 

 approximately from 1400 to 1330 feet above the sea. 



Estimates of the average hight of the townships of Cottonwood county 

 are as follows: Selma, 1225 feet above the sea; Mountain Lake, including 

 two governmental townships, 1300; Delton, 1325; Carson, 1375; Lakeside, 

 1410; Germantown, 1200; Amboy, 1400; Dale, 1450; Great Bend, 1410; High- 

 water, 1225; Storden, 1400; Amo, 1450; Springfield, 1430; Ann, 1300; West- 

 brook, 1420; Rose Hill, 1450; and South Brook, 1425. The mean elevation 

 of Cottonwood county, derived from these figures, is 1360 feet. 



In Jackson county the greatest altitudes are attained by the inner 

 terminal moraine which extends from north to south through the center 

 of the county, its crests being 1475 to 1550 feet above the sea; and by the 

 outer terminal moraine, which has about the same elevation from Skunk 

 and Rush lakes to Round and State Line lakes in the southwest corner of 

 the county. The descent of the Des Moines river is estimated to be eighty 

 feet, from 1330 at the north to 1250 feet, approximately, where it crosses 

 the state line, at the lowest point in this county. Mean hights of the 

 townships of Jackson county are estimated as follows : Kimball, 1350 ; 

 Enterprise, 1375; Wisconsin, 1400; Petersburg, 1375; Christiana, 1400; Bel- 

 mont, 1410 ; Des Moines, 1420 ; Micldletown, 1425 ; Delafield, 1440 ; Heron 

 Lake, 1460; Hunter, 1475; Minneota, 1460; Weimer, 1415; West Heron 

 Lake, 1420; Rust, 1440; Sioux Valley, 1460; La Crosse, 1425; Alba, 1450; 

 Ewington, 1500; and Round Lake, 1520. The mean elevation thus obtained 

 for the whole county is 1430 feet. 



Soil and timber. The soil of Cottonwood and Jackson counties has the 

 same nearly uniform fertility that characterizes all southern and western 

 Minnesota. A black, sandy clay, with some intermixture of gravel, and 

 containing occasional boulders, forms the soil, which has been colored to a 



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