MIAMI COUNTY. 473 



purposes. There can be no question of the ability of the breadth of 

 country drained by the Miami and its tributaries above the northern line 

 of this county, to give a supply of water for the uses of the canal, far be- 

 yond any demand which has ever been made upon it. This power, 

 which has been going to waste, will some day be turned to good account, 

 and Miami county will become known for its manufacturing indus- 

 tries, as it has been for its agricultural thrift. The foregoing remarks 

 regarding water-power have referred to the Miami River. On the Still- 

 water we find water-power of no mean proportions. This river is fed 

 from source to mouth by numerous fine, living springs, which keep up a 

 constant flow of water along its channel. It has also several good mill- 

 streams tributary to it. In addition, its bed is deep, and large damS are 

 practicable, both for giving a good head and holding water in reserve. 

 This stream alone would be a fortune in many localities, and we may 

 confidently anticipate the time when industries of great importance to 

 the county will spring up on its banks. Taken altogether, Miami cour^y 

 has natural advantages superior to many, if not all its neighbors, for be- 

 coming a manufacturing center, since no power is so economical in ap- 

 plication as water. 



THE DRIFT 



The entire surface of the county, as has been said, is covered 

 with loose material, composed of gravel, sanded clay, with a great 

 number of granitic and other rocks of similar origin, whose origin we 

 must look for away from this region. The commonly received opinion 

 is that these materials have been drifted hither by the agency of water, 

 either fluid or as ice, and the facts observed all point to the north, mostly 

 beyond the chain of great lakes, as the source whence it has been brought. 

 In the several volumes of this survey, the reader will find the whole sub- 

 ject of the drift agencies discussed, and many interesting statements made 

 as to the probable method of transportation, the relative age, the phe- 

 nomena, and physical history of the Drift. It so happens that our soil, 

 where the Drift exists, does not depend altogether — in general not at all, 

 or very little — upon the nature of the underlying rock for its qualities, 

 but upon material transported from distant regions. In some places the 

 thickness of Drift amounting to thirty feet or more, renders the influence 

 of the underlying rock utterly without influence upon the soil. I have 

 already referred to some soil west of the Stillwater, which is influenced 

 by the underlying rock, lying, as it does, within a few feet of it. Much 

 of the gravel is calcareous, and has been derived from rock broken up in 

 the course of the movement of the Drift. The sand is silicious, and has 

 been derived from the grinding down of masses of igneous rocks. 



