52 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
ore at the headquarters of the Menomonee river. We are not 
yec able to make authoritative .statements concerning them, 
but feel warranted, by the information otherwise received, in 
quoting the following paragraphs from the Chicago Post , of 
May II, 1871, as in all probability quite reliable: 
“ Late examinations of tlie country about the head waters of the Menom¬ 
onee river in Wisconsin have revealed enormous deposits of iron ore of the 
purest and best quality, rivaling in quantity the well known ranges of Lake 
Superior. The existence of this metal in that section was reported more 
than twenty years ago by Messrs. Foster and Whitney, when making a geo¬ 
logical reconnoisance from the lake to Green Bay, but they merely noted 
the fact from the great variations of the needle, and had no opportunity to 
measure the extent of the beds, or apply necessary tests to determine their 
value. Four distinct ranges of hills have now been found, running nearly 
parallel, and about twenty miles in length, which are little else than solid 
iron, and are no doubt cotemporaneous with the trap formations of Supe¬ 
rior, from which they are about eighty miles distant. Now that settlements 
have penetrated the country, these mines will attain a speedy value, and 
may lead to important modifications in the upper-lake trade. A railroad * 
from these undeveloped mines would have a down grade to the Bay, and 
ore could be quite as easily delivered as on the present route between Ne- 
gaunee and Escanaba, and probably at even cheaper rates.” 
It is a matter of regret that the statistics of mining furnished 
by the census returns are so scattering and incomplete that no 
correct idea can be formed of the amount of lead, zinc and iron 
ores raised during the past year. We deem it but just, there¬ 
fore, to omit them altogether. 
The minerals of Wisconsin constitute a very important part 
of her rich natural endowment, and the time cannot be very re¬ 
mote when they will begin to receive the attention they de¬ 
serve. 
LUMBERING. 
Though properly classifiable with Manufactures, the busi¬ 
ness of lumbering is so unlike anything else, and is so vast, 
moreover, in the amount of capital employed, and in the value 
of the annual product, that it has usually been discussed by 
us under a separate heading, as a distinct interest. 
The season of 1870, although not the most favorable, in all 
