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AGRICULTURE

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COMPRISING

AN ACCOUNT OF THE CLASSIFICATION, COMPOSITION AND DISTRIBUTION
OF THE SOILS AND ROCKS,

AND THE NATURAL WATERS OF THE DIFFERENT GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS;

TOGETHER WITH A CONDENSED VIEW OF THE

CLIMATE AND THE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIONS OF THE STATE.

BY EBENEZER EMMONS, M.D.

VOLUME If.

ALBANY :

PRINTED BY C. VAN BENTHUYSEN & CO.
1846.

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- The copy right of this work is secured fe the benefit of the People of the State of New-York.
Ree SAMUEL YOUNG,

|, OS 7 ’ : Secretary of State.
Albany, 1842. .

TO HIS EXCELLENCY SILAS WRIGHT.

Governor of the State of New-York,

SIR.

Tue present volume, the completion of which is in a great measure due to
your special indulgence (in granting a prolongation of the time originally
stipulated), contains a general account of the soils of the State, their
composition and distribution, and their relations to the underlying forma-
tions. Although the work thus far has been the result of much labor, still
I can but barely hope that its execution may meet your approbation, and
subserve the purpose for which the Survey was ordered by the Legislature
of New-York.

Your obedient servant,

i BS fabs fay F

P ae 2 E. EMMONS.
ALBANY, December 30, 1546. fo =e - san Mr
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PREFACE.

Tue volume which is now submitted to the agriculturists of New-York,
contains the results of my investigations respecting the soils of the State.
Its execution has occupied my time for nearly four years ; and on reviewing
my labors, I cannot but hope that something has been done, which will
advance the interests of the farmer.

One of the first inquiries which engaged my attention, was the classifica-
tion of soils; a subject which is confessedly one of great complexity, and
which has never been exhibited in an intelligible and useful form, and, I
may add, is probably not destined to a result so desirable in itself. As the
geological survey of the State had just been finished, and as the works con-
taining the information respecting the rocks then known were so generally
distributed, it was deemed proper to propose a classification of the soils,
which should be founded upon a geological basis. Accordingly a reconnoi-
sance of the State was made, with the view of ascertaining whether a
classification founded upon geology would be useful. The result of this
examination led me to hope that useful ends would be gained by a classi-
fication thus founded, and I have therefore proposed one in the first pages of
this report, which I consider applicable to the soils of this State.

In order, however, that this plan may be increased in usefulness, I have
given an epitome of the geology of the State, and have constructed maps
and sections designed to aid the farmer and student in acquiring a knowledge
of agricultural geology. It might have been desirable to increase the number
of illustrative sections and maps; but, upon the whole, it seemed better at
present to fall short of what would be required for a full illustration of the
report, than to extend them too far, as might be judged by many persons
whose opinions I should most certainly feel bound to respect. Occasional
illustrations in lithograph have been given of the features of various parts

| AcricutturaL Report. ] B

vi PREFACE.

of the State, in which the characters of the natural vegetation have been
introduced. It is not pretended that these illustrations were absolutely
necessary to the usefulness of the report, still it is believed that the value
and interest of the work is thereby materially enhanced.

In the progress of this work, numerous subjects came up for investigation ;
and such must always be the case in a science which has so wide a field as
agriculture. Among these subjects of investigation, the local temperatures,
the annual amounts of rain, the length of the seasons in the different dis-
tricts, the times of harvest, and the various accidents to which vegetation
is oceasionally exposed from contingencies of the weather, have received a
share of my attention. Of those questions which all will regard as practically
useful, the determination of the composition of the rocks that give origin to
the soil is one which has occupied my particular care. A similar remark
might be made respecting the composition of the waters of the different
geological formations, though it must be said that want of sufficient time
has prevented so full an investigation of this question as was desirable. As
fertilizers of the soil, the shales, limestones, marls, peats, etc. have constantly
occupied my attention; but I have devoted more time to the consideration
of the soils themselves, than to the other subjects of inquiry.

At the time I began this work, the utility of analyzing soils was regarded
by many as questionable, and perhaps the same opinion is still entertained
to some extent. My own views at first coincided with the opinions of those
who looked upon the utility of the analysis of soils as somewhat doubtful ;
but on making the reconnoisance before referred to, | became convinced,
that so far as this State was concerned, many beneficial results would follow
from a faithful questioning of the soils by analysis. I accordingly commenced
the work, and have pursued it faithfully up to the present time ; and I must
say that my views in favor of the utility of the undertaking have rather been
strengthened by the results obtained, more especially by those which appear
in the latter part of this volame.

I have kept in view, during the whole progress of the work, the relations
of the soils to the rocks. I cannot, however, avoid observing that the subject
is still open to investigation, and that much yet remains to be done in this
field of inquiry. A want of time and means has cut short, to a certain extent,
the plan I had proposed to carry out. Indeed it has been impossible to visit

eee

PREFACE. vu

more than a few of the most important places in the State, for the purpose
of collecting the necessary specimens of soil; and those who are practically
acquainted with the processes of analytical chemistry, and who are aware
of the great care requisite to secure reliable results, will not be surprised that
many of the inquiries are but partially completed.

It will be seen that I have laid some stress upon the division of the State
into maize (or indian corn) and wheat-growing districts. The distinction
may be one of little importance, and some may regard it as useless; still I
believe that the actual constitution of the soils, and of the rocks from which
they are derived, will bear me out in the distinction itself.

The origin of the phosphates has been with me an object of considerable
research, in which I trust I have obtained some satisfactory and useful
results. I believe this is the first attempt, made in this country, to determine
the rocks which contain phosphates, and distinguish them from those that
do not. I consider the inquiry an interesting one, which ought to be further
prosecuted.

It may appear to some that I have devoted too much time and space to
the consideration of the Taconic system. It must be remembered, however,
that in giving an epitome of the New-York rocks, it was necessary that the
rocks of this system should be noticed also; and inasmuch as the question
respecting their age was one which had occupied our most distinguished
geologists, and was in itself highly interesting in many points of view, I
deemed it proper, considering the impulse which the State of New-York has
given to geological inquiry, to press the matter to a conclusion, by settling
definitely the era of the rocks of this system. The system belongs pre-
eminently to New-York : conflicting views prevailed concerning it; and it
was thought justifiable to make a strenuous and final effort for the settlement
of the question.

To show that I have not been indifferent to the utility of my labors, I
may state that I so divided my time as to secure the greatest economy. The
summer, being the only season when outdoor observations can be made, has
been spent mostly in the field, and the winter in the laboratory. In the
field, | have been assisted by my son, a part of his expenses being defrayed
by myself. In the laboratory, Mr. Sauissury, and L. Cuanpier Batt, Esq.,
were occupied steadily and unremittingly for three hundred days, without

B*

vill PREFACE.

incurring expense to the State. Several other gentlemen have also given me
very essential aid in analysis, and without expense to the State. About five
hundred days work in the laboratory have thus been rendered gratuitously.
During the whole time this assistance was rendered, my own presence was
necessary as a matter of course.

The preceding statement, it is hoped, will be satisfactory to those who
inquire how the four years spent in the survey have been occupied. One
remark further seems to be called for : At the commencement of this sur-
vey, ] engaged to complete it in one year. I then hoped, that with the aid
of individuals interested in the success of the undertaking, so much might
be accomplished as would afford general results of very considerable value.
My task, however, as it now appears, was not truly defined in that engage-
ment; and finding myself afterwards sustained by men whose opinions
could not but be respected, and even by instructions which were obligatory
upon me, much more was determined upon when the field was partially
surveyed; for if the agricultural interest is not one of paramount importance,
I have mistaken the nature of the duties in which I have been engaged.
Besides, the whole matter was stated to a committee of the Legislature in
1845, to whom all the engagements which had previously been entered into
with the State were submitted, and were by them examined and investigated,
and it was by their unanimous recommendation that the survey has been in
progress for the last two years.

The second volume of the present work is in course of preparation, and
will contain, among other things, an account of the composition of the ashes
of the different cultivated vegetables; a description of the several varieties
of the cereals which seem to be best adapted to our climate, and a list of the
principal fruits which reach perfection in the different districts.

The division of the work into two volumes, though by no means intended
when it first went to press, has been decided upon in consequence of an
increased amount of matter, which has accumulated during its progress, and
which, if bound in one volume, would make it too thick for convenience :
inasmuch, too, as no additional expense to the State will arise from the
measure, but, on the contrary, something will be gained; the expense of

binding a volume being less than the price for which it is sold to counties
and individuals.

PREFACE. 1x

In conclusion, I tender my thanks to those who have assisted me in this
survey. Mr. G. H. Smita of Rochester, and Mr. W. M. Situ of Manlius, are
entitled to my acknowledgments for their services in the winter and spring
of 1846. Messrs. G. Geppes, H. S. Ranpat and L. F. ALten, have assisted
me in many ways. Davin Tuomas is entitled to a similar acknowledgment;
for I have not hesitated to ask his advice on many doubtful questions, and
have always been kindly and frankly responded to. I have already given
the names of the two gentlemen who have been so efficient in the laboratory,
and who are still zealously engaged in chemical analysis. Mr. J. Crary, a
young chemist of Washington county, has also aided me considerably in the
work of analysis. To Mr. J. Parerson, who has superintended the proof-
sheets, the volume is in a great measure indebted for its general correctness.

E. EMMONS.
Aupany, December 30, 1846.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS 0000.0 00cccccnecsceenescccreronpevnes see cetsveceescscsetaversciaas oss . Page 1

CHAPTER II.

TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE STATE.

Topographical outlines, page 3. Division of the State into agricultural districts, 4: Northern and Southern Highland
districts, 4 & 5; Eastern district, 6; Hudson and Mohawk district, 7; Western or Wheat district, 8; Southern
district, 9; Atlantic district, 10. Letter from D. Thomas, 8.

CHAPTER III.
CLIMATE AND TEMPERATURE OF THE STATE.

Letter from J. H. Coffin, page 11. Variation of temperature from difference of elevation, 12; from difference of
latitude, 14. Kirwan’s and Brewster’s formule for mean temperature, 16. Forwardness of seasons, 18. Climate
of Long island, 20; of the valley of the Hudson, 21; of the valley of the Mohawk, 23; of the region north and
northwest of the valley of the Mohawk, 26; of the region south and southwest of the valley of the Mohawk, 28;
of the western part of the State, 30.

CHAPTER IV.
AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGY.

Soils derived from the decomposition of different rocks, page 33. Classification of rocks, 35. Composition of simple
minerals, 39. Character of granitic soils, 42. Drifted soils, 43.

CHAPTER V.
THE TACONIC SYSTEM.

General view of the Taconic system, page 45. Opinions of geologists on the Taconic and Cambrian systems, 46.
Hudson river rocks, and Champlain division, 49.. Rocks below and older than the Taconic system, 52. Position
and relations of the Taconic system, 54. Individual members of the Taconic system, 61: Black slate, 63; Taconic
slate, 65; Sparry limestone, 72; Magnesian slate, 75; Stockbridge limestone, 75; Brown sandstone or Granular
quartz, 83. Rocks immediately above the Taconic system, 87. Taconic system in Rhode-Island, 90. Taconic
system in Maine, 94. Taconic system in Michigan, 101. Derangements of the Taconic system, 102. Mineral
products of the Taconic system, 105. Appendix to the Taconic system, 109.

|
|
}

CONTENTS. Xl

CHAPTER VI.

THE NEW-YORK SYSTEM.

General view of the New-York system, page 113. Classification of the New-York rocks, 114. Note on geological
periods, 115. Champlain division, 117: Potsdam sandstone, 117; Calciferous sandstone, 118; Chazy limestone,
122; Birdseye limestone, 122; Isle Lamotte marble, 123; Trenton limestone, 123; Utica slate, 123; Loraine shales,
124; Oneida conglomerate, 125. Agricultural relations of the Champlain division, 129. Waters of the Champlain
division, 130. Fractures in the Champlain division, 133. Thickness of the Champlain division, 138. Ontario
division, 141: Medina sandstone, 142; Clinton group, 144; Niagara group, 150. Thickness of the Ontario division,
152. Helderberg division, 153: Onondaga-salt group, 153; Pentamerus limestone, 166; Delthyris shaly limestone,
167; Encrinal limestone, 168; Oriskany sandstone, 168; Cauda-galli grit, 171; Schoharie grit, 174; Onondaga
limestone, 174. Thickness of the Helderberg division, 178. Erie division, 180: Marcellus slate, 181 ; Hamilton
shales, 183; Tully limestone, 186. Catskill division, 187: Portage and Chemung groups, 188 ; Catskill group, 193
Equivalents of the Devonian system, 198. New Red sandstone, 200. Tertiary system, 202. Marl and peat, 204.

CHAPTER VII.

SOILS OF NEW-YORK.

Origin of soils, page 207. Distribution of soils, 209: Phenomena of diluvial action, 209; Distribution of soils by
diluvial action, 212; Causes of diluvial action, 214. Relations of soils to the underlying rocks, 218. Elements of
soils, 220. Classification of soils, 229. Temperature of soils, 231. Table comparing the temperature of the earth
and the air, 232. Composition of the soils of New-York, 234. Analysis of soils of the Highland district, 236; of
the Taconic district, 242; of the Hudson and Mohawk district, 255; of the Western district, 270; of the Southern
district, 307; of the Atlantic district, 318. Analysis of waters of the Taconic district, 250; of the Hudson and
Mohawk district, 263; of the Western district, 298; of the Southern district, 314. Climate of the Taconic district,
252; of the Hudson and Mohawk district, 268; of the Western district, 303; of the Southern district, 315; of the
Atlantic district, 321. Improvement of the soil of the Taconic district, 253; of the Hudson and Mohawk district,
262; of the Western district, 297; of the Southern district, 313; of the Atlantic district, 320. Comparison of the
soils of the different districts, 323. Quantity of maize and oats harvested in the several districts in the year 1845,
326, Observations on analysis, 327. Analysis of soils from the Taconic district, 330. Analysis of soils from the
Western district, 336. Soils tested for soluble silica and the phosphates, 344. Sources of the phosphates, 345.
Premium crops of wheat, maize and oats, 348. Absorptive and retentive powers of soils, 351. Tables of the com-
position of the limestones, shales, slates and marls, 354. General summary, 358.

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REPORT

ON THE

AGRICULTURE OF THE STATE OF NEW-YORK.

CHAPTER I.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.

I enreR upon the work of preparing the Report on the Agriculture of the State with feel-
ings of deep anxiety and concern. The importance of the subject, the difficulties which
surround it, the extent of territory, and the very limited time granted for the accomplish-
ment of my labor, are considerations which, in their individuality, are of great moment,
but when taken collectively, become so overwhelming as almost to induce me to shrink
from the task. But these are not all. A large and highly intelligent community expect
much from this part of the survey. <A branch of industry, admitted by all as the most
important, is expected to be highly benefited by a series of practical observations, and of
chemical examinations of the soil and its products. A disappointment of these expecta-
tions, whether owing to a disproportion between the magnitude of the undertaking and
the time allotted for its achievement, or to the incapacity of the Reporter, may throw
discredit upon the enterprise, and thereby not only exert an injurious influence upon the
science of agriculture, but serve also to discourage the renewal of any similar attempt,
which, under more favorable circumstances, and in abler hands, might accomplish all,
perhaps more than, the community of agriculturalists now anticipate. Leaving, how-
ever, all forebodings behind, I will proceed in my mission with as much diligence and
despatch as possible. I shall, in the first place, give a general plan of the report. This
will acquaint the reader with the kind of work in which I have been employed ; a species
of information which I suppose him desirous of obtaining.
[AcRicuLTURAL ReEport.] 1

2 PLAN OF THE WORK.

The first subject upon which I shall treat is the topography of the State, or those natural
divisions which bear so strongly upon its agriculture. In this connection, I shall furnish
all the important facts relating to temperature. These are both important subjects, and
necessary to be fully understood for pursuing understandingly any system of farming, or
for determining upon the introduction or the necessity of rejecting a particular crop. Espe-
cially is it essential that all those who lead public opinion in matters of farming and
production, as the officers and influential members of state and county societies, should
know the country and its capabilities; and these capabilities can not be properly determined
without an acquaintance with the surface of the country, with its exposures, its height
above tide water, and its mean annual temperature.

In the second place, I propose to treat of the rocks and their position, both geologically
and geographically. The rocks are the parents of the present soil. It may not be that a
single rock has produced an extensive soil of a particular character, but a combination of
them has undoubtedly done so; and their debris will be found spreading widely, and
giving character to extensive tracts of country. Admitting this view, certain inquiries
would naturally grow out of it. What is the character of the soil, derived as we say from
certain parent rocks? What are its elements?) What changes will it undergo by cultiva-
tion? To what crops is it adapted; and when it loses its fertility, will the parent masses
furnish the means of regenerating it, or of bringing it back to its original fertility? Many
other questions of a similar nature would come up; but these are sufficient to show that a
knowledge of the rocks, the parents of the soil, is important in agriculture.

There are still other questions in geology which are full of importance to agriculture, as
the following: How do the rocks lie in their beds; are they vertical, inclined or horizon-
tal? These are important points in the art of draining ; and in some localities, it is abso-
lutely impossible to drain without this knowledge. In this connection, too, I might speak
of fractures or dislocations, and of trap dykes; as a knowledge of their existence is also
important in the practice of draining.

After having treated of agricultural geology, as it is termed, I shall proceed to the con-
sideration of vegetable and animal products, their elements and their origin; and of the
process of nutrition and assimilation, subjects usually termed physiological.

Lastly, it is my design to state what is known of the soils of New-York, their composi-
tion, and their adaptation to particular kinds of husbandry. Probably few States possess
a greater range of soils, or are so well adapted to so great a variety of productions. In
fact, taken as a whole, it would be difficult to mark out upon the terrestrial globe a spot
as large as New-York, whose capabilities of production come up to her standard ; whose
general relations are so important; where there are so many great centres of business ;
where there are so many and such large channels of wealth, and all flowing to one me-
tropolis; or, in fine, whose natural resources can come up to the full measure of this
commonwealth.

CHAPTER Ii.

TOPOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE STATE.

TOPOGRAPHICAL OUTLINE. DIVISION OF THE STATE INTO AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS : NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN
HIGHLAND DISTRICTS ; EASTERN DISTHICT; MOHAWK AND HUDSON DISTRICT; WESTERN DISTRICT; SOUTHERN
DISTRICT; ATLANTIC DISTRICT. REFERENCE TO PLATES Il., UI. AND V. LETTER FROM D. THOMAS.

TOPOGRAPHICAL OUTLINE.

Ir variety of surface and climate favors multiplicity of productions, then may the State of
New-York be said to be fitted by Providence for that end. Stretching from north to south
over four and a half degrees of latitude, and rising to an elevation varying from the sea
level to five thousand feet and upward, a wide range is furnished for a multiplicity of spe-
cies, both in the animal and vegetable kingdoms. She extends her arms through a large
portion of the temperate zone; and by her elevated northern highlands, ranges closely
upon alpine regions, where the larch, spruce and fir dwindle to mere shrubs, or in fact
lose their identity as it were in dwarfish miniature trees. It is difficult to draw distinct
and sensible boundary lines between regions which shall be distinguished both by dis-
similar vegetable growths and animal forms; yet we may see that large areas do exist
where climate and soil are better fitted for certain productions than others, although they
are so blended that the boundaries are obscured by a gradual coalescence. I leave out of
view here what seem to be mere local peculiarities of certain districts, which, in conse-
quence of frosts out of season, render certain crops uncertain and precarious, such as that
of indian corn in some parts of St. Lawrence and Jefferson counties, where the mean
temperature of the seasons is sufficiently high for its culture. The same may be said of
certain fruit trees, as the apple and plum, which, though they may flourish for several
years, are yet liable to be destroyed by an unseasonable frost. Many minor districts have
their peculiarities, which are rarely taken into the statistics of climate, and which are
overlooked in general views.

1*

4 NORTHERN HIGHLAND DISTRICT.

DIVISION OF THE STATE INTO AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS.

New-York may be divided into six agricultural districts, each of which has a few charac-
teristics sufficiently well marked to establish a peculiarity, and distinguish it as a separate
agricultural region.

1, The Highland districts, comprising the Northern and the Southern highland districts;

2. The Eastern district, which approaches the Hudson river, with its western boundary
running parallel to the same;

8. The Mohawk and Hudson vallies;

4. The Western district ;

5. The Southern district; and

6. The Atlantic district.

Without placing much stress upon the importance of this subdivision, I barely remark
that there are geological features belonging to each, which can not be disregarded, and
which will be given to the reader in the proper places. It is now my design to state the
peculiarities which belong to surface only, or the facts relating to elevation and depression,
or what would more immediately arrest the attention of a traveller passing over those
particular districts.

I. Tue Hicuianp pisrricts are widely separated from each other, but possess characters
in common.

1. The NorTHERN HIGHLAND District is bounded north by the parallel of 45°; on the
northeast, it extends to Rand’s hil! in Clinton county; on the east, it is bounded by Lake
Champlain from Trembleau point south to Fort-Ann; on the southeast and south, by a
line running from the latter point southwest to Littlefalls, southwest and west by a line
running from Littlefalls to Theresa falls on Indian river, and on the northwest by a line
from the latter place to near Chateaugay corners. The space included within these
boundary lines is an irregular polygon, and embraces formations belonging to the primary
divisions or classes. The soil is generally derived from granite and gneiss; is thin upon
the higher grounds, but of sufficient depth in the valleys, and is every where covered by
a black vegetable mould. But what distinguishes this district from all others, is its height
above tide, and the multitude of its sharp peaks and ridges. Its greatest height is near
the sources of the Hudson, Ausable, Racket, Black and Mohawk rivers, all of which rise
as it were upon the same table land, but are destined to distant portions of the State, and
to be lost in waters in opposite points of the compass. This district therefore slopes in all
directions from a culminating point, is steeper upon the east than upon the west, and is
the great reservoir from whence a large portion of the State.is watered. The highest point
exceeds five thousand feet, which is gained at Mount Marcy in the Adirondack group,
situated about forty miles west of Port Henry on Lake Champlain.

: SOUTHERN HIGHLAND DISTRICT. 5

This region is of but little agricultural interest at present; is entirely clothed with forest,
a large proportion of which is spruce, fir, tamarack and pine, intermixed with poplar,
white birch, red and black cherry, beech, maple, ash, black oak, and, in more favored
exposures, bass, butternut and hickory. Ascending the highest summits, we find an
alpine region, where reindeer-moss and other lichens abound, and snow remains until
midsummer, and where the small pools of water upon the rocks freeze every night during
the year.

This region is at least one hundred miles long and seventy or eighty broad. The table
land from which the individual mountains spring, is from fifteen hundred to two thousand
feet above tide. The ascent is gradual from all sides, and in fact hardly perceptible, and
the traveller at the base of these peaks does not suspect that he has already overcome one-
third of their height. This highland district, in its present condition, sheds a succession
of powerful influences, partly beneficial and partly injurious, upon the vegetation of the
adjoining districts. The beneficial influences are derived from the abundance of water
which the district affords: it furnishes the head-springs which irrigate one-third of New-
York. The injurious influences come from the reduction of temperature, the cold snowy
winter, and the unseasonable frosts of the earlier and later parts of the summer. Testing
the capabilities of it as an agricultural district, it is found that oats, peas, barley, rye and
wheat may be raised. The two first may be regarded as constant crops; the others thrive
best the two first years after clearing. Indian corn, of the varieties used as far south as the
metropolis of the State, is greatly endangered by frosts, and is rarely ripened. It is not
owing to any defects in composition of the soil that this district is comparatively unimpor-
tant, but to the low and variable temperature. The hills, however, will afford good pas-
turage, and herds of cattle and flocks of sheep may one day give life and animation where
the silence of the day is broken only by the rustling of the wind through an unbroken
forest.

2. The SourHERN HIGHLAND DISTRICT possesses many of the same characters as those
of the northern. Being, however, of less extent, and far inferior in height, it exerts com -
paratively little influence on the surrounding country. This district is known as the
Highlands of the Hudson, the Hudson river having found a passage through them. It
embraces parts of three counties, Rockland, Putnam and Westchester. The highest ele-
vations are unsusceptible of cultivation, from the rough broken state of the surface, and
the want of sufficient covering to the projecting rocks. At the base, however, the surface,
although yet frequently broken, is productive, and not subject to unseasonable frosts.
The mountains and hills can not be said to stand upon an elevated table land, but rise
immediately from a platform whose height is nearly upon the sea level. In this particular,
therefore, the southern highlands differ from the northern; and in consequence of their
limited area, they require only a passing notice as an agricultural district.

6 EASTERN AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT.

Il. The Eastern AGRICULTURAL pisTRIcT is bounded by the States of Connecticut,
Massachusetts and Vermont, and extends to the immediate skirts of the Hudson valley on
the west. The eastern boundary referred to, however, passes through the district, and
bounds it only so far as New-York is concerned. It really extends to the foot of the Green
mountain range.

The features of this district differ from those of the preceding, where we find bold
abrupt mountains rising in peaks, and presenting, on one side at least, steep or perpendi-
cular precipices ; while here the mountains slope moderately, rise in long narrow ridges,
and present but few inaccessible cliffs. The steepest slope is generally too upon the north-
west side. We find also a contrast in the character of the soil, which is deep, covers the
tops and sides of the hills, and gives them a rounded form, which renders them susceptible
of cultivation to their tops. The elevation in New-York does not exceed fourteen or fifteen
hundred feet, and by far the greater proportion of the surface is not much above seven or
eight hundred feet. The greatest elevation in Massachusetts is three thousand and five
hundred feet above the sea level.

But the soil and surface of this district differ no less from those of the preceding, than
does its system of rocks. This system, which may be said to spring out, or to be derived
more immediately from, primary rocks, partakes necessarily of an intermediate character,
bearing something of a primary aspect, but at the same time being not so far removed
from the newer sedimentary rocks as to be mistaken for primary. The composition of the
members of this system, too, is quite remarkable and important. We find magnesia to be
a common element; and we imagine that we see in their composition the reason why
indian corn, one of the best of products, is so much at home upon the soils of the gentle
slopes of this system. At any rate, in no other district is this crop so perfect, so sound and
rich, as in Dutchess, Columbia, Rensselaer and Washington counties. Comparing this
crop in the Eastern district with that of the Western, we unhesitatingly give preference to
the former, as being more thrifty and sounder in the kernel, and better filled out. There
is a limit, however, at which maize ceases to ripen in this district. For example, along
the Taconic range between Massachusetts and New-York, at the height of about one
thousand feet above tide, it dwindles to a short slender stalk, and yields but small tapering
ears. This limit is often marked by a line of frost during the cold months, to which it
very frequently descends, forming a distinct icy line of congealed vapor upon the forests,
and upon the trees of the cultivated fields.

The Eastern district is a belt extending from the Sound in Westchester county, to the
head of Lake Champlain at the north extremity of Washington county. It embraces a
large proportion of the four counties above enumerated ; and though narrow and long, it
is very constant in its character and features, as well as productions, through its entire
range.

This district resembles that of the Hudson and Mohawk, and perhaps both might be
included in one. The taconic and black slates form, by their decomposition, a soil closely

PLATE Vi

Brn. ae
\ = 1G
Soret. Meds Nias

4

re nN yo. Ih IW 1) qe GCG NE I NG ne
wD SON River AWN D rN CONT

HUDSON AND MOHAWK AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT. 7

approximating to that of the shales of the Hudson and Mohawk valleys. When, however,
we take in the eastern formations towards the base of the Hoosic mountain range, with
the valleys of the Hoosic and Housatonic, we find a soil and surface sufficiently distinct to
merit the division I have proposed. The widest difference is then to the east; while at
the west, the two districts are merged into each other.

Plate V. gives a panoramic view of the hills of this district, as seen from the Helderberg
range on the west. The fore-ground is occupied by the limestones of this range; the
middle, by the Hudson river slates and shales, and the back-ground by the long range of
slate hills belonging to the Taconic system. The valley of the Hudson hes in the middle
ground, and is bounded by those slates.

III. The Turrp pisrrict comprises the valleys of the Hudson and Mohawk. It is less
regular in its shape than the other districts, and besides is not confined wholly to that
territory which is usually considered as belonging to these valleys. Thus, at the com-
mencement of the Southern highlands, it diverges from the river to the southwest, and
passes through Orange county into the State of New-Jersey. Towards the northwest, it
passes beyond the valley of the Mohawk into Jefferson county, by the route of the Black
river.

In its characters it is closely related to the preceding. Its slaty or shaly rocks, and sand-
stone and limestone beds, furnish, when mixed, asoil much like that of the Eastern district.
There is, however, as already remarked, more alluvial matter, broader meadows, and a
less undulating surface. Beneath the bottoms of the Hudson and Mohawk, there reposes
a stiff calcareous clay ; and departing a little from these rivers, and ascending their sloping
banks, we find sandy plains, which, however, are underlaid with the same stiff clay, a
marine deposit of a modern date. No part of this district rises into mountains. Steep
bluffs are common, but rarely exceed three hundred feet in-height. As an agricultural
district, it is important; but it has been longer cultivated, and hence is more exhausted
than either of the districts which have been named.

The valley of the Mohawk at Amsterdam is pictorially illustrated in Plate II. The steep
furrowed banks of clay with a scanty vegetation, are seen upon the left; the islands in
the Mohawk covered densely with willows, and the partially wooded hills, form the back
ground. In the foreground, the peculiar appearance of the elm so common on the banks
of the Hudson and Mohawk, is well represented, giving to the landscape a striking
feature. Flats and shallows are constantly recurring in the Mohawk, sometimes forming
ripples which are always covered with water ; at other times, low islands, which support
only willows and alders, but occasionally are sufficiently elevated to form fertile and
beautiful meadows, adapted either to grass, maize or broomcorn.

8 WESTERN AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT.

IV. The Western pistricr borders the Mohawk on the south, and may be bounded
north by a terrace extending parallel with the Erie canal, and commencing a fewgniles
west of Littlefalls. Instead of following the Erie canal, it diverges to the northwest, and
strikes Lake Ontario near Oswego. The south boundary passes west through the southern
half of Seneca and Cayuga lakes, and terminates upon Lake Erie.

The surface of this district never rises into high or steep hills. It is gently undulating,
or rises in heavy swells. It is often traversed by deep cuts, forming deep narrow ravines ;
a peculiarity which arises from the slates and shales which are scored by the streams and
rivulets of the country. Some parts of the country, however, are elevated, rising thirteen
or fourteen hundred feet above tide, particularly in the range passing through Cherry-valley
and Pompey. The surface of the district is undulating and often level ; and we pass over
tracts embracing large farms, where it is difficult to determine by the eye alone in which
direction the surface slopes ; besides, it embraces some extensive marsh lands, which are
probably irreclaimable.

Plate IIL. is a view from Mount Hope, three miles south of Rochester. The city ap-
pears in the back part of the middle ground. In the open fields stand the superb elms of
the deep and rich clay soil peculiar to this district. They are the only remains of the
great and noble forests which have fallen before the axe of civilization in the last half
century. They run up in an unbroken shaft near one hundred feet, where they at once
form a heavy dense head. They are in strict contrast with the elms of a second growth
in the valleys of the Mohawk and Hudson, whose trunks are thickly covered with slender
limbs, and their heads formed of long pendulous branches. They especially flourish in
those deep stiff clayey soils that are rich in potash. Vegetation is an index to the character
of the soil. Elms of the same character abound upon the flats of the Black river, where
the subsoil is a clay.

The western district is the great wheat-growing district of New-York. It will be un-
derstood that the lines of demarkation are not fixed. Wheat is produced in all the counties
of the State, or in all the districts: the west differs from the others in being better adapted
to this grain. As it regards the southern limits of the wheat district, I take the liberty of
introducing a communication from Davin Tuomas, which contains some excellent re-
marks.*

* LETTER FROM D. THOMAS TO E. EMMONS.
GREATFIELD, near AuRoRA. 11 Mo. 18. 1844.

On my return from Philadelphia about a fortnight ago, I found thy favor of the 22d ult. It ought to have been
answered immediately, but I have had many things to distract my attention; and even now, I apprehend that my.
remarks must be of very little value.

I cannot observe any thing to object to, in thy arrangement of the State into districts, unless it be that their dis-
tinctive traits are more geological than agricultural ; and I may be better understood by asking if our southern tier of
counties differ essentially in agricultural products from thy three first districts ?

I think it would be difficult to draw the southern boundary of our Wheat District ; and at best it must be rather a
crooked line. Generally, it is good wheat land as far south as the detritus from our limestone formations has been

¥

Saha

‘Ja0 af SNOWWA'a
MM OA MAN Awbi bLODIONA

Wl ALK Td

SOUTHERN AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT. 9

V. The SourHern pistrictr is confined mostly to the southern tier of counties, lying
immediately north of the Pennsylvania line. I do not restrict it to this range, however :
it properly extends northward so as to embrace the Catskill range, with parts of the
counties of Delaware, Greene and Otsego.

In height, this district attains a rank next to the Highland. The Catskill mountains
rise to an elevation of four thousand and fifty-eight feet; and the range of southern coun-
ties rest upon a platform, which, if unscarred by aqueous action, would rise uniformly to
the height of two thousand feet. But this portion of New-York, which to the traveller
passing east and west appears so mountainous, is merely the effect of aqueous and other
atmospheric agencies. No internal force or power has raised locally this section above the
Western district ; but the strata once piled up in increased thickness over and above the
upper limestones of the Helderberg, have, by the long continued and destructive action of
rivers and large streams, been in many places furrowed through their entire depth for
several miles in width, and thus the surface remains impressed with a mountainous aspect
or contour. ‘The directions in which these streams flow, or have flowed, determine the

abundantly spread ; for doubtless thou art aware that the current which swept over this country to k a southerly
direction. Wherever the slate rocks were exposed to its action, a portion of them is mixed with the soil; and near
such localities the land is generally less favorable* for wheat. Thus the Owasco hill in the east part of Venice is less
calcareous in its character than the district lying westward. Perhaps the north bank of Salmon creek near Ludlow-
ville, is the southern boundary of the wheat district in this county; although good wheat is grown on some farms
as far south as the head of the lake, and possibly farther.

About twenty-five years ago, I travelled across the mountains to Philadelphia, and had good opportunities to ob-
serve the drift of our rocks in that direction. It evidently grew scarcer as I advanced; and the fragments became
more worn and rounded in their progress, forming a less and less proportion of the diluvial formation, This appear-
ance continued into Pennsylvania about twenty miles beyond the State line, and there every trace of our rocks
disappeared.

I may further remark that the people residing on this part of the Susquehanna used to supply themselves with lime
by gathering and burning small fragments of rounded stone from the shores, much of it not larger than gravel; and
which doubtless were swept from this district. My intelligent host at Sheshequin told me that but little or none of
this drift was found below them, but up the river it was abundant in places. I had made similar observations on
former journies.

Another circumstance may be mentioned in connection with these remarks: The mountains of Pennsylvania below
Sugar creek abound with the broad-leaved laurel (Kalmia latifolia) in a greater degree than I have observed in any
other district; but on coming north into the drift of our rocks, the laurel disappears, except in some particular
localities. Thus, in a sandstone on the side of a hill about a mile north of Ithaca, where I observed no traces of
lime, this beautiful shrub was growing well; while in my garden, every attempt to prolong its existence for more
than a year or two, has proved abortive. It has doubtless been poisoned by the lime naturally in the soil.

Without examining the country with a special view to the southern boundary of our wheat district, we should be _
liable to much error in drawing that line; but yet it is probable, as I have already mentioned, that Salmon creek
below Ludlowville, and the outlet of the Crooked lake below Pennyan in Yates county, would form parts of such a
line. Probably through Seneca county, it ought to curve northerly around some of the high land which lies between
the Cayuga and Seneca lakes. West of the Crooked lake, however, I am not acquainted, except that the country
appears more broken, with higher hills; and therefore perhaps the line ought to bend more to the north.

DAVID THOMAS.

~Because it is less calcareous.

