478 Wisconsin state agricultural society. 
member of the Silurian formation, and resting immediately upon the ancient 
azoic and plutonic rocks, which are known to he the repositories of the most 
extensive iron deposits in the world. The abundance of hornstone also, 
especially in this partially decomposed condition, is a very favorable feature. 
It is known to accompany iron ore of this character, and is always regarded 
as a very favorable associate. Should this district be favored with railroads, 
it will certainly offer great inducements to capital and labor. It is traversed 
with streams, such as the Kickapoo, Pine and Baraboo rivers, on which con¬ 
venient and abundant water powers can be obtained. Over the whole district 
is spread a forest of hardwood timber, in places very dense. Charcoal is now 
furnished at Ironton for about six cents per bushel, and can be obtained, I pre¬ 
sume, any where in the district from for six to ten cents. Another advantage 
is, the soil, owing no doubt to the peculiar geological features referred to, is 
very rich and durable, and to remove this timber for fuel will be to open up 
some of the best farming land in the state. If the indications of iron ore 
here should lead to such deposits as the most reasonable calculations on them 
would lead us to expect, the natural resources of this region, must when de¬ 
veloped, be capable of supporting vast industries. 
Owing no doubt to the general dip of the strata on the west side of this 
north and south anticlinal, that portion of the strata in which the iron ore is 
found, sinks beneath the surface to the west of the Kickapoo, and is there 
covered with the magnesian limestone, which along a north and south line 
through Crawford and Yernon counties obtains its full thickness, and on some 
of the highest points furnishes the lower portions of the lower sandstone. 
This belt, however, can be traced distinctly into this limestone to the west of 
the Kickapoo in Yernon county, but the iron is mixed with copper, and found 
only in pockets in this rock. We find here, between the Kickapoo and the 
Mississippi, a narrow strip of country running north and south, that shows in 
Crawford county, and also in Yernon, strong indications of copper. Indeed, 
small deposits of copper have been found in several places along this line, 
in both of these counties. Whether this change in the metals is brought 
about by some change in the physical conditions, or by the change in the 
chemical composition of the rock, I am not prepared to say. I have not had 
time to make the examinations necessary to furnish an intelligible report, but 
call attention to it here, as a fact worthy of further consideration. 
In leaving this belt of country running through Sauk, Richland and into 
Yernon, along which these prospects for iron ore are found, and continuing 
my explorations north along this “ anticlinal,” I find the lower sandstone al¬ 
together the surface rock, and gradually thinning out, as we go north. It is 
so friable ‘here, and yields so steadily to disintegration, that the surface of 
the country is covered with sand, save here and there harder rock that has resist¬ 
ed longer the denuding influences, and stands out like an island in the sea. 
These detached mounds of sand rock, however, grow less in size and number 
as we continue north, and their disintegrated material renders the face of the 
country a sandy desert, that hides whatever mineral formation the coun¬ 
try may possess; and it is not until we reach town 21 that we find anything 
