WILLIAMSON" COUNTY. 121 



■with the lower coals are abundant, and that overlaying coal No. 3 

 affords an excellent material for dressed work as well as for heavy 

 masonry. 



Lime. — Lime has been burned at several places in the county from 

 the dark-gray limestoue overlaying No. 7 coal, but it affords only a poor 

 quality of dark colored lime that is mostly used as a top-dressing for 

 the poorer qualities of soil. The limestone which is sometimes found 

 beneath this coal would probably afford a better quality of lime, if it 

 should be found outcropping where it could be obtained at a moderate 

 cost of labor. "With proper railroad facilities, however, lime could be 

 obtained from Union county at a less cost than it could be manufactured 

 from any of the limestones met with in this county. 



Iron Ore. — There is a notable quantity of limonite or the brown oxyd 

 of irou, occurring in the shales and sandstones of the lower Goal 

 Measures, but often too much mixed with sand or other silicious matters 

 to be of any economical importance. Bands of carbonate of iron or 

 "kidney ore" also abound in the shales of the lower measures, but from 

 the limited time devoted to the examination of the county I was unable 

 to give as much attention to this subject as was desirable. Bands of 

 good ore of this kind aggregating a thickness of sixteen to twenty 

 inches in a depth of six feet of shale, would be worthy of the attention 

 of the iron manufacturer, in view of the unlimited supply of coal to be 

 found here suitable for the use of the smelting furnace. 



Brick materials. — Good brick clays may be found in every neighbor- 

 hood and on nearly every farm, the ordinary subsoil clays affording a 

 suitable material for this purpose ; and clean white sand of an excellent 

 quality for mortar and cements is found in abundance about two miles 

 north of Marion. It is composed entirely of rather coarse angular 

 grains of white quartz. Sand suitable for brick and for ordinary purposes 

 may be found in the creek beds, and also in the hillsides in almost every 

 neighborhood. 



Soil and Agriculture. — There is considerable variety in the quality of 

 the soils in this county, and their relative value for agricultural purposes 

 may generally be determined by the growth of timber they sustain. 

 Perhaps the poorest quality of soil may be found on the post oak flats 

 of which the area in this county is small, and next in order would be 

 the oak ridges where the timber growth consists mainly of black, white 

 and black-jack oak. These lands possess a thin soil, and if constantly 

 cultivated require to be well manured, or frequently sown to clover and 

 the green crop turned under with the plow. They produce fair crops of 

 wheat, oats and grass if judiciously managed, and are excellent fruit 

 lands. Next in value we would place the small prairies and the adja- 

 cent uplands, where the timber growth consists of the usual varieties of 



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