{AcricuLturaL Report.] 2

10 ATLANTIC AGRICULTURAL DISTRICT.

direction of the ranges of mountains, hills and valleys. These ranges therefore differ
essentially in their mode of formation from those of the Highland or Eastern sections ;
the latter having been occasioned by an elevatory force, which has raised them up above
the surrounding levels, while the former are due to agencies of depression and abrasion.
We have, however, elements which assimilate the climate in each.

In this district, also, the nature of the formations has determined the nature of the sur-
face, as well as that of the soil and its productions. The limestones are discontinued as
well as the limestone shales. This element, therefore, so essential to some crops, is not so
abundantly furnished as in the lower rocks. Not that it is entirely absent; for most rocks,
although they may not effervesce with acids, will furnish lime on analysis. The adapta-
tions, therefore, of the Fifth or Southern district, are of a different order, and not less
valuable than those of the Western or Eastern. The pure streams which flow from the
siliceous rocks render the pastures green and fresh, the grass sweet and nourishing, and
impart health and activity to the flocks and herds which tenant the glades and valleys.

VI. The Arvantic pistrict comprehends Long island. It isa gift from Ocean’s waves,
or from Neptune’s hand: sands washed from the deep by waves from the broad sea break-
ing upon the skirts of land, and casting up the debris of a wasted continent. It stretches
far away in a southeast direction, in the form of an immense ridge of sand and drift; or,
in more common language, is an alluvial formation of a very porous character. It rises
three hundred feet above the sea. It has an indented shore ; and by constant nursing, its
soil is productive and easily tilled. Its position makes it a mean term between the north
and south. It is the grand rendezvous for birds of passage. Here they resort from the
arctic regions, and find a retreat from the pinching frosts of a northern winter; and from
the tropics, to escape a burning sun, and find protection from the heats of summer.

The maize which is cultivated here, is intermediate between southern and northern corn,
the length of summer permitting a larger variety than central New-York. The depressing
agents are winds loaded with vapor. Exposed places are less productive than those which
are sheltered. Hence, the south side, being directly exposed to the Atlantic gales, shows
a more barren aspect and a more shrubby vegetation than the northern side of the island,
where the slope of the land defends it from those depressing effects.

CHAPTER III.

CLIMATE AND TEMPERATURE OF THE STATE.

INQUIRY INTO THE LAW OF VARIATION OF TEMPERATURE ARISING FROM DIFFERENCE OF ELEVATION, AND FROM
DIFFERENCE OF LATITUDE. DIVISION OF THE STATE INTO SIX CLIMATERIC REGIONS: LONG-ISLAND REGION 3
REGION OF THE HUDSON VALLEY; REGION OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY; REGION NORTH AND NORTHWEST OF
THE MOHAWE VALLEY; REGION SOUTHWEST OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY; WESTERN REGION. TABLES EXHIBITING
THE CALCULATED AND OBSERVED TEMPERATURES, THE MEAN AND EXTREME TEMPERATURES, AND THE
FORWARDNESS OF THE SEASONS, AT VARIOUS LOCALITIES IN THE SIX REGIONS.

Tue following article upon the climate and temperature of the State of New-York has
been drawn up at my request by Mr. James H. Corrin, a Tutor in Williams College. I was
desirous to present the public with the most accurate results that could be obtained ; and
from the ability with which Mr. Coffin has always treated these and other subjects apper-
taining to meteorology, I was confident I could not engage more competent assistance.
He has given his communication in the form of a letter, and I have deemed advisable to

present it unaltered.

LETTER FROM J. H. COFFIN TO E. EMMONS.

Wiiu1AMs CoLieGe, September 4, 1843.

At your suggestion, I have devoted some thought to the climate of the State of New-
York, and send you the results, though I do not expect that you will find much that is
new or valuable in the article. The data from which they have been deduced are mostly
contained in the valuable and voluminous collection of meteorological observations publish-
ed annually in the Report of the Regents of the University of the State. Embracing as
they do returns from fifty-eight different localities, in various parts of the State, and scat-
tered over every variety of hill and dale, they must indicate pretty fairly the meteorology
of the State in reference to the facts observed, though it is to be regretted that the obser-
vations do not extend to a greater number of facts.

9

12 VARIATION OF TEMPERATURE

The mean temperature of these places for seventeen years (so far as reported) ending
with 1842, was 46°.49; but the relative temperature of different sections of the State,
while it depends chiefly on the latitude* and elevation, is modified in some degree also by
a variety of other circumstances, such as the situation in regard to the sea, or other large
bodies of water, both as it respects proximity and direction; the configuration of the sur-
face, whether level or hilly, and the position and slope of the hills; the nature of the
soil, and the extent of cultivation in the surrounding country. And before proceeding
farther, it becomes necessary to investigate briefly the laws by which we shall be guided in
relation to the three main circumstances mentioned above ; so that having made a proper
allowance for these, we may see more clearly the effect of the others.

That the temperature of the air diminishes as we ascend, is a fact familiar to every one ;
but the rate of decrease, especially where the slope of the country is gradual, is by no
means so well ascertained. The experiment was tried at Paris by Gay-Lussac, who rose
in a balloon to the height of nearly 23,000 feet, and found the difference in temperature
to amount to 1° for every 316 feet of ascent. The mean of two other similar experiments,
tried one at the same place and the other at Rodez in the southern part of France, each
at a height of a little less than 12,000 feet, showed a decrease in temperature of 1° in 400
feet. Mr. C. F. Durant has kindly furnished me with quite a number of observations of
the same kind, taken by him in seven different ascensions in a balloon, from New-York,
Albany, Baltimore and Boston, in the years 1831, 3 and 4. The height at which they
were taken varied from 1500 to 8000 feet. Taking twenty of his observations, which are
capable of being arranged for comparison in twelve pairs, I find the decrease of tempera-
ture to be 1° in 425 feet. If, however, we reject the comparison of two pairs of observa-
tions, which show great discrepancies from the rest, and which appear by the circumstances
in which they were taken to be entitled to less confidence, the result is 1° to every 370
feet of elevation. ;

From numerous observations made by Humboldt among the Andes and Cordilleras, he
deduced the rate to be as follows, viz: For the first 1000 French metres = 3281 feet, 1°
for every 319 feet; for the second, 1° in 538 feet; for the third, 1° in 443 feet; for the
fourth, 1° in 250 feet; for the fifth, 1° in 331 feet; and for the whole on an average, 1°
in 351 feet. Ina single observation taken on Chimborazo at the height of about 19,300
feet, the difference in temperature was 1° in 399 feet. The mean of six pairs of simulta-
neous observations on the Alps and the plains below, showed a diminution of 1° in 262
feet; one on the Peak of Teneriffe and at Orotava below, showed 1° in 412 feet; one
on Mount Etma and at Catania, 1° in 312 feet; the mean of twenty-one on the Pyrenees
and at places below, 1° in 305 feet; the mean of seven taken at Clermont in France and
on elevations in its vicinity, 1° in 267 feet. Twenty-eight simultaneous observations have

“Several recent writers reject latitude as one of the elements of temperature, but, as it seems to me, unphilo-
sophically.

.
:
1

ARISING FROM DIFFERENCE OF ELEVATION. 13

been lately taken with great care at the Grey Lock Observatory on Saddle Mountain in
Massachusetts, and at Williams College. The distance in a direct line between the two
stations is about 5} miles, and the difference in level 2767 feet; the lower station being
about 800 feet above the level of the sea. The observations were taken at intervals of
two hours from five o’clock in the morning till nine in the evening, and continued on
three successive days. The mean result shows a diminution in temperature of 1° for every
337 feet of ascent.

The above are all the direct observations that I have been able to obtain to determine
the law in question ;* and arranged in tabular form, they stand as follows :

PLACES Difference of level | Diff. for a Number of

OF OBSERVATION. in feet. in feet. | observations
Balloons ..... SO = 1500 to 22897 378 14
Andes and Cordilleras . 16404 351 | Numerous.
igulchoe pe oee aceite soc] 7822 to 14351 262 6
Teneriffe ...... eeeece 12234 412 1
Fink. .scsc pia elec neces 10620 312 1
LVRS esac b8508 1841 to 10227 305 21
Clermont, France .... 1247 to 3466 267 7
Williams College .... 2767 337 28

The rule commonly laid down, is to allow 1° for every 300 feet of ascent; but from the
above table, that would seem to be too much, and that 1° to 325 feet would be nearer the
truth. It ought, however, to be noticed that all the observations I have quoted were
taken, so far as I can learn, in the warmer part of the year. Observations taken in
winter might modify the result.

It has been thought that where the slope of the country is gradual, the diminution of
temperature from elevation is less than when you compare it on isolated peaks of precipi-
tous mountains with the plains below, or when you ascend in a balloon. Mr. Kirwan
estimated that when the rise was not more than six or seven feet per mile, the decrease was
not more than 1° in 800 feet; and for any ordinary rise, not more than 1° in 400 feet.
By the experiments of Dr. Hutton, near Edinburgh in Scotland, it was 1° in 270 feet; but
I do not think his data so- satisfactory as those which are furnished by the observations
taken at the academies in your State. The latter have been taken for a considerable
number of years, according to fixed and uniform rules, and at the same time of day; and
though it is possible there may be cases where the observers may not have been as careful

*Since writing the above, I have noticed a series of observations taken at Ithaca (New-York), by Messrs. Cogswell
and Eddy, in the year 1837. The distance between the stations was about half a mile, and the difference of level 300
feet. The observations were continued daily through the year, and the result is very remarkable, showing a difference
in the mean temperature of 39.99, which is about 1° to every 75 feet of ascent. There appears to be some mistake
in the record, typographical or otherwise, as the annual result does not agree with the average of the semi-monthly
results. If the localities are favorable, I hope the experiment will be repeated.

a

14 VARIATION OF TEMPERATURE

as would be desirable, yet every precaution seems to have been taken by those who had
the general direction of them, to secure accurate results. Each observer is required to con-
form to the rules laid down, and to certify under oath to the accuracy of his observations.

I have attempted to deduce the law from these data; and though some anomalies may
be noticed, yet the result on the whole is as satisfactory as could be expected. I have
included also a series of observations taken at Williams College, just out of the limits of
the State, not more than two or three miles from the line. In prosecuting the investiga-
tion, I have compared places two by two having nearly the same latitude but different
elevations. In some cases where the latitudes differed too much, I have compared one
place with the mean between two or three others. For example, I compared the tempe-
rature of Canajoharie, whose latitude is 42° 53’, with the mean of the temperatures of
Cazenovia, Bridgwater and Hamilton, whose mean latitude is also 42° 53’. In making
the comparison, I have uniformly employed the mean temperature of those years only in
which they were reported from both the places compared. The following table shows
the result: ;

LOWER UPPER Difference) Difference) No. of years
STATION. STATION. of level.| for 1°. compared.
Kinderhook .... ..... Oxford) a sccmcnsmene es 836ft.| 65S8ft. 12
AIBA Ys, on cece ane vie Hartwick \...02.0= ss as 970 334 1l
es ey .eseee | Williams College® .... | 750 | 275 | 12&13
Lansingburgh ........ Cherry-valley ........ 1305 332 13
Canajoharie ..... .... Cherry-valley ........ 1051 730 3
Cazenovia,
Canajoharie ... ..... Bridgwater, aiken 940 663 |3,2&3
| Hamilton,
URied spesesccase eet Fairfield ..... ssecese. 712 349 13
AUDOINS © Soe cases =e POMPlYy «caccacbioe etic 650 154 14
Téhsvat.< 22s 2ca2. SP 5 Oxford oc cece toss 544 206 4
eerie soba eia'eo82'c)| plBlomer igwese eecet acre BBA 222 S&5
Belleville* ..........- ROVEVIUG: wiemige se seen 550 276 6 y
Lewiston. ...secccesee Rochester .5..<icbes =<0 326 265 9

* Elevation estimated. + The year 1837 omitted, on arcount of a supposed error in the record.

The table shows very clearly that elevation exerts a perceptible influence on the tempe-
rature, though with considerable apparent irregularity. Perfect uniformity could not be
expected, and perhaps the deviation from a regular law is not greater than would natu-
rally result from the different exposure of the thermometers at the different localities, and
other accidental circumstances. In no instance where the difference in the level of two
places amounted to 300 feet or more, and where the latitude of both was nearly the same,
have I found the mean temperature of the lower station to be less than that of the upper.
Utica, as compared with Fairfield, was an exception during the years 1831 to 1837, but not
for the whole thirteen years embraced in the table.

ARISING FROM DIFFERENCE OF LATITUDE. 15

On looking over the table, we can hardly fail to notice the slower rate of decrease in
temperature as we rise from the valley of the Mohawk, than in other parts of the State ;
occasioned probably by the greater prevalence of northwest winds in that valley, which
tend to reduce its temperature. In the former it averages but 1° in 581 feet; while in
the latter, it is 1° in 304 feet. The mean of all the observations compared gives 1° for
every 372 feet; but making some allowance for the slow rate in the valley of the Mo-
hawk, I shall assume it at 1° in 350 feet. This result does not differ materially from
that which was obtained from observations taken in balloons and on mountain heights,
though it would seem from philosophical considerations that there should be a difference.

In regard to the influence of difference of latitude on temperature, we know that the
mean annual temperature is greatest near the equator and least toward the poles. If we
regard the difference between the equatorial and polar temperatures as the amount due to
the sun’s influence, Mr. Kirwan found that in mid-ocean this is always nearly proportional
to the square of the cosine of the latitude of the place; and in accordance with this law,
he calculated a table showing the temperature due to all latitudes. In latitudes varying
from 30° to 50°, he makes the temperature diminish about 2; of a degree for each degree
of latitude. This, it must be recollected, is intended as the rule on the ocean, remote
from either continent. Observations show that such an allowance is too small in Europe,
and much more so in this country, where a given change of latitude affects the climate
more than it does there.

To find the law in this country, particularly in our own latitude, I compared the tempe-
rature of places along the Hudson river, together with Cambridge and Plattsburgh. I
selected these places, because, with the exception of difference of latitude, the general
circumstances which affect the climate are very similar in them all. They all lie in val-
leys extending in a north and south direction; are all nearly on the same level, except
Cambridge ; and the character of the winds is very similar in them all.* The observations
at all these places were taken between the years 1826 and 1842, but not all during the
same years. It was therefore necessary, in order to compare them properly, to seek for
some place where they had been taken during the whole period without interruption, that
I might know whether the mean temperature of the years observed at any particular place
was higher or lower than the general average. I selected the observations at Albany as
such a standard of reference. Its central position in regard to the other places, as well as
the care with which the observations there are known to have been taken, seemed a valid
reason for doing so.

I next proceeded to compare the mean temperature of each of the places selected, with
that of Albany during the same years, and the latter with its mean temperature for the
whole seventeen years, varying that of the place compared by the same amount. I then
reduced the temperature of all to the level of the sea, by allowing 1° for every 350 feet of

* See article on the winds of the State, published in the Regents’ Report for 1840.

16 KIRWAN’S FORMULA.

elevation. With two exceptions, the reduced temperatures decreased, though not uni-
formly, as you go north from New-York. The exceptions were, that Newburgh showed
a lower temperature than Poughkeepsie, and Kinderhook than Albany.

The mean latitude of the places compared was 42° 13’; the mean temperature reduced
to the standard of Albany, and to the level of the sea, 48°.95; and the mean difference
for 1° of latitude, 19.6. Applying Kirwan’s formula* to these data, we obtain results
which correspond very nearly with the observed temperature, after making a proper
allowance for elevation; as appears from the following table. The sixth column was
computed as follows: Adding and subtracting 4° to and from the mean latitude, and also
adding and subtracting half of 1°.6 to and from the mean temperature, we obtain 49°.75
for the temperature in lat. 41° 43’, and 48°.15 for the temperature in lat. 42° 43’. Let
p =the polar temperature of the earth, and d= the difference between the equatorial and
polar temperatures ;¢ then by Kirwan’s formula,

p + (cos? 41° 43’) d = 49°.75,
and p + (cos? 42° 43’)d = 48°.15.
Reducing these equations, we get p = — 1°.78, and d = 92°.49.
Now let o be the latitude of any place, and ¢ its temperature; then,
t = — 1°.78 + 92°.49 x cos*o.

To verify the law, I have applied it to a number of other places beyond the limits of
the State under examination, allowing also for the elevation of the place above tide water
at the rate of 1° for 350 feet; and the results are seen in the table below.

It would seem that the formula would be more correct, if in place of the square of the
cosine of the latitude we should substitute the square of the sine of the sun’s meridian
altitude ; for, 1st, the number of rays of the sun that fall upon any place at noon, is
proportional to the sine of the altitude ; and 2dly, the intensity of those rays is also nearly
proportional to the same.t Hence from both united, the heating power must be nearly
proportional to the square of the sine of the meridional altitude. In the temperate zones
it would evidently make no difference which we use, as the complement of the latitude
and the sun’s mean meridian altitude are the same; but in the torrid and frigid zones,

* Dr. Brewster's formula is,
Mean temperature = 86°.3 x sin D — 3}°,

in which D represents the distance of the place from the nearest isothermal pole; but the results obtained by it do
not correspond so well with those obtained by observation in the State of New-York, as those which we shall deduce
from Kirwan’s.

t By the terms equatorial and polar temperatures we are to understand not the temperature actually existing there,
but that which would exist if the sun were constantly over the equator.

} See Abstract of Prof. Forbes’s Report on Meteorology, at the Meeting of the British Society for the Advancement
of Science (Am. Journal, Vol. 40, page 319).

ESTIMATION OF MEAN TEMPERATURE, 17

the difference would be material. At the equator, the mean meridian altitude of the sun,
instead of being 90°, is but 76° 20’; and at the pole, instead of being 0°, it is to be con-
sidered 13° 40’, since aside from refraction the sun exerts no heating power when below
the horizon. In calculating the temperatures of Havana, Cumana and Quito, which lie
in the torrid zone, I corrected the formula as here suggested.

ae SSS 3
e ae | Bess g :
PLACE a ° Bs Beas 33 s_
OF Pp < £2 fess =E wae
OBSERVATION. z a a 8*8s Ba oe
= a ea SDSS as é2
4 A = ASS os Zs
Nain, Labrador ..... 57°08’ 30ft.} 26°42 | 26°51 25°46
Quebec, Canada..... 46 47 340 37.19 38.45 41.50
Plattsburgh, New-York,| 44 42 105 43.97 44,73 44.95 2
Cambridge, dou 2 43 01 +600 45,39 47,22 47.67 14
Lansingburgh, do... | 42 47 30 48.17 48.23 48.05 16
Williams College, Mass. 42 43 800 45.59 }47.88 48.16 23
Albany, New-York ... 42 39 130 48.27 48.64 48.26 by,
Salem, Massachusetts . | 42 31 50 48.68 | $48.82 48.47 33
Kinderhook, New-York,| 42 22 125 46.91 47.73 48.71 13
Hudson, ote aac 42 15 150 48 .29 48.75 48.90 10
Redhook, Aomass 42 02 t50 48.36 48.95 49.27 12
Kingston, Cl 41 55 188 49.46 50.97 49.44 14
Poughkeepsie, do... 41 41 $50 51.65 50.88 49.81 11
Newburgh, Gore. 41 30 150 48.96 49,59 50.10 13
Newport, Rhode-Island,} 41 30 30 50.55 $50.64 50.10 10
Mount-Pleasant, N. Y. 41 09 125 49 33 50.44 50.66 11
Flatbush, Long island. | 40 37 40 51.25 51.39 51.53 17
Philadelphia, Pa. ..... 39 56 30 53.42 | $53.51 53.01
Cincinnati, Ohio ..... 39 06 510 53.78 $55.24 53.92 8
Washington, D.C. ... 38 53 30 56.57 56.66 54.26
Natchez, Mississippi.. | 31 28 180 64.76 | $65.27 65.50 8
Havana, Cuba........ 23 10 30 78.08 $78.17 76.39 8
Cumana, S. America.. 10 27 30 81.86 $81.95 83.87 8
Quito, do Ae 0-13 9510 62.00 |*{83.75 85.48

* Reduced by Humboldt’s observations

+ Height estimated. When a place is said to he at the level of tide water, I have assumed the height
of the instrument to be 50 feet.

¢ Mean temperature as observed, reduced to the level of the sea.

Nore. The observed temperature of Nain, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Natchez and Havana, was taken
frum a table in the Biidgwater Treatises; thet of Washington and Newport, from the meteorological
register of the United States Army ; that of Quito, from Rees’s Encyclopedia; and that of places in
New-York State, from the Regents’ Report

After these preliminary investigations, I proceeded to examine the climate of the State,
in reference to the mean temperature, the extremes of heat and cold, the length and
forwardness of the seasons, and the progress of vegetation.

In estimating the mean temperature of the several localities where observations had
been taken, I took it as given in the Regents’ Reports for all places where the period
of observation amounted to ten years or more. For all others, I compared the mean tem-
perature on the years observed, with the mean for the State on the same years, and the
latter with its mean temperature for the whole seventeen years since the observations under
the instructions of the Regents were commenced. The mean of the observed temperatures

{AcricuLturaL Report.] 3

18 FORWARDNESS OF THE SEASONS.

of all the places thus corrected (with the exception of Johnstown, Montgomery, Onondaga,
and Millville, whose elevation above tide water I could find no means of estimating) is
less than is due to their latitude and elevation, as computed by the foregoing laws, by
0°.16. The coincidence is surprisingly close, and this small difference may be accounted
for by the low temperature of several places that enter into the computation, depending
upon accidental circumstances, or by error in the assumed elevation of some of the places ;
or, Which is not improbable, by small errors in the data from which the laws were
deduced.*

To indicate the forwardness of the seasons, I selected the following facts from a great
number of others published in the Regents’ Reports, viz. the first appearance of robins in
the spring; the blooming of various trees and plants; the ripening of strawberries; the
commencement of hay and wheat harvest; and the first killing frost of autumn. The
mean time of these for the whole State for fifteen yearst ending with 1842, and also the
mean temperature and mean annual extremes, is shown in the following table, which
may serve as a standard of reference in examining the same kind of facts in the different
sections of the State. In preparing this table, I noticed a few obvious errors in the records,
which I rejected.

MEAN Number of | Number of
DATE. localities. jobseryations
Robins first seen ...... March 19 44 266
Shadbush in bloom ... | May 1 48 168
Peach do Sein os 2 57 175
Currants do Sie 4 4 58 269
Plum do ion. ae 6 52 264
Cherry do “a = 7 52 250
Apple do «sla es 15 59 374
Lilac do ami ed 15 45 151
Strawberries ripe ..... | June 12 58 210
Hay harvest commenced,| July 8 34 127
Wheat harvest ditto... ee 25 45 186
First killing frost ..... Sept. 23 57 471
First fall of snow ..... Nov. 9S “ies sce 536
Mean temperature .... 46°.49 59 577
Mean annual maximum, 92°.00 59 550
Mean annual minimum, 12°.00 59 551
Mean annual range .... 104° .00 59 550 ’

* As the Peach does not grow in the northern part of the State,
this date must be considered as the mean forthe southern and middle
parts only, and is hence too early as compared with other trees.

*If, the law in respect to latitude remaining unchanged, we should allow 1° of temperature for every 313 feet of
elevation, instead of 350 feet as I have assumed, the mean, calculated and observed temperatures would be precisely
alike.

t The observations extend through a period of seventeen years, but I was unable to obtain the reports for 1826
and 1927.

EXPLANATION OF THE TABLES. 19

In examining the climate of the different sections of the State, I have arranged it for
convenience in six divisions, as follows:

. Long Island;

. The valley of the Hudson;

- The valley of the Mohawk; °

The region north and northwest of the valley of the Mohawk, extending from the east line of
the State to Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence;

5. The region southwest of the valley of the Mohawk, extending from the valley of the Hudson

to the vicinity of the smaller lakes;
6. All that part of the State that lies west of the preceding divisions.

m 0 we

EXPLANATION OF THE TABLES.

In each division, I have arranged the facts selected to indicate the character of the
climate in three tables. The first is intended to show how the mean temperature of those
places where observations have been taken compares with that which is due to their latitude
and elevation, that we may see how much it is affected by other causes.

In the second table, the mean temperature and annual extremes of heat and cold at
each place are compared with the average of the State during the same years. The sign
+ denotes that the temperature of the place is higher, or the range of the thermometer
greater than the average of the State, by the number of degrees to which it is prefixed ;
and the sign —, the reverse. J have adopted this course, rather than to give the actual
mean and extreme temperatures, because I thought it would render the comparison more
striking ; since now the signs + and — show by a mere glance of the eye, without any
labor of computation, whether the temperature is higher or lower than the average of the
State. If, however, the actual temperatures are required, they can easily be found by
applying the numbers in this table to those in the standard table which I have mentioned
above, according to their signs. Thus, if the minimum temperature of a place is marked
+ 20° in this table, it shows that it is higher by 2° than the average of the State; and the
latter is found, by referring to the standard table, to be —12°. Hence the minimum
temperature at the place in question is — 10°.

Table III. shows the forwardness of the seasons at each place, as compared with the
average of the State during the same years. The sign + denotes that the time is later
than the average of the State, by the number of days to which it is prefixed ; and the sign
—, that it is earlier. The actual time may be found, as in the second table, by applying
the number of days given in this table to the dates in the standard table.

3*

i

20 CLIMATE OF LONG ISLAND.

I LONG ISLAND.
Locatirigs opsERVED. Easthampton, Oysterbay, Jamaica and Flatbush.

TABLE I. Comparison between calculated and observed temperatures.

Temperature} Observed Variation of

LOCALITIES. oo = Latirups. | ELEVATION, has eee Bee eg ak Coad
observed. temperature <
Easthampton ......... 16 41° 00" J 50°.95 48°.40 | —2°.55
Oysterbay ...2. see 2 40 50 51.03 51.03 — 0.00
SAMRICA weeny eccecsss 17 40 41 51.12 49.43 — 1.69
Flatbush ...... store 17 40 37 51.39 51.25 — 0.4

, t Elevation estimated.

TABLE Il. Comparison of mean temperature, and annual extremes of heat and cold, with the average of the
State during the same years.

FACTS OBSERVED. Easthampton | Oysterbay. Jamaica. Flatbash.

15 years. 3 years. 15 years 15 years.
Mean temperature .... | +1°.91 4+4°.54 | +2°.94 | 4+4°.76
Mean annual maximum, | — 2.80 + 1.66 — 1.20 — 2.80
Mean annual minimum, | +13.87 +15.33 | 413.60 | 415.67
Mean annual range.... | —16.67 | —13.67 | —14.80 | —18.47

TABLE III. Comparison of the forwardness of the seasons, with the average of the State during the same years.

FACTS OBSERVED. Easthampton | Oysterbay. Jamaica. Flatbush.
Days. Days.
Robins first seen ...... — 15t
Shadbush in bloom.... Se — 3st
Peach do Ar — & — 6t
Currants do bie — 10f — 12t 7
Plum do wae —4 — 9
Cherry do a all — 10t — st :
Apple do anes — 5t — st
Lilac do aude — 4t — 6
Strawberries ripe ..... — 6t —12
Hay harvest commenced, —12 — 9
Wheat harvest ditto ... — 12 — 10t
First killing frost .... + 4t + 11t

* The result of less than four years’ observation.
+ The result of observations for ten years or more.
~

REMARKS ON THE FOREGOING TABLES.

The distinguishing feature in the climate of this section of the State, is the uniformity
of its temperature, occasioned by the equalizing influence of the ocean. Although the
places of observation are on a low level, and in the extreme south part of the State, the
greatest heat of summer is 14° less on an average, than in other parts of the State which
are further north and more elevated. On the contrary, the extreme cold of winter is less
by 10° to 18°, and has been so uniformly every year for the past fifteen years.

CLIMATE OF LONG ISLAND. 21

Iam unable to account for the low mean temperature of Easthampton and Jamaica.
In the former place it is less than is due to the latitude and elevation by 2°.55, a greater
difference than is found at any other place in the State. Nor is this diminished tempera-
ture shown by the thermometer only. The backwardness of the spring at the east end of
Long Island is still more remarkable. It appears by Table III. that contrary to what we
should expect, fruit trees bloom there about a week later than they do in the interior of
the State, anda fortnight later than at the west end of the island. This has been very
nearly the uniform difference every year for seventeen years past. In fact, the spring is
but very little earlier than it is on the Black river in Lewis and Jefferson counties. But
notwithstanding the lateness of vegetation in the spring, agriculture does not appear to be
so much retarded. Strawberries ripen, and the wheat harvest is commenced there earlier
than the average of the State, though considerably later than at the west end of the island.
Farther, the time lost by the lateness of the spring appears to be made up in the fall.
With scarcely an exception for the past fifteen years, the first killing frost in autumn has
occurred much later at Easthampton than at any other place in the State which has been
reported. The average time has been a full month later than the average of the State,
and nearly three weeks later than at Jamaica or Flatbush.

IL THE VALLEY OF THE HUDSON.

LocaLiTIEs OBSERVED. Mount-Pleasant, North-Salem. Goshen, Montgomery, Newburgh, Pough-
keepsie, Kingston, Redhook, Hudson, Kinderhook, Albany, Lansingburgh, Cambridge, Salem,
Granville.*

TABLE I. Comparison between calculated and observed temperatures.

Temperature} Observed Variation of

- | due to latitude] temperature. |okserved from
LOCALITIES. Latitupe. | ELEVATION. Jang slaceeta $2 calcnlated

temperature

Mount-Pleasant ...... 41°09’ 125ft. i 50°.08
North-Salem ......... 41 20 170 48.01
Gosletineg = aa7 sieaivie'<iste 41 20 c 47.59
Montgomery 41 32 47.82
Newburgh ;.......... 41 30 B : 49.16
Poughkeepsie ........ 41 41 50.74
Kingston .....sceeeee 41 55 8. 49.46

P 42 02 5 48.81

42 15 8. 48.32
A2 22 y ‘ 46.91
42 39 Z 48.47
42 47 47. 48.17
Cambridge .... ..-.+. 43 01 45.39
Salem 22... 2. .cceeee 43 15 + 45.14
Granville) owv.ce vce cteee 43 20 dD. 46.03

.
Oo

Ho tn
WN nal

.

essssseoore
Wwe
ant ys

LO Tellstestaal tet I

ke Md

t Elevation estimated. Granville and Salem very uncertain.

*I believe this place does not properly lie in the valley of the Hudson or its tributaries; but I could not con-
veniently class it elsewhere.

22 CLIMATE OF THE VALLEY OF THE HUDSON.

TABLE II. Comparison of mean temperature, and annual extremes of heat and cold, with the average of the
State during the same years.

FACTS OBSERVED. Mt Pleasant) N. Salem. Goshen. Montgomery.| Newburgh. |Poughkeepsie| Kingston. Redhook.
11 years. 11 years. 7 years. JA years. 13 years. 12 years. 14 years. 12 years.
Mean temperature .... | +3°.59 | +1°.52 | +1°.10 | +1°.33
Mean annual maximum, | + 0.00 | + 2.72 | — 1.57 | + 5.86
Mean annual minimum, | +11.50 | — 0.55 | + 1.00 | + 1.00
Mean annual range.... | —11.50 | #827 — 2.57 | + 4.86
FACTS OBSERVED. Hudson. Kinderhook. | Albany. tate AS Cambridge.
9 years. 13 years. 15 years. 4 13 years.
Mean temperature .... | +1°.83 + 0°.42 + 1°.98 —1°.10 — 19.35 — 0°.46
Mean annual maximum, | + 0.96 | + 2.08 | + 0.72 — 0.05 | + 3.00 | 4 2.57
Mean annual minimum, | + 4.40 | — 1.54 | + 0.85 —10.67 | —11.83 |— 9.14 {-
Mean annual range.... | — 3.44 | + 3.62 | — 0.13 | +10.62 | 414.83 | 411.71

Montgomery.

S
=
3
FACTS OBSERVED. 5
=

N. Salem.

|
Robins first seen ...... |+11'|— 6 | ....|— 6 | ....|- 6] .....— 5%} 4 | st
Shadbush in bloom.... | ..../— 5 |— 7*|— 8*|— 6° ses] eeee]— 6°] ....)— 3
Peach do... |— 7 |— 3 |— 1*|— 5 | Ss |— 6 |— 1 |— 3) 6 J 4 1
Currants do eeee [— 9 i— 4 |—11*|— 7*| ....;/— 9 |— 7*}] ....\— 2 |— 4
Plum do 22... |—.7.)—44 |— 2*|— 9 |— 54 _114— 5 | — 5*l— 6 |— 2
Cherry Go sycn (12 f— 4 en a Ere 2
Apple do .... |—11 |~ sf|- 2°|— 5 |- s*|— 6 |-10 |_ 2 | 4 | 2
Lilac do. ...- I—0°}—"4 |— .4*| <=. . | — 2-79 — 10" — 19 5 29

Strawberries ripe ..... |—13"|— 9f
Haying commenced ... | ..../—13f
Wheat harvest ditto... | ..../— 6
First killing frost ..... |-+ 9 |—10t

* The result of less than four years observation. + The result of observations for ten years or more.

REMARKS ON THE FOREGOING TABLES.

There is nothing very peculiar in regard to the mean temperature of this valley as a
whole. At North-Salem and Goshen it is considerably lower than is due to the latitude
and elevation of those places, and at Poughkeepsie considerably higher. The extreme
summer heat is greater by several degrees than in any other section of the State ; and this
is true not only of the proper valley of the Hudson, but north of it as far as Lake Cham-
plain. There is no other place in the State where the thermometer has risen so high on
an average each year as at Montgomery, Poughkeepsie and Lansingburgh. The latter
place is not less remarkable for extremes of cold in the winter. For the past fifteen years,

CLIMATE OF THE VALLEY OF THE HUDSON. 23

without an exception, the thermometer has fallen there lower than the average of the
State, generally from 3° to 6°; and over 5° on an average lower than at Albany. Kinder-
hook is nearly as remarkable for its extreme cold in winter. These remarks must be
understood as applying only to the hottest and coldest days in each year, and not to the
average of the seasons. The latter I have not had time to examine.

The climate indicated by the observations at Mount Pleasant in Westchester county,
resembles in all respects that on the west end of Long Island, and appears to be subject
to the same influences.

North-Salem, like Kinderhook and Lansingburgh, appears to be subject to great extremes
of heat and cold, considering its latitude and situation. It is remarkable for its early frosts,
which for twelve years past have occurred there ten days sooner than the average of the
State, and more than a fortnight sooner than in the valley of the Hudson generally.

As we ascend the Hudson, the opening of spring becomes gradually later, the difference
between the vicinity of New-York and Albany being about a week. North-Salem, Goshen
and Montgomery being situated at some distance from the river, vegetation seems to be no
more forward at those places than at Hudson, which is nearly one hundred miles farther
north.

The observations at Cambridge, Salem and Granville, indicate a climate of entirely
different character in most respects. From their greater elevation as well as higher latitude,
the climate becomes more rigid. The extreme cold of winter is more intense by 10° than
at any place on the Hudson south of Lansingburgh, and the spring opens several days
later. .

Ill THE VALLEY OF THE MOHAWK.
LocaLiTies OBSERVED. Schenectady, Johnstown, Canajoharie, Fairfield, Utica, Whitesborough.

TABLE I. Comparison between calculated and observed temperatures.

Temperature} Observed Variation of

LOCALITIES. gene e LatirupeE. | ELEVATION. — prs eine as gerber

observed. temperature.
Schenectady ......... 5 42°49’ f200ft.) 47°.45 46°.48 — 0°.67
Johnstown ...2....... il 43 00 ea ex etes ze | eee
Canajoharie .... ~.. 3 42 53 284 47.08 45.48 — 1.60
Fairfield ..... erecccee 13 43 05 1185 44.20 43.51 — 0.69
US pe seSst eset 17 43 06 473 46.20 45.49 — 0.71
Whitesborough ....... 7 43 08 450 46.21 45.59 — 0,62

+ Elevation estimated.

