GEOLOGY.-Limestone underlies most of the southern part of the State, the cliff limestone in the mineral districts, and the blue elsewhere. The northern part seems to be composed of primitive rocks, for the most part of granite, slate, and sandstone. Commencing a little south of the Wisconsin, and along the Mississippi, as far back as the falls of its tributaries, sandstone, between layers of limestone, is the prevailing rocks, and forms the cliffs on the Mississippi, below St. Anthony's Falls, for thirty-five miles. The rivers in this region are much obstructed by shifting beds of this sand. From Lake Michigan westward to the other sections named, is a limestone region, in many parts well timbered, while in others a considerable portion is prairie. Underlying the blue limestone is a brown sandstone, which crops out on the sides of the hills, but no lead has ever been found in it. A section through the Blue Mound would give the following result, descending vertically: Hornstone, 410 feet; magnesian lime, or lead-bearing rock, 159 feet; saccharoid sandstone, 40 feet; sandstone, 3 feet; lower limestone, (at the level of the Wisconsin,) 190 feet. The elevation of different parts of the southern sections of the State are given by Chancellor Lathrop, at Blue Mounds, 1,170; head waters of the Rock River, 316; egress of the same river from the State, 128, and the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, at 223 feet above the level of Lake Michigan and the Wisconsin River.

Following the map accompanying the geological work of Professor Owen, on the States of Iowa and Wisconsin, and the State of Minnesota, we should say that about half the northern part of the State of Wisconsin, resting on Lake Superior, and having its apex near the 44th degree of north latitude, and about the middle of the State, (taken in an east and west direction,) is covered by drift, overlaying the Potsdam sandstone of New York, and metamorphic strata, with occasional protrusions of granite and other igneous rocks. Beyond this triangle, on the south-east and south-west, the sandstone comes to the surface in a broad belt, having between it and the Mississippi, (from the St. Croix to the Wisconsin River,) a second belt of lower magnesian limestone, with the sandstone occasionally laid bare in the valleys of the streams. This same formation is continued on the south, (following the Wisconsin River on both sides,) and on the east, coasting the sandstone belt to its full extent. The limestone is followed in turn by another zone of white sandstone, containing beds of shells. Next succeeds the leadbearing group of upper magnesian limestone, extending into Illinois and Iowa on the south and west, and on the east running up into the peninsula formed by Great Bay and Lake Michigan, having a triangle of the Niagara limestone between it and Lake Michigan on the southeast. On the shores of Lake Superior are two beds of red clay and marl, separated by ridges of drift from 300 to 600 feet high. East of this, and just where the northern boundary leaves the lake, parallel groups of conglomerate red sandstone and slates, trap, and metamorphic slates, with beds of magnetic iron ore, granite, and quartzose rocks come

to the surface.

MINERALS. Part of the great lead region extending from Illinois

and Iowa is included in the south-west part of Wisconsin, and occupies an area of nearly 2,880 square miles, about one-half of which is in the last-named State. This portion is no less rich in the quantity and quality of its ore, than in the other States where it lies. The land is here intermingled with copper and zinc, the latter in large quantities, together with some silver. In Lapointe, Chippewa, St. Croix, and Iowa Counties copper is also found; in Dodge County, "at the so-called Iron Ridge, is the most promising locality of iron ore in the State yet discovered;" but on the Black River and other branches of the Mississippi, good iron ore occurs. The iron ores of Lake Superior region extend from Michigan into this State, in abundant deposits of the richest quality. The other metallic substances are magnetic iron, iron pyrites, and graphite or plumbago. The non-metallic earths are agate, cornelians, (found on the shores of the small lakes,) bitumen, peat, (which being in a region poorly supplied with fuel, may hereafter become valuable as a substitute for coal,) marble of fine quality, lime, quartz, some gypsum, saltpeter, sulphates of barytes, porphyry, and coal in small quantities. A vein of copper ore was discovered in 1848, near the Kickapoo River, which yields about twenty per cent. of copper, but to what extent the bed runs has not been ascertained. Mines were also worked at the Falls of Black River, and in its vicinity, but they have been abandoned. Facts do not justify any expectation of great deposits of copper in the north-western part of the State. A great bed of magnetic iron ore lies south of Lake Superior, near Tyler's Fork of the Red River, in strata of metamorphic slate. Beautiful varieties of marble have been discovered or made known to the public in the north part of Wisconsin. According to Messrs. Foster and Whitney's Report, they are found on the Michigamig and Menomonee Rivers, and afford beautiful marbles, whose prevailing color is light pink, traversed by veins or seams of deep red. Others are blue and dove-colored, beautifully veined. These are susceptible of a fine polish, and some on the Menomonee are within navigable distance from New York.

