298 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE TEREITOEIES. 



marshes. When the laud in this part of the State has been denuded 

 somewhat of its forest-covering, and shall be urgently demanded for 

 agricultural purposes, a large portion of this marshy section may, and 

 probably will, be rendered suitable for tillage by an extensive system of 

 drainage; but this, to be successful, will require a large expenditure of 

 labor and money, and will ouly be done when it shall have been dei^rived 

 of its valuable covering of timber and after the more inviting agricul- 

 tural regions to the west shall have been fully occiiined. Notwithstand- 

 ing the somewhat forbidding aspect of this section to the eye of the 

 farmer who is seeking a home in the West, yet it is not impossible that 

 the day may come when this, having been thoroughly drained, will be 

 considered the richest agricultural portion of the State ; such, at least, 

 is the opinion of some, even among those who have no persona! interest 

 in the matter. Its chief value now is its timber; but this is by no means 

 a small item, the lumbering interest being one of the most important of 

 the State. The sections drained by the head-waters of the Mississippi 

 and Saint Croix, as w^ell as the regions bordering Lake Superior, are 

 clothed with immense forests, chiefly of pine. Although the timber of 

 these forests is very valuable, it must not be supposed that the whole of 

 this area is uniformly covered with timber that is valuable. As a gen- 

 eral rule, so far as my observations and information extend, the swamps 

 and marshes are generally covered by tamarack, of but little value for 

 any other purpose than fuel or fencing, and wholly unfit for lumber. 

 The pine, as a general rule, is conhued to the intervening low ridges and 

 swells in the marshy sections, the more broken areas around the lake, 

 and the lighter, sandy soils of the valleys of the streams. 



On the west side of the Mississippi there is a tolerably broad and 

 lengthy belt of timber, extending from Crow Wing Eiver southward to 

 within some sixty or seventy-five miles of the southern boundary of the 

 State, consisting of deciduous trees, chiefly oak and elm, with an inter- 

 mixture of ash and maple. This forest-strip covers one of the richest 

 bodies of land in the State, the soil being a dark, rich loam, heavily 

 mixed with vegetable mold, and r'eminding one much of the richest bot- 

 toms in the State of Missouri. This belt of timber is called the " Big 

 Woods," and is about one hundred miles in length and forty miles 

 wide. 



The following statement of the lumbering operations for 18G9 and 

 1870 will give some idea of the extent of this business in Minnesota, to 

 W'hich if we add that of Wisconsin, (which is probably equal in amount 

 to that of Minnesota,) we will be able to arrive at an approximate esti- 

 mate of the lumber interests west of Lake Michigan : 



1869. 1870. 



Saint Croix, feet of logs scaled 158, 382, 454 191, 677, 776 



Mississippi, feet of logs scaled 92, 709, 030 121, 43H, 640 



Total of these two districts 251,091,484 313,116,416 



Of the total log- crop of 1870, there were sent to market unmanufactured, 

 feet 137,177,431 



Sent to market as manufactured lumber, feet 175, 938, 985 



The western and southwestern portion of the State, as heretofore 

 stated, consists almost wholly of undulating prairies, until we reach the 

 flat and broad valley of Eed River. 



In order to convey as correct an idea as possible of the northern and 

 western portions of the State, (I omit the southeastern portion, as it is 

 so well known that any description of it is wholly unnecessary,) so far 