24 CLIMATE OF THE VALLEY OF THE MOHAWK.

TABLE II. Comparison of mean temperature, and annual extremes of heat and cold, with the average of the
State during the same years.

FACTS OBSERVED eed Johnstown. | Canajoharie. | Fairfield.

/ 6 years. 12 years. 4 yeurs. 14 years.

ee i —

| Mean temperature .... | —0°.01 | —1°.30 | —1°.01 | —2°.98
Mean annual maximum, | — 3.17 | + 0.50 | + 3.00 | — 2.21
Mean annual minimum, 0.00 | — 3.25 | — 7.50 | — 4.14
Mean annual range.... | — 3.17 | + 3.75 | 410.50 | + 1.93

1 On the 13th of February, 1837, the thermometer is reported to have fallen to — 32° ; and on the 3ist of
January, 1738, to — 25° ; but as it did not fall lower than — 16° on those deys at any other place on the
Mohswk, including Utica, which is but four miles distant, I conclude these to be errors, and have rejected them.

FACTS OBSERVED. Schenectady, Johnstown. | Canajoharie.| Fairfield. Utica and
Whitesboro’.
Days. Days. Daya. Days Days.

Robins first seen ...... +10" 1 — 2° —4 + 2"
Shadbush in bloom ... awe’ ¥ 4” —13* ase pw
Peach do Boke pom owes +11" eece alates
Currants do eee —_—s +4 ane +7 0
Plum do ata we +2 —13* +6 + 2f
Cherry do ° — 5 +3 —2 +0 —6
Apple do ese — 3 +1 —4 +7 + 3t
Lilac do te —2 pers —7 +o 0
Strawberries ripe ..... —_—s —l —3 +5 0
Hay harvest commenced, 5 + 5* +5 —4
Wheat harvest ditto... eee ee +2 wes —1

First killing frost ..... Shes — it . —l1 —lt

* The result of less than four years observation. ~ The result of observations for ten years or more.

REMARKS ON THE FOREGOING TABLES.

The low temperature of the valley of the Mohawk has been already referred to. It is
more than 1° lower than the average of the State, and nearly 1° lower than is due to the
* latitude and elevation of the places of observation, with a tolerable degree of uniformity
throughout. The elevation of Johnstown not being known, I could not include it in the
comparison between the observed and calculated temperatures; but if I am not greatly
deceived, it would, if included, render the difference still greater. I would not be too
sanguine in the explanation I gave of the cause of this reduced temperature, but I am
inclined to think it is the true one. In an article on the winds of the State already referred
to, it is shown that while the mean direction of the wind throughout the State is
S. 76° 54’ W., it is several degrees more northerly in the valley of the Mohawk generally.
It is not so at Utica; but there is reason to believe that most of the winds that strike that
place from the west, should be regarded as northwest winds.* To show the influence of

* See an article on the winds at Utica, in the Regents’ Report for 1829, pages 69 and 70.

CLIMATE OF THE VALLEY OF THE MOHAWK. 25

winds from different points of compass on the temperature, I venture to transcribe the
results of some observations made by myself at Ogdensburgh, in the year 1838. I consider
that locality a pretty fair one for the experiment.

In the following table, the second column shows the number of days, hours and minutes
that the wind blew from each point of compass during the year; and the third, the average
rise or fall in the thermometer per hour during each wind, expressed in decimals of a
degree. The sign + denotes a rise, and the sign — a fall.

COURSE DURATION Variation in

oF oF temperature

WINDS. WINDS. per hour.
d hm

North 7 515 — 0.197
N by E 5 22 15 — 0.165
NNE 8 015 — 0.144
NE by N 10 15 15 — 0.063
NE 14 1 52 — 0.015
NE by E 16 12 30 + 0.994
ENE 13 4 38 + 0.115
E by N 4 21 30 + 0.077
East 215 15 + 0.103
Eby S 2 815 + 0.162
ESE 21545 | + 0.146
SE by E 2.13 15 + 0.114
SE 217 29 + 0.140
SE by S 43 8 + 0.145
SSE 7 414 + 0.138
S by E 8 7 31 + 0.161
South 20 4 0 + 0.314
S by W 21 4 45 + 0.177
SSW 22 6 45 + 0.162
SW by S 22 16 30 + 0.065
SW 29 12 15 — 0.018
SW by W 25 21 30 — 0.055
WSW 16 23 45 — 0.018
W by S 13 6 0 — 0.081
West 17 5 45 — 0.063
W by N 1114 7 — 0.069
WNW 819 8 — 0.252
NW by W 9 853 — 0.281
NW 8 20 38 — 0.322
NW by N 915 37 — 0.306
NNW 8 215 — 0.276
N by W 6 9 46 — 0.236

Now if the effect of the different winds is the same in the valley of the Mohawk as at
Ogdensburgh, and if we regard the west winds at Utica and Whitesboro as coming from
the northwest, the following statement of the number of observations at which the winds
blew from the several points of compass at each place for the past seventeen years, so far
as reported, shows that they must reduce the temperature.

[AcricuLtuRAL Report.] 4

26 CLIMATE OF THE REGION

Schenectady ... .....
Johnstown ........0.-

Canajoharie ..........

Fairfield. .50<¢.é2s00% 1460
TIRGA « yanduds cacceses 2472
Whitesborough ..... . 5 1100

At Schenectady and Canajoharie, vegetation advances more rapidly than the average
of the State, and at Johnstown and Fairfield less so. The difference between Canajoharie
and Fairfield, though but twenty miles distant, is about a fortnight, owing chiefly to the
high elevation of the latter place. Utica seems to be not only situated near the geo-
graphical centre of the State, but to be a pretty fair representative of it in respect to
climate. Its mean temperature is but 1° lower than that of the State as a whole; and in
regard to the progress of vegetation, it agrees within a day.

IV. THE REGION NORTH AND NORTHWEST OF THE VALLEY OF THE
MOHAWK.

LocaLiTIEs OF OBSERVATION. Mexico, Bellville, Lowville, Gouverneur, Ogdensburgh, Potsdam,
Malone and Plattsburgh.

TABLE I. Comparison between calculated and observed temperatures.

Temperature) Observed Variation of

ber of di if d ature. jobserved fi

| LOCALITIES. rs Latitupe. | ELEVATION. cat peeae| gg ee oe nalcalated 17

observed. temperature

| Mexico ..... see 5 43°27". | 46°.04 44°.49 | —1°.05
BOWIG: Siinde oe 6ee% | 43 45 45.74 45.27 — 0.47
Lowville sesss wovses 14 43 47 44.15 44.07 — 0.08
Gouverneur .......... 10 44 25 44.27 43.24 — 1.03
Ogdensburgh .... ... 4 1 44 43 44.27 44.43 + 0.16
Potadam’ cccccccanwes 15 44 40 43.84 43.26 — 0.58
Malone 2 ncs ~ee=ess0 3 44 50 42.89 43.40 + 0.51
Plattsburgh ..... .... 2 44 22 | 44.65 45.87 + 1.22 .

t Elevation estimated.

TABLE Il. Comparison of mean temperature, and annual extremes of heat and cold, with the average of the
State during the same years.

FACTS OBSERVED Belville. Lowville. | Gouverneur. |Ozdensburgh.

7 years. 12 years. 9 years. 1 year.
Mean temperature .... —1°,.22 | —2°42 | —3°.25 | —2°.06
Mean annual maximum,| + 1.55 | + 1.43 | + 3.00 | + 1.45 | + 1.00

Mean annual minimum,
Mean annual range ....

NORTH AND NORTHWEST OF THE VALLEY OF THE MOHAWK. 27

TABLE III. Comparison of the forwardness of the seasons, with the average of the State during the same years.

FACTS OBSERVED. Mexico. Belville Lowville. Gouverneur. | Potsdam. Malone. Plattsburgh.
Days. Days. Days, Days Days. Daye. Days.

Robins first seen ...... +1 + oF + s* —3 + 7t +9 + 9*
Shadbush in bloom ... + 7* + 6* coe + 1* + 5t +11* aati
Currants do Ae + 3* +8 + 6 +11 +5 +21* coe
Plum do Beas + 3* +4 + 3t +5 + 3t +13* +12*
Cherry do weve + 6* +16* + 9* +15* +10* we ie +12*
Apple do eece + 2* +4 + 7t +12* + dt +12* +19*
Lilac do eee + 1* +14* + 6 + 4* +11 + 6* +11*
Strawberries ripe ..... +12" +12* +8 + 6* + of + 9* + 7*
Haying commenced ... +15* — 2 swe — 1* +7 + 6* +19*
Wheat harvest ditto... oes ewes Scae oinsie +9 Aric gece
First killing frost ..... ——& —2 —10t —lif —16t este ae

* The result of less than four years observation. + The result of observations for ten years or more.

REMARKS ON THE FOREGOING TABLES.

Here, with the exception of Ogdensburgh and Plattsburgh, we have all the characteristics
of a more rigid climate: low mean temperature, extreme cold in winter, great range of.
the thermometer, backward seasons and early frosts. The temperature is not, however,
much lower on the whole than is due to the latitude and elevation of the places of obser-
vation. Gouverneur is colder by over 1°, and appears to be the coldest place but one in the
State from which reports are received. In regard to extreme cold in winter, it stands
unrivalled, and that with almost perfect uniformity every year. The observations at
Ogdensburgh were taken but for a single year; but if that is a fair specimen, its tempera-
ture is more uniform and less liable to extremes of heat and cold than the average of the
State. This may be accounted for by the equalizing influence of the St. Lawrence river,
which is a mile and a quarter wide at that place, and scarce ever freezes over in the winter.
On the other hand, it maintains a considerably lower temperature than the surrounding air
in the summer season. Being composed of so vast a body of water, its temperature is but
slowly affected by that of the country through which it passes; and it partakes, in con-
siderable degree, of the uniformity of Lake Ontario in this respect.*

The following statement in regard to the temperature of Lake Ontario, will be of service
in enabling us to estimate its influence on the climate of the surrounding country. It is
deduced from experiments made under the direction of Prof. Dewey of Rochester, in the
years 1837 and 1838, and shows the mean of eight observations, taken every six or eight

* See Observations on the temperature of the St. Lawrence, published in the Regents Report for 1838, page 218.

4*

28 CLIMATE OF THE REGION

miles across the lake, from the mouth of Genesee river to Coburg in Canada (not including
those made near the shores), and about a foot below the surface.

May 14&15| 39°31
“21 & 22 39.00
June 19 47.50

Aug. 7 66.00
Sept. 4 60.25
Oct. 16 53.12
Nov. 13 45.75

Prof. Dewey accounts for the ,
low temperature in May, by the
melting of the ice on Luke Erie. |

V. THE REGION SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST OF THE VALLEY OF THE
MOHAWK.

LocaLITIES OF OBSERVATION. Pompey, Homer, Cazenovia, Hamilton, Bridgwater, Oxford,
Hartwick, Cherry-valley, Delhi.

TABLE I. Comparison between calculated and observed temperatures.

Temperature} Observed Variation of

| LOCALITIES. ee Latitups. | ELEVATION. narpcerrey tomaporgtare: are Som
observed. temperature.
b Pompeyn ce st ces canna 16 42°56’ 1300ft. 42°.91 —1°.15
eh Oy Se sah 10 42 38 1096 44.17 | — 0.99
) ,Cazentym ocs< iusc'ss 14 42 55 1260 43.58 | — 0.65
se il 42 49 1127 44.32 | — 0.45
Bridgwater ..........- 4 42 55 1286 43.82 | — 0.33
ON EP eee 13 42 28 961 44.91 — 0.91
eee ll 42 38 1100 45.46 + 0.31
Cherry-valley......... 13 42 48 1335 44.18 | — 0.02
DGIM (Sreapeces sn cs ea 3 42 16 1384 44.59 — 0.33

TABLE II. Comparison of mean temperature, and annual extremes of heat and cold, with the average of the
State during the same years.

FACTS OBSERVED. Pompey. | Homer | Cazenovia.| Hamilton. |Bridgwate:| Oxford. | Martwick. |Cherryvalley| Delhi.

14 years. | 1) years. | 12 years. | 10 years 4 years. | IS years. | 9 years | 12 years 4 years.

— 2°.67 |—1°.58 |—1°.03 |— 2°.31 [—1°.90
— 0.00 |— 0.14 |— 2.38 |— 2.08 |— 0.00
— 7.75 |—10.67 |— 5.88*|— 7.25 |— 6.50
4+ 7.75 |410.53 |-4+-3 .50 |4 5.17 |4 6.50

* The observation for 1835 rejected, on account of supposed errors.

Mean temperature .... |— 3°.52 |— 2°.32 |— 2°.91

Mean annual maximum, |— 4.43 |— 1.36 |— 1.42
Mean annual minimum, |+ 0.93 |— 4.91 |— 7.00
Mean annual range.... |— 5.36 |4+ 3.55 |4+ 5.58

SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST OF THE VALLEY OF THE MOHAWK. 29

TABLE III. Comparison of the forwardness of the seasons, with the average of the State during the same years.

FACTS OBSERVED. Pompey. Homer, |Cazenovia. |} Hamilton. |Bridgwater| Oxford. | Hartwick. |Cherryvalley} Delhi.
Days. Days. Days Days. Days. Days. Days. Days. Days.
Robins first seen ...... +0 Be ae — it — of +12* —10 aiieta Foe Spice
Shadbush in bloom.... Ace: +7 ae +5 + 3* +1 5064 oleae + 3
Peach do cous eee -+10* coves ee eeee nels sees ease oeee
Currants do eens + 2t +2 + 4t + St + 9* + it + 3 + 7* 3*
Plum do wees +6 + it + 6 +2 + 3* + it +2 +7 3F
Cherry do Sieh +3 + 2+ +7 +1 +15* + 5*| +4 +10* | + 1*
Apple do eee + oF + 3t + 8t + 4f + 6* + 3t aece +8 +5
Lilac do ees +9 + 6 + 3 +2 + 9* +3 + 6* + 8* oeee
Strawberries ripe ..... +5 +2t| +7 +4 + 6* + 2 +2*/ +2 + 6*
Haying commenced... | + 3 + 3t} + 7t}/ —1 +7 “iene +13* | .... :
Wheat harvest ditto ... aware + 3t +9 Sioa ane Siete peee as, me
First killing frost .... + it —13t —l1l1t —12t sete — 6f —9 — 4t ratete
* The result of less than four years’ observation. + The result of observations for ten years or more.

REMARKS ON THE FOREGOING TABLES.

Most of these places lie in elevated valleys, and show a proportionably reduced tempe-
rature as compared with others in the same latitude but on a lower level. Pompey is the
coldest place reported in the State ; colder even than those in the extreme northern coun-
ties. It is situated on high ground, but still the temperature is lower than is due to its
elevation by over 1°. But it is rather remarkable that while this is the fact, the thermo-
meter does not sink so low there in the winter, nor do autumnal frosts occur so early as in
the State generally. At all the other places in this section the thermometer sinks lower
than the average of the State by 4° to 11°, and autumnal frosts occur earlier by four to
thirteen days.

The appearance of robins seems not to be a fair index of the relative forwardness of the
spring at different places, as they appear earlier in this section than at any other in the
State ; and yet vegetation is uniformly backward, though not so much so as at places in
the northern part of the State which have the same mean temperature,

CLIMATE OF THE WESTERN PART OF THE STATE.

VI THE WESTERN PART OF THE STATE.

Locatities oF opseRvaTIoN. Onondaga, Auburn, Aurora, Ithaca, Prattsburgh, Canandaigua,
Palmyra, Rochester, Henrietta, Middlebury, Gaines, Millville, Lewiston, Buffalo, Spring-

ville, Fredonia, Mayville.

TABLE I. Comparison between calculated and observed temperatures.

LOCALITIES.

Onondaga ...... ...2%
BURA Ss nian amin 2

yra
Rochester .....020s00
Henrietta ..cccccncces
Middlebury ..........
CISION Ca cekumas sane
Millville (fy cece cree
Lewiston ......, ...s.
Baffalo .. 05 a cnescse 2 605
Springville........... y 1105
Fredonia ...20s.ece0 3 . 645

t Elevation estimated.

TABLE II. Comparison of mean temperature, and annual extremes of heat and cold, with the average of the

.
.

emo.

.

++1+

State during the same years.

FACTS OBSERVED.

Mean temperature ....
Mean annual maximum,
Mean annual minimum,
Mean annual range....

FACTS OBSERVED. Henrietta. |Middleburs| Gaines.
3 12 years. | 4 years

Mean temperature .... | 0°.72 |4 0°.30 |4-0°.13
Mean annual maximum, |-+ 1.00 }+ 1.33 |— 0.50
Mean annual minimum, |+12.33 |-4+ 2.58 |4 9.50
Mean annual range.... |—11.33 1.25 |—10.00

Pra'tsborg |Csnandsigua | Palmyra. | Rochester.

7 years. | 12 years. | 2ycars. | 11 years.

—0°.48 + 0.06 + 0°.01
1-88 [f 2.50 | 0.10
+ 7.42 |411.00 410

— 9.00 8.00 10.55

Lewiston. Springville} Fredonia.
Il years. '. 4 years 12 years

Y

CLIMATE OF THE WESTERN PART OF THE STATE. 31

TABLE III. Comparison of the forwardness of the seasons, with the average of the State during the same years.

: a | ‘
fl 3: s/s} eg}/s| £18 Hig a ie
FACTS OBSERVED. Sle Baie ae et ag fee od S| eee Sul bo | a
3 a = a = = Bo Ss = = 5S & 1 -o i wo
= Ei 3 Ss La bk Sie o 1 S| 3 = ea ee
eo] <4] < a | & oO Pf epee | BTSs pa ar = ly
2 days | days. | dys days days Ea days’ | days days. | di days | days'| da.
Robins first seen ...... “OTE T | :...[410*14 0 |—0 Lpise|—2 |...) AG ete titl.. 2
Shadbush in bloom.... [+5 — 5 |-+ 3*/+ 6 | ..../—4 |— 3*/41 |—10*|\—1 ee al eee Ore —5*
Peach ieee a tag ay Sern Seat eS way Sak S| San ee +9*|-41 | 9*|--5*|—97
Currants do .... |—3f\— 1 |— 4*l— 4*}4 6*|—0 |— 0*|—0*/|— 3*|_0* pEgal ae)... .|-6%—6
Plum do... |—It] -.. J— 44/—.5 |} 5 |—2*|— 2*/—5*|— 34/3 —H4*|+42*| ....|-3 |-8
Cherry do... |—-2 (— 9*|—10*|— 9 [4 3 |—4*|_ ...;—0*|— 7*| +3*|—0 +45*|—S
Apple do ~.... |—Ojj— 4 |— 7*|— 6 ++ 1 |—0 |+- 3*|—3*|— 1% of} +0 |-Fo*|_0 —1 |-2
Lilac do cae nee 5*|— 7*\+ 7 |4+2*| ..../—2*|— 4*).... 2) ..../—3 - |
Strawberries ripe ...-. —o |410" + 3*|— 0*|+ 6°)... 22 |— 2" | solos -2-|—4 --/—6
Haying commenced ... |—1f|-+ 2*| ... |— 0*|-+ 9*|—0 |— 3*|—3* FE See) oy REE Boas (een eee +2*
Wheat harvest ditto ... Lath Sooo Medel Bea: |. ovisie| antes] ‘aise (FO [ocee|s ocalocee ee RR! RES =
First killing frost ..... Paes fete 1 Sth SSH as LES L cess atle. cele cue 5) remo aes Be
* The result of less than four years observation. + The result of observations for ten years or more.

REMARKS ON THE FOREGOING TABLES.

I thought of subdividing this section into three, viz. the vicinity of the smaller lakes,
the Genesee valley, and the western counties; but there is such a similarity of climate
throughout the entire region, so far as is shown by the reports, that I concluded to em-
brace the whole in one division.

Its mean temperature does not differ much from the average of the State, but is re-
markably uniform; more so than in any other section, except Long island. With the
exception of Prattsburgh which is situated on high ground, Buffalo where observations
were taken but for a single year, and Onondaga which seéms to be hardly far enough
west to show the characteristic climate of this section, but partakes more of that which
reigns farther east, the average annual range of the thermometer is but 96°; while in the
State generally it is 104°, and in the northern counties nearly 120°. The greatest cold in
winter at Rochester, Lewiston or Fredonia, but little exceeds that which is found on Long
island or at New-York. Vegetation in the spring is a few days earlier than the average
of the State; about the same as at Albany.

But the most interesting fact developed by the observations in this section, is the change
in the circumstances that affect the temperature (other than latitude and elevation) as we
pass from the east into the basin of the smaller lakes, and so on westward. East of this
section, twenty-seven places out of thirty-two showed a lower mean temperature than was
due to their latitude and elevation; here, all but two a higher. Whether this is to be
ascribed to the geological character of the country, or to the more southerly direction of
the winds, or to both, or to some other cause, I would not venture to decide. The winds
in this section are, on an average, about 11° more southerly than the mean for the State,

32 CLIMATE OF THE WESTERN PART OF THE STATE.

as appears from the following statement, which I copy from the article on the winds of
the State, already referred to.

Onondaga S 67° S'W
Auburn ...... S 74° 55’ W
ANYONE. <.20 ose iS S 52° 40' W
TENOR .cinitic ohne. nna vs S 62° 47' W
Prattsburgh ...... ... S 76° 46' W
Canandaigua ..... ... S 62° 50' W
Palmyra ...eecccccess S 69° 7 W
Rochester ......00- be N 89° 32’ W
Henrietta ...5. cosecs S 44° 19° W
Middlebury .....+.... S 72° 31'Ww
Lewiston...) ..s<-< wt S 45° 58’ W
Buffalo ...... oeetvend S 42° 40' W
Springville ......... Ns81° 4’ W
Fredonia ........ Eas S 64° 42' W
‘
AVEPELE oc cnes omens S 66° 6° W

Mean for the State .... | S 76° 54° W

Difference ........00. 10° 48’

The want of observations in the southern part of this section renders it impossible to
say how far the peculiarity in the climate we are speaking of extends in that direction.
We notice it as far south as Prattsburgh, which is within forty miles of the south line of
the State, and nearly fifteen hundred feet above the level of the sea.

There is great uniformity in the extreme heat of.summer throughout the State. But
five places out of fifty-five show a difference of over 3° from the mean of the State, which
is 92°.

The average time for the whole State, from the blooming of apple trees to the first
killing frost in autumn, deduced from over nine hundred observations, is one hundred and
seventy-four days. On the west end of Long island it is twelve and a half days more, and
in St. Lawrence country twenty-two less; the difference between the two latter being
consequently thirty-four and a half days.

I intended to have added some remarks on the stability of the climate of the State, and
several other matters, but am compelled from want of time to omit them.

JAMES H. COFFIN.

View of the Adirondack Pass.

CHAPTER IV.

AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGY.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE SOILS DERIVED FROM THE DECOMPOSITION OF DIFFERENT ROCKS. CLASSIFICA~
TION OF ROCKS. ANALYSIS OF SIMPLE MINERALS: FELSPAR AND ALBITE; LABRADORITE; HORNBLENDE 5
HYPERSTHENE, SERPENTINE; BASALT AND GREENSTONE. DRIFTED SOILS.

gl. SoILs DERIVED FROM THE DECOMPOSITION OF DIFFERENT ROCKS.

In the pursuit of an important object, it is wise and proper to avail ourselves of all the
aids within our reach to secure its attainment; and it is an imperious duty so to do, when

[AcRicuLTuRAL Report. ] 5

34 SOILS FROM THE

the object to be attained is surrounded with difficulties, and where every ray of light is
wanted to illuminate dark and obscure points. Upon agriculture all the modern sciences
send their lights, some more and some less; all, however, impart something, and lend
their aid to its promotion. In this office geology is behind none other, unless it be che-
mistry, whose range is not only great, but minute, affecting every and all departments.
A great many facts strictly geological have an important bearing upon the subject before
us; such as the nature of the rock, its structure and position, its composition, its relations
to moisture, and liability to solution. The position of the rocks of a district, as has been
already remarked in the first chapter, is always an important point, and in some cases all
that is essentially requisite; for they often add value to their possession, even when they
can not be turned to account directly in the cultivation of the soil.

Under the influence of these considerations, and others of minor importance which it is
unnecessary to state, I propose to give first of all a recapitulation of the geology of New-
York, with a view of applying all the facts which bear upon agriculture to its illustration.
For the convenience of description, I shall pursue the plan adopted in the geological re-
ports, namely, that of describing the rocks in the ascending order; and this will lead me
to speak of them in the order of the districts which I have already briefly described, and
into which the State has been divided.

The six districts coinciding nearly with six groups of rocks, each of these groups respec-
tively impart to the overlying soil some of its distinguishing characters, or in a good mea-
sure make it what it is. Modifying influences, however, independent of the geological
formation, have done something as diluvial or transporting agents, by which soils origi-
nating and formed at a distance have been brought to and distributed over adjacent dis-
tricts. Still it will be found on examination that the underlying rocks have given a
stronger character to the soft materials than has usually been supposed, leaving out of
view some areas in every district where drift has lodged in deep beds.

In estimating the amount of soil furnished by groups of rocks, we are necessarily obliged
to observe the nature of the masses. Many of the shales and slates, and they occur in
almost every group, disintegrate rapidly, the action being favored both by water and frost:
the first, penetrating between the lamine, partially separates them; and in some instances
no other agent is required to effect an entire destruction of a stratum, especially where
wetting and drying alternately occur. In other cases, the assistance of frost is required
to effect a complete reduction of the strata to soil.

Limestones are liable to a constant loss of material by solvent properties of rain-water,
which holds carbonic acid in solution; and this operation is favored by a rough or uneven
surface, where the water stands for a time. Ona polished surface, the action of water
and other agents is very slow and inconsiderable even after the lapse of several years, as
is proved by the durability of the marbles used in the construction of monuments, and by
that of other rocks when carefully smoothed ; whereas upon the exposed surfaces of quar-
ries, the sloping sides are often deeply grooved by the water which slowly trickles over
their surfaces.

DECOMPOSITION OF DIFFERENT ROCKS. 35

Granite and gneiss disintegrate and decompose from their peculiar chemical composition,
and the presence of alkalies in the felspar and mica exert a powerful influence in these
changes. High granitic peaks in the region of frosts undergo a rapid decay, and in con-
sequence furnish upon the slopes and in the valleys beneath their peculiar soils, which
are well adapted to grass and grain. ‘The alkalies in these rocks, if completely insulated,
would pass off rapidly through the soft materials, and be lost to vegetation. They are,
however, so combined with silica, that they are comparatively unaffected by the common
solvent, water, and hence are retained in the soil for the use of plants.

Other kinds of rocks liable to decay, are the siliceous limestones, one of which is the
calciferous sandstone. It appears from examination that the lime is dissolved out, leaving
upon the surface the silex in grains, which falls off by its own weight, or else is rubbed off
by friction. The dissolved ime, however, does not all pass into and remain in the soil,
but is carried down, and forms very frequently with other materials a hardpan, a pudding-
stone, or concretions, the lime acting asa cement; in other instances it percolates into and
through the rock, and forms stalactites, veins or other deposites. The same action or power
which dissolves the carbonate of lime in solid rocks, dissolves also that which may be dif-
fused through the soil. This takes place where the surface is frequently stirred, as in cul-
tivated fields. Thus this element is removed both by vegetation and by the ordinary action
of rain-water, and hence its deficiency in most of the soils of New-York and New-England.

§ 2. CLASSIFICATION OF ROCKS.

The classification of rocks has been a most perplexing study to geologists. They have
not disagreed, however, so much as to the planes where lines of separation should be
drawn, as in the designation of the masses. The ancient names, primitive, transition and
secondary, have all been objected to, and have been abandoned by many of the European
writers. In consequence of this, others have been proposed as substitutes, and have been
adopted in part; but the proposed names are about as objectionable as the old ones, and
hence much hesitancy has been manifested in their adoption. Without attempting to decide
which nomenclature is best, I shall use that which the public is most familiar with.

The word primary is a term whose meaning is well fixed in this country, being applied
to those masses which were consolidated before the creation of organic bodies. This term
then will be used to designate a class whose existence was anterior to that of organic beings.
It is true that some masses belonging to this class have been in a liquid or fused state since
the existence of organic bodies; still, so far as observation extends, the great mass or crust
of the earth is made up of granite, gneiss, mica slate, hornblende, serpentine and primary
limestone ; and doubtless these masses were consolidated anterior to the period spoken of.

The word sedimentary is another term, the meaning of which cannot be misunderstood
or misapplied. It will be used to designate those masses which are really consolidated
sediments. It will often be used as synonimous with the word stratified, inasmuch as all

5*

36 CLASSIFICATION OF ROCKS.

sediments are disposed to arrange themselves in layers or strata. The materials in this
case lie in parallel beds, varying greatly in thickness; all, however, separable from each
other through the planes of deposition, each of which may be distinguished by lines upon
the faces of a ledge, by some diversity in the materials, or difference in the colors of two
adjacent beds. Other lines, however, appear both upon the ends or surfaces of beds,
which are not indicative of bedding planes. ‘Thus, when we find regular forms as rhom-
boids marked upon rocks, they are not to be taken at all as the result of deposition. No
difference of materials or difference of color can be discerned along these lines. Such
regular forms are therefore the effects of crystallization. In some masses, however, both
kinds of planes may be found. If the beds are horizontal, the upper and lower planes
are those of deposition; but they may le in any other direction, as the vertical, or oblique
in yarious degrees. The other lines course along upon the planes of deposition, and
produce rhomboids or other mathematical forms. In other cases, again, all the planes
are the effects of crystallization. Those which appear in granite, in trap, serpentine and
primary limestone, are never planes of deposition. ‘The forms which these rocks give us
are more obtuse than those in slates and shales; they are frequently nearly square blocks.
All these planes serve an important purpose ; and though they are really produced by the
operation of a constant law in the inorganic world, yet they bear the impress of design :
they facilitate the dissolution of the mass, and by that means assist in preserving a due
balance in matters above and below water; they are highly important as a means of sepa-
rating and raising the layers from their beds, and thus aid in quarrying. Without them,
it would be impossible to raise stones for flagging, and for a variety of other useful purposes.

The first great division of rocks, then, is into Primary and Sedimentary. The former
are divided into two kinds: those which are massive, or destitute of planes analogous to
planes of deposition, as granite; and those which are stratified, as gneiss, mica slate, etc.

It is proper, however, to observe in this place, that all rocks divide by different kinds of
planes. Those which are not the planes of deposition, are termed joints ; and hence a
rock is said to be jointed, when planes exist in a direction different from that of the planes
of deposition.

Sedimentary rocks are subdivided into several systems. By the term system, is meant
a series of rocks formed and deposited in the course of a single period or era, during which
nearly the same orders of organic beings existed; each system being marked, both at its
coming in and going out, by some great change in the condition of things. The outgoing
and the incoming of a system is indicated by changes in the sediments, in their position,
and in the character of the organic beings of the time and place. It will be conceived,
then, that the lines of demarkation between systems are the most important of all. The
most instructive study is that of the diversity of these systems; as from it we learn the
history of the earth, its revolutions and changes. We are not, however, to receive all the
doctrines which are advanced in relation to changes and revolutions as fully proved. At
the ume when organic beings first existed, certain essentials in organization were necessary,

CLASSIFICATION OF ROCKS. 37

A physical system was then established, and to this system organic beings were to be
adapted. There were controlling agents. Of these the atmosphere was one, and caloric
another; and these have continued and will continue to control the types of organization
to the end of time. Vary the present standard, if only in a narrow compass, and but few
if any of the present races would continue to exist.

In view of this subject, I hazard the assertion that the composition of the atmosphere
was never essentially different since the WVereites of the Taconic system were created; and
also that the temperature has never been greater than it is now, since that period. This
is going back as far as it is possible with organic beings: none older are now known to
exist. Because a lizard or crocodile does not consume so much oxygen as an ox in a given
period, it does not follow that in the era of the Lias, an era of lizards, the atmosphere
contained less oxygen or more carbonic acid than it does now; for with their respiratory
apparatus, we have a right to infer that if the proportion of oxygen was less than it is at
present, they would not be supplied with that material, and enough could not be obtained
if less existed in the atmosphere. When we speak, therefore, of the changes which usher
in a new system, it is not intended to inculcate the doctrine that they were so great, or of
‘such a character, as would be incompatible with the present; or that organic beings would
be unfitted organically for any other period or era in the world’s history.

Systems are subdivided into groups; the groups holding the same relation to a system,
as the system to the totality of the consolidated sediments. The beginning and end of a
group is marked by some important change, such as the disappearance of affiliated tribes
and species. It is then by observations of this kind, that divisions and subdivisions of the
sediments are obtained. Names which are supposed to be appropriate at the time, are
conferred upon the systems and groups. They may subsequently, however, be demon-
strated to be inappropriate; the progress of discovery outgrowing and thereby rendering
obsolete the nomenclature. “This is an evil; and one who is disposed to cavil, might lay
hold of the fact to the prejudice of the science of geology, on the ground that nothing is
settled ; that it is a subject of opinions and speculations, and not of facts and principles ;
of endless details and fanciful hypotheses, which every man has a right to invent for his
own or his neighbor’s amusement. But such cavillers belong to a race too lazy to observe,
too self-conceited to profit by facts, or too bigoted to look at truth when they fear it may
conflict with their own notions. They are too obstinate to be reformed ; and if they were
reformed, they would be of little use to science in any of its departments.

The Primary rocks, comprehending granite, hypersthene, primary limestone, serpen-
tine, gneiss, mica and talcose slates, hornblende, sienite, trap and greenstone, require our
attention first of all. They may be tabulated as follows :

38 PRIMARY ROCKS,
Granite a oor Composed of quartz, felspar and mica.
[ Hypersthene rock.
lewzous --~- Primary limestone.
‘ Serpentine.
a Greenstone and trap.
< } Piuronic..- Basalt,
= 4 Lavas.
= nese. soon 22 eens Composed of quartz, felspar and mica.
A Mich alate. <2 ees Quartz and mica.
StraTIFIED--< Talcose slate ...-.-.--- Quartz and tale.
Hornblende - -..---.--- Simple.
L PIQUA. pao e ne aaa Composed of hornblende and felspar.

Those portions of the State over which Primary rocks prevail, are the Northern and
Southern highlands. Most of the masses enumerated above are found in both these
districts. In the northern, which is by far the largest and most important primary district,
that peculiar variety of granite denominated hypersthene rock prevails very extensively :
it forms the highest parts of the county of Essex. Surrounding this mass as an irregular
zone, are beds of granite, primary limestone, and a granitic gneiss. This immense mass
forms a large portion of the great triangle north of the Mohawk valley. It is here that
our granitic soils are formed. The beds, however, of granite and other felspathic rocks
which are disposed to decomposition are not very extensive. We have none of the sandy
varieties of gneiss or mica slate, which become friable on exposure to the atmosphere, and
crumble readily and rapidly into soil. Neither have we much of that peculiar granite
which forms porcelain clay, or it is so limited that mere local effects are observed. Primary
limestone, associated with granite, and even incorporated with it, exists also, but within
such narrow limits that it is unnecessary to notice the peculiar soil which is thus jointly
formed. The rocks on the highest parts of the Adirondacks disintegrate very rapidly, and
form deposites on the sides of these mountains, which in the progress of time find their
way to the valleys.

In estimating the extent of granitic soil, and taking into account all the causes which
act in distributing it over the State, I am led to adopt the opinion that it exists only in the
immediate districts underlaid by the primary beds, in such quantity as to give the leading
characters of a granitic soil. Diluvial action has undoubtedly swept over these districts,
and carried to the south some of the soil which once rested upon the mountains and in their
valleys, and it has intermingled with other soils more or less ; still the quantity bears but
a small porportion to that derived from sedimentary rocks. It is true that the materials of
these rocks were in many instances of granitic origin, and it is easy often to discern unde-
composed felspar in them. Notwithstanding all this, Iam not ready to subscribe to the
doctrine that all soils are essentially derived from one origin, and that a granitic one; for
most of the alkalies are lost in the course of the changes to which the fine particles are
subjected. No one, who has observed the soils of New-York, will hesitate to admit that
the slate soils are quite different from those of the highland districts.

