KICE COUNTY. 



boil and timber.] 



come sandy, particularly in the immediate neighborhood of the bluffs where the St. Peter sand- 

 stone has opportunity to mingle with it. In the western part of the county, while the soil is a 

 dark loam and equally, fertile,; generally, as that in the eastern, it has not yet been wrought so 

 extensively, and is' less highly prized. It has a subsoil, mainly, of stony blue clay, or a yellow 

 pebbly loam, but on the gravelly hills, and on some of the lower ridges, in Morristown and Shields- 

 ville, and particularly in Webster, the subsoil is gravel and sand. This is the case also in the 

 terrace-flats that skirt the Cannon river. The soils in the western half of the county are much 

 more stony than in the eastern. 



The following trees and shrubs are native to this county. In ascending the Cannon valley 

 from Northiield there is a marked change in the character of the forest growth at the point where 

 the blue clay, pertaining to the drift sheet extending northwestwardly, approaches the river. 

 About Northfield, and northwardly through Dakota county, the trees are mainly of oak and aspen, 

 this region being occupied by the red drift derived from the northeastward. But here these trees 

 give place to sugar maple, butternut, ironwood, bass, ash, &c. The shrubs are also affected by 

 the same change. Different species of Lonicera, Spiraea, and Cornus make their appearance as 

 undergrowth, sharing the shade with little aspens and wolfberries. The trees are arranged in the 

 estimated order of frequency. 



Tilia Americana, L. Basswood. Common throughout the county, and especially throughout 

 the heavy timber in the flat or undulating tracts of Bridgewater, Forest, Erin and Shieldsville. 

 At Morristown it is extensively wrought into barrel-heads and common lumber. 



Ulmus Americana, L. (PI. Clayt.), Willd. American or white elm, also known as water elm. 

 At Morristown this tree is extensively used by J. B. Hopkins, and by II. II Osterhout and com- 

 pany, for the manufacture of "head lining" for flour barrels, this being the only place in the state 

 where this industry is carried on. It is also wrought ihto common lumber. 



Quercus coccinea, Wang., var. tinctoria, Gray. Black oak. This is the usual oak. It is 

 most abundant as small trees and shrubs; and in the high and rolling parts of Webster and 

 Wheatland it is only found in this condition. Very large trees, however, are scattered numer- 

 ously through the heavy timber everywhere. In Morristown and Warsaw townships it is consid- 

 erably used for lumber. 



Quercus macrocarpa, Michx. Bur oak. In exposed places, and particularly on the edges of 

 the timber bordering the prairie, this is very abundant. It seems to endure fire better than the 

 black oak, perhaps due to its more corky bark, but it does not succeed so well as the black oak on 

 exposed and bleak hills or on poor soils. It occasionally furnishes a log for lumber and is apt to 

 be confounded witli the white oak, which is a much less common tree in the county. 



Acer dasycarpum, Ehr. Silver maple. A common tree, sometimes growing very large and 

 furnishing lumber, but generally not more than ten inches in diameter so far as now seen in the 

 county. It is common as second growth after the cutting of the original forest. 



Populus tremuloides, Michx. American aspen. Common on the outskirts of the timber, on 

 exposed hillsides, as in Webster, and as second growth in all parts of the county; generally not 

 exceeding ten inches in diameter. 



Acer saccharinum, Wang. Sugar maple. This tree exhibits magnificent proportions in some 

 heavily wooded tracts, as in western Shieldsville and Erin, where the old forests have not been 

 cut. It also sometimes starts up more numerous than any other tree as a second growth. It is 

 common throughout the timbered portions of the county, and has been set for ornamental pur- 

 poses in most of the prairie portions. It furnishes considerable quantities of syrup and sugar in 

 llice county, and is sometimes found among the saw-logs at the mills at Morristowu. 



Ulmus fulva, Michx. Slippery elm, or red elm. This makes better lumber than the white 

 elm, but it does not grow so large nor so stiaight. 



Fraxinus sanibucifolia, Lam. Black or water ash. Some very large trees are found in 

 western Shieldsville. 



Juglanscinerea, L. Butternut. 

 Ostrya Virginica, Willd. Ironwood. 

 Prunus Americana, Marshall. Wild plum. 



Negundo aceroides, Moench. Box-elder. Not found in the heavy timber, but along streams 

 and lakes. This makes a low-branched, rather small, irregular tree, and if it lives long it sustains 



