338 
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
Rock. —There is but little rock found in place. Stratified 
lime rock is found in East Troy, Spring Prairie, Darien and 
Richmond. That portion of Rock Prairie lying within the 
county is mostly, if not wholly, underlaid with lime rock. 
Loose drift boulders are abundant in the openings, but few are 
found on the prairies. These boulders are of various species 
of rock; now and then one of lime rock is found. Some that 
were apparently soft marl lime when deposited here, having 
many curious marks and indentations, are now cracked and 
seamed by the process of drying; looking not unlike the knife- 
\narked “short-cakes 55 my mother used to bake before the fire. 
T’he Soil of the country presents two marked divisions— 
openings and prairies. 55 The soil of the prairies presents a 
nearly uniform appearance and character. The surface soil, 
from six inches to two feet in depth, is of a dark brown color; 
texture loose and friable, easily pulverized, wetting readily and 
drying quickly, becoming dust quite too readily, under favor¬ 
ing circumstances; is rich in vegetable matter, less so in min¬ 
eral ; very productive, and when well and deeply tilled, bearing 
well the alternations of wet and dry. It is more subject to 
frosts, and does not mature crops so early as soil having more 
lime, sand and clay ; is immediately underlaid by a stratum 
of loam, varying in thickness from one to five or more feet, 
occasionally increasing in density until it becomes a kind of 
hard-pan, which is immediately succeeded by a very hard 
earth, or kind of soft rock, which is water-bearing; but it is 
more commonly succeeded by loose pebbles of water-worn 
limestone. This gravel stratum varies from a few feet to fifty, 
sixty, or more in thickness, resting on the soft rock before 
named, and commonly contains water. The soil of the open¬ 
ings varies materially from that of the prairies, resembling, to 
some extent, the subsoil of the prairies, though lighter in 
color ; has more sand, lime, and clay, and usually more iron; 
has a greater variety of appearance and character. 
In the north-east and south-east portions of the county, the 
soil contains more sand, less lime and clay than the soil of 
the rest of the county, and as a consequence (not because of 