:

COMPOSITION OF SIMPLE MINERALS. 39

The same remarks might be made in regard to the Southern highlands. Granitic soil
must be confined to the fields underlaid by primary rocks; those which contain felspar
and mica, and which furnish by decomposition one or more of the alkalies or alkaline
earths. Besides felspar, there are other minerals which are agriculturally important; thus,
albite (another variety of the felspar family), mica and hornblende, are each important
minerals to be known, or to be sought for in the rock, if we would learn approximately
the composition of the soil of a primary district. Thus in Gouverneur and the neighboring
towns in St. Lawrence county, a granite occurs, containing considerable albite. This
substance contains soda in the place of potash; and hence we might expect this element
in granitic soils, especially as this kind of granite is rather disposed to disintegrate.

§ 3. ComposiTION OF SIMPLE MINERALS.

The composition of felspar and albite, together with that of some of the other more
common rocks, it may be well to state in this place. The two first named consist respec-
tively of

FELsPAR. ALBITE
Bilica, == sleasuss 2s setee 65.21 69.09
Aluminais 29-2 So de ok 18.13 19.22
| Bo 21S) a eB 1G 6G). eas se
Soda se a oe Soe wale 5) Pe 11.69

100.00 100.00

In attempting to distinguish these minerals from quartz, or flint as it is often called, we
are to notice their hardness. Felspar and albite just scratch common window glass, but
quartz does not. Albite is always white; felspar is white or flesh-colored, and each give
a strong reflection of light from the planes of the crystal; while quartz has the lustre of
glass, or more of a vitrified appearance in the mass.

‘Another kind of felspar is the /abradorite, which abounds in the rocks of the Adirondack
mountains. The rock itself, as already stated, is termed hypersthene rock, from a small
quantity of this mineral which it contains. The whole mass is mostly labradorite ; and
by decomposing, it has formed in some places an imperfect porcelain clay. Its composi-
tion is as follows :

LABRADORITE.
Siliogte eee were Sore a 55.75
lanunias fp ee ees 26.50
Duma esa eet Se Se 11.00
Ua) pA a Seg iio
Doda Ase to tosses ok 4.00

98.50 JKLaprotu.

This species is usually smoke-grey, though the exposed surface of the rock is grey or
greyish white: it appears to be bleached.

40 COMPOSITION OF SIMPLE MINERALS.

Mica, another mineral found in granite, gneiss and mica slate, has a composition much
like that of the felspars, or at least is analogous to them, as containing two alkalies, potash
and magnesia ; thus,

Porassic MICA. MAGNESIAN MICA,

RiCa ree ee eee 46.10 40.00
imine kee OE SSS 31.60 12.67
Protoxide of iron, ..--.--- 8.65 19.03
Rotesh Sseltsn eS. ES SIS ess se
Minion estas pe 5p er ee ee 15.70

Together with a variable proportion of oxide of manganese and fluoric acid.

Hornblende, which often replaces mica in the granites, is usually a dark green substance,
and extremely tough in the mass. It is commonly crystalline, and more or less fibrous.

It differs essentially from the micas and felspar, in containing larger proportions of lime.
It consists of

HorNBLENDE.

Silica’ l 2 52. eee 42.24
Alintias = -22 2" hobs --- Ss. Ses 13.92
DIME ES co ssa ec leee Se ees 12.24
Mapnesiays2 * Shi = 2° SS2c a5 Sea 13.74
Protoxidevof. it0p; v.22 aso oa 14.59
Oxide:of manganese, ---:.---==----< 0.33
mlvoncwcid 22-0 eS ee oe 1.50

98.56

All these substances are termed silicates; the silica uniting with each of the principal
elements as an acid, and forming thereby silicates of alumina, potash, magnesia, and iron.
In the northern as well as the southern highlands, pyroxene or augite enters largely into
the constitution of the primary rocks. Its composition does not differ materially, so far as
its effects upon a soil is concerned, from that of hornblende ; thus,

PyROXENE.
Light-colored. | Dark colored.
Silicawts cusses seks 8 55.32 54.08
Taimaeysteeee eA st 27.01 23.47
Mapnesia; = 22se sae 16.99 11.49
Protoxide of iron,.---.--- 2.16 10.02
Mominays 2 2co228 25 0.28 0.14
Manganese, . -. ---=--=-- 1.59 0.61

103.15 99.67 Rose.

To the same family belongs the /ypersthene, which gives name to the rock forming the
highest grounds of Essex, namely, hypersthene rock. This substance contuins less lime
than hornblende or augite, and hence is less favorable as an element of soil; in fact, it is

remarked, that where it exists in sufficient abundance to influence the nature of the soil,
it is quite barren. It is composed of

COMPOSITION OF SIMPLE MINERALS. 4l

HyPERSTHENE.
Silica gy sce 6a a 51.35
nA eee aoe ee 2 ee eee 1.84
Magniesiate sen ee onan a 11.09
Protoxide of 1ron)=--+ =<. --— = 33.92
Water == saweeee tc cone eee shee. 2 0.50
98.70

At the north, however, this substance existing in but a small proportion in the hyper-
sthene rock, has but little influence upon the quality of the soil; besides, being mixed
largely with labradorite, which contains both lime and alumina, the soil formed therefrom
may be considered as good for grains and grass. Quartz or silex, too, is extremely scarce
in this rock ; and hence there is no excess of sand in it, as there is usually in a pure
granitic soil. Hypersthene, upon the whole, may be considered as rather a rare mineral
in New-York. It is found in gneiss in Johnsburgh, but in such small quantities that it
has no influence upon the soil.

Serpentine is another primary rock, disposed to crumble into soil. It is one in which
magnesia is the characteristic element. It consists of

SERPENTINE.
Silicateeverst Bw csr 40.08 42.69
Magnesiaj. 22222 ¢s2 ot stews: 41.40 40.00
Watery oa stces ae 15.67 16.45
Protoxide/of iron). ——.-=-==.. = 2.70 1.00

99.85 SHeparp. 100.14 Vanuxem.

Serpentine may be known by its softness and yellowish green color. It is easily cut by
a knife, or easily impressed, and it is always found softer upon the outside than upon a
fresh fracture; the color, too, is much paler on the weathered surface.

In foreign treatises on agricultural geology, serpentine is set down with those rocks
which make a poor soil. Thus, Johnson speaks of the soil at the Lizard in Cornwall, as
being far from fertile, and so retentive of water as to form swamps and marshes; and
even when drained, it rarely produces good grass, or average crops of corn. It is the
opinion of the same distinguished writer that the barrenness is due to the small quantity
of lime contained in the soil; serpentine, as will be seen from the above analysis, being
destitute of this element. In New-York, and part of New-England, it would appear that
the serpentine exists under different conditions. Thus, in St. Lawrence, Jefferson, Essex
and Warren counties, it is intermixed with lime, and the lime disintegrates more rapidly
than the serpentine; the soil, therefore, must contain a sufficient quantity of ime. How-
ever this may be, there is always a luxuriant growth of vegetables about these beds. The
serpentine hills of New-England are not so productive as those of New-York. I allude
more particularly to the hills of Chester and Middlefield, along which the great Western

{[AcricuLturRaL Report.] 6

42 COMPOSITION OF SIMPLE MINERALS.

Railway passes. Sull, I have seen good crops of rye growing there, though the soil may
have derived a beneficial influence from the decomposition of the neighboring rocks com-
posed of hornblende and sienite. Here is also a peculiar vegetation: the Ilex canadensis,
and some other herbaceous plants, are only found here, and this is the only place where
any thing like a pine grove has been planted by nature. For localities where serpentine
prevails, see the Report of the Second Geological District.

In this connection, it will be proper to state the composition of basalt and greenstone,
although in New-York they do not form very extensive beds.

2 Pe Se Sees 46.50 57.25
AlomMA: — 5 ~ = oan 16.75 25.50
lame. 22 ae ee 9.50 2.75
Mapnte, {2222222 a Sac Boew re eee
Sotbay sites oe ng colagt 2.60 8.10
Iron and manganese, --_--._-~- 20.12 3.50
WWE an ee aes 2.00 3.00

97.72 100. 10

The composition, however, of these varieties of rock is extremely variable, but all are
known to contain the alkalies and alkaline earths; and it is owing to this fact that the
greenstone soils are remarkably fertile, so much so that they may often be employed to
increase the fertility of less favored ones.

§ 4. CHARACTER OF GRANITIC SOILS.

Returning once more to the consideration of granitic soils, I remark, that they are too
siliceous and porous when derived purely from granite. Position, however, alters their
character; for where they lie upon sloping surfaces, sand predominates; but in the
valleys, the fine alumine or clay of the felspar accumulates and forms an admixture of
clay and sand, which is more favorable to the support of grass and grain. On reviewing
the composition of the minerals which enter as elements in rocks, we find that the most
abundant of them contain the proper proportions for a good soil. Silex rarely forms less
than one-half; the remainder is made up of alumina (which is essential to the consistency
of the soil), lime, potash, soda and iron, some containing more and some less of each
respectively, the alkalies being the most essential, and rendering a soil rich, as it is
termed, in proportion to their amount. In addition to the fact here stated, I may
observe that the tendency to decompose is also increased in proportion to the percentage
of the alkalies contained in the mineral: a rock of pure quartz is acted upon very
slowly, while one in which felspar and mica exist crumbles rapidly.

DRIFTED SOILS. 43

In applying the preceding facts, it is easy to see how farms and estates should be selected
in a primary district. The depth of soil is an important fact, as is well known, but its
derivation is another equally important. For its determination, the outcrop of rocks upon
hillsides may be examined, and their nature ascertained; whether their exposed or weathered
surfaces are bleached, and softer than that of a recent fracture; or whether they are
crumbly, and disposed to disintegrate. If the rocks are hornblende or pyroxenic green-
stone, or a coarse granite with large masses of felspar, we shall expect the soil to contain
the alkalies or alkaline earths; and if by cultivation they become exhausted, we may
expect that by deep or subsoil ploughing a fresh quantity can be brought to the surface
for the use of vegetables, and thus a constant reproduction of them obtained from the
decomposition of the coarser particles now intermixed with the deeper soil. Greenstone
and trap, from their more ready disposition to undergo change, may be ranked among the
best materials for a foundation soil, possessing all the requisites desired for the cultivation
of grains and fruits. They are not so porous as the granitic sands that are termed leechy;
nor so compact as many of the argillaceous soils, many of which retain the water in pools

upon the surface.

§ 5. Drirrep sort.

A farther consideration of the causes which have distributed the soil and spread the
debris of rocks at a distance, is of some importance while treating of the northern counties 5
as it may appear to those who are familiar with the drift or diluvial theories, that little
reliance can be placed on our instructions for determining the character of the soil by
observing the rocks beneath. It is true that we find the debris of distant rocks in most of
our soils; yet we find that their essential character is, with some exceptions, derived from
the rock near by. On the northern and northwestern slope of the highlands in Franklin
county, many boulders of Trenton limestone may be found, which, together with some of
the finer matters, were brought from the Canada side, and probably this transported debris
exerts some influence ; still there is a predominance of soil from the Potsdam sandstone,
the underlying rock of a great part of the county, particularly the northern part. In the
neighborhood of Malone, immense drift beds have been accumulated, in which the
boulders of this sandstone always predominate. They have also been transported south,
and lap on to the primary masses, and modify the soil of the granite and gneiss; but when
we penetrate deeply into this great primary region, its distinguishing characters are derived
from the masses beneath. In some instances the drift current has left nothing but loose
boulders, which, resisting decomposition, all the soil we now find is of modern or recent
origin. Narrow formations, whose strike is east and west, will usually be covered with a
more distant soil than those whose strike is north and south. Of this fact, we shall have

occasion to speak hereafter.
6*®

44 DRIFTED SOILS.

Little need be said of the northern highlands in regard to structure. The country being
either mountainous or hilly, almost the whole surface is properly drained, or else is easily
drained where, from local causes, water may be retained in the subsoil. The valleys are
narrow, the hills abrupt, and there is no necessity of searching the peculiar structure of
the rock to open a passage for stagnant water. ‘The spontaneous growth of grass is the
most interesting fact; the country being best adapted to pasturage, or the keeping of stock
for wool, butter and cheese.

This district is, however, broken by the steepest and highest precipices in New-York,
or indeed in all the Atlantic or Middle States. The Adirondack pass is a giant precipice.
It is feebly represented at the head of this chapter, for it is only a feeble representation
which the pencil can give. To be conceived, it must be seen. Many minor precipices
break up the country at the sources of the Hudson, and thus diminish its value as an
agricultural district.

CHAPTER V.

THE TACONIC SYSTEM.

MOTIVES OF THE PRESENT INVESTIGATION. OPINIONS OF GEOLOGISTS RELATIVE TO THE TACONIC AND CAMBRIAN
SYSTEMS. RELATIONS AND CHARACTERS OF THE HUDSON RIVER ROCKS. ROCKS BELOW AND OLDER THAN
THE TACONIC ROCKS. POSITION AND RELATIONS OE THE TACONIC SYSTEM. INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS OF THE
TACONIC SYSTEM ; THEIR LITHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS, FOSSILS, SUCCESSION AND THICKNESS, IN NEW-YORK,
MASSACHUSETTS AND VERMONT : BLACK SLATE; TACONIC SLATE AND ITS SUBORDINATE BEDS ; FOSSILS
PECULIAR TO THE TACONIC SLATE; SPARRY LIMESTONE; MAGNESIAN SLATE, STOCKBRIDGE LIMESTONE ;
BROWN SANDSTONE OR GRANULAR QUARTZ. ROCKS RESTING UPON A PORTION OF THE TACONIC SERIES.
THE TACONIC SYSTEM IN MAINE, RHODE-ISLAND AND MICHIGAN, DERANGEMENTS. MINERAL PRODUCTS.
REFERENCE TO PLATES XIV. XV. XVI. AND XVII.

I. GENERAL VIEW OF THE TACONIC SYSTEM.

§1. PreLmminary REMARKS.

In consequence of the rejection by Prof. Rogers of a system of rocks which I have deno-
minated the Taconic System, I have been induced to reéxamine all the facts and arguments
upon which it is supposed to rest. The medium through which Prof. R. has made known
his views and the results of his examination of this system, is his Address before the Ame-
rican Association of Geologists and Naturalists, at their late session in Washington city, in
May of the present year (1844), which address is published in the American Journal of
Science for July. As my examination, at the time my New-York Report was published,
had been confined to New-York, Massachusetts and Vermont, or to the range of hills and
mountains extending north from the highlands of the Hudson into Canada, and known as
the Taconic and Green Mountain range, I deemed it necessary that an examination should
be made also of other fields where the same system of rocks was indicated. Accordingly
this last summer I extended my researches into Rhode-Island and Maine. I have not,
however, been content with these visits, but have reéxamined numerous localities in the
fields where my earlier investigations were made. With the additional facts thus acquired,

46 GENERAL VIEW OF THE TACONIC SYSTEM.

I feel prepared to lay before the American geologists the results of my observations. In
doing this, my design is to present them not only with the additional evidence I have
recently acquired of the truth of my former position respecting this system, but also, as
far as circumstances will permit, with the whole evidence in regard to it. Ido this for
the purpose of correcting some errors, and elucidating the subject more fully, as well as
making it of greater value to American geology. In the following pages, I believe the
reader will be satisfied that in these rocks we have, for this country at least, the true
pale@ozoic base, and that in them exists those organic forms which are strictly entitled to the
designation protozoic.

§ 2. OPINIONS OF GEOLOGISTS ON THE TACONIC AND CAMBRIAN SYSTEMS.

The published opinions of geologists in regard to the Taconic rocks, it is deemed will
be of sufficient interest to merit a transcription in these pages. I give them in the order
of their publication. The first, then, is from the Report of Prof. Marner, one of my
colleagues in the New-York Survey, who, in his preface, has penned the following para-
graphs:

‘ The views of one* of my colleagues are different on some of the problems of geology,
as I have just learned by seeing his published works. Time will determine who is right;
and the author, if wrong, will without hesitation yield the point. Prof. Emmons has
discussed the long vexed question of the age of the Taconic rocks (the peculiar slates,
limestones, etc. along the eastern line of New-York from Lake Champlain to the High-
lands). He has the advantage of having lived on and among them, and of exploring
them with much minuteness during many years; and probably every geologist, from
examining them where he has, would arrive at the same conclusion as to their age. He
admits that they are not found at any locality resting on the primary, but that the Potsdam
sandstone is the lowest known rock resting upon that formation.

* Prof. Hircxcock, the Geologist of Massachusetts, has also entered into a discussion of
the age of the Taconic rocks, as they occupy some space in the western part of Massa-
chusetts. His observations, and those of Prof. Dana, have long since drawn the attention
of geologists to these rocks. Prof. H. views these rocks as metamorphic, a conclusion
entirely opposite to that of Prof. Emmons; but he could find no data from which to infer
their age or place in the geological series. Both these gentlemen, Profs, H. D. and W. B.
Rocers, and various other geologists, have come to the conclusion that these rocks, and
in fact most of those from the Hoosic mountain range to the Hudson, have been wrinkled
up and folded over, all in one direction, so as to give the same direction of dip; and I
concur with them in this opinion. My own observations on these rocks, and those of
the Hudson valley, conducted with much care through their whole extent in New-York,

* By personal inquiry, Mr. Marner informed the author that he was the colleague referred to.

OPINIONS OF GEOLOGISTS. 47

and in Vermont and Massachusetts, through a series of years, have led me to the conclu-
sion that they are metamorphic, and of the age of the Champlain division ; that they are
the altered limestones, slates and sandstones of that division.

** The white limestone containing plumbago and various crystallized minerals, is another
point on which there are various views. I have come to the conclusion that it is meta-
morphic.”?

The following extract from Prof. Rogers’s Address before the American Association of
Geologists and Naturalists, at Washington, in May, 1844, sets forth the same opinions:

He proceeds (Journal of Science, p. 150), ‘ Let us inquire how far we in the United
States have proceeded in the same labor, of firmly establishing some of the more important
limits between the several portions of geological time as recorded by our strata, and their
organic remains. And first, let us examine the conclusions reached regarding the com-
mencement or dawn of the whole fossiliferous period. The fixing of a base for the
palzozoic rocks of the United States, is a problem scarcely less difficult than that of
determining the lower limit of the corresponding system in England, to which the admirable
sagacity of Sedgwick has been so usefully directed. Do we possess in the so-called Taconie
system of rocks lying to the southeast of the unequivocally fossiliferous strata at the base
of the New-York or Appalachian system, an independent mass of formations of an unques-
tionably earlier date ; or are these, on the other hand, but well known lower Appalachian
strata, disguised by some change of mineral type, and by igneous metamorphosis? ‘These
Taconic rocks, under the form they assume along the eastern boundary of New-York, and
western side of Vermont and Massachusetts, have been carefully studied by Emmons,
Hitchcock and Mather, all of whom appear to have arrived at different conclusions con-
cerning them. Since the same or a very analogous group of strata ranges at intervals,
holding the same relative position, the whole distance from Vermont to Georgia, the
question of their age, while it has a wide bearing on any general classification of our
formations, ought certainly to admit, sooner or later, of settkement, when so many and
such noble transverse sections are opened to inspection by the river gorges which cut the
Blue ridge.

‘¢ Prof. Emmons considers the granular quartz, slate and limestone of the Taconic hills
and the Stockbridge valley, as constituting a distinct group of strata, neither appertaining
to the true gneissoid or mica schist system on the east, nor to the paleozoic fossiliferous
rocks of the Champlain and Hudson valley on the west, but holding an intermediate place
in the scale of time.

“ This identity of the so-named Taconic system, with the formations of the Hudson and
Champlain valley, was announced by my brother and myself, in the beginning of 1841,
to the American Philosophical Society. By the aid of a section from Stockbridge towards
the Hudson river, we showed the existence of numerous close anticlinal and synclinal folds,
and thus explained the apparent inversion of the dip, which other geologists had ascribed
to one general overturning of the whole series. The plication was shown to be greater

48 OPINIONS OF GEOLOGISTS

along the Berkshire valley and the ridges east; the granular Berkshire marble was identi-
fied with the blue limestone of the Hudson valley, but metamorphosed by heat; and the
associated micaceous, talcose, and other schists were referred, in the language of the com-
munication, to the slates of the lowest formation of the Appalachian system, while the
semi-vitrified quartz rock of the western part of the Hoosic mountains was stated to be
nothing else than the white sandstone (Potsdam sandstone) of the same series slightly
altered. I am gratified to find from Prof. Mather that these views of identity are embraced
by him, as they now are, if I mistake not, by Prof. Hitchcock. Prof. Mather indeed says
that he has traced this slate (Hudson slate) through all its gradations into talco-argillaceous
and taley slate, and into graphic and plumbaginous slate; the limestone from compact,
sandy and slaty, to sparry, slaty, talcose, and crystalline limestone, within short distances,
and the Potsdam sandstone to a hard compact and granular quartz rock. It is true, Prof.
Emmons has presented in his report a series of sections of the strata, exhibiting an uncon-
formity at the passage of his Taconic into the rocks of the Champlain division ; but I must
take the liberty of expressing my disbelief of the existence of any such unconformity, and
of observing that in the prolongation southwestward of this altered and plicated belt as far
as the termination of the Blue ridge in Georgia, a distance of one thousand miles, no
interruption of the general conformity of the strata has ever met the observations of my
brother or myself.”

Prof. Rocrers then goes on to say, that the Potsdam sandstone forms the base of the
paleozoic strata in the latitude of Lake Champlain, or at least in the region of the Mohawk
river; and that although there are members of the same family expanded downwards in
a conformable position in some portions of the Blue ridge district, still the white or Potsdam
sandstone is yet the most ancient depository of organic life hitherto discovered in our strata.
We have, then, in the above extracts, Prof. Rogers’s views of the Taconic system, which
may embrace a few beds older than the Potsdam sandstone ; but as these beds are con-
formable to whole and entire series above, they are by no means entitled to the rank of an
independent system.

Having now shown how little favor the Taconic system has received from the opinions
of American geologists, I deem it proper to lay before the reader the opinions of some
European geologists upon what I consider to be, at least in part, the same system, though
known under the term Cambrian. All I have to say in this place in regard to the existence
of such a system in Europe, is to state the conclusions of geologists in relation to it; and
this I propose to do by extracts from the Address of Mr. Murcutson, President of the
Geological Society of London, delivered at the Anniversary Meeting on the 18th of
February, 1842, Omitting several paragraphs which relate only generally to the subject,
I commence with the following :

“Tf then our researches teach us that the term Cambrian must cease to be used in zoolo-
gical classification, it being in that sense synonimous with Lower Silurian, we see the true
yalue of having established a type like the latter, which being linked on through inter-

——_

ON THE TACONIC AND CAMBRIAN SYSTEMS. 49

mediary groups to overlying formations, the age of which was previously well known, we
have arrived gradatim, and without hypothesis, at the apparently true base of the zoological
series in Europe. It is right, therefore, that I should announce that the conventional line
which was set up in the map of the Silurian region, between the Lower Silurian and Cam-
brian rocks, and which has been adopted by Mr. Greenough, has no longer any reference
to strata identified by distinguishing organic remains; for the same fossils are found in
strata on each side of that demarcation. Such lines of division, however, when viewed
as signs of local phenomena, are notwithstanding highly useful, both as indicating changes
of lithological character, great lines of disruption, and lower divisons of the same paleozoic
group. In short, all researches up to this day have led to the belief that the Lower Silu-
rian fossils were the earliest created forms; and that this protozoic type prevailed during
that vast succession of time which was occupied in the accumulation of all the older slaty
rocks, until the Upper Silurian period, when new creatures were called into existence,
and when the earlier forms diminished, and were succeeded by a profusion of chambered
shells which so abundantly characterize that epoch. This is, I trust, a good step gained.
To establish upon sound data the true theory of organic succcession in the oldest forms of
life, is surely important ; and we ought to rejoice that British islands have afforded us the
means systematically to worl: out the question.’

It is needless to remark in this place upon the announcement of the abandonment of the
Cambrian system. Suffice it to say that the fact is explicitly declared, and the society is
congratulated that a step is gained in geology by the final settlement of an important
question ; and were it not for a single fact, the writer would freely acquiesce in the deci-
sion, so far as British rocks are concerned. This fact is found in the existence of peculiar
fossils on both sides of the Atlantic, which, so far as discoveries have yet been made, are
confined to the slates of the Cambrian and Taconic system; and now the great object of
the writer is to show that the above question has not been settled right, or according to
facts; or, in other words, that the Taconic rocks are not the Hudson river slates and shales
in an altered state, or that all the Cambrian rocks are not Lower Silurian.

§ 3. RELATIONS AND CHARACTERS OF THE HUDSON RIVER ROCKS, EMBRACING ALSO THE
CHAMPLAIN DIVISION OF THE NEW-YORK SYSTEM.

Before proceeding to that part of my work in which I design to describe the members of
the Taconic system, it will be useful and proper to lay before the reader a brief view of the
Champlain division of the New-York system, as it embraces what have been denominated
the Hudson river rocks; for it is by a correct knowledge of these masses, that we obtain
the necessary facts upon which to decide the question whether we have a Taconic system or
not.

In 1838, in my report for that year, I stated that the Potsdam sandstone was the oldest
sedimentary rock in Potsdam and its vicinity, and that no rock intervened between it and

[AcricutturaL Report.) 7

50 CHAMPLAIN DIVISION

the primary. This statement has proved true. On page 230 of the Report for the same
year, it will be found that a sandstone in Essex county was determined to be the same as
the Potsdam, and that it is succeeded by the Calciferous sandrock of Eaton.

The New-York system commences, then, with the Potsdam sandstone ; a rock far from
being homogeneous in its composition, but consisting mainly of three portions, a conglo-
merate at base, an even-bedded sandstone in the middle portions, and a mass of siliceous
dark-colored slate with fucoids at the superior portion. Its lithological characters are not
uniformly the same. The conglomerate is sometimes wanting, or is imperfectly deve-
loped, and it also contains irregular beds of breccia in which there are masses of grey
sedimentary limestone ; a fact which is not to be forgotten. Besides these, there is a
mass of coarse dark-colored sandstone, traversed or checked by thin seams of grey quartz.
This last mass is well developed toward Champlain in Clinton county. The conglome-
rate along the Provincial line of New-York and Canada East, is more than three hundred
feet thick. This thick mass thins rapidly southwardly ; and in the valley of the Mohawk,
the entire mass of sandstone, as well as the conglomerate, has disappeared. In the
absence of the Potsdam sandstone, the succeeding rock, the Calciferous sandstone, rests
frequently upon the Primary system, as at Littlefalls. The fossils of this rock are fucoids,
and a single species of Lingula ; the latter are in great abundance at the High bridge near
Manchester upon the Ausable. The same shell occurs at French creek upon the St.
Lawrence.

The rock succeeding the Potsdam sandstone, is, as has already been stated, the Calcife-
rous sandrock of the late Prof. Eaton. This too, is one extremely heterogeneous in its
composition ; consisting of a grey sandy limestone, a white but quite siliceous limestone,
two or three encrinal masses which are nearly pure limestones, and often with layers fit
for polishing, and which form a tolerable handsome reddish marble. The most extraor-
dinary mass, however, is a reddish sandstone, with thin inconsiderable layers of slaty
lamine: if traced upward, it becomes a tolerably pure limestone, stained slightly with
iron, but sometimes white. Layers from eighteen inches to two feet thick of black chert
often appear, and alternate with the grey sandy variety. In addition to the above, we
frequently meet with layers charged with fine quartz chrystals, intermixed with cale spar,
sulphate of barytes, sulphuret of iron, etc.

Another mass, the place of which is very doubtful, is a brownish tough sandstone,
lying beneath all the other masses composing the Calciferous sandstone. The question in
regard to this mass, is whether it is to be considered as an equivalent of the Potsdam
sandstone, or as belonging to the succeeding mass, the Calciferous sandstone. The deter-
mination of this question is, however, of no importance to the subject under discussion ;
yet the mass is in a few places an important rock, as at Mount Toby in Washington
county, where it is one or two hundred feet thick. This, together with the red sandstone
just spoken of, I am sometimes disposed to consider as equivalents of the Potsdam sand-
stone. Perhaps it would be better, however, to regard them as intermediate masses, so
long as there are no decisive characters on either side.

OF THE NEW-YORK SYSTEM. 51

As my object now is merely to state very briefly the order of succession of the lower
New-York rocks, I have only to say, that from the Calciferous sandrock upwards, there is
a series of limestones described in the New-York Reports as Chazy, Birdseye and Trenton
limestones ; all of which, together with the black marble of Isle La Motte, are largely
formed in Northeastern New-York. It appears, also, according to Dr. Troost, that the
same limestones are found in East Tennessee, with the same fossils; a fact of great inte-
rest, as it sustains the position assumed in the Report of the Second District, namely, that
the Chazy rocks are not simply local interpolations, but may be considered as well defined
general masses.

Sull proceeding upward in the New-York series, we now have reached those slates and
shales which have been denominated the Utica slates, and Hudson-river or Pulaski shales.
The first is really a black calcareous shale. The succeeding mass is more or less sandy,
and finally terminates in a thick-bedded sandstone interlaminated with a dark-colored
slate. The whole thickness in New-York, at the termination of the Helderberg range
towards the Mohawk valley, is not far from seven hundred feet.

I have no occasion to extend this descriptive list of the lower rocks of the New-York
system farther. The succession is clear and unequivocal, determined directly by super-
position ; a superposition which may be at once seen by any one who will travel across
Jefferson county from north to south. The Potsdam sandstone is here the inferior mass :
it gradually passes into the Calciferous sandstone ; and in both rocks there is a species of
Lingula, either identical or so closely allied as to be distinguished with difficulty. The
bearing of this fact will be stated more fully hereafter. I may, however, say in this place,
that it entirely dissipates the notion advanced by Prof. Rocers, that the Potsdam sandstone
of the New-York system and the granular quartz of the Taconic system form one identical
rock.

The lower rocks, those now under consideration, are the only ones which, either in this
country or Europe, have ever been termed the Metamorphic rocks, or have ever been con-
founded with those that I have called the Taconic rocks or system. Some of them are
unquestionably equivalent to the Caradoc sandstones of the Silurian system. The Medina
sandstone, which succeeds the Hudson river rocks (black and grey shales and a thick-bedded
sandstone, with the Utica conglomerate at the superior part), is no where found in the
vicinity of the Hudson river; but here they are immediately succeeded by the thin greenish
and reddish shales, which finally pass into the thin-bedded limestones called in the New-
York reports the Manlius water-limes.

Having sfated very succinctly the order of the lower paleozoic rocks of the New-York
system, I deem it unnecessary to follow up the succession, inasmuch as there is scarcely
a possibility of confounding the Helderberg division with the Taconic system, and inas-
much too as it is admitted by all who dissent from my views in regard to this system, that
it is the lower division only which is metamorphosed into that long belt of slates, shales,
crystalline limestones and sandstones lying between the Hudson river on the west and

oT bhod

52 ROCKS OLDER THAN THE TACONIC SYSTEM.

Hoosic or Green mountain on the east. The succession of this lower division is represented
by an actual section extending from Glen’s falls five miles northeast, or to the primary
upon which the Potsdam sandstone rests.

Fig. 2.
d ——_—
Oe c ~
ee —F
Vos — SS i
_g , = ee

e. Granite; b. Potsdam sandstone; c. Calciferous sandstone; d. Trenton limestone; e. Black marble, extending
towards the river.

The gorge at this place is not sufficiently deep to expose the Potsdam sandstone, but the
succession is well exhibited in passing over the country in the direction stated above. The
Utica slate at the falls has been mostly destroyed by denudation ; but it appears both above
and below, upon the river banks, with its characteristic fossils, succeeding the Trenton
limestone.

The point to be shown, is that the lower division of the New-York system reposes upon
some of the members of the Taconic system ; that is, to show by actual superposition that
the former rests upon the latter. I trust I shall be able thus to do: not only to point out
where the two systems approach each other so closely that there is but little space inter-
vening between them, but where the finger may be placed directly upon the line of
demarkation; the one being the inferior and unconformable, and the other the superior.
This great fact being shown, its bearing on American geology is not confined to one or
two subjects, as metamorphism and age ; but it is also important as furnishing a base from
which may be formed a general nomenclature of sedimentary rocks. At any rate, it is a
point to be established before a nomenclature can be devised, that shall express the order
in which the series follow each other, and the designations proper to apply to them.

§ 4. Rocks BELOW AND OLDER THAN THOSE CONSTITUTING THE TACONIC SYSTEM.

In Massachusetts and Vermont, as well as in New-York, what has been usually deno-
minated the Primary range skirts the Taconic system upon the east, and forms with it
parallel belts of low mountain ridges, which unitedly form the Green mountains. Different
portions have received different names; as Hoosic mountain, immediately east of Adams
in Berkshire (Massachusetts) ; and Mansfield mountain, to the east of Burlington (Vermont) .

The Taconic range is parallel with the main ranges constituting the Green mountains,
and is a few miles only to the west. The ridge dividing New-York from Massachusetts is
the one to which this name was originally given. The ranges are, however, connected
by spurs, though not so intimately as to destroy the integrity of either, and make it
necessary to merge them both in one main range. The name Green mountains is a more

ROCKS OLDER THAN THE TACONIC SYSTEM, 53

general term, and often covers both ranges. But keeping up the distinction denoted by
the subordinate portions of the most easterly range, as Hoosic and Mansfield mountains,
and the Taconic range upon the west, we shall find that the geological character of the
two are quite dissimilar, and well worthy of observation on that account. The former
are the great primary or schist ranges, the subordinate members of which are gneiss, mica
and talcose slate, and hornblende, among which are many beds and veins of granite,
limestone, serpentine and trap. There is no clear line of distinction between the schistose
rocks : mica slate is the predominant rock, in connection with which we find gneiss and
talcose slate and hornblende, and with the two last are the serpentine and steatite beds,
which in some instances are beds of passage; for instance, the great beds of steatite in
Middlefield and Chester pass into talcose slate and serpentine.

The principal object in speaking of the schists, is to bring into mind their position and
character. Situated to the east, running in parallel ridges with the Taconic range, and
being composed in their entire length of schistose masses, we are furnished thereby with
the probable reason why the lower masses of the Taconic system are so perfectly schistose
also: the latter are derived from the former; the abraded materials of the one make up and
constitute the consolidated masses of the other; they are the first products from the primary
rocks; the sea in which these materials were deposited was the most ancient, with little
carbonaceous matter, and probably with a temperature rather above the present seas; the
masses are less changed in color and aspect; and being crystalline, also, the lower slates
of the Taconic system appear like those of the older schists of the Primary system: they
are regenerated rocks, possessing the characters belonging to the parent beds from which
they are derived. The fact is notorious that the talcose slates of Berkshire are like the
talcose slates of the Hoosic or Green mountains; and yet a close inspection of the two
ranges of schistose rocks will satisfy most geologists that they are not of the same age, or
of the same system.

That it is possible for a sedimentary rock to retain or assume the characters of the parent
rock, is rendered highly probable by the characters of the rocks or slates connected with the
Rhode-Island coal beds. Here, in connection with the conglomerate probably of the Old
Red sandstone, there is much material which is a talcose slate, differing but slightly from the
talcose slate of the Taconic system; or, in other words, it is like that of Berkshire county.
I conceive that the slate of the Old Red, and which I believe Prof. Hircxucock calls wacke
slate in his Massachusetts Report, is one derived directly from the magnesian slate of the
Taconic system lying in proximity thereto: the quartz pebbles are evidently of that kind
of quartz in the same rocks. The beds of conglomerate, with which these slate beds are
im connection, do not appear to be metamorphic: the whole seems to be merely indurated
or hardened slate, the original particles being tale and mica, with some fine quartz. The
rock, when complete, is merely an ordinary talcose slate.

