TYPE OF THE ABANDONED HOMESTEAD 



Found where the Soil is too strong and gravelly to produce well. These aban- 

 doned places are nearly always confined to the morainic hills strikingcontrasts 

 to the prosperous and fertile farms of the nearby valleys. 



The soil varies from sandy in some localities to coarse gravel 

 with boulders in others. Practically all the mature coniferous 

 timber has been cut off years ago and subsequently burned. 

 The thick growth of hardwood brush and occasional patches 

 of young pine are holding the soil from washing. Conditions 

 are gradually becoming favorable for the establishment of a 

 valuable growing forest. In this particular range of hills 

 which is from twelve to twenty miles in width, south of Leech 

 Lake there are a great many lakes, practically all of which 

 furnish splendid fishing. This is also a good country for 

 game. 



On the south, another range of hills, which reaches Gull 

 Lake near Brainerd, joins with the former in the vicinity of 

 Hackensack and continues northwest through Itasca Park 

 into the White Earth Indian reservation. Still another range 

 of hills, called the "Leaf Mountain Moraine," stretches 

 through central Otterta.il, Becker and Mahnomen counties. 



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