484 Wisconsin state agricultural society. 
would melt in tlieir separate condition, we can see that, by a simple process, 
this separation can take place without being a serious obstacle in the way of 
manufacturing the ore. 
Silica, whether combined with iron, or mechanically mixed in the form of 
quartz, as is the case with the ores under consideration, has a strong affinity for 
the alkaline bases, such as lime, potash and soda, and when they are found in 
the furnace, will leave the metal, or ore, to unite with them to form slag. In¬ 
deed, where other ores are mixed in the furnace containing impurities, such 
as clay, lime or the like, silica acts as a flux to coax away such impurities 
from the ores, and to form this readily fusible slag aimed at by artificial flux. 
These iron ores at Black River Falls, although comparatively lean from 
this mixture of quartz, are nevertheless related in their geological formation 
and physical characters, to the iron ores of Lake Superior, Missouri, a large 
portion of the ores of Scandinavia, and other important iron districts in the 
•world; and I can see no physical reason why the iron made from these ores 
(other things being equal) may not be equal to the iron made from those above 
referred to; or that among the best iron made, there may not be found some 
capable of yielding a steel equal to that of the Swedish iron. The iron and 
steel producing qualities of our ores, however, are yet unknown, because yet 
untried. 
There is, I understand, a company formed to manufacture these ores on the 
spot, and that work has already commenced on the furnace. Properly man¬ 
aged, and with proper care and proper treatment of these ores in the furnace, 
I have no doubt of their success. And more than this, I think it is only the 
beginning of an enterprise that will grow into an extensive and an important 
branch of industry. But these deposits of iron ore in the immediate neigh¬ 
borhood of Black River Falls are only a part of a more extensive district. 
v 
About four miles to the north of these deposits, and a short distance to the 
east of Black river, and near where Morrison’s creek enters it, there is another 
mound of iron ore, very similar in form, size, and the quality of the ore to 
those already described. The country surrounding this mound is very flat, 
and apparently an extensive sand bed. In places, the sand is drifted into 
ridges like snow-drifts, and too poor where even covered with what we may call 
soil to support anything in the shape of vegetation, save a few scrub oaks, or 
that class of vegetation that is capable of dragging out a stunted existence on 
half dissolved silica. This bed of sand, however, is evidently the disinte¬ 
grated portion of a bed of sandrock, on which this sand rests, for on the 
river bank, a little to the west of it, we have a section of sand and sandrock 
resting on the azoic, that will be at least 100 feet thick. If this mound of 
ore, like those at tjie “ Falls,” is resting on the azoic, or extending down into 
this formation, its depth from the surface must almost equal its height, which 
is at least 100 feet. There is no chance to examine the ore of this mound, 
except the pieces lying on the surface. Among these, although generally 
magnetic, I find specimens that have the metallic brightness and appearance 
of specular ore. My impression is, that when these mounds of ore are opened 
up, purer ores will be found. 