I do not, however, deem it essential to prove the origin of the rocks which happen to
lie in the ranges belonging to the Taconic system. It is of little consequence what the

54 ROCKS OLDER THAN THE TACONIC SYSTEM.

lithological characters of any of its members are; still I consider that it tends to remove
objections from the minds of some, to show how it happens that we find slates in the
Taconic system so similar to those of the Gneiss or Primary system. If, however, the
doctrine I have advanced in relation to the origin of these slates is objected to, or is not
admitted as sound, I will ask on my part how it happens that talcose slate is found in the
conglomerate of the Old Red sandstone? If there is any better answer than the one I have
given; if there is a better doctrine, let us have it. I say that if talcose slate, a sedimentary
mass, can be made in the era of the Old Red sandstone, I see no objection to its being
made at an earlier period by the same process.*

§ 5. PosirioN AND RELATIONS OF THE TACONIC SYSTEM.

There is but one point which it is necessary to show, in order to prove that the Taconie
rocks belong to a different period from those of the lower New-York system; and this
being proved, the doctrine of metamorphism, as usually applied and understood, is no
longer important, or even of any consequence. The Taconic rocks may or may not be
metamorphic; this may be admitted, or it may be denied: it has nothing to do with the
question. Their texture may have been changed since their deposition; but if so, it by
no means follows that they are of the period of the Hudson river slates, or of the lower
Silurian rocks.

In proceeding to show the position of the Taconic system, I shall repeat in part the facts
stated in my report on the geology of the northern counties ; inasmuch as after a reéxami-
nation, I find but few instances in which I have had occasion to make corrections. These

* In these remarks, as I have touched lightly upon the coal-field of Rhode-Island, I will permit myself to wander
a little farther from the immediate subject of this essay. The doctrine that the anthracite of this small basin isa
metamorphic coal, has been promulgated by some of the ablest geologists of this country and of Europe, particularly
by Mr. Lyexrx. The hypothesis is, that the bitamen which it is supposed once formed a component part of these
beds of coal, has been dissipated by heat, or, in other words, burnt out. To this doctrine the writer is not yet ready
to yield his assent, for the following reasons: 1. The slates and conglomerate bear no marks of the action of heat
(I speak only of those which I have seen). The fossils are similar in texture to those of other coal-fields, and they
are perfectly free from all marks of fusion or induration by caloric. The Calamites are often in what some would
call a talcose slate; not so from heat, however, but in consequence of its origin. 2. If the bitumen was discharged
by heat, then ought the sulphur of the sulphuret of iron also to have disappeared. 3. If sufficient heat had been
applied to volatilize the bitumen of the coal, then ought the slate also to exhibit marks of having been burnt. But
it is said, farther, that the coal is changed into graphite. Admitting the fact, does it prove that heat was the agent of
this change? It does not necessarily follow, inasmuch as cast iron changes into graphite without this agency. The
doctrine I wish to maintain, is, that if the coal has been thoroughly baked so as to dissipate all its volatile matter,
then ought the rocks embracing the coal to exhibit signs of having been baked or burnt. In this connexion, too, I
would inquire, if in the original formation of coal-beds, bitumen is a necessary element, one that will be invariably
produced? Admitting that bitumen is not a necessary product, does the coal of Rhode-Island possess characters so
different from the western bituminous coal, that they cannot arise from pressure or other mechanical agencies? The
strongest evidence I have seen of the igneous action, is in the existence of seams of quartz, traversing the coal; not
that they are injected in a melted state, but deposited from hot water or aqueous vapor holding silex in solution.

~~

RELATIONS OF THE TACONIC SYSTEM. 55

occasions arise from having placed too much reliance upon lithological characters, which
it must be admitted are remarkably similar to those of the Hudson river shales, and the
primary schists. Thus upon the east, in the range of Graylock, are those slates which have
usually been denominated falcose, and sometimes mica slates. If lithological characters
alone are relied upon for determining their age and position in the series, some geologists
might place them in the Primary; and then again those upon the west, in the vicinity of
Hudson river, might, without doing violence to the same characters, be placed with the
slates and shales of the Champlain division. On the principle of giving to the Champlain
division those rocks which resembled its own members, and to the Primary system a similar
title, we might divide the Taconic system into two great divisions according to their respec-
tive lithological characters. Such a division, however, can by no means be admitted, for
reasons which will be stated hereafter. I may state, however, that geologists, by allowing
too much importance to lithological characters, have overlooked the Taconic system. In
this connection, too, I may remark, that it is important, when it is wished to determine
the amount of alteration which a mass has suffered, to ascertain its origin, or from whence
its materials were derived ; and also that it will be rarely essential to prove, or admit, that
it has been exposed to an intense heat; for steam, or hot water charged with silex or
other soluble bodies, are competent to produce great changes in a mass. Thus in the
Cumberland coal-field of Rhode-Island, the coal is traversed by seams or veins of quartz,
veins which we do not feel disposed to admit were injected in a state of igneous fusion, but
were rather deposited from a vapor or water holding silex in solution.

I shall take the broad and distinct ground that the Taconic system occupies a position
inferior to the Champlain division of the New-York system, or the lower division of the
Silurian system of Mr. Murchison. In order to prove that this position is well chosen, it
will be necessary to refer the reader to localities where one system of rocks reposes upon
the other; and that I might set this beyond the possibility of a doubt, I have sought those
points where the slates of the Taconic system come in contact with the lower limestones,
or with the Potsdam sandstone of the New-York system.

With these objects in view, I commenced my examination at Whitehall. This I consi-
dered a favorable place for the exhibition of the fact sought, since here the Utica slate and
Hudson river rocks are wanting. The New-York series commences with the Potsdam
sandstone, which rests on gneiss, and extends upwards so as to embrace merely the Calci-
ferous sandrock, and perhaps a very small remnant of the Chazy limestone. The rocks
dip eastwardly at an angle ranging from 2}° to 5°. On being traced in the direction of dip
along the sides of the uplift, they were found to extend two and a half to three miles only
from the lake, and to attenuate rather rapidly ; so much so, that they are cut through in
several places, leaving the easterly portions separated from the great mass at the west. In
these deep cuts the Taconic slate is denuded, and exposed in its steep southeasterly dip.
More than this, the immediate line of contact is exposed at one of the ravines in rear of

56 RELATIONS OF THE TACONIC

Whitehall mountain, so that all doubt in regard to its position and relation is removed by
direct inspection.
The diagram in Fig. 2 illustrates the position and relations exhibited at Whitehall.

Fig. 2.

és , ws el
= 77 — a) AGN ¥. : on

SAAN

a, a. Easterly prolongation of the mountain, which is surmounted by the Calciferous sandrock; b, 6, Tertiary clay ;
e, c. Taconic and black slate; d, d. Calciferous sandstone, unconformable to the Taconic slate, and dipping
southeast at an angle of 40-45 degrees.

From this exposition, no one can doubt the wide difference in age between this slate and
those of the Hudson river; the former being below the oldest members of the New-York
system, while the latter rest conformably upon the middle members of the Champlain
division. The Taconic or black slate, the newest member of the Taconic series, was not
only deposited anterior to the other under consideration, but was disturbed or removed
from the horizontal position ; and its deposition and disturbance seem to mark the close of
one geological period of great duration, if we may judge from the united thickness of the
rocks belonging to it.

Another section (Fig. 3), differing but little in detail from the preceding, but exhibiting
more fully the relations of these systems, is annexed.

Fig. 3.

Near a church three miles east of Whitehall, is a deep ravine in which the Taconic slate, d, d, is denuded ;
a, a. Calciferous sandstone.

Another section (Fig. 4), passing through the slates and shales of the Hudson river as
well as the Taconic slates, is taken from the hills of Greenbush opposite the city of Albany.

Fig. 4.

Ns

a. Tertiary clay; }. Hudson river shales; c, c. Taconic slate; d. Calciferous sandstone.

Passing east from the ferry, the first rocks are the shales of Hudson river, overlaid by tertiary
clays: these continue to the Red mill. Leaving the mill, the rocks are concealed till we reach
the summit of a low range of hills bordering the eastern side of the valley of the Hudson.

——— 2 Ee

WITH THE NEW-YORK SYSTEM. 57

The summit is marked by rather rounded hills, of sufficient magnitude to break the con-
tinuity of the plain. One of these hills, nearly east of the ferry, is crowned by the Cal-
ciferous sandstone : it has a sugarloaf shape; descending, however, more rapidly upon its
western face. Through this hill the section passes; and here we find the taconic slate
ontcropping upon the western side directly beneath the limestone, and but a few feet
distant from it. Some diversity of opinion may arise in relation to this small mass of
limestone being the Calciferous. My reasons for regarding it as such, are, 1st, It is litho-
logically so: it is geodiferous: its geodes contain the quartz crystals and the peculiar
anthracite; and, 2dly, a few of the fossils are either those of the Calciferous or the Chazy
limestone, for I have found the Maclurea here. Then again its position is that of the
Calciferous sandstone: it is the inferior rock where the Potsdam is absent. But at this
locality we find other fossils quite similar to those of the Trenton limestone; the Bellero-
phon bilobata, or the same which is credited to the Trenton limestone. But what is quite
remarkable, I found masses bearing the character of the Birdseye limestone. All these
facts put together indicate that this mass of limestone is a mixture of all the lower lime-
stones of the New-York system; that they meet in this mass, though it is by no means
extensive. But this view is not adverse to the position I take, namely, that the slate
beneath is older, and belongs to an older system, inasmuch too as it is unconformable to it.

An interesting fact is exhibited at Whitehall, in the position or relations of the Potsdam
sandstone. At this place it may be traced continuously to the gneiss on the western side
of the mountain, and dipping to the east. We trace it upward into the calciferous sandstone,
whose thickness here is at least two hundred feet. But a mile or two to the east we find
in the deepest ravines the outcropping of the black or taconic slate, which plunges rapidly
downwards on the western face of the rock. Now it is highly probable that the slate is
continued farther west than what appears in the outcrop, so that it probably passes beneath
the Potsdam unconformably, as we know it does beneath the prolonged Calciferous sand-
stone. If this view is correct, the lower member of the New-York system, the Potsdam
sandstone, rests or reposes upon two systems: on the western margin, upon gneiss, and
the Primary system; and on the eastern margin, upon the Taconic system.

But an important inference may be drawn from the relations of the potsdam at this place,
namely, that it is not the granular quartz of which much has been said in the Reports of
Prof. Hircucocx, and in the geological papers of Prof. Dewey, or No. 1 in part of the
Pennsylvania and Virginia Reports. I say in part, because Professors Rogers in their No. 1
include both the Potsdam sandstone and the Granular quartz; for if these masses are one
and the same, the slate one and a half miles east ought to rest upon the Calciferous sand-
stone; and there is no space for the slate to come in between the calciferous and potsdam,
as they are conformable to each other, and the whole western face of the hill or mountain
is an exposed cliff, where every inch of rock from top to bottom can be seen. At this
place, it is true, there is a thin band of siliceous slate ; but it is im toto distinct from the
argillaceous slate a short distance to the east. This band is an accidental deposit: it is
sometimes present, but frequently absent; while the argillaceous or green taconic slate is

{[AcricuLturAL ReEport.] 8

58 RELATIONS OF THE TACONIC

a rock of immense thickness. Where the siliceous band is wanting, the potsdam sandstone
passes by imperceptible grades into the calciferous, the calcareous matter gradually in-
creasing. The only view, then, which can be taken of these two masses, one of which
was invariably below the Calciferous sandstone, and the other below a grey slate near the
Primary schists in this section of country some twenty miles to the east, is that they are
totally different rocks, or belong to distinct eras; and yet lithologically they are much the
same, and in position lie at the base of two distinct but successive systems.

A few words more in regard to the Calciferous sandstone. This rock is sometimes asso-
ciated with a mass of compact blue limestone, more pure, though of a darker color, than
the common variety. It oceupies a position usually inferior also to the common calciferous
sandstone. That it belongs to that rock, however, there can be no doubt, as it often
passes into it; yet in some places it is exceedingly obscure in its relations. Its stratifica-
tion also is so imperfect, that it is impossible to decide with confidence whether it has any.
It is compact, though imperfectly jointed, and is always traversed by seams of white spar.
At one locality the blue mass beneath becomes incorporated with the grey mass above ;
but the layers on one side are marked by lines of deposit, which suddenly stop, and the
mass on the adjacent side is entirely destitute of planes of deposit. This locality is Gales-
ville, Washington county; a locality, which all who doubt the soundness of my views
will do well to see and examine. They will here find the lower limestone resting, as at
many other places, upon a slate.

The extension of the Calciferous sandrock east can not be marked by a continuous line :
it often seems to depend upon the amount of denudation and destruction the rocks have
suffered. It appears too only in patches, and never in uninterrupted masses for any
distance. Generally in these instances it occupies the highest hills, or the knobs, and
occasionally extends down upon the eastern or northeastern sides. Whatever may be
its position, however, it is never interlaminated with the slates of the vicinity: it never
dips into, but reclines upon them.

Mr. Hall, my colleague, is disposed to regard some of these masses of limestone as
appertaining to the Trenton. This view does not affect unfavorably the question whether
there is a system of rocks beneath the New-York system; for at all those localities it is
clearly the oldest mass of this system, and it reposes unconformably upon a still older
deposit of slates. It hence matters not what name we give them: the fact has no ex-
ception.

To the north, and perhaps the whole length of Lake Champlain, the Calciferous sand-
stone lies in a more continuous north and south line than in the immediate range of the
Hudson. From Whitehall south as far as the Southern highlands, we meet with it usually
in detached beds occupying the hills. Along this range is the great north and south frac-
ture, which has elevated these hills in a line almost continuous. The first effect of this
fracture and uplift was to produce a continuous ridge; but subsequently the ridge was
broken through by diluvial currents, or else the lower points of the intervening strata were

WITH THE PRIMARY SYSTEM., 59

worn down, leaving the range of knobs as we now find. Thus Bald mountain and Mount
Toby, with several others in the neighborhood, stand in insulated high points, capped with
the Calciferous sandstone; while at their bases the Taconic slate appears in an outcrop,
varying in thickness from fifty to two hundred feet. But the Calciferous sandstone is not
confined to the line in the immediate borders of the valley of the Hudson: it is found in
patches twenty miles east, reposing as at the west upon the slates; probably, however,
upon the magnesian slates.

From these few remarks upon this rock, its position and relations will be understood. It
is the lowest member of the New-York system, as well as the most easterly ; and occupy-
ing an exceedingly long range, it is not surprising that its lithological character should be
found diverse and continually changing.

I have now exhibited the actual relations of one of the Taconic rocks to the New-York
system; that member which on all hands has been considered as the nearest related to the
Hudson river shales and sandstones, or the one which approaches the nearest in litho-
logical structure and condition to these rocks.

Having demonstrated the relations of the most westerly mass, and having shown that it
is not only unconformable to the New-York rocks, but inferior to them, I proceed to speak
of the relations of the most easterly members of the Taconic with the Primary system, for
the purpose of showing that the Taconic system is the newer of the two, or that it holds an
intermediate position between the Primary schists and the New-York system.

At several localities which I have often examined in Vermont and Massachusetts, the
most easterly rock is the Brown sandstone, or Granular quartz. A fine exposure exists at
Sunderland (Vermont), nearly east of Salem in Washington county (New-York); or
rather of Miller’s falls, on the Hudson river. The quartz succeeds a magnesian slate,
with which it is conformable; and on being traced to the primary schists, is found to
repose upon them unconformably, the former ranging N. 20° E. and dipping at an angle
not exceeding 10°, while the primary schists have a much steeper dip to the east. The
precise line or plane of junction is concealed by drift, but I was able to observe it within
a few yards. Near the junction, the slaty quartz is charged with crystals of schorl and
octahedral iron. There are also beds of what may be termed porphyritic quartz, since they
contain crystals of felspar. A portion of the lowest mass, however, is a breccia, as in many
other important localities, of which I shall have occasion to speak hereafter. The quartz,
as is frequently the case, is interlaminated with a siliceous slate, by which its stratification
is very clearly shown, giving us the means of distinguishing the planes of deposition from
the very strong natural joints and those of cleavage.

8*

60 RELATIONS OF THE TACONIC SYSTEM.

The section in the margin exhibits the con-
nection of the quartz and primary schists, with
which, however, there are beds of granite
containing a peculiar blue quartz, that enters

0 = a . com .
ae also into the composition of the breccia already
referred to; and I may add that I observed
@. Brown sandstone or granular quartz; 6. Gneiss with beds of gra- 4
nite, in which quartz predominates ; c. Thick beds of drift. this at Adams (Massachusetts), nearly forty

miles further south.

I have now stated the facts in regard to the junction of the Taconic system, first, on the
west with the New-York or Silurian system; and secondly, on the east with the Primary
schists, with which it is also unconformable. From the preceding account, it is not to be
doubted but that there is a system of rocks lying, as has been heretofore maintained,
between Hoosic mountain range and the Hudson river, of an age posterior to the gneiss
and mica slate, and anterior to the New-York system. It consists, throughout all its beds,
of sedimentary matter generally in a state of fine division. These beds are conformable
to each other, and arranged in uninterrupted succession, although their lithological charac-
ters are very diverse.

These facts, therefore, go to show the unity of the rocks which compose the Taconic
system ; being deposited during a greatly extended period, which will be shown to have
abounded in part in organic bodies, whose forms were as remarkable as any in the animal
kingdom.

From considerations which have been adduced in this section, the doctrine of metamor-
phism is of no consequence. We may admit the fact, without involving the question of
age, either in one or both systems: each may have undergone great changes in mechanical
texture, without embarrassing our conclusions, even though two limestones, slates or sand-
stones become by those changes identical in lithological features or composition.

I have already stated that the Taconic system lies between the Hoosic mountain range
on the east, and Hudson river on the west: I may now add that it embraces a belt of country
at least forty miles wide. This statement is confirmed by my researches since the Report
on the Second District was published, its extent being increased by an extension of the
Taconic slate beyond those limits which I had then fixed upon. In this ancient system,
contrary to what would be expected, perhaps, we find as few disturbances as during any
other subsequent periods ; that is, in the belt of country between the Hudson at Albany and
the Hoosic mountain, no remarkable ones seem to have occurred, except that by which
the rocks have been thrown into an inclined position: there are no intrusions of igneous
rocks, as dykes, beds of granite, etc.; though when we trace the system south, distur-
bances are quite common; but even in the midst of them, I may say that the metamor-
phisms are no greater than in many rocks of a much later date. So that the effects of
intruded igneous rocks are not always strongly manifested; and, in fact, in New-York,
they are scarcely worthy of attention, unless indeed for the very point stated, the extremely
slight change that appears just at the junction of the two rocks, and then the alteration

MEMBERS OF THE TACONIC SYSTEM. 61

extends only a few inches in depth. For this reason, the best field for studying the rocks
of this period is the belt here referred to, embracing the whole country from the Hudson
river to the Green mountains. It will be seen hereafter that in Maine we are encumbered
with igneous injections, as trap dykes, and perhaps with granitic eruptions; yet even in
Maine the Taconic slate seems to be but little affected as a whole by intruded masses, the
most disturbed portions being among the lower members of the Taconic system.

IL INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS OF THE TACONIC SYSTEM IN NEW-YORK,
MASSACHUSETTS AND VERMONT.

§ 1. LirgoLtocicaL CHARACTERS AND SUCCESSION.

The researches and observations hitherto made on the rocks of this system, have not yet
elucidated their nature so far as to enable us to determine the best mode of treating them.
There is no doubt as to their succession; but there are some points of inquiry peculiar to
the province of geology, such as whether certain individual masses are to be regarded as
subordinate beds or independent rocks, upon which some diversity of opinion may very
well exist. On this question, two different views might be adopted and maintained without
doing violence to established principles. In the first place, the whole series may be con-
sidered as an immense deposite of slate, in which are many subordinate beds of different
materials, as limestone, chert or hornstone, breccia, sandstone, etc.; or, in the second place,
those individual masses may be treated as independent rocks, though it will still remain
true that some of these masses rest upon, and are succeeded by, a kind of slate whose
characters are identical. I shall, however, take the latter view, so far at least as the more
important masses are concerned, although there are no very substantial reasons for the
adoption of this course. ‘Taking one broad view of the whole system, it may be described
as consisting of fine and coarse slates, with subordinate beds of chert, fine and coarse
limestone, and grey, brown and white sandstone. These admit, however, of more minute
divisions than J have here stated, as will be seen in the sequel. But it is necessary,
in the first place, to form some conception of the original position of the masses. Their
present position is an inverted one; that is, those rocks which are really the inferior, and
of course the older, are now the superior, and apparently the older; and we have, there-
fore, to reconcile this seeming incongruity. Sedimentary rocks are always deposited in a
soft movable state, and usually remain in a horizontal position until consolidated. These
rocks, however, are now always inclined, their prevailing inclination or dip being to the
southeast, and it is towards this direction that the older rocks are found; the consequence
is that the newer rocks, or those towards the west, dip beneath the older, or might even
pass beneath them, provided they were prolonged far enough in this direction. To escape

62 ORDER OF SUCCESSION

from this difficulty, we may suppose the masses to have succeeded each other as in the
annexed diagram, and the taconic slate, with its subordinate beds, to have been deposited
during a slow upward movement of the primary schists and older taconic rocks, which of
course would change the bed of the ocean in which these deposits were going on or accu-
mulating ; or, We may suppose that early denudations have removed extensive portions of
the upper beds.

Fig. 6,

v
A. Gneiss. 1. Granular quartz, or Brown sandstone. 2. Stockbridge limestone. 3. Magnesian slate. 4. Sparry
limestone. 5. Roofing slate. 6. Coarse brecciated bed. 7. Taconic slate. 8. Black slate.

As far as I am informed, there is no objection to the view here presented of these rocks,
namely, that of regarding them to have been originally in this position ; the oldest mem-
ber, the brown sandstone, reposing upon the primary rocks A, and each mass to have
succeeded as in the diagram, and terminating with a black slate (No. 8), which may
never have extended far east. I present this view as probable, and have been led to adopt
it from the consideration that the Taconic and Black slates are newer rocks than the
Magnesian slate and Stockbridge limestone : they contain ‘fossils, which are wanting in
the other members of the series; and though it may be urged that these rocks are so far
changed by a variety of causes as to have produced the obliteration of their fossils if any
ever existed in them, still when we recollect that fossils are found in many crystalline
rocks, and that many layers of considerable thickness are but little changed, I am disposed
to assume that the rocks in question never contained fossils. “I'he Grey sandstone, the
oldest member, so far as metamorphism is concerned, may as well retain and exhibit casts
or marks of organic bodies, as the equally hard siliceous rock, the Potsdam sandstone, at
the base of the New-York system. To assist us in maintaining these views, we may
suppose the superior members to have been removed by abrasion, and thus limited in an
easterly direction; and besides this, as the Taconic system is comparatively narrow, we
have reason for assuming the ground that the deposition was but scantily extended east and
west, and that the whole system was formed in a deep trough.

If now we suppose these beds subjected to upheaving forces which we know have existed
in all geological periods, they may be forced into an inclined position, and this position
may be that general inclination which at present prevails. This position may have been
produced by successive uplifts, by which the strata were broken, or their continuity de-
stroyed, and their fractured surfaces raised to an inclination more or less steep according to
the amount and duration of the force applied.

Those who wish to pursue the subject of physical change in the belt of country through
which the taconic rocks pass, will do well to study the article upon this subject by Profs.
W. H. and H. D. Rocers, in the Transactions of the Association of Geologists and Natu-

OF THE TACONIC ROCKS. 63

ralists. It is not my purpose here, however, to pursue the theory of these changes. I
regard the dips as having been produced by simple uplifts of the strata; not indeed that
they have not been subjected to lateral pressure, by which curvatures were produced in
many instances. But admitting the Rogerian theory as it regards foldings and southeasterly
dips, and giving it all the stretch of faith which confidence in sound geological principles
will admit, still that part of it which connects the Hudson river shales with the Taconic
slates in prolonged arches must necessarily fall to the ground.

The position and order of the Taconic rocks I have exhibited in the section Fig. 7. It
shows the regular parallel southeasterly dip, and the principal beds together with the suc-
cession. From this the reader or student will understand what was adverted to by the
terms inverted strata. ‘Thus the numbers 5, 6, 7 and 8 refer to the Taconic slate in its sub-
ordinate beds, which, as they dip in the diagram, would pass necessarily beneath the rocks
situated towards A.

Fig. 7.

, 2. Stockbridge limestone.
. Roofing slate. 7. Rough

A. Primary schists. 1. Granular quartz, or brown and white sandstone.
3, 3. Magnesian slate. 4. Sparry limestone. 5. Taconic slate.
coarse siliceous beds, 8. Flinty slate. 9. Hudson river shales.

§ 2, Buack sLaTe.

Reasons why this rock is separated from the Taconic slate. First discovery of Crustaceans in this mass.
Characters as a rock obscure. Its fossils.

T shall describe the rocks in the descending order ; and by so doing, I commence with a
mass, of which there is some doubt whether it ought to be considered a distinct rock, or
merely the upper portion of the Taconic slate; still I am disposed to regard it now as a
separate and distinct rock, forming, so far as examinations have been made, the highest
member of the Taconic system. The circumstances which have led to the separation of
this from the rock referred to, are of an interesting character; interesting particularly as
being connected with the discovery of crustaceans where they were least expected. While
examining the strata near Bald mountain, during the early part of September of the
present year, my attention was arrested by the discovery of the fossil figured in Plate IT.
fig. 3, which resembles very closely an annelide of the scolopendrian family; but the
specimen is imperfect, and hence its true character cannot be determined with certainty.
This discovery led to farther search for additional specimens, but no other fragment has
yet been found ; although in the course of different searches, two distinct species of trilobites
were found by my friend Dr. Frrcn, and fragments of others too imperfect to describe.

‘

64 BLACK SLATE.

This slate is black, and each layer is often slightly glazed by a film of carbonaceous
matter. Black calcareous layers appear in the slate only a short distance from the locality
of the fossils, but diligent search there has not been rewarded by the acquisition of organic
bodies of any kind. The lamine, which are quite thin, often exhibit intervening spaces
of disintegrating red coarser and more friable particles than those composing the slate, in
which we sometimes observe traces of organic matter, too obscure, however, to enable us
to form an opinion of its nature.

This mass has no essential character by which it can be distinguished from other slates,
though the color may serve to remove it perhaps from the greenish taconic slate which
appears but a short distance to the east. Assuming that its fossils are distinct from the
rocks of this and the other systems, and provided they were as numerous as those of most
fossiliferous rocks, there would be no difficulty in recognizing it. As the matter now stands,
we have only three specimens of trilobites, and a fragment of something which appears
to be an annelide, but may prove to be a trilobite that shall form a connecting link between
the Crustaceans and Annelides.

In consequence of the uncertainty in regard to the light in which this mass ought to be
viewed, I dismiss the further consideration of it for the present. The character of the
trilobites may be seen in the annexed figures.

Fig. 8,

Atops trilineatus,

No. 1, is the head of a trilobite, which seems to belong to an intermediate genus between Calymene and Triarthrus.
The head and part of the body are well preserved in one specimen; but the other (No. 2), is unfortunately
badly worn. The latter I at first considered the same species as that represented by No. 1; but on further
examination, I have little doubt that they are distinct. The ribs, of which I can easily count fifteen from
the buckler to the posterior extremity of the specimen, are drawn too coarsely in the figure, The tail is
acute, but not prolonged into a spine: there are no markings upon the buckler. The specimen, however,
is too imperfect for a name, and would not have been noticed at all but from a wish to illustrate the rock as
far as possible by its organic bodies.

No. 1, I have named -4tops trilineatus. The absence of eyes, however, is not a distinctive mark : the three species
are blind, The ‘tops is evidently allied to the Triarthrus beckii, so abundant in the Utica slate ; the lines
in this, however, are direct or transverse to the middle lobe: there is an additional pair in the Atops.

= —. ee

Sy

FOSSILS OF THE BLACK SLATE. 65

Fig. 9.

Elliptocephala asaphoides,

No. 1, is a large individual, much flattened by pressure: the natural joints of the slate pass through the specimen.
The tail and a portion of the body are wanting. I have named this Elliptocephala asaphoides. The ellipse
upon the buckler appears to be a characteristic marking, while the ribs and middle lobe resemble very
strongly the same parts of the Asaphus tyrannus. In its perfect form, the ellipse seems to belong to the
old and perfect individual.

No. 2, is the head of a small individual of the same species. The ellipse in this individual has an anterior segment
not to be seen in No. 1, which I suppose may be obliterated by age.

No. 3, is a fragment of a trilobite probably, but the ribs bear a different character from those we generally meet with.

§ 3. Taconic SLATE, WITH ITS SUBORDINATE BEDS.

Characters of the Taconic slate. Reasons for the opinion that the coarser beds are not metamorphic. Natural
joints. Enumeration of the principal beds ; their strike. Reasons for making the Hoosic roofing slates sub-
ordinate to the Taconic slate. Discovery of fossils : Fucoides and Nereites. Supposed tube of a Nereites in
the coarse slates of Brunswick in Rensselaer county, New-York.

It may be described as an even-bedded aluminous slate, varying from the finest possible
grit to one that is coarse and rather uneven-bedded, and passing into a rock having many
of the characters of asandstone. The fineness appears not to depend upon its distance from
the western edge of the formation, or on its nearness to the present primary schists on the
east; since the mass 7 (Fig. 7, page 19) is a coarse sandstone in the midst of fine argilla-

[AcricuLruraL Reporrt.] L

66 TACONIC SLATE,

ceous slate. The latter is even-grained, and finer in texture; a fact which goes to prove
that the change is not due to metamorphism, but to the character of the materials from
which it is formed. The color of these slates is mostly a pea-green, but they frequently
weather to a paler hue, and sometimes appear bleached or of a dirty grey upon the outside.
The coarser slates are always of a dirty greyish green, and though thin-bedded, never split
with an even surface. The fine-grained, on the contrary, are of brighter colors, and split
with a tolerably even surface, and hence have been used very extensively for flags. Other
portions of the rock are nearly black, passing into blue. This dark color is usually due to
the presence of sulphuret of iron, which, decomposing, imparts to the slate the black tinge
peculiar to one form of sulphur when liberated from its combination with iron. This fact
has led some geologists into error, by supposing that the dark color is due to the presence
of graphite ; and as this variety is often in proximity to the limestones or limestone shales,
it has led to the adoption of the opinion that by heat the limestone has been made to yield
the carbon necessary to form the graphite; and what has served to confirm the fallacy, is
the fact that the slate is often finely glazed by strong pressure, when raised from a hori-
zontal to its present inclined position.

The surface of this slate is often beautifully rippled, like many of the finer sandstones
in the New-York system, and still it retains the fine earthy texture of a sedimentary rock.
The principal change which it has suffered, is the development of numerous natural joints,
by which the lamine separate into rhombic prisms with angles varying but little from 60°
and 120°. In very many places, it assumes that peculiar silvery greenish grey common
to the talcose schists. I have not observed any change in its state or condition, which can
be termed with propriety metamorphic. It never loses its earthy texture, or never has
acquired characters which may not be ascribed simply to pressure, and the common mole-
cular attraction which all kinds of matter are subject to. The simple drying of the rock
has produced shrinkage cracks, which have been filled with calcareous spar or fibrous
limestone ; and wherever, by crushing and fracture, empty spaces were made, they too
have been filled with carbonate of lime or quartz, a result common to all rocks.

The subordinate beds are,

1. Coarse harsh sandstone with angular grains, imbued more or less with chloritic matter, and tra-
versed very thickly with seams of quartz, by which the rock is divided or divisible into all kinds
of angular masses: their planes thickly set with imperfect crystals of quartz.

2. Beds of grey sandstone with seams of quartz, but not very prominent.

Green and black flinty slate, which breaks with a large conchoidal fracture.

4, Blue compact limestone beds, and limestone breccia generally filled with sparry seams. Portions
seem to be a regenerated rock from fragments of a pre-existing mass. This is, however, quite
limited in extent.

5. Roofing slate, of fine even texture and of a good quality.

. Red and chocolate-colored slates, usually fine-grained, but sometimes coarse and micaceous.

7. Beds of grey siliceous limestone, whose characters approach nearly to the calciferous sandrock.
It is traversed also by seams of quartz and calcareous spar.

ad

a

AND ITS SUBORDINATE BEDS. 67

I deem it unnecessary to describe these beds more minutely, except to remark generally
that their thickness varies from a few feet to sixty; the coarse and finer sandstones are about
sixty feet in their greatest development, and the siliceous sandstone about thirty. The
beds of roofing slate may or may not be over sixty feet thick. The blue sparry and brec-
ciated limestone is about twenty or twenty-five feet thick.

‘All the above masses are strictly beds, lying parallel to the beds of slate whose strike is
N. 10° E. by compass. The presence of these beds, their relations to each other, and the
great mass which embraces them, are facts of sufficient importance and character to lead to
the separation of this slate from the shales of the Hudson river. To be satisfied of this, let
the inquirer traverse the rock from west to east: he will usually find, first, a fine greenish
slate, passing into a coarse siliceous slate, with one or two beds of the coarse sandstone
with angular fragments ; passing on farther, he will meet with a bed of flinty slate, asso-
ciated perhaps with a few sparry layers of limestone ; then a bed of more perfect sandstone ;
then, one of liver-colored slates; and still farther to the east, and near the great mass of
the sparry limestone, he will find the roofing slate. In following this direction, however,
he will, in the space of fifteen or twenty miles, pass several times over the same beds,
which are brought up by many successive uplifts.

The roofing slate had been heretofore classed among the Hudson river rocks or the
Loraine shales, but later observations have proved in the most satisfactory manner that it
is a part of the Taconic slate. I was led into this error myself by the discovery of fossils,
which had much the appearance of the graptolites of the Utica slate, but which I am
now satisfied are marine vegetables. Those geologists who are well acquainted with the
different beds of the Hudson river series, will at once see that they do not, as a whole,
agree with or correspond to those of the Taconic slate ; and though Prof. Rogers remarks
in his address, that my sections in general correspond with his own, requiring merely the
restoration of the great curves in order to make the correspondence perfect, except in
the want of conformity of some of the beds; it may be replied, that although the Hudson
river shales and Taconic slates may be connected by supplying curves, it is only an acci-
dental coincidence, the fact being perfectly clear that no real similarity can exist in two
systems, one of which is anterior to the other. And I may very properly remark, that it
furnishes a lesson well worthy of remembrance even to so learned and accomplished a
geologist as my friend Prof. Rocers, not to place too much reliance upon the imagination ;
for certainly it is plain that an inferior system can not be connected with a superior,
although a certain similarity may exist in regard to order; and though two sections, one
of which is from the former and the other from the latter, may have coincident masses, still
from this alone without other kinds of proof, they ought not to be considered identical.

9*

68 FOSSILS OF THE TACONIC SLATE.

FOSSILS PECULIAR TO THE TACONIC SLATE.

At the time of the publication of my Report for the Second or Northern Geological
District, I was not satisfied that the rock now under consideration contained fossils. It is
true that obscure traces of fucoids had been discovered in beds of slate in Cambridge,
Washington county, and those of a more perfect character were known in the roofing
slate; yet the strong prejudice which then existed to the plan of separating these slates
from the Hudson river series, led me to retain them in the New-York system, considering
the roofing slate of Hoosic in particular as an outlier of this series. However, no doubt
now exists as it regards the place these beds occupy: 1 full and careful examination has
established the fact that they are varieties of Taconic slate, and appear only as subor-
dinate beds. We are not now so limited in organic bodies as at the time referred to. I
have since discovered at least three genera of the red-blooded worms in the slates of
Washington county, in addition to the trilobites of the black slate; and I had an oppor-
tunity to inspect five or six species of JVereites, and two species of Myrianites, during my
visit this season to Waterville, Maine. I now feel confident that we have much additional
evidence in these peculiar fossils, not only of the propriety of separating this rock from the
shales of Hudson river, but of the independence of the Taconic system; and how strong
this evidence might be, considered if it stood alone, and without the proof from other
sources of the inferiority of its position, I am not prepared to say ; but, without question, the
fact itself is one of the most interesting in geology. For how remarkable it is that those
curious organic bodies of the nereitoid family should characterize a group of rocks; and
certainly it is not too much to say this, when we find them in the same rock in New-
York, Maine, and Wales in Great Britain, three places so distant from each other! It is
true that the number of species at present known is comparatively small, still this ought
not to be considered a strong objection, inasmuch as but little search has yet been made ;
and besides, their peculiar forms, and the mode in which they are preserved, are such as
to leave them obscure and very liable to be overlooked.

