SS GEOLOGY OF ILLINOIS. 



and we find many localities in our Coal Measures where from twelve to 

 eighteen inches of good ore can be obtained from a vertical thickness 

 of five or six feet of shale. The shale containing the iron ore observed 

 iu this county underlays a considerable area in the central and western 

 portions, mainly in ranges 6 and 7 east. At Mrs. Williams' place, on 

 the K W. qr. of sec. 29, T. 1 S., K. 7 E., iron ore of good quality seemed 

 to be quite abundant, aud also at several places on the ravines near 

 Mr. McDaniel's place, not far from the north line of the county. Prof. 

 Cox also notes an outcrop of clay iron ore in a grayish shale seven 

 miles north of Fairfield, aud also on sec. 15, T. 1 N., E. 8 E. 



Potters' Clay. — A good clay suitable for pottery or fire-brick wis found 

 on sec. 34, T. 1 S., E. 9 E , but at the outcrop it was only one foot thick. 

 Possibly it may be found at some other locality near by, where it is 

 thick enough to be utilized for the manufacture of pottery or fire-brick. 



Clay and Sand. — Materials for brick can be obtained from the subsoil 

 of the uplands almost anywhere in the county, and from the abundant 

 supply of wood for fuel, brick can be cheaply made in sufficient quantity 

 to supply all future demands for this indispensable building material. 



Soil and Agriculture. — The soil iu this county is mainly a dark ash- 

 gray or chocolate-colored clay loam, less highly charged with orgauic 

 matters or humus thau the black prairie soils of Central Illinois, but 

 yielding fair crops of corn, wheat, oats and grass, both clover and tim- 

 othy, and with judicious treatment will retain its fertility without any 

 expense for artificial fertilizers. The ridges afford excellent fruit farms, 

 and apples, peaches, pears, cherries and the small fruits may be grown 

 here in the greatest abundance. The cultivation of the grape has*only 

 been attempted in a limited way, but the broken timbered lands could 

 be profitably cultivated in vineyards. As an agricultural region this 

 county ranks favorably with the adjoining portions of Southern Illinois. 



Clay County embraces a surface area of about four hundred and 

 sixty-six square miles, and is bounded on the north by Effingham and 

 Jasper counties, on the east by Jasper and Eichland, on the south by 

 Wayne, and on the west by Marion and Fayette. The Little Wabash 

 river runs diagonally across the county from north-west to southeast, 

 and with its affluents, Elm creek on the south, and Muddy creek on the 

 north-east, drain nearly the whole of its area. The surface of the county 

 is nearly equally divided into prairie and timbered land, the latter form- 

 ing wide belts along the streams, and the former occupying the highest 

 areas between them. The difference of level between the creek bottoms 

 and the adjacent highlands is not very great, probably nowhere exceed- 

 ing fifty to seventy five feet. Locally the streams are bordered with 

 precipitous bluffs from forty to fifty feet in hight, and at other points 