LAKES AND RIVERS.-Besides the great Lakes Superior and Michigan, which lave its northern and eastern shores, Wisconsin has a number of small lakes. The principal of these is Lake Winnebago, southeast of the middle of the State. It is about twenty-eight miles long and ten miles wide, and communicates with Green Bay, (a north-west arm of Lake Michigan,) through the Fox or Neenah River. These small lakes are most abundant in the north-west, and are generally characterized by clear water and gravelly bottoms, often with bold picturesque shores, crowned with hemlock, spruce, and other trees. They afford excellent fish. In the shallow waters on the margins of some of them grows wild rice, an important article of food with the savages of this region. The rivers which traverse the interior flow generally in a south-west direction, and discharge their waters into the Mississippi. The latter river runs along the south-west borders of Wisconsin for more than 200 miles. Commencing at the south, we have, in the following order, Wisconsin, Bad Axe, Black, and Chippewa Rivers. Of these the most important is the Wisconsin, which has a course of prob

ably 200 miles, almost directly south, when it flows nearly west for about 100 more. It is navigable for steamboats 180 miles. The Chippewa is about 200 and the Black 150 miles long. The Rock, Des Plaines, and Fox River (of Illinois) drain the south-east slope of the State, and pass off into Illinois. The Fox or Neenah is the outlet of Winnebago Lake, and connects it with Green Bay. The Wolf, from the north, is the main feeder of the same lake. The Menomonee, emptying into Green Bay, and the Montreal into Lake Superior, are rapid streams, which are valuable for mill-sites. They form part of the north-east boundary. The Menomonee has a descent of 1,046 feet. The St. Louis, (considered as the primary source of the St. Lawrence,) coasts this State for twenty or thirty miles on the north-west, and is full of rapids and falls in this part of its course. These rivers are not generally favorable to navigation without artificial aid. The Wisconsin may be ascended by steamboats to the rapids, where it approaches a tributary of Lake Winnebago, within a mile and a half, where a canal is being constructed, which, when completed, will open an entire inland navigation from New York to the Upper Mississippi. The Rock River is sometimes at high water ascended by boats to within the limits of Wisconsin. The Bad Axe, Black, Chippewa, and St. Croix are important channels for floating timber to market from the pine regions in the north-west of the State. The rivers flowing into Lake Superior are small, and, though unfavorable for commerce, their rapid courses make them valuable for mill-sites. Colonel Long estimates that the Chippewa, Black, Wisconsin, and Rock Rivers are respectively capable of a steamboat navigation of 70, 60, 180, and 250 miles, but at present they are a good deal obstructed by shifting sands and rapids.

OBJECTS OF INTEREST TO TOURISTS.-Wisconsin, though young in political existence, is not behind her sister States in objects of interest, not merely for the utilitarian, but for the lover of picturesque, and even the antiquary. Scattered over her undulating plains are found earthworks, modeled after the forms of men and animals, that are evidently the work of a race different from those who possessed the country at the period of the arrival of the Europeans. At Aztalan, in Jefferson County, is an ancient fortification, 550 yards long, 275 wide, with walls 4 or 5 feet high, and more than 20 feet thick at the base. Another work, resembling a man in a recumbent position, 120 feet long and 30 across the trunk, is to be seen near the Blue Mounds; and one resembling a turtle, 56 feet in length, at Prairieville. These artificial works are generally without order, but sometimes have a systematic arrangement, with fragments of pottery often scattered around. Some are so defaced as to make it difficult to trace the animal resemblances referred to, while others are distinctly visible. One is said to have been discovered near Cassville resembling the extinct mastodon. Among the most striking natural objects are the Blue Mounds, in Dane County, the highest of which has an elevation of 1,170 feet above the Wisconsin, and is a prominent landmark in this country of prairies. Platte and other mounds, in the south-west of the State, have various elevations of from 60 to more than 100 feet. This State shares with Min

nesota the beautiful Lake Pepin, an expansion of the Mississippi, mostly walled in by precipitous shores, which rise from 300 to 500 feet nearly perpendicular. These heights are merely given as examples, not as the only ones there are. Almost all the rivers in Wisconsin abound in rapids and falls. The most remarkable of these are a series of cascades or cataracts in the St. Louis River, which have a descent of 320 feet in 16 miles, terminating about 20 miles from its mouth. Quinnessec Falls, in the Menomonee River, have one perpendicular pitch of 40 feet, and an entire descent of 134 feet in one mile and a half, besides several other rapids, where the river tosses and dashes through narrow and tortuous defiles. Among the other falls are St. Croix, Chippewa and Big Bull Falls in the Wisconsin. The river bluffs present grand and picturesque views in many places, particularly at Mount Trempleau, on the Mississippi, in La Cross County, where the rocks rise 500 feet perpendicularly above the river, in Richland County on the Wisconsin, where the banks are from 150 to 200 feet high, and in Sauk County, where it passes through a narrow gorge between cliffs of from 400 to 500 feet elevation. Grandfather Bull Falls, the greatest rapids in Wisconsin River, are about 45° north latitude, and are a series of small cascades, or rapids, breaking through a ridge of 150 feet perpendicular height, for the distance of one mile and a half. In this vicinity are a number of chalybeate springs. On the same river near the 44th parallel of north latitude, is Petenwell Peak, an oval mass of rock, 900 feet long by 300 feet wide, and 200 in elevation above the neighboring country, of which it commands an extensive view. About 70 feet of this, at the top, is composed of perpendicular rocks, split into towers, turrets, etc. A few miles below this is Fortification Rock, which rises to the height of 100 feet or more above the general level, being perpendicular on one side, while on the other it descends by a succession of terraces to the common level. At the Dalles, the Wisconsin is compressed for 5 or 6 miles between red and sandstone hills, from 25 feet to 120 feet high, and an average of 100 feet asunder. Between the Dalles and the mouth of the river, the bluffs are of every variety of height under 400 feet.

