8 GEOLOGICAL REPORT. 



the " poor flint ridges " and terraced slopes * of Southern Mis- 

 souri, will be more valuable for vineyards than the best lands of 

 the State for the other departments of agriculture. 



This is, emphatically, the mineral bearing' rock of Missouri. 

 It contains the larger part of all the lead, zinc, copper, cobalt, 

 and nickel, and a considerable portion of the iron discovered in 

 the State. Some or all of these ores abound wherever these 

 rocks have been explored within the limits of the State. 



When it is borne in mind, that they occupy an area of some 

 10,000 square miles in the counties containing Railroad lands, 

 we shall be less surprised at the long catalogue of mineral lo- 

 calities in those counties already known and be better prepared 

 to expect still other discoveries of equal importance. 



The Lower Silurian Strata are represented by yellow on the 

 accompanying geological map. 



IGNEOUS ROCKS. 



There are but few unimportant representations of this divi- 

 sion in the region under consideration. At one locality in La- 

 clede, and one or two in Crawford, granite dykes, or ridges, rise 

 above the stratified rocks. 



SOIL. 



The soils of this region, are as diversified and varied as the 

 topographical and geological features, already disclosed, would 

 indicate. The wide diffusion of the rich silicious marls of the 

 Bluff formation, particularly in the eastern and western coun- 

 ties, is a sufficient proof of the value of the soils found upon it. 



It is well known that a part of St. Louis and the adjoining 

 counties possess a very superior soil. It may not be as well 

 known, though equally true, that portions of Newton, Green, 

 Lawrence, and the adjoining counties, have a soil equally good. 

 It is also true, contrary to the opinions of some, that the central 

 counties on the line of this road, have large areas of most ex- 

 cellent land. 



* See Plate vm. 



