XXIV ABSTRACT OF VOLUME. 



of tho world have been iudependent of glaeiation, or these Lave been combined with movements 

 due to the accumulation of ice-sheets and to their removal ; but the uplifting of the basins of 

 Lake Agassiz and Hudson Bay is apparently attributable wholly to the departure of the ice- 

 sheet. 



Chapter X : Artesian and common wells of the Red River Valley. — Hundreds of artesian 

 wells, from 40 to 300 feet deep, have been obtained in the drift formations of the Red River Valley 

 jilain, the axial lowest part of the Lake Agassiz basin. South of Crookston and Blanchard 

 they yield fresh water; but northward, to the border of Manitoba, their water is usually saline 

 and alkaline. The fresh water is derived from rainfall on the higher land adjoining this valley. 

 Tho saline matter is brought mostly by water flowingthrough the Dakota sandstone and issuing 

 into the drift of the Red River Valley upon tracts where this sandstone is the next underlying 

 formation. The saline and alkaline wells in the drift of this district are thus supplied, like the 

 deejier artesian wells penetrating the Cretaceous strata at Devils Lake and in the James River 

 Valley, from rainfall on the flanks of the Black Hills and Rocky Mountains. Analyses and 

 experience show that the saline and alkaline water is not suitable for use in irrigation. Sections 

 of many artesian and common wells on the area of Lake Agassiz are reported, with notes of the 

 characters of their water supply. 



Chapter XI : Agricultural and material resources of the area of Lake Agassiz. — The fertility 

 of the soil and the climatic conditions of the prairie portion of this area make agriculture its 

 leading industry and source of wealth. Previous to its occupation by the present farming 

 population the rich pasturage and countless herds of buffaloes betokened the value of the land 

 for the cultivation of grain and for stock-raising. The annual wheat product of the six counties 

 in Minnesota and six in North Dakota lying mainly within the Red River Valley is about 46,000,000 

 bushels, or ou an average 285 bushels for each of the 161,049 people enumerated by the census of 

 1890 in these counties. Other crojjs which receive considerable attention are oats, barley, hay, 

 potatoes, and flax. The tendency is toward diversified farming, with stock-raising and dairying. 

 Magnesian limestones, which outcrop near Winnipeg, are used for building and the manufacture 

 of lime. Clay of the best quality for brickmaking is found along all the Red River Valley, and 

 this business is carried ou in many places. The brines and natural gas occasionally supplied by 

 wells, and the lignite occurring in very thin layers in Cretaceous formations of this region, and 

 thence sparsely distributed in fragments through the drift, are not of economic importance. 

 Many streams within the area of Lake Agassiz, especially in the northeastern wooded country, 

 have valuable water powers, which are beginiiing to be utilized for mills and manufactures. 



