People in Hartsburg cut limestone blocks from the bluffs for house foundations and dug clay there to mold and bake bricks, some of which made in the early 1900s are still used in town buildings; in the 1920s, rock from the bluffs was crushed and spread on muddy streets. Many settlers chose Hartsburg for its valuable bottomland soil, and until the mid-1900s, 40 to 80 acres could support a large family through diversified farming that included animals for eggs, milk, and meat, vegetable gardens, and wheat and corn grown for sale. The bottoms remain prime cropland, often producing 30 to 40 percent more than Missouri uplands. The bottoms and bluffs differ sharply because bottom soils are river-deposited alluvium of fine silt and loam, rich in nutrients, about five feet deep, and supported by abundant moisture from flat land, a shallow water table, and organic matter, while bluff-top soils formed from weathered limestone are clay-rich, lose rainfall to runoff on hilly terrain, and support drier plant communities such as prickly pear cactus, wildflowers, and native grasses. Wetland vegetation in the bottoms feeds microorganisms and insects that support fish, birds, and other wildlife, making wetland ecosystems among the world’s most productive, while many bluff glades once kept open by fires are now overgrown with eastern red cedar trees.