GEOLOGY OF SOUTH WES TEEN IOWA. 347 



It is thought that all the strata exposed in the vicinity of 

 Bedford belong beneath all those at Foster's. If so, this 

 gives a vertical range of between thirty and forty feet for all 

 the exposed strata of Taylor county. 



Material Resources. Except the great and uniform fertility 

 of the soil, the material resources of Taylor connty are not 

 important, or, at least, they would not be so regarded in 

 more highly favored regions in that respect. But in a region 

 like this, where coal and stone are both scarce, the small 

 supplies of both these articles, that Taylor county contains, 

 have a great local value. The quality of the coal at Foster's 

 bank is very good, and is much esteemed by blacksmiths. 



As to the prospect of finding other and thicker beds of coal 

 by deep mining in Taylor county, little more can be said than 

 to .repeat what has been said concerning the other counties 

 adjoining it. There can be no reasonable doubt that the 

 formation which contains the important beds of coal that are 

 now mined in the valley of the Des Moines river, extends 

 beneath Taylor county, and it is reasonable to infer that it 

 contains beds of coal there as well as where they have 

 already been discovered. There is reason, however, to 

 believe that the strata which rest upon those coal-bearing 

 formations, as well as those formations themselves, thicken 

 gradually to the westward and southward, so that the beds 

 of coal before mentioned, if they exist at all in the farther 

 parts of southwestern Iowa, will require considerable capital 

 and labor to reach them. This subject is discussed more at 

 length at the close of the chapter on the Upper coal-measures 

 in another part of this report. 



The stone at Foster's coal-bank is not of the best quality, 

 but it will serve for ordinary uses. That obtained in the 

 vicinity of Bedford, makes good lime and is also useful for 

 purposes of common masonry. Quite a number of buildings 

 have been constructed from the stone obtained from Mr. 

 Houck's quarries, and he has a market for his lime extending 

 all over his own county and into those adjoining. 



The soil of Taylor county is wholly drift soil, modified 



