INTRODUCTION. 



xxxi 



for themselves a support far more stable and certain than that derived from the 

 chase, have gradually fallen into the habits of their instructor, and, by degrees, 

 have gathered around their permanent homes the implements and appurtenances, 

 and even some of the comforts and luxuries, belonging to the establishment of the 

 thrifty farmer. It is true, they are sometimes accosted contemptuously by their 

 neighbours, the Chippewas, and ridiculed as earth-worms and grubs ; but they now 

 retort upon them : " Wait till the winter sets in, and then you will come to us, 

 beggars for our refuse potatoes and indifferent peas." 



The evening we were there, several young lads were engaged in sharpening their 

 scythes, preparatory to going out, next morning, in a party, to mow. 



The general agricultural character of the Red River country is excellent ; the 

 land highly productive, especially in small grain. The principal drawbacks are 

 occasional protracted droughts, during the midsummer months, and, during the 

 spring, freshets, which, from time to time, overflow large tracts of low prairie, espe- 

 cially near the " Great Bend." Its tenacious subsoil insures its durability. 



Under the head of Agricultural Character, in each chapter of this Report, a some- 

 what detailed statement of the capacity for farming purposes of each separate divi- 

 sion will be found. I may say, here, generally, that each of the distinct geological 

 formations of this District, as laid down on the General Map, imparts to the over- 

 lying soil a peculiar character, and divides the country into as many agricultural 

 districts. 



The land best adapted for wheat and most small grains, and in which the pro- 

 portion of earthy, saline, and organic matter is distributed in the best proportion to 

 impart fertility and durability, is the soil based on the calcareous and magnesio- 

 calcareous rocks, and which particularly characterizes the country bordering on the 

 Mississippi and its tributaries, between the 41st and 45th degrees of latitude, with 

 an average width of twenty to thirty miles west of the Mississippi. It includes, 

 besides the Dubuque and Mineral Point Districts of the survey of 1839, the lands 

 on the east side of the Mississippi, watered by the Kickapoo, Bad Axe, and Rac- 

 coon Rivers ; the lower portion of Prairie a la Crosse, Mountain Island, Chippewa, 

 Hay, Rush, Kinnikinick, St. Croix, Willow, and Apple Rivers. On the west side 

 of the Mississippi, the country watered by the Des Moines, the two lowas, Yellow, 

 Root, Miniska, Wazi-oju, Cannon, and Vermilion. 



East of this tract, a belt of second-rate — often poor second-rate, sandy land, 

 stretches from southeast to northwest, nearly parallel to the preceding, with an 

 average width of twenty-five to thirty miles. This variety of soil is nearly coinci- 

 dent with the outcrops of lower protozoic sandstones, from the disintegration of 

 which it has been derived, and which imparts to it a siliceous and porous cha- 

 racter. 



So far as the comparative analysis of the soils of these two Districts has been 