As the fossils here referred to appear to be new, I have been obliged to propose new
genera for their reception. The inspection of the figures, I have little doubt, will satisfy
most geologists and naturalists that they belong to the family of JVereites, closely allied to
the Llampator fossils figured by Mr. Murcutson and determined by Mr. M‘Leay. At any
rate, they do not appear so aberrant in their types as to exclude them from this family.

Plate XIV. fig. 1. I have called Wemapodia tenuissima.* It is found in the fine green
taconic slate of Salem, Washington county, New-York. It is quite abundant.

Fig. 2. Gordia marina. It resembles the Gordius, a freshwater worm, usually called
Heir-worm. No joints or swellings can be discovered in the fossil. It is in the fine flagging
stone of Mr. M‘Arruur, in Jackson, Washington county.

* Nema, a thread; pous, a foot.

FOSSILS OF THE TACONIC SLATE, 69

Fig. 3. Is an imperfect fossil, which I have suffered to remain for the present without a
name. It appears more in the character of a land than of a marine animal. It belongs
probably to the Annelides, but it is unsafe to speak with much confidence on the character
of imperfect specimens. It is associated with the trilobites of the black slate. It is remark-
able that this locality has not furnished two specimens alike, or of the same genus or species.
Several days’ works by experienced observers have been spent here, and a great quantity
of slate carefully examined: the success, however, has been quite disproportionate to the
labor bestowed.

Plate XV. exhibits three species of JVereites.

Fig. 3. WVereites jacksoni, a name conferred from respect to my esteemed friend Dr. C.
T. Jackson. It is the largest species yet discovered.

Fig. 2. WV. loomisii, is named in honor of my friend Prof. Loomts, of Waterville College,
Maine, to whom I am greatly indebted for specimens and assistance while engaged in the
examination of the rocks of that State.

Fig. 1. WV. pugnus, a very remarkable fossil, as will appear from the additional figure
given of its termination on Plate XVI.

Plate XVI. fig. 6. JVereites lanceolata, is a beautiful species, not very abundant at Water-
ville, but is finely preserved.

Fig. 5. Myrianites sillimani, closely resembles the murchisoni, but is larger and more
distinctly knotted. I have named it with reference to the editor of the American Journal
of Science.

Fig. 4. IV. pugnus. I am disposed to consider this as the caudal extremity, rather than
the head. It is the only one which has exhibited distinctly a termination.

Fig. 3. WV. gracilis. Only one specimen has been discovered of this species.

Fig. 2. WV. deweyi, is a very beautiful nereite, which I have named after my distinguished
friend Prof. Dewey of Rochester, who in his early geological investigations gave much
time to the lower taconic rocks.

Fig. 1. Myrianites murchisoni, named after the celebrated author of the Silurian system.

Plate XVII. I have figured two fucoids, which are associated with the fossils of this slate
in Washington county, Fucoides fleruosa and rigida. The first is a long flexuose leaf:
it sometimes appears on the flagging stone of M‘Arthur’s quarry, two feet in length. The
other is much smaller, and appears rather stiff and rigid. Fragments of-both species are
common in the slate, sometimes quite obscure, especially when weathered, in which case
they lose their black color.

Such are the fossils of the Taconic slate ; few, indeed, but of an exceedingly interesting
character. We can hardly expect, however, that the species will be.greatly multiplied, or
that the localities will be numerous.

In addition to the fossils of this slate, I have one more to add, of a singular character.
It appears to be a tube, perhaps the earthy case of an annelide. Of its organic nature
there is no doubt; and that it was a ¢ube, there is not much doubt, as it appears to be
partly crushed. It is represented in fig. 10.

70 FOSSILS OF THE TACONIC SLATE.

Fig. 10.

The slate in which this specimen was found is rather coarse, and somewhat unlike the
fine green taconic slate. It is not easily split into lamine, and hence it will be difficult to
obtain the fossils it may possibly contain. It was found in Brunswick, Rensselaer county,
by my friend Dr. Sxitton of Troy.

That the above fossil was the tube of an annelide, is of course suggested by the circum-
stance that animals of this class are found in this rock: the idea is in keeping with this
fact, and probably-would not have been thought of independently. It is evident, however,
that the annelides yet discovered in the Taconic rocks were naked, or did not construct
tubes for their habitations ; so that it is not supposed that this relict was the tube of one of
the species which I have figured and described.

Should no farther discoveries in fossils be made, the Taconic system will present a very
singular and remarkable condition: the animal kingdom being represented for a long period
by a single fragment, and that fragment belonging to one of its obscurest families, yet not
the lowest in the scale of organization; but the most striking peculiarities consist in the
remarkable forms here preserved, and the absence of all others which might serve to
connect them with the known parts of the series. The JVereites and congeners standing,
as it were by themselves, the sole representatives of one of the kingdoms of nature! Sub-
sequently each geological period or era had many forms, typical of many divisions of the
animal kingdom. But here, the entire absence of those forms which become so abundant
at the very commencement of the succeeding system, is, to say the least, extremely in-
teresting. However, so strange an anomaly is not to be admitted at once; although for
many years these rocks have been diligently examined, without furnishing a single
mollusk. ,

I would here remark, that in consequence of the similarity of the taconic slates and
some of the rocks of the Champlain group, fossils have been occasionally presented in
their matrix, when it was doubtful to which system they belonged. In these cases I have
invariably visited the spot, for the purpose of determining the exact position the fossil
occupied ; and, in all cases where they were testacea, they were found in the New-York
system.

ROOFING SLATE. 71

The members subordinate to the Taconic slate have been enumerated. The order in
which they are disposed is exhibited in the plate of sections. In three of them only have
fossils been found. The coarse slaty sandstone of a greenish color, which is the first mass
met with going from west to east, is the mass in which the fossil represented fig. 10 was
found.

Not far distant is a bed of sparry limestone, more slaty than the rock described under
that name. ‘This is only about fifteen feet thick. The question comes up, whether this
mass may not be the thin western edge of the true sparry limestone, the rock next
described? I know of no facts which favor this view, except the very equivocal one,
lithological character.

Another mass whose characters are quite remarkable, is a breccia lying at the western
base of the Taconic range. It is developed largely ; more so, I believe, in East Sandlake,
and about twelve miles east of the Hudson at Albany. It forms a high broken rough
range of hills which terminate just south of the macadam road in Pittstown, sixteen miles
west of Troy. There are no rounded pebbles in the rock, but angular ones nearly half
an inch in diameter. Much of the rock resembles a porphyry; it is thick-bedded, and
interlaminated with fine green slate. The thickness of the mass remains undetermined :
it is probably two hundred feet. Some portions of this mass have a very strong resemblance
to the thick-bedded sandstone of the Champlain group.

ROOFING SLATE.

This is one of the most easterly of the subordinate masses. It is a fine bluish black
slate, even-bedded, and well adapted for roofing. Some of the layers are slightly pyri-
tous. Geologically it is interesting, from the great abundance of marine vegetables.
Plate XVII. fig. 1, is copied from a lamina of slate from the Hoosic quarry, about twenty
miles east of Troy. This quarry has been wrought over twenty years, and no other fossil
has been discovered. The absence of the mollusca here, too, is well worthy of notice.
It is possible that two species of fossil vegetables may exist in this slate; one with a narrow
frond, and the other with a wide one.

RANGE AND EXTENT OF THE BLACK AND TACONIC SLATES.

The black slate is not as well exposed as the taconic; there is, therefore, some uncer-
tainty in regard to it. It is the rock adjacent to the Champlain and Hudson valleys, and
more frequently that which we observe immediately beneath the calciferous sandrock, or
cropping out from beneath it. What we see of it, is frequently in a crushed condition,
and bounding the taconic slate on the west in New-York and Vermont. I have not recog-
nized it about Albany or Troy. Greenwich in Washington county is the most southern
point at which I have observed it. It extends north as far as St. Albans in Vermont. I

72 SPARRY LIMESTONE.

speak of those points which I have inspected. On St. Albans bay, it is traversed by satin
spar. It is also calcareous here, as well as at numerous other points upon Lake Champlain.
It crops out from beneath the Calciferous sandstone at Sharpshins near Burlington. I am
unable to form an estimate of its thickness.

The Taconic slate, with its subordinate beds, occupies almost the whole of Columbia,
Rensselaer and Washington counties. It extends to the base of the Taconic range of
mountains, which divides New-York from Massachusetts and Vermont. Lying in its
usual inclined position, if no repetitions of the same mass occur, it is of immense thick-
ness. For example, from Lansingburgh to the Sparry limestone in the eastern part of
Hoosic, near the western bounds of Bennington in Vermont, it is at least twenty miles in a
direct line. Its dip varies from 45° to 70°. But admitting that the same mass reappears,
it will still be found immensely thick. I have often examined it two miles perpendicular
to its strike, and found no indication of repetitions. I leave it to a future opportunity to
make an approximate determination of its thickness, or to others who may take up the
subject.

This slate crosses the Hudson above Newburgh, and passes through Orange county into
New-Jersey. On the west in this latter county, we find the Hudson river shales with their
fossils, by which they may be distinguished from the slate.

Without doubt this immense rock admits of subdivisions; that is, it will probably be
found proper to make those masses which I have treated as subordinate, independent
rocks, of which perhaps others still will be recognized of sufficient importance to merit the
same distinction. In whatever light we may regard these minor points, there is no doubt
that the quantity of matter in this slate exceeds that of all the members of the New-York
system put together.

§ 4. SPARRY LIMESTONE.

Distinctive characters. Origin of the Plumbaginous slate. Rock at the Western Railroad Tunnel : reappears in
uplifts. Resemblance to the Calciferous sandstone. Mineral contents. Range and extent.

The name which has been retained for this mass, is acknowledged to be objectionable,
as most descriptive names are in geology ; for it will apply, and in fact has been applied,
to several different rocks. This, however, received its name from the late Prof. Eaton;
and as he recognized it as a distinct rock, and I suppose very properly, I have deemed it
best to retain it.

This limestone has a bluish ground, through which are innumerable seams of white
calcareous spar, which give the rock a remarkably checked appearance. Other rocks are
also traversed in this way, but the structure is by no means so striking. The color is
sometimes a grey, varying from light to dark. It contains masses of milky as well as
grey hyaline quartz, which also traverse it in the form of seams. It weathers unevenly,
by which there is formed a rough surface impressed with fissures crossing each other in all

SPARRY LIMESTONE. 73

directions. It is not a pure limestone, though it is very frequently employed for lime.
If this rock should prove sound after it has been penetrated a few feet, it would make a
fine and beautiful marble similar in aspect to the so-called ‘* Egyptian marble.”’

The dip of this rock is conformable to that of the whole system, varying from east to
southeast. The strike corresponds also to the other members of the system, which varies
but little in any part of its range from N. 10° E. In the State of New-York, the Sparry
limestone occupies the belt of country comprising the eastern part of Dutchess, Columbia,
Rensselaer and Washington counties, passing about one mile east of Hoosic four-corners ;
and in its progress north, it strikes the west line of Arlington in Vermont. It forms the
eastern boundary of the Taconic slate. It passes through a region of rounded hills, steeper
upon their western than upon their eastern sides, but less elevated than the range still
farther east, near whose bases the Stockbridge limestone ranges. It is not an easy matter
to trace this rock continuously, partly from the great amount of debris which has been
deposited upon it and the adjacent masses. In some parts of the range it seems to have
been engulphed or pinched out, or lost by some of the disturbances to which the rocks
have been subjected. Still it isa very persistent mass, and is never lost in the whole range
through New-York but for small distances. This rock is the Transition limestone upon the
geological map constructed by Prof. Dewey for illustrating the geology of Berkshire
county, Massachusetts. The tunnel of the Western Railroad is cut through this rock, the
length of which is about five hundred feet. At this place, the junction of the slate and
limestone is by intermediate beds of plumbaginous slate, as it is termed, a variety which
soils the fingers.

It only requires an examination with the microscope to satisfy any one that the dark
colored strata are highly charged with sulphuret of iron in fine crystals, which, on exposure,
decompose and form a thin coating of a dark material, the greater portion of which is
sulphur, mixed probably with the black oxide of iron. According to this view, there is
no important change produced by heat at the line of contact of the rocks, but simply a
decomposition of the sulphuret of iron disseminated through the intermediate layers. At
the Tunnel, too, as in many other places, the limestone is highly siliceous ; and so com-
mon is this earth, that but few localities furnish a stone suitable for lime. I have no
satisfactory account to give of the origin of the calcareous veins: their presence is constant,
though not always equally profuse.

The thick mass which I have had in view, and which ranges through the eastern part
of the counties named, is not the only mass of limestone which possesses this character.
Proceeding westward from this point to the western bounds of the Taconic slate, thin
deposits of a sparry limestone occasionally occur, some of which are twenty feet thick,
and others less; the thinnest and most unimportant being farthest towards the western
bounds of the slate. The causes, therefore, which concurred in the production of the
Sparry limestone, continued to operate with more or less energy, but only at intervals,
during the whole period when the slate was being deposited. I do not suppose, however,
that all the beds of this character are different beds: some are undoubtedly mere repeti-

[AcricuLTuRAL Report.] 10

74 SPARRY LIMESTONE.

tions of the same mass. Other causes also seem to have operated at times, in such a manner
as to break up the already consolidated strata, which were subsequently reconsolidated
without removal; at least we find angular fragments united by the intervention of calca-
reous spar.

No fossils have yet been discovered in this rock, though it must be confessed that suffi-
cient examination has not been made for microscopic bivalves. In searching for fossils, it
will be necessary to caution against the mistake which might be made in some localities,
by confounding the Calciferous sandstone with the Sparry limestone.

MINERAL CONTENTS.

Sulphurets of lead and zinc. The Sparry limestone is the depository occasionally of thin
veins of the sulphurets of lead and zinc. Two localities have been known for many years,
namely, Ancram in Dutchess, and Whitecreek in Washington counties. The former is
the most important, but has not been profitably worked; the latter is a very insignificant
mine, furnishing only small bunches of ore connected together by very thin strings of the
same.

RANGE AND EXTENT.

This rock passes not far west of the dividing line between Massachusetts, Vermont and
New-York. By townships, we find it passing through Ancram, Hillsdale, Canaan, New-
Lebanon, Berlin, Petersburgh, Hoosic, Whitecreek, the west part of Arlington (Vermont) ,
and onwards in the same range north through the eastern townships of Canada East.
After passing through the tunnel of the Western Railroad, where it is at least two hundred
and fifty feet thick, we pass a succession of uplifts which bring up this rock in low hills:
these continue about four miles. It is evident that here we pass over the same mass
several times. But as I have already observed, it may not be found at all at many points
in the direction of the strike ; while at other points it seems to expand widely, as between
Canaan and West-Stockbridge. It extends two miles west of the New-York State line,
upon the Western Railroad, where it is succeeded by the Taconic slate.

I , ,

MAGNESIAN SLATE.

~

iT

Part of the Taconic Range from Stone Hill.

Sry

re es
Jvhomar a NS aS

§ 5. MaeGNeEsIAN SLATE.

Produced in all periods. Different varieties. Characters. Resemblance to slates of the Primary system. Litho-
logical characters do not determine age: Instance the Cumberland coal-field. Milky quartz common in this
slate. Absence of steatite, etc. in the Taconic range. Mountain ranges composed of this slate. Extent.
Soil and scenery.

The almost endless diversity in rocks familiarly denominated slate, occasions much
perplexity to the student of geology. It is proper then to say in this place, for his special
benefit, that slate has been produced in all the periods of the earth’s history, or in all
formations ; that in all cases the original material must have been a mud highly charged
with clay, or alumine ; and that its composition varies greatly, from a pure clay or
alumine, to a silico-aluminous deposite, or an argillo-calcareous one. These ingredients
may exist in the slate in an endless diversity of proportions; and in addition thereto,
magnesia enters into the composition of some varieties. These varieties are termed mag-
nesian slates, and may be usually known by their unctuous feel. The slate which succeeds
the Sparry limestone on the east possesses the latter character, and hence I have denomi-
nated it Magnesian slate. It is doubtful whether this rock is essentially different from many
portions of the Taconic slate; still I believe that it is proper, upon the whole, to separate
them, as in their extremes they are quite different rocks.

10°

76 MAGNESIAN SLATE.

The color of this slate is usually light grey, with greenish patches. Sometimes it 1s
dark, for the same reason that the preceding slate is so, namely, the presence of a decom-
posing sulphuret. The broad layers into which the mass often readily splits, have a soft
pearly lustre, and a soft unctuous feel.

The magnesian slate, however, is not uniform in its characters. It passes into a rock,
which at first view has been taken for mica slate ; but generally I believe it is not difficult
to see that itis not really the latter rock. This is especially the case in the county of
Berkshire, where there are some patches which very strongly resemble the finest varieties
of mica slate. I certainly would not quarrel with a geologist, should he insist that some
portions of this rock lying towards the Hoosic mountain are really and lithologically mica
slate. In truth, at present it is a matter of perfect indifference with me. I do not consider,
even if it should prove to be this peculiar rock lithologically, that it would affect the
question of its age or place in the geological systems, or that it would throw this mass
into the class of primary schists; for observation proves that such kinds of slate may be
produced in any of the earlier periods, witness the so-called talcose slate in the Old Red
sandstone of Cumberland in Rhode-Island. Its presence here shows conclusively that
such a slate may be produced when the original materials of a suitable kind are furnished.
Much of the ancient and primary aspect of the Rhode-Island and Mansfield beds is due
to the character of the surrounding rocks, which have furnished the materials; though I
by no means deny the agency of a high subterranean temperature in effecting certain
changes. But I am not ready to admit that this is all, and that these peculiar varieties of
rock could have been produced independent of their original materials.

MINERAL CONTENTS.

The Maguesian slate is very largely supplied with masses of milky quartz. So abundant
indeed is this mineral, that it occurs in boulders over a wide extent of country where the
slate is the principal rock. It is not in beds or veins, but it appears in irregular masses or
bunches. Thin seams are not of unfrequent occurence. There is often a peculiar association
of minerals in the Magnesian slate; thus, the quartz, though frequently pure milk white
and opake, contains bunches of chlorite intermixed with the carbonate and oxide of iron and
manganese. They usually appear upon the surface, like a disintegrating mass of a dark
color, and of a spongy texture. This rock is far less fissile than the Taconic slate, and
furnishes only the inferior kinds of flagging. It is less liable to decompose, and hardly
furnishes, when decayed, a clayey mass like the preceding slates.

After all, but little diversity of character is found in this rock, whether we examine it
on the borders of the Sparry limestone, or along the eastern border of Massachusetts, and
ranging side by side with the Hoosic mountain.

The minerals which appear to be peculiar to the talcose slate of the Gneiss system, as
steatite, potstone, hornblende, etc., do not appear in this rock in New-York and Massa-
chusetts. Of their actual appearance in this rock in one or two localities, I shall have

MAGNESIAN SLATE. TG.

occasion to speak hereafter. We find, however, needleform schorl, octahedral iron, and
sulphuret of iron in unmodified cubes, both in Williamstown (Massachusetts) , and Arlington
(Vermont).

RANGE AND EXTENT.

In my Report, I have spoken of two ranges of this rock, which I supposed to be two
masses, or might be made out as such, one on each side of the Stockbridge limestone. I
here speak of the main bed of limestone, for thinner and less important ones exist.

The mountains composed of this rock are the highest in the Taconic ranges, rising from
one to three thousand feet. Saddle mountain, between Williamstown and Adams, is
twenty-seven hundred feet above the Hoosic, and thirty-four hundred above the level of
the sea, or the tide water at Albany. A range of mountains composed of this slate extends
along the western border of Massachusetts, and through Vermont. It often rises to the
height of fifteen hundred feet. This range is known as the Taconic range, and has fur-
nished the name to the system of rocks I am describing.

From these considerations, it appears that there are two parallel ranges of mountains
which are composed principally of this rock. Thus the range at the western base of the
Hoosic mountain, in which Saddle mountain is the highest point, is the first. The second
is the range four or five miles west: it is inferior in height through its entire extent. The
two ranges are connected by lateral spurs; and sometimes, in consequence of their close
position, they seem to coalesce, and to obliterate as it were the intervening valleys.

The Magnesian slate is one of the most permanent and extensive members of the
Taconic system. It crosses the Hudson about thirty miles above the city of New-York,
and passes south through New-Jersey into Pennsylvania, beneath the New Red sandstone,
under which rock it disappears near Stony point upon the Hudson river. It ranges north
as far as my knowledge extends, having seen specimens of it from the townships in Canada
East. It is parallel to the preceding slate, ranging N. 10°- 15° E., with a dip of from
fifty to eighty-five degrees.

It is not known to contain veins of the oxides or sulphurets of the metals: it only con-
tains those bodies in disseminated particles. In the regions which have been spoken of, no
trap dykes are known to traverse this rock ; a fact which is remarkable, when we take
into view the great extent of the country over which it is a prominent rock.

The breadth of country over which it prevails is not much less than fifteen miles, leaving
out of consideration the Stockbridge limestone and Brown sandstone or Granular quartz.
Its absolute thickness cannot be determined with any certainty: it is undoubtedly great,
and ranks in this respect with the primary schists. No trace of organic bodies has hitherto
been found in this rock.

The relations of this rock are given in Fig. 7 (page 63), and also on Plate XVIII.

This slate disintegrates slowly: it forms a flat gravel, but more tenacious of water by
far than siliceous gravel. By itself, or unmixed, it makes a poor soil; but when com-

78 MAGNESIAN SLATE.

pounded with the calcareous matter of the Sparry and Stockbridge limestones, it forms an
excellent soil suitable for maize.

The hills capped with this slate are all rounded; the sides, however, are quite steep,
particularly upon the northwestern slope. The scenery, through a great extent of country
north and south, is very uniform, but is occasionally bold in the highest parts of the chain.
The most interesting and generally admired view is that of the Hopper and Gray Lock,
about five miles southwest of Williams College. The mountains here consist of two
ridges: the western or lowest ridge, which is about eighteen hundred feet high, is broken
through, or into two parts, quite to the foot of the ridge, nearly west of Graylock. Plate
XIII. is a view of Graylock and the western ridge, which has been broken down so as to
exhibit the higher and easterly ridge, the summit of which is known as the highest land
in New-England. In some parts of this elevated region, rocks are bare for hundreds of
feet in elevation, with a steep slope, and may, without much difficulty, be examined from
the base to the top; still the summits are thickly clothed with soil, and good pasturage is
obtained upon the highest parts of the ridges.

The view at the head of this section illustrates the appearance of the Taconic range gene-
rally. It was taken from the south part of Stonehill in Williamstown (Massachusetts) ,
looking south. The hills are composed of slate gravel, and the rocks are usually deeply
covered with soil. Most of the hills and ridges of this range abound in chesnut, intermixed
with black and white oak: the highest portions of the ridges are clothed with white birch |
as a second growth. Sugar maple (.4cer saccharinum) frequently forms by itself large \
groves. Beech also abounds; and ash, bass, walnut and soft maple are intermixed, and
assist in making up the forest. The northern slopes of the higher ridges are usually
clothed with black timber, consisting of spruce and hemlock. The slopes of these ranges
are beautiful in autumn, when they appear decked in all the gay colors thit adorn the
windows of a print shop; or arrayed rather in the brilliant robes of a bridal ceremony,
than in the sombre habiliments proper to announce the speedy approach of winter as the
grave of the year.

*

§ 6. StocKBRIDGE LIMESTONE.

Origin of its name. Differences in beds. Coloring matter of this limestone when clouded. Presence of sulphuret
of iron and siler. Disintegration. Relative position. Its minerals. Range and extent. Doctrine of meta-
morphism.

This rock is widely and extensively known under the name of Stockbridge marble.
Most of the white and clouded limestones in market pass under this general name, though
they may have been obtained elsewhere. It is proper to remark that the Philadelphia
marble consists of the same material, and is obtained from the same range of rock pro-

longed into Pennsylvania. For a general name, I prefer that of Stockbridge limestone,

PLATK XM,

Kndteou Lith

EMNMNONS Jp ded

nef Ss hk ‘ L»

STOCKBRIDGE LIMESTONE. 79

embracing therein all the limestones, good and bad, in connection with the bed known as
marble.

The principal differences in the beds comprised under this general name, are found in
the colors and texture of the rock. Of the colors, a small proportion are white and sac-
charoidal, fine and coarse, clouded and mottled with blue, dark or light, the latter forming
the dove-colored marbles. This embraces also the magnesian limestones, or the dolomites ;
inasmuch as the pure limestones pass into this species by imperceptible gradation. No real
difference is known as to position: both mineralogical species occupy the same range.
The coloring matter of the limestone is a substance derived from the slate, and which
seems to be only the matter of the slate in a state of fine division. These colors are not
known to change like those derived from some of the metallic oxides. The stains and
tarnishes which appear on some of the wrought marbles, are the effects of decomposed
sulphuret of iron, the presence of which is doubly injurious, by hindering the polish of the
material, and subsequently destroying the beauty of its color. The beds adjacent to the
slate are impure from the presence of this matter, which then appears only as a dark dirty
shaly limestone; but many of the layers are largely contaminated with silex and masses
of quartz, which render the stone useless except for fences and the coarser materials of
construction.

The siliceous limestones disintegrate rapidly even below the surface. Even the under-
ground ledges divide and separate into stones, which, when first exposed to the light and
air, are covered with a fine sandy coat. Probably the presence of magnesia facilitates the
disintegrating process, and assists materially the conversion of the rock into soil.

This limestone is embraced in the Magnesian slate, and it is not possible to discover any
difference of the slate on either side of it: it is in fact one rock. The bed of limestone
commences with a few alternations of slate and impure limestone, till finally the beds of
the latter predominate. Their thickness is moderate at first, but increases towards the
central or middle part of the mass: they there become two feet thick. They are often
interlaminated with talcose matter, usually in distinct scales, and arranged so as to mark
the direction of the strata. Sometimes there is a mere sprinkling of it in scales the tenth
of an inch in diameter.

The remarks which have now been made, apply to the principal deposit or main bed of
limestone traversing the Hoosic and Housatonic valleys in part, and thence passing south
and terminating on the Hudson river at Singsing in New-York. A few thinner beds run
parallel with the main one, resembling in this respect the relations of the Sparry limestone.
It appears from these considerations that at one period abundance of calcareous matter was
furnished from some source, probably the primary limestones of the Gneiss system, but
which, from some topographical change, ceased at another period to be furnished, though
at distant intervals it was supplied by a recurrence of the same causes. The smaller beds
of limestone run parallel with the larger, and all in the general strike of the system.

80 STOCKBRIDGE LIMESTONE.

MINERAL CONTENTS.

The mineral beds or veins in the Stockbridge limestone are few, and of little importance.
Copper and iron pyrites, sulphuret of lead in small lumps and particles, and silver in some
form and condition, have been long known at Singsing. The vein containing the silver
has not heen opened since the war of Independence.

This rock, however, contains a large amount of oxide of iron, disseminated principally
at the junction of the limestone beds and slate, although the original form seems to have
been that of a sulphuret. From these beds the hematitic iron appears to be derived. They
are always tender and disintegrate rapidly, are magnesian, and frequently contain man-
ganese in addition to the iron. Quartz in fine crystals frequently occurs either in bunches
or imperfect seams, associated both with albite in twin crystals, and pearl spar.

RANGE AND EXTENT.

The Stockbridge limestone, in New-York, Massachusetts and Vermont, trends N. 10° E.
Commencing at Singsing, it runs a northerly course through Westchester, Dutchess and
Columbia counties, bordering upon and extending into Connecticut. It passes up the
valley of the Housatonic, and thence over the dividing ridge into the upper valleys of the
Hoosic onwards into Vermont, through Shaftsbury, Arlington, and thus on towards Lake
Memphremagog. I am not, however, well informed as to its entire range north. From
personal inspection, I found it well developed in Arlington. At Johnson, and farther
north at Lake Memphremagog, are beds of granular limestone, destitute of graphite,
which I suppose may be prolongations of the Stockbridge limestone ; still, my examina-
tions have been too hasty and too imperfect among those mountain ranges, to form an
opinion satisfactory to myself.

The thickness of the greatest mass of Stockbridge limestone in the Berkshire valleys, is
about five hundred feet. Of this thick mass, but a very small belt is suitable for marble.
The absolute white layers are always comparatively thin; but by sawing the strata through
the white bands, it is easy to obtain white facings for monuments and other ornamental
purposes. Where the white masses predominate, silex is a very common element in the
rock, and therefore it frequently spoils it for the uses to which it might otherwise be
applied.

At Williamstown, Massachusetts, the Stockbridge limestone occupies all the base of the
first high ridge represented on Plate XIII. Thick beds of drift conceal the rock at the first
terrace above the valley; but above this, the rock appears, and is well exposed up to its
junction with the slate that crowns all the mountains which appear in this illustration.
Along the base of this mountain is a fracture whose direction is nearly north and south,
and the limestone forming the valley was severed from that of the mountain side by an
uplifting force.

OBSERVATIONS ON METAMORPHISM. 81

OBSERVATIONS ON METAMORPHISM.

A few remarks seem to be called for in this place, in answer to the views of Prof.
Rocers and others, who maintain the doctrine that the Stockbridge limestone is a meta-
morphic rock. [ will first select a passage from his late Address before the Association of
American Geologists and Naturalists. I would premise, however, that I protest against
opinions on important geological points, unless they are based upon some fact, and those
facts are such that others can see and draw their inferences from localities which they can
examine. The passage referred to reads thus:

“¢ The granular Berkshire marble (Stockbridge limestone) was identified with the blue
“ limestone of the Hudson valley, but metamorphosed by heat; and the associated mica-
“¢ ceous schists were referred, in the language of the communication, to the slates of the
‘¢ lowest formation of the Appalachian system, while the semivitrified quartz of the western
‘* part of the Hoosic mountain was stated to be nothing else than white sandstone (Potsdam
“¢ sandstone) of the same series slightly altered.’’*

It would appear from this passage, to one unacquainted with facts, that something had
been shown or demonstrated, because the words used, ‘‘ identified with,’ require the
highest kind of proof, and imply the nearest relationship; but after all, nothing has
appeared on the whole face of the subject, but opinion, mere opinion.

I have introduced this passage from the Address, not for the purpose of finding fault,
but for showing what Prof. Rocrrs’s views really are, that there may be no misunderstand-
ing in relation to this interesting subject; and I cannot but hope that my friend, in his
communications in future, will avoid the words “‘ identified with,’”? when he speaks of the
Berkshire marble.

One of my arguments for the non-identity of the marbles and slates, etc. of the Taconic
system, was drawn from the order of succession of the members of the system, an order
essentially different from that of the Champlain or lower division of the New-York series.
This argument I still maintain, and challenge any geologist to reconcile the order of one
system with the other. While Prof. R. admits that this is true apparently, I maintain
that it is really and actually true; and to satisfy an impartial mind that it is so, it would
seem that it is only necessary to enumerate the order of the rocks, and compare them
respectively with each other. Compare, for cxample, the marbles of Berkshire with the
blue limestones of the Champlain group: the former are in the mids% of an immense slate
formation; the latter, when all members are present, rest upon the Potsdam sandstone.

But it is unnecessary to dwell upon facts of this kind, when there is a conclusive one ;
one sufficient to silence all others, namely, direct superposition of the blue limestones
upon the taconic slates, as I have exhibited in my actual sections along the Champlain
and Hudson valleys.

* American Journal of Science and Arts, p. 151.
[AcricuLTurAL ReEport.] 11

82 OBSERVATIONS ON METAMORPHISM.

The question of metamorphism has nothing to do with the question of identity with other
and distant masses. It may be, and doubtless is true in some sense or other, that heat is
not necessarily the agent in metamorphism. But that molecular attraction, exerted under
a variety of circumstances and conditions, may and does modify and change the particles
from an earthy to a crystalline condition, I believe is the true foundation of the doctrine.
I would not restrict this change to the influence of one single cause, caloric, but extend it
to all fluids in their several modifications, as water, steam and gas, as well as to the dry
heat of contact with an incandescent mass; and still more emphatically to the agency of
the molecular forces, by which regular forms are produced, and a constant tendency to
arrange symmetrically all the constituent particles of which a mass is composed. With these
views, we shall find all rocks metamorphic in a small degree. All the forces of nature
have operated upon them as masses, as well as upon every constituent part; and they are
not now what they were once, neither will they continue to be what they are now. Those
incessant powers of motion which pervade the universe, never cease to act upon solid rocks
and thus cause their elements to move: even the light of heaven, penetrating the super-
incumbent crust, awakens to energetic action those subtle agents.

In closing my remarks upon the Stockbridge limestone, I wish to state that this is by no
means the rock which I described in my report as a primary limestone. It is true that both
are granular, white and clouded; but the position they respectively occupy is quite different.
Thus the primary limestone is always an unstratified rock, and is analogous to granite ;
but when it occurs among stratified schists, as gneiss and mica slate, etc., it puts on some
of the characters of a parallel bed, a contemporaneous rock, and so does granite. That it
is not one of the blue, or any of the older sedimentary limestones metamorphosed by heat,
is fully shown by the inspection of those masses which rise out of the hypersthene rock of
Essex, and the granite and gneiss rocks of St. Lawrence counties. In the latter county,
the very beds of Primary limestone are exposed by the destruction of the once superincum-
bent Potsdam sandstone. So far, then, from being one of the sedimentary limestones,
its position shows without a question that it can not but have been anterior in age to any
of the lower limestones of the New-York system.

These peculiar primary limestones occur in all the northern counties and in the county
of Orange in New-York, and in Sussex county in New-Jersey ; and they abound in fine
minerals, as spinelle, sapphire, idocrase, chondrodite, graphite, hornblende, pyroxene,
mica, etc. As to the presence of these bodies, I believe them to have been developed by
the same forces as in granite; or, in other words, that they were not, in the great range
of limestone in the counties designated, produced by an action upon the rock subsequent
to consolidation, that is to say, they are not metamorphic minerals. In this expression of
opinion, I do not deny the possibility of their production by the metamorphic process; but
having seen the same minerals so frequently in a mass which, under no rational hypothesis
could be a blue limestone of the New-York series, I maintain the doctrine that they belong
to a limestone sui generis, of another age, born under totally different conditions. A vem

OBSERVATIONS ON METAMORPHISM. 83

or mass of limestone comes directly out of the hypersthene rock near the top of one of
the mountains in Essex county, filled with many of the beautiful minerals I have named
above. How, in this case, I would ask any respectable geologist, can the position of this
limestone be accounted for on the assumption that it belongs to the Hudson river series ?
The difficulty, I would remark in anticipation, is not simply apparent, but real; for the
limestone mass does not rest upon, but comes through, the hypersthene rock. This being
the fact also in many instances where these minerals abound, I am quite suspicious of a
statement that these same identical products are found in an altered blue limestone, in a
region too where I know from personal observation that the true primary limestone abounds,
and contains the minerals in question.

Among the characters of a primary limestone, I very early fixed upon the presence of
graphite, and believe I was the first who noticed the constancy of this mineral in these
peculiar beds. Farther observations have satisfied me of the correctness and value of my
earlier ones; and as yet I have never seen this substance in a stratified limestone of the
Taconic series, where, inasmuch as they are the oldest sedimentary limestones, we should
expect to find it, if any where.

