INDUSTRY OF COUNTIES. 
335 
townships, Buffalo river running west through the extreme 
northern townships, and Trempealeau river, and its tributaries, 
running west, nearly through the center of the county ; thence, 
turning south, forming the south-western boundary. It also 
has innumerable soft water springs and trout brooks. 
The surface of the land is uneven, alid composed of valleys 
along the streams, with long sharp ridges between. The bluffs 
or ridges are chiefly made up of the Potsdam sandstone of the 
old Silurian period, with the higher portions of them capped 
with the old magnesian limestone. The sandstone rises about 
450 feet above the Mississippi, at low water ; after which the 
limestone commences, and sometimes, although very seldom, 
obtains a thickness of fifty feet. These rocks all contain nu¬ 
merous Lingula shells, casts of Trilobites and many other or¬ 
ganic remains. 
Between the Mississippi and the bluffs, a distance varying 
from three to five miles, the land is nearly level and has spots 
quite sandy. There are also sandy tracts, of from ten to two 
hundred acres, along the banks of the Buffalo and Trempea¬ 
leau rivers, but throughout the balance of the county the soil 
contains a sufficient amount of clay and is of extreme rich¬ 
ness. But very little of the soil, however, is too sandy to be 
productive. 
The timber along the Mississippi and Black rivers, is princi¬ 
pally oak, ash, basswood, and the white and sugar maples. 
On the small creeks there is occasionally a small tamarac 
marsh of a few acres, while the balance of the timber, 
throughout the county, is white and burr oak. The south half 
of th<3 county contains a good supply of timber, but in the 
north half it is not as abundant. The scarcity in the north, 
how r ever, is made up by its proximity to the pineries on Black 
and Eau Claire rivers, where lumber can be purchased at low 
figures. 
The climate of this region is dry and very healthy, and 
actually warmer than the region of Dane county, notwith¬ 
standing it is in a higher latitude. This I have verified for 
several years by the Spring being from one to two weeks 
