INDUSTRY OF COUNTIES. 
281 
springs in dry weather, and never fail or run dry. The 
springs are abundant, the water is pure, except a slight tinge 
of lime, from the abundance of that rock in the country. 
They issue from all levels, from within 40 feet of the top of 
the hills, to their base, and some of them are large enough at 
their heads for machinery; and as they seldom freeze in the 
coldest w r eather, they afford the best of water power along 
the several streams which they form. The Kickapoo is the 
largest of the interior streams, and runs nearly central from 
north to south through the county, emptying into the Wiscon¬ 
sin 15 miles from its mouth. It is 150 miles from its head to 
its mouth, about 100 of which meanders through this county, 
though only 24 miles in a direct line. It will average 30 
yards in width, and 3 feet deep at its lowest stage. The cur¬ 
rent is not rapid, owing to its great meandering, but the fall 
in its whole course in the county cannot be less than 100 feet, 
and by cutting across the bottoms, at its bends, extensive 
water powers can be had. 
Agriculture in the county is not in the highest state of 
perfection, it is too new to be so; still, there are many farms 
that will bear favorable comparison with those of almost any 
new county. Less than one-twentieth of the tillable land is 
now under cultivation, and of course the county could sustain 
at least twenty times its present inhabitants. There is no 
greater sheep country in the world; they are healthy, and 
such is the nutritious quality of the native grasses and herb¬ 
age, that sheep driven from more Eastern States to this, have, 
after overcoming the drive, yielded one-fourth more meat, 
fat and woo), than the same class did before immigrating. 
Hundreds of Canadian horses winter themselves in the river 
bottoms and in the valleys. Cattle are more easily wintered 
than further south, because of the climate. We have no winter 
rains nor sudden changes in the weather ; the weather, though 
cold, is uniform and dry. The snows are seldom over one foot 
in depth. And those who have come from further south, 
think that our wild grasses, upon which most of our inhabi¬ 
tants depend for fodder, are more nutritious than those which 
