610 THE GEOLOGY OF MINNESOTA. 



[Wells. Travertine. Springs 







house, thirty rods west of the station, the well, 9 feet deep, was all the way in yellow till to sand 

 at the bottom from which water rose six feet, and proves to be an ample and permanent supply. 



Lake View House: well, 78 feet; soil, 2; yellow till, spaded, 16; blue till, 60; water seeps, 

 sometimes filling the well to five feet below the top. 



Ltiamond Lake. G. II. Bradley; sec. 28: well, 24 feet; soil, 2; yellow till, partly spaded, 10; 

 harder blue till, all picked, 12, and reaching below; water seeps from sandy streaks in the blue 

 till, and stands twelve feet deep. 



Lake Benton. A. W. Morse, in the town, sec. 8: well, about 40 feet; yellow till, 15 ; blue 

 till, 25; water seeps from sandy streaks in the yellow till, filling the well to the top of the blue 

 till. 



Hendricks. Wells in this township are 10 to 35 feet deep, in yellow and dark bluish till. 



Sliaokatan. Samuel D. Pumpelly; sec. 14 : well, 14 feet; soil, 2; yellow till, spaded, 12; 

 water, abundant and of excellent quality, rose three feet from sand and gravel which was dug 

 into six inches. 



A. J. Crane; sec. 23: well, 27 feet; soil, 2; yellow till, spaded, 25; water seeps, filling the 

 well four feet deep, but it is too poor to be used. 



Travertine. The water of wells is generally good throughout this district, but its dissolved 

 carbonates of lime and magnesia, derived from the drift, render it hard and cause it to deposit 

 scale rapidly when it is used in the boilers of engines. Sometimes this mineral matter is de- 

 posited by springs, as a porous stone, a kind of travertine, preserving the form of leaves, sticks, 

 and moss, which it has encrusted, so that it is commonly called "petrified moss." Fine speci- 

 mens of this are obtained in several little ravines near Camden mills, in section 32, Lynd, the 

 best locality being about thirty rods southeast from the mill. At Gary, in the edge of Dakota, 

 an extensive deposit of it is found near Capt. Herrick's, and has been considerably burned for 

 lime. It is on one of the small, irregular mounds or hillocks of till, belonging to the second 

 terminal moraine, where its origin seems difficult to be explained, except by referring it to de- 

 position from waters that trickled down from the melting, drift-laden surface of the ice-sheet, 

 probably flowing thus in greater amount or more constantly, and during a longer time, than at 

 most other points on the ice-border.* 



Springs. Large chalybeate springs occur on the south branch of the Cottonwood river in the 

 northeast part of Custer, a few miles southwest from Amiret station. The springs on the shores 

 of lake Benton have been before mentioned. Near Mr. J. G. Bryan's house, at the west end of 

 this lake, are two springs, only a few feet apart, which differ much, one being pure, cold, excel- 

 lent water; while the other seems warmer, and is much impregnated with mineral matter that 

 makes an iron-rusty deposit, the water not being adapted for drinking and cooking. 



The amount of alkaline matter, or sulphates of magnesia, soda and lime, contained in the 

 drift of this district, is seldom so great as to perceptibly affect the water of wells and springs; but it 

 appears to hasten the decay of wood when this is used as curbing, soon causing the water to be- 

 come offensive, unless the well is so plentifully drawn from that it is being constantly supplied 

 with fresh water. It is, of course, much preferable to use stone curbing or iron or cement pipe. 

 The grayish white alkaline efflorescence that is occasionally seen in this district in shallow de- 

 pressions from which pools of water have dried up, forming a crust resembling frost, sometimes 

 a fourth or a third of an inch thick, made up of flakes and columnar spicules, has been concen- 

 trated from the inflowing and evaporating waters of a long period. These lands may be re*- 

 claimed by being drained, and sown with wheat, which uses much of the alkaline ingredients of 

 the soil; and after several years in wheat, with deep plowing, they can usually be planted suc- 

 cessfully to other crops. 



MATERIAL RESOURCES. 



The soil, the timber and prairie, and the grand agricultural capabili- 

 ties of this district, which are its chief resource, have been treated of in 

 earlier parts of this chapter. Items remaining to be mentioned here are 

 water-powers, building stone, and the manufacture of lime and bricks. 



*See the second annual report, pp. 195-6. 



