SHELBY COUNTY. 165 



with shell bark hickory, white oak, sassafras and hazel, and locally elm 

 land. Skirting the prairie are found elm, hackberry, honey locust, 

 laurel oak, black haw, arrow wood, comus and hazel. 



From Prairie Bird northwardly there is gently undulating rich land, 

 and occasionally there are small thickets with elm, plum, honey locust 

 and hazel. 



Near Flat branch there is some gently sloping and very fertile land 

 with a growth mostly of red and American elm, black walnut, shell 

 bark and pignut hickory, mulberry, bur oak, red bud, comus, hazel, 

 buckeye, red oak, prickly ash and grape vines. There are occasional 

 spots with a luxuriant growth of Impatiens fulva and I. pallida, indica- 

 ting a rich moist soil. 



The prairie in the northern part of the county is either flat or very 

 gently undulating, with some wet or swampy depressions, and possesses 

 a rich soil. 



The river bottoms and neighboring hills afford an abundant supply of 

 good timber. 



Geologic al Formations . 



The formations in this county include the Quaternary and upper 

 Coal Measures. 



Quaternary. — A well on Kaskaskia bottoms, 2 miles below the mouth 

 of Jordan's creek, presents : 1st, soil and dark clay — 5 feet ; 2d, sandy 

 material with some pebbles — 11 feet. 



The hills at Shelbyville exhibit about 50 feet of sand and clay, with 

 many rounded pebbles of various sizes, including mica slate, sienite of 

 various colors, granite several kinds, including graphic granite, quartz- 

 ite, greenstone, chert, etc. At an old well 3 miles above Shelbyville, 

 a drift bluff is well exposed. At this place the sand and pebbles have 

 partially united, forming disconnected layers of rather firmly cemented 

 conglomerate. At Lilly's mill there is a brown conglomerate in the 

 drift similar to that above named. 



On the Wabash river the drift is only partially developed. Below 

 the forks I observed 12 feet of chocolate and buff colored clays, the 

 lower part sandy, with a few small pebbles. Near Williamsburg the 

 washings expose a reddish-brown clay, with rounded pebbles on the 

 north side of the ridge. A well was dug by Mr. Draper on J. Gallagher's 

 farm 72 feet deep. He states that the first 38 feet was through clay to 

 sand, then a muddy sand, with occasional leaves and sticks and one log ; 

 from 52 to 72 feet he bored to stiff clay. 