Having disposed of the question of metamorphism, as well as of that relating to the
origin, age, etc. of the Stockbridge limestone, both of which questions may truly be con-
sidered as comprised in one and the same inquiry, I have only to request those who entertain
different views, to examine the localities I have referred to in my reports on the New-York
rocks, and I have no doubt that the same truths will be enforced on their minds as on
my own. I had no theory to support, no preéxisting views to maintain. My opinions,
therefore, were those which arose out of the circumstances themselves; they were inductions
drawn from facts well considered and well observed.

§ 7. Brown SANDSTONE OR GRANULAR QUARTZ.

Characters and varieties. Occurs in insulated mountain masses. Interlaminations with dark siliceous slates.
Opinions in regard to the position this rock holds towards the primary schists. Thickness. Mineral contents.
Range and extent.

This rock is usually homogeneous, finely granular, and crystalline upon a large scale.
That it is a sedimentary rock, I have now but little doubt; though ifs particles are usually
fine, the common earthy sedimentary character exists but feebly.

The common varieties of this rock are,

1. A coarse breccioid or large pebbly mass at the base.

2. A fine granular and even-grained rock, of a brown color.
3. A fine white friable sandstone,

4, Thin-bedded siliceous slate of a dark color,

Lis

84 BROWN SANDSTONE,

Another variety is worthy of notice ; it is a species of porphyritic sandstone at the inferior
part of the rock. The felspar is in small angular forms, and very liable to decompose ;
and having disappeared in this way, the quartz is left in a porous rough state resembling
the Paris burr stones. The dip and strike of the beds usually conform to the other rocks
in the system, being from 20° to 45° E., and some beds are vertical. This rock is rarely
thin-bedded, and so strongly marked are the transverse natural joints that the bedding
planes are often nearly obliterated; the planes are, however, often distinguishable by
lamine of siliceous slate. :

The Granular quartz is the least regular in its continuation of any of the rocks of the
Taconic system ; it generally appears in insulated mountain masses, surrounded apparently
by other rocks; still, taking the range of our system as a guide, we find it prolonged far
to the north and south, though not continuously.

Some facts have led me to indulge for the present the opinion that two distinct masses
exist in the Taconic system: one adjacent to the western base of the Hoosic range ; the
other, still farther west. The former is the most persistent and important, and rises into
mountains from twelve to fifteen hundred feet high. Such is Oak hill, between Adams
and Williamstown, Massachusetts; also in the east part of Bennington, Vermont; and
Monument mountain, in the south part of Berkshire.

Mica is extremely rare in granular quartz: its surfaces are often sprinkled with talc.
It is sometimes interlaminated with a dark siliceous slate, but these lamine rarely exceed
half an inch in thickness. It passes, however, into a rock of this character, and forms a
tolerable flagging stone.

This rock, from its extreme hardness, resists the comminuting agents which destroy
other rocks; and hence, in the vicinity of its beds, the cobblestones are usually very
abundant, and fill the soil to a great depth. These soils, therefore, are often worthless,
from-the impossibility of removing the stones. Where only a moderate quantity of this
kind of stone is present, the land is of excellent quality, and well adapted to corn and rye,
particularly the latter.

Some difference of opinion exists in regard to the system to which the granular quartz
belongs. Prof. Hircucock places the rock in the Gneiss, or Primary schists. He remarks,
speaking of the topography of the rock, ‘I have represented all the quartz rock in the
State as associated with mica slate, talcose slate or gneiss. It is more or less connected
with other rocks, as with limestone in Berkshire, and with argillaceous slate in Bernardston.
But in all other cases, except in regard to gneiss and mica slate, it is little more than a
juxtaposition of the two rocks; whereas the quartz rock alternates with, and passes imper-
ceptibly into, gneiss and mica slate; and, in fact, it might be regarded very properly as a
member of the gneiss and mica slate formations.”’*

I am unable, from the perusal of the above extract, to satisfy myself that the different
beds spoken of are not in reality of different ages. Whether this suggestion is true or not,

* Massachusetts Report, pp. 589 - 590.

OR GRANULAR QUARTZ, 85

I can not but regard the Berkshire quartz rock as a member of the Taconic system. It is
constantly associated with those rocks which I consider to be members of this system, and
it corresponds rather in dip and strike with the limestones and slates of the same, while it is
certainly unconformable to the gneiss and mica slate. Thus, at Arlington, Vermont, the
quartz dips N. 20° E. at an angle of 10° — 15°, resting upon the edges of the highly inclined
gneiss. Facts of this kind have influenced me to associate the quartz with the Taconic
system. How it happens that this rock is in juxtaposition with gneiss, or apparently
passes into it, I shall try to explain in a subsequent section.

I have not been able as yet to form an estimate of the thickness of the quartz. The
largest mass, and which reposes against and upon the gneiss of the Hoosic range, can not
be less than one thousand feet thick. The more westerly mass, and which forms Stone
hill in Williamstown, is probably about three hundred feet thick. I give these, however,
as only rough approximations.

MINERAL CONTENTS.

Scarcely any rock is so destitute of mineral bodies as this. The whole catalogue seems
to be confined, so far as my observations go, to a little sulphuret of iron, sometimes in
simple unmodified cubes; in other instances, disseminated in fine particles through the
mass. Quartz veins, whose characters are different from the main rock, often traverse it
in parallel seams. In the slaty variety, however, where it is near the line of contact with
gneiss, I have observed needleform schorl. We have, therefore, in this quartz rock,
another instance of one that is quite barren and uninteresting so far as mineral products
are concerned; and it agrees in this respect with most of the pure siliceous deposits, for
they of all others appear to be the most destitute of veins and valuable metalliferous pro-
ductions.

RANGE AND EXTENT.

There is more difficulty in tracing the range of the Granular quartz, than that of any
of the other members of the Taconic system. I have already remarked that it often ap-
pears in heavy mountain masses; but these are quite limited in extent, and disappear in
the direction of the strike, suddenly and unexpectedly for such heavy and important strata.
This fact has suggested the inquiry whether it exists really as an independent rock ; and
on this point, Prof. Dewry remarks,* that it may occur only in beds in mica slate; but
as it occurs in great quantities, he treats it as a principal rock. He speaks of it, too, as
occurring on both sides of the Stockbridge limestone. The hills of quartz run parallel
with the general range. The mountain northeast of Williams College, Massachusetts, is
fourteen hundred feet high; and being followed eastwardly over its summit towards

* History of Berkshire, p. 191, Article Geology.

86 BROWN SANDSTONE, OR GRANULAR QUARTZ.

Stamford, it is found to rest directly upon granite: this fact I ascertained as early as the
year 1828. Immediately south of this heavy mountain of quartz, in the direction of its
strike, is the west ridge of Saddle mountain, composed of Magnesian slate and Stockbridge
limestone ; but three or four miles directly west of this ridge, is Stone hill, a less important
mass of quartz, surrounded as it were with limestone. The large mountain first spoken
of, and known as Oak hill, is evidently east of the limestone and other members of the
Taconic system at this point; but Stone hill is west of the main bed of limestone, and is
also bounded on the west by a narrow belt of limestone which lies against the quartz, as
if the quartz was pushed up through it. The Stone hill range crops out about three-
fourths of a mile farther north, but attenuated, more slaty and of a darker color. On the
south, again, there is no mass of quartz known which can be considered as belonging to
the Stone hill range. South mountain, in South Williamstown, which is directly in the
strike of Stone hill, is composed of magnesian slate and limestone. We are, therefore,
unable to trace this range continuously. The east range of which Oak hill is an impor-
tant part, appears south in Cheshire, and there forms immense quantities of siliceous sand
suitable for glass and for sawing marble; also in Dalton, at the gulph, and at the west
base of Washington mountain southeast of Pittsfield. It is continued in Lee, Tyringham,
Stockbridge and Sheffield ; in Dutchess county (New-York), in Amenia and Dover; and
in Putnam and Westchester counties, at numerous points. To the north, the eastern
mass appears in mountain ridges in Bennington and Arlington. But how far north this
rock may be traced, Iam unable to say. That it is prolonged to a great distance I have
reason to believe, from facts stated to me by Prof. Renwick, who, while in the employ of
the Government in tracing the new provincial lines between the United States and Canada
East, passed over heavy beds of siliceous rocks, which, from the characters given of them,
I deemed could be no other than the Granular quartz. In the northern part of Vermont,
in the direction of Troy and Lake Memphremagog, I did not observe this rock, either in
beds, or detached masses forming boulders. The most interesting fact to be observed in
these details, is the unexpected and sudden disappearance of a rock which sometimes
occurs in masses a thousand feet thick; not by attenuation, as in many other instances of
disappearance. The phenomenon may perhaps be resolved on the supposition that they
have been engulphed ; or perhaps the elevation of the ranges have been unequal: in one
place the quartz, limestones and slates were brought up, and the superincumbent lime-
stones and slates swept off, leaving the quartz exposed; in others, the elevation was never
sufficient to expose the quartz at all: in the latter case, the only rocks at the surface are
the slates and limestones, one or both.

—

ROCKS RESTING UPON A PORTION OF THE TACONIC SERIES. 87

Ii]. OF THE ROCKS WHICH ARE KNOWN TO REST’ UPON A PORTION OF
THE TACONIC SERIES.

For a complete elucidation of the relations of the Taconic rocks, it is necessary that I
should speak again of those which lie in a belt of country in the middle portion of Rensse-
laer county, east of the Hudson river. This will give me an opportunity of adding to the
illustrations of one or two interesting points in Washington county. For this purpose, I
shall speak of the succession of rocks upon the Western Railway, between Chatham four-
corners and Greenbush. At Chatham four-corners an unequivocal slate of the Taconic
system makes it appearance, with the regular southeast dip and northeast and southwest
trend. The angle of dip is high, and the rock presents that peculiar short wrinkled con-
dition common to it: it contains also the milky quartz in seams. At the village, it appears
to dip down steeply, or falls off rapidly from a modestly elevated ridge which skirts it on
the east; and in consequence of this westerly plunge of the whole mass, the rock wholly
disappears beneath a thick deposit of moderately coarse drift. Proceeding west from
Chatham four-corners, upon a tolerable level way, no rock is seen in place for a mile,
when there occurs a dark and greenish shale more or less flinty. This shale proves to
belong to the Hudson river series; at least it contains an abundance of several species of
Graptolites, known elsewhere in the series; it is, however, intermixed with red and
chocolate-colored slates. These together continue half a mile, or make their appearance
a few times in this distance; finally the thick-bedded grey sandstone appears interlaminated,
as it so frequently is elsewhere, with fine blue slate without fossils. A succession of this
kind continues five miles, following the railroad route; that is, there are frequent uplifts
of the shale, and thick-bedded sandstone with its interlaminated slate. Of the character
of this rock, there is not the least doubt: it is that which forms the northern slope of the
Helderberg, and is elsewhere known as the Hudson river series. Now, although the dip
is in a measure in the direction of the Taconic slate, still all sound observations show that
it isan unconformable rock. Proceeding to Chatham centre, the succession thus far is
clear; but after leaving the latter place, we soon come upon very thin-bedded limestone
slate, with silico-calcareous layers and slate interlaminated, but the whole thin, and
altogether similar to the Taconic slates. Whether these thin beds are really as I have
supposed, is a matter of little consequence, since we soon come upon one in this direction
of which there is no question that it is the Taconic slate. This slate continues about seven
or eight miles, appearing only occasionally above the drift. In about five miles of the
Depot at Greenbush, the Hudson river group succeeds; the Taconic slate again appearing
in the form of the shales, and in that of the thick-bedded sandstone mentioned above.
Approaching the river, the beds are more disturbed, and of a more equivocal character.
They are not only bent, but crushed; and a bed of siliceous limestone six or eight inches
thick is not only broken into short pieces, but it is distributed throughout a mass of broken

t

i

88 ROCKS RESTING UPON

glazed shales for four or five feet in width. To depend on lithological characters for the
determination of such a mass, would be unsafe; and it was only after much search in
these beds for fossils, and after I had finally succeeded in obtaining those peculiar to the
Hudson river shales, that I felt at ease on the subject.

From the above remarks and facts, it will not appear strange that the district through
which this section runs should have been set down as wholly occupied by the Hudson river
shales, particularly when it is known also that heavy beds of drift conceal much of the
rock, that there is a resemblance between the two slates, and that it is only in a very few
places that their relations are so exposed as to excite the inquiry whether they may not be
different slates in juxtaposition; and even when this question is raised, it is difficult to
make real advances towards its solution; so much so, that we are frequently disposed to
let it remain still unsettled.

There is one circumstance, however, which I have often observed, and which has been
of some service in the examination of a country, viz: Where two systems lie in contiguity,
there is a wide space in which no rocks appear: neither one nor the other; but a space
which appears to have been a deeper depression than usual, and filled with soil and drift:
those on one side plunging deeper beneath the surface; on the other, rising up from
deeper depths below. I do not state this as an absolute or universal fact, but only as one
which I have frequently observed, and of which several instances have been noticed in
this report.

Between the Taconic slates and the rocks belonging to the Champlain division, we
find similar relations to those that exist between the Primary schists and the Taconic
rocks; that is, the latter members come in longitudinally, or in the direction of strike,
and in separate portions of the same rocks, from the former, as in the case of granite in
section. In all our examinations of the strata of such districts, we are continually in
danger of committing mistakes, especially if we leave much of the surface unexamined,
and have ventured upon generalizations incautiously, or without due regard to the systems
and to the country under consideration.

Now in regard to those rocks which succeed the Taconic slates one mile west of Chat-
ham four-corners, they can be regarded in no other light than as overhanging unconformable
masses to the Taconic system. First, the graptolites are the same as those of Norman’s kill
on the west side of the Hudson, one and a half miles south of Albany; and no difference
can be discovered between the thick-bedded sandstone, and that which crops out on the
northern slope of the Helderberg. Proceeding a few miles farther west, we pass over
another outcrop of green taconic slates of great thickness, without beds of sandstone as
in the Hudson river rocks. ‘The Hudson river rocks are prolonged southwardly towards
Hudson, on the railway or adjacent to it. The lower limestones are not exposed; but
three or four miles west of Hudson, the birdseye is exposed, and the upper portions of the
Champlain group disappear benéath the Manlius waterlimes of Becraft’s mountain.

A PART OF THE TACONIC SERIES, 89

In this vicinity, we have the lower Helderberg rocks, in addition to the Champlain
group, reposing upon the Taconic system. The occasional appearance, then, of rocks of
another age, under the circumstances and conditions presented at Chatham and Hudson
and the intervening country, throws an obscurity over the questions of age, identity, etc.,
which rarely calls for solution in other places. Nevertheless the evidence is so strong in
favor of the interpretation I have given of the relation of these masses, that I have had
no doubt of its propriety ; although when I published my Report of the Second Geological
District, I was not prepared with proofs to sustain it.

Turning, the attention of the reader once more to Washington county, he will find a
few interesting examples in the relative position of the members of the two systems: the
calciferous of the New-York system, and the black slate and coarse taconic slate of the
Taconic system. The first example is an illustration of the rocks of Bald mountain. This
knob is one of the highest points that skirt the valley of the Hudson upon the east. It
overlooks the valley for a great distance ; and from it, also, the interior mountains of the
northern wilderness at the sources of the Hudson loom up in a bold outline in the north-
western horizon. Passing over, however, the magnificent scenery of this spot, I proceed
to speak of the structure of the mountain. The diagram fig. 11 will aid in explaining the
most important parts.

The slope a, b, c, d, looks to the west. The calciferous sandstone is represented by d, d. c, indicates the blue
portion of the calciferous sandstone I have had occasion to speak of in other places: it forms the purest lime,
though it is of a much darker color than that represented at d. The taconic or rather black slate appears at 0, d,
b, b. Upon the borders of c, c, is a singular dark-brown close-grained sandstone. From these facts, it appears
that there must be a double fracture, by which the black slate is exposed at b, b. The limestone of the upper
part of the mountain is thin-bedded, and alternates with a calcareous slate; the lower mass d, is more in keeping
with the common calciferous sandstone. A very curious intrusion of fragile greenish slate occurs just above e,
represented by the perpendicular line; it is two feet thick, in vertical smooth walls like a dyke. As it truly is
a slate with vertical laminz, it is really perplexing to account for its position and formation under such singular
relations. The base of the mountain a, }, is upon the right, where a hundred yards of the slate is exposed in a
continuous lin®: it is overlaid here by thick beds of tertiary clay, a, a.

{AcricuLTuRAL Report.] 12

90 ROCKS ABOVE THE TACONIC SERIES.

Another instance of complication occurs in the adjacent hill northeast of Bald mountain.
Fig. 12 is a section illustrative of its structure.

a. Calciferous sandstone: towards c, on the west, it dips moderately to the east; but ascending the ridge, the dip
increases, and finally at a, the summit, it is reversed, or to the west; but here it comes in immediate contact
with the coarse taconic slate, 6, dipping steeply to the east. Well characterized taconic slate crops out on the
western slope, just above the main road, covered partially by debris.

I have introduced this illustration for the purpose of clearing up some difficulties which
might arise hereafter in the examination of this or the neighboring hills, where the cal-
ciferous sandstone apparently plunges beneath the taconic slate, when viewed in certain
positions only ; for if only the western slope should be compared with the eastern, without
a careful examination of the summit of the ridge, a very false view would be taken of the
position of the rocks forming this hill.

IV. THE TACONIC SYSTEM IN RHODE-ISLAND.

Position of the Smithfield limestone: it is the Stockbridge limestone. Other members of the Taconic system-
Only a fragment of this system remains, it having been probably destroyed by denuding agents. Debris
Sound in the soil, and in the rocks composing the Cumberland coal basin.

In July of the present year (1844), I was induced to visit the State of Rhode-Island,
principally for the purpose of examining the Smithfield limestone, a rock which for a long
time has been known in the market as furnishing an excellent lime. I had often made
the enquiry whether this rock is an equivalent of the Primary limestone of St. Lawrence
and Essex counties; or whether it is of the age of the Stockbridge limestone, the marble
of the Taconic system. The satisfactory solution of this question, I deemed of sufficient
importance for a journey to the place; inasmuch as no one, so far as I had access to
printed publications, had expressed themselves very clearly on those points in which I
was the most interested.

The Smithfield limestone lies in the valley of the Blackstone river, about ten miles
north of Providence. It occupies but a small area, and lies in the midst of the primary

\

TACONIC SYSTEM IN RHODE-ISLAND. 91

rocks. The limestone beds are all situated upon the west side of the Blackstone: on the
east side is the Cumberland coal basin. The coal rocks, however, are not confined to the
eastern side of the river, but cross it at Attleborough, and extend south to Providence and
even to Newport upon the Narraganset bay, their western edge running nearly north and
south. An immense quantity of drift has been deposited over this part of the State, which
conceals the rock except in a few favored places. The limestone, together with its asso-
ciates, lies upon the western border of the coal rocks, beneath which they pass. With
these general remarks on the position and relation of the Smithfield limestone, I proceed
to speak of its characters, the period of its formation, and the rocks which appear to be its
true associates.

The rock in question, then, is a white or clouded limestone, with a finer texture or grain
than the Berkshire marbles, but, like them, contains in mixture silex and magnesia. Some
portions of the rock are clouded and coarse, and with layers or strata very clearly developed ;
thus removing all doubts in regard to the stratification of the rock. Being, however, in
intimate relation to igneous rocks, it has undergone a change in texture, and acquired a
compactness and hardness not common to sedimentary limestones. In addition to which,
we find developed those peculiar minerals which have been denominated saussurite and
nephrite. These masses so intimately associated with the rocks, or developed in it, are
hard, compact and translucent, with a bluish tinge. They are not, however, in immediate
contact with the igneous masses. In a few places, again, fine greenish talc, in large spe-
cimens and in implanted masses, lies between the layers. The talc is in much greater
quantities than at any of the beds of limestone I have examined elsewhere. Without
dwelling, however, on those minor differences which a peculiar position seem to have
been instrumental in producing, I have little hesitation in saying that this rock is clearly
of the age of the Stockbridge limestone. It differs from the Primary limestone of St.
Lawrence and Essex counties, New-York, in being stratified, and in the absence of graphite,
spinelle, or those peculiar minerals which are so common in the latter rock.

Having satisfied myself as it regarded the age of the limestone, another question arose,
whether other members of the Taconic system were associated with it; for if the opinion
I had formed of the limestone was correct, then some of the other members of the same
system ought to lie in proximity to it.

For the determination of this question, I proceeded west from the limestone beds, and
observed first a slate possessing in general the characters of the magnesian slate of Berkshire,
Massachusetts. It occupies a very narrow belt, being restricted Ly great beds of granite
upon the west, upon which it rests. At or near the junction of the two rocks, the slate
and granite, I found an altered belt of slate, about one hundred yards wide. Again upon
the east of the limestone a remarkable magnesian slate appears, altered to an imperfect
serpentine in a few places; in others, to an imperfect epidote, or a mineral substance whose
color approaches the peculiar green of epidote ; not, however, in well defined masses, but
in diffused green patches. Notwithstanding all the alterations the rock has undergone, it

12*

92 TACONIC SYSTEM IN RHODE-ISLAND.

still preserves the general character of the Magnesian slate, and is a perfect example of it
throughout most of its body.

There still remained other members of the Taconic system, which I had not yet dis-
covered in this narrow basin or trough. As the granite appeared in a heavy body upon
the west of the slates and limestones, I pursued an easterly route for the discovery of other
members of the system. I was led upon this direction, too, from having seen boulders of
brown sandstone in the drift of the Blackstone valley, which increased in size and num-
bers towards the river. Pursuing, therefore, this direction, I soon came upon an extensive
deposit of this rock in place, about half a mile north of the Cumberland coal-field. On
the direct route from Smithfield to Cumberland, the quartz, if it exists, is concealed beneath
thick beds of drift. The quartz is upon the eastern side of the Blackstone. As developed
in this valley, it is a fine brown granular quartz, interlaminated with slate, or rather alter-
nating with a species of magnesian slate, but of a darker color and more siliceous than this
rock usually is. The lower mass of quartz is about fifty feet thick: it is then succeeded
by ten feet of slate, about five of quartz, and then about seventy-five of slate, which, how-
ever, is very siliceous, and interlaminated with some beds of quartz. Without entering
upon minute details of the alternations of these masses, I estimated the whole thickness
at five hundred feet. The quartz trends N. 35° E.; its angle of dip about 35°. Near Mr.
Whipple’s tavern, the trend is N. 10° W.; dip, 80° E. At half a mile north of Whip-
ple’s, the trend is N. 55° E. A fracture traverses this rock in the direction of N. 15° W.,
in which direction there are low ranges of rounded hills.

Having traversed the slate, limestone and quartz, on a route which is nearly perpen-
dicular to their strike, I had reason to believe that the remaining members of the Taconic
system, which I was familiar with in New-York and Massachusetts, were wanting here.
I made no farther examinations than those I have already detailed, having succeeded in
discovering three of the members of the system, the inferior ones in the limited area of this
part of the valley of the Blackstone, confined to a trough hardly exceeding four miles in
length by two or two and a half in breadth.

The annexed section exhibits the relation of the Taconic rocks of Smithfield and Cum-
berland, together with the adjacent rocks upon the west and east.

Fig. 13.

G. ¥.

G. Granite. a. Altered magnesian slate. L. Limestone. 6. Hornblende. c. Limestone. d. Dyke or thin bed of
hornblende, ten inches thick. e. Great bed of limestone. f. Altered slate resembling serpentine, with small
patches of epidotic looking substance. V. Valley of the Blackstone river. # Granular quartz, interlaminated
with siliceous slate. K. Conglomerate of the Coal formation, or it may be the conglomerate of the Old Red sand-
stone.

TACONIC SYSTEM IN RHODE-ISLAND. 93

The trap dyke represented in this section has the aspect of hornblende, but it has also the
soapy feel of many of the varieties of the trappean rocks. Of the altered magnesian slate
on the east of the limestone beds, I ought to say that while it would not be difficult to
select tolerable specimens of serpentine, tale and epidote, still as a whole there is nothing
differing much from the rock, very distinctly developed. Those individual minerals are
merely slight changes in a rock originally magnesian; but how much of these apparent
changes are due to the nature of the original materials of the rock, and how much to meta-
morphic action, does not clearly appear even from an inspection of the rocks themselves.

In conclusion, I remark that we have in this region a fragment of the Taconic system.
The limestone is inclosed in magnesian slate, as in Berkshire (Massachusetts), and the
quartz is also accompanied with a slate whose characters reminded me strongly of that
associated with the quartz rocks of Stone hill in Williamstown. It is to be borne in mind,
however, that these rocks are modified by intruded igneous masses. But then these acci-
dents, even although taken in connection with the limited extent of the rocks, do not
destroy the system: they ought still to be considered as representatives of it. That they
have been vastly more extensive than their present area, is proved by the immense quan-
tity of their fragments which fill up, as it were, the valley of the Blackstone; and, in
addition to this, they seem to form by far the greater portion of the materials of the Coal
formation, especially the conglomerate, which is made up of granular quartz, and cemented
by the magnesian slate.

From these two facts, it appears that these rocks have for a long time been subjected to
the action of those agents which destroy the already consolidated materials. We need not
wonder, then, at the small space which they occupy; though it must be recollected that
they have furnished materials for another system, as well as an immense amount of debris
in the valley of the Blackstone.

The character of the soil arising from the decomposition of the rocks I have now
described, resembles very closely that of Berkshire (Massachusetts), and of many other
localities where the same rocks occur. One of the results of the decomposition of the
slaty limestone, is the formation of yellow soil, in which yellow ochre predominates very
largely: it isa result identical with that which has taken place in the Taconic range,
though upon a much larger scale. The result I refer to, is the formation of the hematite
beds; and it appears from this and many other examinations I have made, that this ore is
one of the products of these slaty limestones, or those in which talc abounds, and with
which we always meet with more or less of ferruginous matter.

94 TACONIC SYSTEM IN MAINE.

V. THE TACONIC SYSTEM IN MAINE.

Remarks on the geology of the country between Portland and Waterville. Origin and position of the granite
used in construction, Slate of Waterville: similarity of all its subordinate beds to those of New-York.
Breadth of the taconic slate. Reference to the Nereites of Waterville. Similarity of the Kennebeck valley
to the Hoosic valley in New-York. General remarks on the rocks between Waterville and Belfast. Examina-
tion unsatisfactory at Belfast. Rocks of Camden. Megunticook mountain. Fox islands. Limestone of
Thomaston.

The valleys of the Kennebeck and Penobscot, together with a wide belt of country upon
the Piscataqua, furnish many important facts in support of the Taconic system. I was
first convinced of the importance of the rocks in these valleys, from a specimen of slate
which was furnished me by my friend Prof. A. Hopkins, of Williams College, from the
Kennebeck at Waterville, upon which I observed peculiar markings, so strongly resembling
those of the JVereites figured by Mr. Murchison in his Silurian System, that I could not
doubt that they belonged at least to that genus. As this slate appeared identical with the
Taconic slate of New-York, I deemed it important to visit the region which furnished the
specimen. I accordingly visited Waterville, going by way of Portland, for the purpose
of passing over as much of the adjacent territory as possible. Before proceeding to relate
the facts concerning this slate, I will avail myself of the opportunity to say a few words
upon the rocks between Portland and Waterville.

The rocks in and about the city of Portland, and onwards through Brunswick, belong
to the Primary system. They consist of schists, gneiss and mica slate, mostly of the same
character as those of Massachusetts. They are traversed like them with coarse granitic
veins, abounding in tourmaline and other minerals peculiar to such veins. Besides the
coarse variety of granite, one of a beautiful light grey is associated in beds with the same
schists. This variety is almost entirely destitute of the fine minerals so abundant in the
coarser kinds, and which traverse the schists in rather narrow veins. I hardly need re-
mark that it is the grey and uniform rock which has been so much employed in construc-
tion. The most interesting fact which I observed in relation to this rock, was, that it
occupies usually the summit of the hills, appearing there as the capping stone. On exa-
mining several of these hills which had been opened as quarries, I found that the granite
was quite limited, and that the entire mass had been removed ; that the bed rested originally
upon the edges of the nearly vertical mica slate ; and, in fine, all that remained of those
beds, were the veins through which the granite seemed to have issued while in a molten
state. These veins are from one or two inches to a foot in thickness. I know that this is
not a new fact in geology; but I had not seen any statement to this effect in the publica-
tions of the day. Granite of the same kind, but of a coarser grain, forms large beds in
some parts of Massachusetts, and has probably a similar origin. In New-York, granite
seems also to have overflowed some of the beds of primary limestone.

I have introduced a notice of the primary rocks, and of their igneous character, prin-

mY

TACONIC SLATE. 95

cipally for the purpose of preparing the reader to expect a variety of derangements in a
system of rocks of a more recent date than the primary schists. I refer to the taconic
rocks; for as the latter are surrounded by those ancient igneous formations, it would be
very remarkable if they should escape the general derangements which are so common in
the former. In fact we find changes in them of the same kind as those of which I gave
some account while speaking of the Taconic system in Rhode-Island.

§ 1. Taconic sLATE.

In describing the Taconic rocks of Maine, I shall pursue the descending order, describing
first those which appear to me the newest. The slates at Waterville were the first to which
I directed my attention. They are of a fine greenish color, nearly as even-bedded and as
fissile as roofing slate, and very little lable to decomposition. They are, however,
stained brown in some instances, by the decomposition of pyrites which is disseminated in
microscopic crystals through much of the rock. Among the crystals, I believe I can re-
cognize also the octahedral iron. I consider the presence of these crystals important,
inasmuch as they must have been formed by molecular action subsequent to the deposition
of the rock. In the magnesian slate, octahedral iron and sulphuret of iron have been
formed apparently under the same conditions, but in much larger specimens. In the taconic
slate at Waterville we find the fossils upon the same layers, showing very satisfactorily
that the presence of metallic crystals is no objection to the view I have taken of these slates,
particularly as it regards their sedimentary character. Interlaminated with the fine green-
ish slate are calcareous bands, though by no means rich in calcareous matter. They are
thin-bedded, and scarcely differ from the beds described in New-York. I may go still
farther, and say that we find here the same series of beds in the taconic slate as in New-
York. I noticed in particular the coarse brecciated beds, similar to those formerly called
greywacke ; consisting, however, of a diversity of materials, as angular grains of quartz
stained with chloritic matter, and disseminated carbonate of lime, which often disintegrates
and falls out, leaving rather a rough spongy mass of silex or quartz stained with oxide of
iron; and what I considered as quite remarkable, was the existence of hemitropic crystals
of albite in the same coarse beds, under the same condition as in New-York. These beds
are traversed by thin seams of quartz, which give the mass a chequered appearance, look-
ing at a distance like the sparry limerock. All the subordinate masses run parallel with
the beds of the slate: when one is contorted, the other partakes of the same sinuosities.

The points that I first examined at Waterville, are not far from the centre of the range,
the most important of which is that upon the banks of the Kennebeck near the village,
where the Wereites are found. ‘The slates are nearly vertical, with only a slight dip to the
east: their trend is N. 10° E., varying, however, from this direction to northeast and
southwest. At West-Waterville, five and a half miles west from Waterville proper, the
same thin beds of slate appear, interlaminated also with silico-caleareous layers. The

96 TACONIC SLATE NEAR WATERVILLE.

intervening country is moderately ridged with low hills, and the rock only appears occa-
sionally, but enough of it may be seen to convince the most sceptical that it is but one
continuous rock. One or two miles west of West-Waterville, the taconic slate is succeeded
by the primary schists with granitic veins, as in the country between Waterville and Port-
land. In the direction of their strike, they pass onwards to the Piscataqua river, where the
fine roofing slates abound, which are described by Dr. Jackson in his Report on the Geology
of Maine.

In the position of the roofing slate in Maine, we have another fact analogous to what
actually exists in New-York, namely, the roofing slates are confined to beds subordinate
to the taconic slate ; and it is to be remembered, too, that as yet no slate fit for roofing has
been found in the Hudson river rocks.

Having examined the slate in a westerly direction as far as seemed necessary, in which
examination I was assisted by Prof. Loomis of Waterville College, I proceeded across the
strata in an easterly direction towards Belfast. On this route the slate continues about
seven miles. No variation of character in this rock appears in this distance: it consists, as
at Waterville, of alternating hard and soft layers or beds, together with the siliceous, cal-
careous and coarse brecciated beds. Towards China, seven miles from Waterville, the rocks
assume more the character of the primary schists, but the precise point where the change
occurs was not observed.

From the exposition of this rock and its beds, it appears to be at least fifteen miles wide,
leaving out of view the equivocal portion in the vicinity of China. On placing specimens
of the slate and its beds side by side with those of New-York, it is impossible to discover
any essential difference between them. It is true, however, that as yet species of the
same JVereites have not been discovered in New-York.

It was in the vicinity of Waterville that Prof. Loomis discovered the fossils referred to
on page 69.

The character of the country over which the taconic slate prevails, resembles that of
Rensselaer and Washington counties in New-York; and the valley of the Kennebeck at
and above Waterville, resembles that of the Hoosic. Some of the best farming land in
the State lies in and adjacent to this valley, which is productive in grass, and will probably
soon supply the southern cities with hay.

Omitting for the present the farther consideration of the rocks of the Kennebeck, I
observe, that between China and Montville, mica slate and gneiss, together with granitic
veins, are the only rocks that make their appearance ; and again ten miles west of Belfast,
a still coarser mica slate occurs, charged with garnet, schorl, hornblende, and large masses
of felspar: the rock dips southeast. Five miles west of Belfast, a much finer talcose slate
is the surface rock, a slate approaching in its characters the magnesian slate of the Taconie
range in New-York.

TACONIC SLATE AT BELFAST AND CAMDEN. 97

At Belfast, upon Penobscot bay, the same rock occurs, but much more disturbed than
at points intervening between Waterville and Belfast; and it is for this reason that the
geological position of these rocks is still doubtful. They may be talcose slates of the
primary schists; or they may be magnesian slates altered by subterranean and other
forces, so as to disguise their true character. There is still another difficulty in deter-
mining satisfactorily the position of the rocks at this place: it is their concealment by
drift. We find exposed at a certain place, for example, a small portion of a mass which
contains garnet, hornblende, etc.: it is, so far as can be determined, a primary schist. At
the distance, however, of a quarter or half a mile, another rock is partially exposed, which
is a magnesian slate, without garnets, hornblende, or other of the essential characters of
the talcose slate just alluded to. In these cases, the great difficulty is the concealment of
the relations of the two rocks by soil and drift. Now in this and some other cases, the
doctrine I am disposed to maintain is that different rocks, differing as it regards age, but
agreeing in respect to lithological character, may-be formed in proximity; but of this I
shall speak hereafter.

The coarse schists at Belfast abound in andalusite in very perfect crystals. They may
be found upon the beach about half a mile north of the village. They are reddish, and
more like foreign andalusite than any I have seen.

Not finding the Taconic rocks sufficiently well exposed or developed at Belfast, I pro-
ceeded to Camden. I had been informed that limestone was one of the principal rocks at
this place, a circumstance which was deemed of sufficient importance to authorize an
examination.

‘In the rocks of Camden, I found much to support and sustain the views I had previously
formed of the independent existence of a system of rocks above the Primary schists, and
below the Silurian system. That the relations of the rocks at this place may be under-
stood, I have introduced a section which embraces the entire series in the order they occur.
It crosses a tongue of land intervening between the harbor at the village of Camden, and
a small bay or harbor formed by Goose river. By this section, I am able to refer at once
to the rocks and their position.

Fig. 14.
NORTH. SOUTH

Syn)
Ai (GY

a. Wrinkled magnesian slate. 6. Limestone. c. Trap dyke. d. Hard siliceous slate. e. Granitic vein. f. Fine
slate. g. Coarse slate, with imperfect staurotide. A. First mass of granular quartz. i. Slaty contorted quartz,
passing into a rock containing macles. . Fine granular quartz. /. Slate with macles. mn. Granular quartz.

