12 BULLETIN 1295, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
exact opposite of the prairie soils south and west. Moreover, in many 
sections forest fires have burned off much of what humus was origi- 
nally in the soil. Consequently most crops do not prosper for the 
first few years, especially on the heavier soils. 
The explanation of the condition of the land in this region is as 
follows: The northern part, a belt stretching from the northeastern 
corner of Minnesota and across northern Wisconsin almost to Lake 
Michigan, including the western part of the upper peninsula of Mich- 
igan, is a center or core of ancient crystalline or hard rock. Sur- 
rounding this central core and comprising nearly all of the remainder 
of the region is a sort of table-land originally composed largely of 
old limestones and sandstones. However, glaciers swept over all this 
region breaking up the central granite core and leaving it rough 
land with an abundance of rocky outcrops, lakes, swamps, and 
gravelly moraines. Included in this area are the great iron ranges, 
the Mesabi and Vermillion ranges in Minnesota, and the Penokee- 
Gogebic ranges in Wisconsin and Michigan. 
The table-lands to the south of this central core were gouged out 
into valleys and lake bottoms in places, and in general covered over 
with an uneven mass of glacial débris varying from a few feet to 100 
feet or more in thickness. ‘The topography of this part of the region 
is generally of two types. One is the terminal moraine topography 
where the débris was deposited in steep ridges, knobs, and “ kettle 
holes,” usually of sand and gravel, and dotted with thousands of 
lakes, ponds, and small swamps, a large proportion of which are in 
the cut-over region. The other type is the ground-moraine topog- 
raphy consisting of low, rounded swells and saucer-like depressions, 
usually called “ till plains.” On these plains are found the best farm 
lands, although the drainage is frequently poor. Between the mo- 
ranic hills and the till plains are sometimes found level “ out-wash 
plains” of lighter soils, usually too light for ordinary farming use. 
The receding glacier left several large temporary lakes, the old 
bottoms of which to-day are usually peat swamps and marshes. Chief 
of these glacial lakes is Agassiz, now represented by the vast swamp 
north of the Red Lakes in northern Minnesota. 
Under these circumstances the selecting of gocd farm land is a diffi- 
cult task. The land companies and other real estate agents have not 
been so helpful as they should be in assisting settlers to get good 
land, with the result that many have bought poor land and have 
failed. It has been said that if all the settlers who in the past 50 
years have been sold land in the central sandy plain of Wisconsin and 
have failed in consequence had been taken a few counties farther 
north and sold some of the good silt-loam lands most of the good 
land in northern Wisconsin would now be in farms. In Wisconsin in 
particular the crescent-shaped out-wash plain stretching all the way 
from Burnett County in the northwest to Marinette County in the 
northeast, and more than two counties wide in the center, has served 
as a very effective barrier against development north of it. 
ACCESSIBILITY 
Although most of this region is not very far removed from the 
shores of the Great Lakes and has potential water transportation for 
its products, its railway systems are not of the best. The main lines 
