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202 the cattle are drenched and cold. More sheds, and more dry food, would make the cattle and sheep better-looking in the spring; whereas with the present system they present a rough and miserable appearance by the time the winter is over.

The wealth of Linn County is not confined to its agricultural resources, though its people, with rare good sense, prefer to think so. That part of the Cascade Range in which the Santiam River has its rise is known to produce gold and silver, and also lead. But for reasons easily understood by the reader of our notes on the forests and mountains, "prospecting" is exceedingly difficult in the Cascades; and probably many years will elapse before the mineral wealth of Western Oregon is even partially understood. It is stored away in the hidden recesses of the mountains, there to remain a promise of employment and riches to future generations, when the population of the Wallamet Valley has become dense enough to drive men into other than the peaceful pursuits of agriculture.

Linn County has a large proportion of prairie-land, with here and there a group of hills, or a single isolated butte, furnishing a pleasant relief to the eye. Besides Albany, the shire-town, it has half a dozen small towns, all pleasantly located and prosperous. It contains fifteen saw-mills, and eight flouring-mills, besides one woolen-mill, one tannery, and several wagon and machine-shops; and is, in fact, one of the very best divisions of the Wallamet Valley.

Marion County is neither quite so large as Linn, nor has it as great an extent of level prairie; its surface being more diversified. In fertility it is quite equal; and in population and property exceeds its southern neighbor. Its mineral and commercial advantages are