CLIMATE. The climate, though severe, and the winters long, is more regular and more free from those frequent and unhealthy changes that prevail further south. The lakes, too, exert a mitigating influence, the temperature being 63° higher on the lake than on the Mississippi side. The lake shore is also more moist, but the State generally is drier than in the same parallels further east. From records kept between 1835 and 1845, it appears the Milwaukee River was closed on an average from November 22 to March 26; and steamboats arrived at Mineral Point from February 26 to April 16, closing from November 16 to December 4. The diseases consequent upon clearing lands are less frequent, it is said, in this than other new States, owing to the open nature of the country in the oak openings. The number of deaths in 1850 were less than ten in every thousand persons; while Massachusetts had about 20. SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS.-The country south of the middle is a fine agricultural region, particularly that back of Kenosha. In the mineral

district, west of the Pekatonica, the country is broken, but what is un usual in mining tracts, generally well adapted to farming, and especially to grazing. But probably the best agricultural section is that east of the Pekatonica, which has more prairie land, though even here is a considerable portion of timbered land, on the rivers and streams. The agricultural capabilities of the northern part of the State, around the head-waters of the Black and Chippewa Rivers, and the sources of the rivers emptying into Lake Superior are small, the surface in part being covered with drift and bowlders, and partly with ponds and marshes. The agricultural staples of this State are wheat, Indian corn, oats, Irish potatoes, butter, and live stock, besides considerable quantities of rye, wool, beans, peas, barley, buckwheat, maple sugar, beeswax, honey, cheese, and hay, with some sweet potatoes, tobacco, fruits, wine, grass seeds, hops, flax, and hemp. There were in 1860 3,746,036 acres of improved land in farms in Wisconsin, and 4,153,134 acres of unimproved land in farms. The cash value of the farms was $131,117,082, and of farming implements and machinery, $5,758,847. The number of horses in the State was 116,192; of asses and mules, 1,019; of milch cows, 193,996; working oxen, 13,660; other cattle, 225,210; sheep, 332,454; swine, 333,957. The live stock was valued at $17,807,366, and the animals slaughtered at $3,368,710.

The annual produce of wheat was 15,812,625 bushels; rye, 888,534; Indian corn, 7,565,290; oats, 11,059,270; tobacco, 87,595 pounds; wool, 1,011,915 pounds; peas and beans, 99,804 bushels; Irish potatoes, 3,848,505; sweet potatoes, 2,345; barley, 678,992, and buckwheat, 67,622 bushels.

The yearly orchard products were valued at $76,096. There were produced 9,511 gallons of wine, and the value of the garden products for market was $207,153. There were made 13,651,053 pounds of butter, and 1,104,459 pounds of cheese. There were gathered 853,799 tons of hay; 3,848 bushels of clover-seed; 26,383 bushels of other grass seeds; and 135,587 pounds of hops.

Of dew-rotted hemp, the annual product was 97 tons; of water-rotted, 15 tons, and of other prepared hemp, 244 tons. The amount of flax raised was 21,644 pounds; flaxseed, 4,256 bushels; and silk cocoons, 15 pounds. There were made 1.584,406 pounds of maple sugar; 288,000 pounds of cane sugar, 83,003 gallons of cane and maple molasses, 19,253 gallons of sorghum, 8,009 pounds of beeswax; and 207,184 pounds of honey. The value of the home-made manufactures was $128,423. MANUFACTURES.-This youthful State is rapidly and successfully developing her manufacturing capabilities. There were in Wisconsin, according to the United States census, in 1850, 1,262 manufacturing establishments, and in 1860, 3,120, with a capital in the same in 1850 of $3,382,148, and in 1860, of $16,580,000. The cost of the raw material annually used in the same was in 1850, $5,414,931, and in 1860, $17,250,000. The average number of male hands employed in 1850 was 5,798, and in 1860, 16,320; the number of female hands employed in 1850 was 291, and in 1860, 770. The total value of manufactured products in 1850 was $9,293,068, and in 1860, $28,500,000.