G. Goose river. F. Fracture and uplift. m. Magnesian slate. *

[AcRicuLTuRAL Report.] 13

98 ROCKS AT CAMDEN.

An inspection of this section, which comprises an extent of about three quarters of a
mile, furnishes an epitome of the facts disclosed by the rocks upon this range. The first
mass a is the magnesian slate, much wrinkled, and containing masses as well as seams of
quartz: it is the north portion of the uplift, where the descent becomes rapid towards the
river.

b, is the Stockbridge limestone, clouded, lumpy as it appears upon a weathered surface,
intermixed with quartz, siliceous veins, talcose matter, etc. Its beds, when worked, offer
veins of cale spar, and imperfect veins of magnesian matter, which appears to result from
the decomposition of felspar. The soft matter contains dodecahedral crystals of carbonate
of lime, with rough surfaces, which appear to have been formed in the soft matter after its
decomposition. The same material is found in numerous places in the limestone at
Williamstown, Massachusetts. I have called it magnesian, though probably it is merely
a porcelanous clay.

A trap dyke traverses the hard slate, succeeded very soon by a granitic vein. f and g
are portions of fine and coarse slate; in the latter, imperfect crystals or macles of brown
staurotide appear. Some of the faces may be made out; they possess only the general
form of a crystal, but are disclosed by weathering. Nothing at all determinate appears
by fracture.

h. At this point in the section, a mass of quartz comes in, of a bluish color; grain and
texture that of the common granular quartz. It is sixty or seventy feet thick; and from
its presence and relations, I have been led to entertain the opinion that two distinct masses
of quartz belong to the system. This fact is borne out by the rocks of Berkshire, Massa-
chusetts. Two masses, for instance, appear which are not in the same range, though ‘it
is not clear that one is superimposed upon the other as at Goose river, Maine.

m. Magnesian slate.

K. Fine brown granular quartz, portions of which are conglomerated : it is the principal
mass of quartz, possessing all the characters of the same kind of rock in Massachusetts,
Vermont and New-York. It is interlaminated with a dark fine siliceous slate, occurring
in mass, though much contorted. Portions resemble the talcose slates, in which, as in
Rhode-Island, a greenish granular mineral appears, more like epidote than any thing else.
Bands of yellow slate also appear, resembling those of Massachusetts which furnish the
ochry iron.

At f, after rising up from the gorge of the river, and passing over the succeeding ridge
some forty or fifty rods, a fracture appears, which brings the magnesian slate nearly in
contact with the quartz over which it lies. It contains at this point also imperfect macles.
That the quartz is beneath this mass of slate, is proved by another fracture nearly at right
angles to this one, and but a short distance to the westward, where both masses are brought
up, thie quartz being beneath, and bearing the slate with its peculiar imperfect minerals.
The dip and trend in this case is changed to the west and north.

The thickness of the limestone at this exposure is about two hundred and fifty feet.
The portions of the beds adjacent to the others are more or less slaty and impure. The

ihn iine... oe

ROCKS AT CAMDEN. 99

stratification is extremely obscure ; and were it not for interlaminated slate or other beds,
itewould be impossible to determine the direction of dip. It is difficult to discover the cause
of such a condition, which is one that is quite common to limestones of this period. Even
in the Massachusetts beds, the stratification is not always distinct.

There is nothing peculiar to the main bed of quartz. It is interlaminated with a siliceous
slate ; and like all other beds, this is extremely barren of minerals. The dip is north, or
conformable to that of the upper rocks.

The most interesting mass of this rock is west of Camden village, where it forms
Megunticook mountain, an eminence from six to seven hundred feet high. This mass
I supposed to be the lowest, and it can not be less than five hundred feet thick. Dip
southeast, at an angle of fifteen or twenty degrees. 'The whole mountain seems but a
brecciated or conglomerated mass of pebbles, cemented together by a fine siliceous paste.
The layers are jointed: one set runs N. 75° W., and another N. 10° E.

The pebbles are usually partially rounded, although they appear as if they were all
angular. Actual inspection, however, shows that while some are partially worn, others
are Sharp and angular. From an examination of these pebbles, they seem to have been
derived from the quartz of the mica slate and granite. JI was unable to discover limestone
pebbles in any of the strata. Abundance of grey mica, in fine scales, gives a glimmering
aspect to some portions of the rock.

Megunticook mountain rises rather abruptly from a rolling country, and appears insulated
from other rocks of the Taconic system. A few rods from its steep sides, a mica slate ap-
pears, the surface of which is grooved by diluvial action. I could obtain no evidence that
the quartz is embraced in this depressed mass of mica slate; the whole appearance led me
to infer that it rested upon the slate. The ground upon which my opinion in this matter
is founded, is the difference in the strike and dip of the two rocks: thus the quartz, as has
been stated, dips at a very moderate angle to the southeast; the mica slate, on the con-
trary, is nearly vertical, with a strike N.60°—70° W.* The two rocks therefore have no
coincidence, as they ought to have if the quartz was enclosed in the slate. This result,
too, is agreeable to what is elsewhere observed, particularly along the western face of the
Green mountain range at Arlington, Vermont. It is true that Prof. Hrrcucocxk considers
the quartz as embraced in mica slate in Berkshire. Not to maintain an opinion contrary
to high authority in this case, I will only remark that I do not think that it is ever em-
braced in the primary schists, or those of the Gneiss system. This mica slate also bears
the same characters, and has the same trend and dip as the other masses associated with
the gneiss and granite passing between Searsmont and Belfast. What appears to be the
fact, therefore, is that we have a primary base underlying the whole region, and forming
occasionally wide belts; and in these belts the true Gneiss or Schist system is comprised,

* That there is no mistake in determining the dip of the quartz, is shown by the position of the pebbles, which lie
with their major axis parallel to the planes of bedding, as is always the case upon a pebbly beach.

13°

100 FOX ISLANDS.

which, however, occasionally appears, as at Camden, above all the other rocks, and then
sinks deeply and disappears beneath them. This state of things causes a great deal of per-
plexity, confusion and disagreement among observers ; and it will require the utmost care
and attention on the part of all, to reconcile the discrepancies and differences of opinion
on this question. On many of these subjects, much is yet to be learnt in this country ;
and though we are here pushing our researches among the newer rocks with great zeal,
much remains to be done among the older, and to be learnt in relation to the origin of
rocks and parent beds. ’

§ 2. Fox IsLANDs.

The islands called Fox islands, lie off from Camden twelve miles. They form low
ridges, or high reefs or outliers from the main land, and are particularly well located as
fishing stations.

The formation of these islands is very similar to that of the main land. The principal
difference consists in the greater proportion of metamorphism exhibited in the islands. The
slates are particularly altered. The cause appears upon the spot; few places furnishing
such a number of dykes as are found on some portions of the coast. The effect exhibits
itself in a hardening of the strata and a crowding together of the masses, and in the de-
velopment of many hard oval nodules, and in many instances imperfect crystals of felspar.

Those slates which are unchanged are thin beneath and usually dark colored, and very
often charged with sulphur, which imparts to them that peculiar character that has given
them the name of plumbaginous slate. When only a slight change has taken place, there
is simply a glossy surface, a sort of resinous lustre.

The dykes are the ordinary greenstone, though coarse, yet nothing peculiar; but they
contain many nodules of smooth quartz much like water pebbles, solid throughout, or with
merely a slight cavity in the centre. These break open readily, and some become loose by
atmospheric action. The islands, however, are composed of the magnesian slate and trap
dykes, twenty five or thirty feet wide, to which must be attributed the strange metamor-
phosis the rocks have suffered both in texture and.mechanical arrangement.

We are unable, in consequence of the concealment of the rocks in this direction, to
estimate the width of the Taconic system: they dip N.55°W. The system ranges up
the Penobscot into the interior of Maine ; but in consequence of the proximity of igneous
rocks, and the changes which they have undergone, as well as their resemblance when
thus changed to the primary schists, it may still be diffieult to mark out the distinct belt of
country over which it prevails.

Having completed my examinations at Camden, I proceeded to Thomaston, where for
a long time beds of limestone have been wrought for marble, but more extensively used
and burnt for quicklime. I had the same intention as when visiting the Rhode-Island
quarries of limestone, namely, the determination of the age and relations of the rock.
Thomaston is about seven miles southeast of Camden, and lies in the direction of the range

:
ul

TACONIC SYSTEM IN MICHIGAN. 101

of the Taconic system. Yet in a region where igneous action has been so rife, and where,
as has been stated in the preceding pages, plutonic rocks are ready to meet the observer
on all sides, it would not be safe to infer the place of any of the limestones without an
actual examination. In this case I should have been right in locating the rock in the
Taconic system without an examination; for only a mere inspection was required to see
its identity with that at Camden, and its equivalency with that of Stockbridge, the special
type of this species. I do not deem it at all necessary to repeat the characters of the rock ;
but it is proper to say, that like the same mass at Camden, it has suffered by intrusive
rocks. One of the quarries is traversed by a huge dyke of greenstone, which remains an
upright wall about fifteen feet thick: its direction is N. 40° E. The slates in connection
are the magnesian: their strike is northeast, with a curved dip to the southeast.

VI. THE TACONIC SYSTEM IN MICHIGAN.

INFORMATION FROM DR. DOUGLAS HOUGHTON, RELATIVE TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE
TACONIC SYSTEM IN MICHIGAN.

After the preceding pages were ready for the press, I received from Dr. Houghton the
interesting information that this system is well developed in the State of Michigan. I
give here the account which he obligingly furnished me of the rocks in question.

The Taconic system is largely developed in the western and central parts of the upper
peninsula of Michigan. The slates of the formation are finely exposed along the western
boundary on the line of the Menomene river, which cuts across the formation. East of
this, and near Lake Superior, the granular quartz makes its appearance in hills of an
elevation of several hundred feet. This formation trends northeasterly, and probably in
a direction nearly parallel with that in New-York. Iam not furnished with details in
regard to the separate, or subordinate masses. It is interesting to find the same rocks in
so many independent fields; and I may add, for the purpose of dispelling doubts in regard
to the identity of the slates of the peninsula of Michigan and New-York, that on showing
Dr. Houghton some of the flagging stones of the Taconic slate with fucoidal impressions,
they were recognized at once as the same species of fossils he had observed in the slates
of the Menomene river. Another fact stated by him is that he has observed many locali-
ties where the slates of the Taconic system pass beneath the Potsdam sandstone, the
oldest rock of the New-York system. It would be difficult to add to the weight of this
testimony, in regard to the separate and independent existence of a system of fossiliferous
rocks of an age anterior to the Silurian or New-York system.

102 DERANGEMENTS OF THE TACONIC SYSTEM

Vil. DERANGEMENTS OF THE TACONIC SYSTEM IN NEW-YORK, MASSACHU-
SETTS AND VERMONT. a

§ 1. DirFIicULTY OF DISTINGUISHING SOME ROCKS WHICH CONFORM IN STRIKE.

The relations of the members of this system are without doubt preserved over the whole
extent comprised within the area of Rensselaer and Washington counties in New-York,
and Berkshire and Bennington counties in Massachusetts and Vermont. Here at least the
succession and parallelism of the rocks are maintained generally ; and in deciding what
rocks really belong to the system, we are not embarrassed by intruded masses. The geo-
logist may pass immediately over a succession of taconic rocks by and on the route of the
macadam road from Troy to East Bennington, a distance of thirty-five miles. The suc-
cession is uninterrupted, so far as intruded and plutonic rocks are concerned ; and therefore
all those masses or rocks over which he will pass in this easterly route, and which are
conformable to and succeed each other as represented in the table (page 63), I conceive
to belong to the Taconic system, commencing at Troy with the Taconic slate, and termi-
nating in East Bennington with Granular quartz and the Stockbridge limestone. We end
here with the granite and gneiss of the Hoosic mountain. If this undisturbed condition
prevailed universally, there would probably have been but one opinion in regard to the
independence of this system. It was very natural, in the early days of geology, to regard
those rocks as identical which looked alike ; and hence when it was known that the talcose
slates of the Gneiss system differed but a fraction from those of the Taconic, it was to be
expected that they would all be placed upon the same list, especially when it was observed
that real primary schists ranged side by side with them in a few localities. An uninter-
rupted succession, however, does not prevail; and it is my business, in this place, to give
some details of those interruptions which oceur in New-York.

It is well known that the range or strike of the Taconic rocks is nearly parallel with that
of the primary schists upon their eastern border, a fact which has had its influence in
observing the true age of the rocks under consideration. But this is not all: wherever,
from any cause, the lower rocks have been elevated, the ridges formed thereby lie also
parallel, and appear as a part of the system of rocks among which they range, unless
indeed the intruded rock is an unstratified one, as granite or trap. When gneiss or mica
slate forms a range, it is with extreme difficulty that we can persuade ourselves that the
talcose looking slates are not also parts of the Mica slate and Gneiss system.

The great point of difficulty, therefore, in studying the Taconic system, is where the
members are respectively separated from each other by intervening rocks whose lithological
characters closely resemble those of this system. This is particularly the case at - those
points where the highland ridges of Orange, Rockland, Westchester and Dutchess counties
send up their spurs to the north. In conformity with this fact, I may state generally that
the highlands of the Hudson separate and divide the Taconic rocks asa whole. They are

IN NEW-YORK, MASSACHUSETTS AND VERMONT. 103

not intruded by transverse rents in the manner of injected or plutonic rocks, but are simply
separated in the direction of their strike, or nearly so, as it would seem by an uplifting
among them of inferior rocks in the form of parallel ridges. By this means the taconic
slate is carried more westerly than its general strike at the north; and it is by this westerly
thrust that it crosses the river near Poughkeepsie, ranging southward so as to underlie the
belt of country to the west of Newburgh for six or eight miles; while the lower or easterly
members of the same system pass to the east of the primary chain of the Highlands, and do
not appear upon the banks of the Hudson till that chain is passed. A good example of an
arrangement of this kind is furnished at the Rocky Glen Factory in Fishkill, upon the
creek of the same name. The separation of the adjacent masses is effected at this place
by a low ridge of granite, which comes up in the form of a slender spur from the High-
lands four or five miles south, where of course it is wider, while at the Glen it has become
attenuated, and, in the course of a mile or two, disappears beneath the taconic rocks.
The annexed section explains the arrangement.

Fig. 15.

a. Slate. 6b. Granite. c. Limestone. e. Fishkill mountain.

In this section, the granite is pushed upward so as to intervene between two rocks (which
in other localities are in contact), and runs an unknown distance in this relation. The
width of the granitic ridge is about one hundred yards. It contains a large portion of
greenish or chloritic matter: the felspar is flesh-colored, but, as a whole, it has quite a
resemblance to trap. If now we substitute in imagination a ridge of gneiss or mica slate
for the granite, we should be very likely to consider it a case of interstratification or inter-
lamination of rocks of the same age; and were this to occur in the eastern border of the
system adjacent to the Hoosic mountain, few would doubt that, in truth and reality, slate,
gneiss, and limestone were interstratified, and therefore belonged to one and the same
system; and should we substitute quartz for the gneiss, a still stronger case would be pre-
sented, and we could then hardly doubt the truth of the supposition which has been
advanced. We may believe that these very arrangements do occur, and that mica schist
actually protrudes upward among the newer slates, appearing like a member of the forma-
tion; but it is easy to see that, after all, such a conclusion may be false. Not only may
an inferior rock be forced between two adjacent though different ones, but it may come up
also between the strata, and thereby separate portions of the same rock widely from each
other. This being admitted, it leads us still forward to more complicated cases; for by
changes of this nature, the masses become more exposed to abrading influences, especially

104 DERANGEMENTS Of THE TACONIC SYSTEM.

if they have been exposed to what is termed diluvial action, and patches have been worn
or cut through, showing the lower rocks in the same strike. Now ina system as old as
the Taconic, we must admit its great liability to be deranged, and its members to be
changed in various ways; in ways as numerous as the physical agents themselves, fire,
water, frost, abrasions, disintegration, etc. It is therefore really to be expected that diffi-
culties should occur in the adjustment of its members; but these by no means appear
insurmountable, when we are once in possession of all the facts relating to the system.

The doctrine which I wish to inculcate in the preceding remarks, is, that a system of
rocks may be rendered obscure by a parallel division of its beds, or by a parallel separa-
tion of its individual members: they may be so divided as to be worn out by the agents or
powers of nature, or become insignificant, or separated so far asunder as to be lost sight of ;
and the older any system is, the more liable is it to suffer by these accidents. The Taconic
system has especially suffered by these causes ; and in consequence of its proximity to other
systems and rocks probably of a similar origin, many perplexing questions arise, of which
other systems are entirely free.

In studying the rocks of this or any other system, I select those districts where there is
the least disturbance. By this course, I am enabled to learn, not only what the members
of the system are, but also their true order of succession. In this system, I have particu-
larly examined the district marked out at the head of this article, as it is here that few if
any intrusive rocks of any kind occur; and I find a certain number of them lying in
parallel bands, which on both sides, the east and west, prove unconformable to the two
systems lying one above the eastern system of schists, and the other below the shales that
constitute a part of the western system, the New-York or Silurian.

Now wherever I find these members, although they may be separated from each other
as they are at the Highlands, I am determined still to call them by their right names ;
though I am ready to express my fears that some of my favorite bantlings have been so
much altered in some localities, that I may fail to recognize them. I suspect, too, that it
may happen in some cases that only the fragments of the system have come down to us,
so that it will be impossible to bring together the remnants in such a condition as to make
even a tolerable appearance on a map.

I have only a few more words to say in this connection, namely, that the difficulties
attending the adjustment of the rocks of the Taconic system cannot be appreciated without
a tolerable knowledge of the characters of all the rocks with which they lie in juxtaposi-
tion. Very little embarrassment is occasioned by the presence of gneiss or mica slate near
any of the members of the New-York system, so far at least as to distinguish one from
the other; but not so with the rocks under consideration, for reasons which I have already
given.

MURCHISON’S SILURIAN RESEARCHES. 105

§ 2. Murcuison’s SILURIAN RESEARCHES.

Tt is no new thing in geology, for rocks, where they come together, to conform nearly
in dip and strike, though they may be of very different ages. A case in point is given in
the Silurian Researches, where the Coal measures conform so nearly in their strike with
the Cambrian rocks, that the unpractised geologist would be misled by appearances. I give
the passages entire, as they contain important matter. The first is introduced by stating
that the Salopian coal measures repose on rocks of all ages, from the Mountain limestone
to the Cambrian rocks inclusive. ‘‘ This collocation,” the author remarks, ‘‘ which in
‘*¢ Shropshire cannot lead us into error, has been productive of confusion in those situations
‘* where the coal measures put on the lithological aspect of the older deposits, and at the
‘© same time rest directly upon them; and if there is no striking want of conformity between
“* these masses, their separation becomes a subject of difficulty to persons not habituated
**to such phenomena.’’ And he goes on to state, that at Nolton it would be difficult to
define the boundary between the culm beds and the lower silurian shale and sandstone, in
consequence of the striking coincidence in the lithological aspect of the two rocks, and the
very little apparent discrepancy in their position. Another case alluded to, is one where
the Culm measures appear to pass downwards into Cambrian rocks ; at which place, view-
ing the cliffs from the shore, it is no easy matter to define where the older strata cease and
the younger begin. His conclusion is, ‘*‘ Now if this junction were not exposed in a bold
‘* sea cliff, where the faces of these rocks are completely laid bare, how much might have
‘* been written upon conformability and passage, and what erroneous inductions might have
‘* been drawn from these fallacious appearances !’’ It appears, therefore, that rocks as
new as the Coal measures have assumed the age and appearance of the Cambrian rocks,
and that they cannot be distinguished without the most careful observations, even where
there is the best possible exposure, that of a naked sea cliff. We need not be surprised,
then, that rocks still older should, occasionally at least, appear in the same condition as
those described by Mr. Murchison.

Vill. MINERAL PRODUCTS OF THE TACONIC SYSTEM.

Five important products are derived from the Taconic system: Brown hematitic iron,
black oxide of manganese, roofing slate, the white and clouded marbles, and limestone.
In addition to these, I might add flagging stone, which is of some consequence in districts
not supplied with that material from the Helderberg range.

[AcricuLTuRAL Report.] 14

106 MINERAL PRODUCTS

§ 1. Brown HEMATITE, AND OXIDE OF MANGANESE.

The brown hematite and oxide of manganese are associated in the same beds, and are
derived from sources originally the same. I have already stated that the Stockbridge lime-
stone often passes into thin talcose strata, in which a peculiar ferruginous looking sub-
stance abounds. These layers, by exposure to the atmosphere, become yellow from the
presence of ochre which appears diffused through them. But they always disintegrate
rapidly, and form deep yellow clays, which, on being penetrated, furnish nodules of oxide
of iron; or, in places where there is a great accumulation, beds of the ore are found lying
wholly disconnected with the rock in the common acceptation of the word. In some in-
stances the ore is collected in beds in a fine drift, or soft material containing round pebbles,
frequently granular quartz, and occasionally stockbridge limestone. It is difficult to de-
termine whether the materials forming these beds have been transported or not. They
appear to have been carried into depressions by the slow operation of common or ordinary
causes, simultaneously with the disintegration and decomposition that detached and sepa-
rated the particles from their common matrix. The beds thus formed may have been
enveloped in drift, with the partial destruction of the accumulated materials.

The hematite embraces the usual varieties of imitative forms, as botryoidal, mammillary,
stalactitic, etc. Large globular hollow masses are often met with in the excavations, of
sufficient capacity to hold a barrel of water, and sometimes water is found in them. The
interior of these large globes is lined with a splendent coating of manganesian matter,
spread over the vertical fibres which terminate inwards. The outside is always rough with
projecting points of hardened ore.

The manganese is usually collected in masses amidst the iron ore: it is in imperfectly
compacted masses, or in that condition called wad. In other instances, it is in hard rough
black masses, with a fine granular or earthy texture ; and sometimes in fine needleform
crystals of exceedingly high metallic lustre.

A range of beds of hematite extends from Westchester county, through Salisbury,
Amenia, Stockbridge, Richmond, Bennington, and onwards to the Canada line. All
the independent ranges of the Taconic rocks furnish beds of hematite.

Associated with the same beds is the gibbsite, an aluminous mineral occurring in the
form of incrustations, and pendent among the masses of ore in stalactites or tuberous
masses. Fine white clays also abound, which appear of the same composition as the
gibbsite. White carbonate of iron is also quite common, usually in rounded or kidney-
form masses.

The different minerals enumerated above are derived from the magnesian slates and
limestones, and not from the taconic slate.

a

OF THE TACONIC SYSTEM. 107

§ 2. Marsies.

The Stockbridge limestone furnishes by far the greatest amount of the native marbles
used in the United States. The most esteemed is the clear white marble with translu-
cent edges. It is not difficult to procure pieces which are faced, as it were, with this
variety ; but thick slabs, free from clouds, are rare. The larger proportion of the varieties
appertains to the clouded kinds, which vary greatly in the patterns furnished by different
beds.

It will be needless to furnish statistics of the trade in this material. The principal facts
which I wish to speak of, are that the white and clouded marbles in our different markets
are raised from beds in the Stockbridge limestone ; that these beds are coéxtensive with
the Taconic system; and hence, in a practical view, we are to search for these marbles
along the general range of this system, and nearer to the great primary schists in New-
York, Massachusetts and Vermont, than to the western border of the system.

Mr. Brown, the sculptor, now residing in Italy, tested the marble of some of the beds
in the neighborhood of Middlebury (Vermont), for the purposes of statuary, and pro-
nounced it very good; but in consequence of his removal soon after, its qualities have not
been sufficiently investigated, or the quarries sufficiently exposed to determine their extent.

§ 3. RooFine SLATE.

The beds of roofing slate quarried at Hoosic and a few other places, were placed in the
Hudson river series, notwithstanding they lie far towards the Hoosic mountain range.
With this disposition I was never satisfied; but so strong was the determination, at the
time I published my report, to consider all these slates and shales as metamorphic beds
belonging to the New-York system, that I did not make up my mind to break away from
the doctrine. I taught the same doctrine, too, in the spring of 1838, to my class in natu-
ral history in Williams College ; but I was led the next year to abandon it, from the great
difficulty of maintaining it against the light of some facts which had fallen under my
observation.

In my first examinations of the slates of this region, I committed a serious error, in
taking it for granted that all the beds near Troy belonged truly to the Hudson river shales.
Accordingly I made that place my starting point, and examined carefully all the exposed
rocks to the eastward, for the purpose of ascertaining the line of demarkation, if any existed,
between these and the eastern slates. The error consisted in the first assumption ; instead
of which, the rocks near Troy, and lying adjacent to the great travelled road to the east,
are composed chiefly of Taconic slate. The belt of the Hudson river series resting upon
the Taconic slates, and extending north from near Chatham four-corners in Columbia
county, terminates south of the road, which takes a circuitous route beyond the northern
prolongation of the belt. Hence the reason why no change was observed; and hence,
following a wrong direction, the beds of roofing slate were enabled to maintain themselves
in a wrong position. My object is here to correct the error, into which I had fallen in
spite of a feeble consciousness that I was all the time wrong.

14*

108 MINERAL PRODUCTS OF THE TACONIC SYSTEM.

Another position will also appear from this discussion; or if it does not appear, it is not
the less true; namely, that the system in question has been studied by piecemeal, and the
whole plan of it worked out of a continually increasing stock of facts from year to year ;
so that it has been built up from one staging to another, as materials were found to fit
together. Now in this mode of building, we are very liable to place some of our materials
with the wrong side uppermost, even if we do not arrange them wrong altogether. Hence
one part of our business has been occasionally to pull down some of the superstructure, in
order to readjust the pieces of which it was composed, and to discard or appropriate as was
found conducive to its symmetry, and very likely further emendations will still be required.

Beds suitable for flagging occur in the Taconic slate, and in the thin beds associated with
granular quartz. The former are highly calcareous: they are quarried in rhombic slabs,
formed by the natural joints of the rock ; they are very strong, exceeding the sandstones
in firmness ; and they are far superior to the limestones, as they usually come out without
trimming. The quartz rock is also useful for flags, but its surfaces are harsher and rougher.

The attention of the public has not been sufficiently directed to the importance of the
construction of good walks through the streets of our villages; and thus the stone not
being called for, the quarries have rarely been opened.

A variety of the slate flagging has been discovered in Washington county. It is ina
compact mass in slate, without joints, and is almost as difficult to break in one direction as
another. When raised and sawed, it has the appearance of soapstone.

CONCLUSION.
The independence of the Taconic system is sustained or proved by the following facts :

1. Position. It rests unconformably upon primary schists, and_passes beneath the New-
York system, the oldest and inferior members of the latter being superimposed
unconformably upon the Taconic slate.

2. Dissimilarity of organic remains. The \Vereites and other fossils of the Taconic slate
are unknown in any of the members of the Champlain group. In addition to
which, it is important to bear in mind the fact, that in this group the mollusca of
the New-York system are also wanting.

3. The members of the Taconic system have a different arrangement. The sandstones, lime-
stones and slates are not only different in their relative position, but they are much
thicker than those with which they have been supposed to be identical in the New-
York system.

I leave it for future observers to determine whether the preceding positions have been
sustained in this treatise or not; and inasmuch as it is now important that our palzozoic
base should be determined by observation, it is to be hoped that the subject, with this
special view, may receive the attention it deserves.

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER V. 109

APPENDIX TO THE TACONIC SYSTEM.

Tue origin of the brown hematitic iron has been a subject of considerable inquiry ; but
very little light has been obtained upon the subject, until recently. Formerly my own
opinion in regard to its origin, was, that it originated in a limestone shale, which was
charged partly with oxide and partly with a decomposing sulphuret of iron. Such a mix-
ture exists throughout the entire range of the formation, and is usually a bed subordinate
to the Stockbridge limestone ; besides, the hematite occurs in beds connected with alluvial
or diluvial formations, which appear to have been derived from decomposing or disinte-
grating masses situated at some distance. I am inclined to maintain the opinion still, that
such may have been the origin of many of the beds situated upon the ranges of this sys-
tem. During an examination, however, of some of these beds near North-Adams in
Berkshire county (Massachusetts), I found that the ore might be traced to veins which
penetrated into the solid quartz rock or brown sandstone of the Taconic system. This vein
is interesting, in consequence of being connected with a peculiar brecciated mass, which
consists of sharp angular fragments of quartz cemented by the hematite. The fragments
are often enveloped in a layer of hematite of a fibrous structure, or, in other words, in a
fine variety of limonite. This investing coat is sometimes half an inch thick, and it
frequently cements masses of fragments of great size and weight. The opinion which has
usually prevailed in regard to this breccia, is that the rock was broken thus by some cause
unknown, and the fragments subsequently cemented together by infiltration of the oxide
of iron. This mode of formation is not very objectionable, inasmuch as we frequently see
operations of a similar kind now in progress. But we may very profitably inquire whether
it is applicable to all cases ; and whether, if we even admit it as true in part, we may not,
under certain circumstances, adopt a different view of its origin? The first inquiry is, how
came the quartz in this form, broken and even apparently comminuted, and the fragments
as sharp and splintery as though they were just broken with a hammer? Pursuing our in-
quiries, may we not ask ourselves whether there is any connection between the force which
broke the quartz as described, and that which effected the cementation subsequently? As
to the Adams vein, in connection with the brecciated mass, the enquiry, taken in connec-
tion with the origin of veins, seemed very natural. Thus, adopting the view that veins
are rents filled with molten or ignited matter, it appears highly probable that the oxide
of iron or hematite might have been forced up from below ; and, when it reached the
surface, it may have flowed into the natural joints of the quartz rock, and have farther
broken the bed by the sudden application of heat, and hence consolidated the fragments
as we now find them. All the known facts which are at all concerned in the inquiry, go
to show the probability of this view of the subject. Thus, heat applied suddenly to this
vitreous quartz would have the effect we have supposed, namely, to fracture it : the filling

110 APPENDIX

of veins by molten matter from beneath, supports the same view, and in this case we see
the hill of breccia and beneath the vein. It would be interesting, could we establish this
view of the origin of this peculiar rock. This is quite apparent, when we take into con-
sideration the multitude of these brecciated beds along the eastern limits of the Taconic
system. They range nearly in a line running through Berkshire county, at the western
base of the Green mountains, and northwardly into Vermont. The question will not fail
to suggest itself to every inquisitive mind, whether these beds are all connected with veins
beneath. The question of their origin then assumes a practical importance, and is worthy
of being followed very carefully out to its full solution. If such a result should be ob-
tained, it will open an inexhaustible source for this kind of ore, which is usually of an
excellent quality, and easy to smelt. It is, however, proper to state, that the quartz rock
in which this vein appears in Adams, is a hard rock to blast; and it is possible that the
expenses, from this cause alone, of obtaining the ore, might be so great as to render these
veins useless. Much undoubtedly would depend on their width : if wide enough to be
quarried without rendering it necessary to blast the rock itself, then there would be no
difficulty in working these veins. The matter must remain undecided, until some of them
are opened and worked.

The position of the veins of limonite adjacent to the primary of the Green mountains, is
analogous to those of Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties, where the specular iron, both
in its earthy and crystalline state, appears in veins connected both with the primary below
and the potsdam sandstone above. In both cases the veins are found only in thin parts of
these sandstones, and near or adjacent to primary rocks. It is curious to observe, how-
ever, that in one case, the iron is in a state of peroxide pretty uniformly, forming the
specular oxide, and I believe without exception ; and in the other, it is the hydrous per-
oxide, constituting the mineral called limonite. The former does not form a breccia with
the potsdam sandstone, and we find a different association of minerals also in each of these
cases. With the specular ore, we find serpentine, barytes, crystals of quartz, cacoxenite,
ete.; and with the latter, gibbsite, allophane, manganese, and white carbonate of iron.
The gibbsite and allophane are minerals of secondary formation, and, so far as observation
has extended, they are not found in the veins of limonite. Distinct and irregular veins,
however, of the latter mineral, are not new to mineralogists. Thus a few veins, a foot in
width, traverse the gneiss of Dekalb in St. Lawrence county. The same occurs near
Crownpoint, and indeed a thin vein has been found in the calciferous sandstone in Georgia
(Vermont). A practical remark is suggested by the position of these veins, namely, that
their place is near or adjacent to primary or igneous rocks; or it is here that they are
accessible, and reach the surface, though it may not be at all improbable that they are
frequent in other situations, but concealed by a great thickness of sedimentary materials.

I take this opportunity to add a few additional remarks on the quartz rock itself. Some
geologists of eminence have maintained that this rock belongs strictly to the Primary sys-
tem; that it is of the era and age of the gneiss, with which it is sometimes apparently

TO THE TACONIC SYSTEM. 11

interlaminated. This question, though I deem it to have been set at rest by my own ob-
servations in Maine at the Megunticook mountain in Camden, still as observations cannot
make an obscure question too clear and certain, I am induced to add, that last summer
(1845) I discovered beds of well characterized conglomerate at the base of this rock in
Williamstown. This bed may be traced within a few yards of granite, upon which it
evidently reposes. It is made up of pebbles (without any visible cement) of an oval shape,
some of which are of the size of a hen’s egg. They consist mostly of the quartzose part of
granite or gneiss, rounded by attrition into smooth and well characterized pebbles, inter-
mixed with fine mica, which sometimes adheres to their surfaces. This discovery, it must
be admitted, settles the question as it regards the quartz, which is the most easterly mass
of the Taconic system, or so far at least as to carry it out of what is termed in this country
the Primary system, to which our gneiss and mica slate belongs ; and it furthermore goes
to show that the Stockbridge limestone, and some of the primary-looking slates also, be-
long to the same era as the quartz rock. In Maine, I observed a variety of mica slate or
talcose slate, which contained well characterized chiastolite, resting upon this quartz rock,
and it may probably prove that most of these macle rocks are of an age long posterior to
the Gneiss and Mica slate systems.

There is another consideration which is deeply impressed upon my own mind, namely,
that the line of demarkation between the Taconic and the Primary systems is clearly
defined, especially upon the eastern side, where it was at one time supposed to be very
obscure. Commencing then at the quartz rock in Williamstown, at the top of what is there
called Oak hill, and ending at Troy, we pass over an uninterrupted succession of rocks
belonging to the Taconic system. The distance, in a direct line, is about thirty miles from
this bed of conglomerate. No primary appears on this route. On the more circuitous
roads, however, we meet with beds of the calciferous sandstone, reposing unconformably
upon the magnesian and taconic slate of the New-York system. At the junction of the
quartz with the granite, the dip of the former is to the southwest, or perhaps to the south.
The granite is rather peculiar, being a variety which contains a blue hyaline quartz ; and
it seems rather a persistent mass, inasmuch as it appears twenty-five and thirty miles to
the north, in Arlington (Vermont), in precisely the same connection. It is, however, soon
succeeded by gneiss to the east.

I have had occasion to speak of this granite before, and also of the termination of the
quartz in this direction. All that I wish here to impress upon the reader, is the affinity,
if I may use the expression, of those rocks which I have denominated Taconic, with them-
selves, or with each other ; or rather the general coincidence in dip and strike, producing
conformity with each other, and the non-coincidence or want of conformity with the Pri-
mary below and the New-York system above ; proving conclusively the occurrence of an
intermediate era or period of great length between the former and latter systems, during
which another system (the Taconic) was deposited. This carries us back a vast stride in
the earth’s history, to the time when earthy sediments first began to accumulate or form

112 APPENDIX TO THE TACONIC SYSTEM.

deposits at the bottoms of seas; and by this we are informed that the earth had then
cooled so much as to condense vapour, and to permit the fixation of fluids upon the sur-
face. This condition, it is evident, was requisite before a single living creature, with
organizations designed for the earth, could be sustained ; and it is in this system that we
find the first beings which had life and vitality, all of which, so far as discoveries have
been made, were marine. We do not feel confident that it is in the earliest of these de-
posits that we have discovered fossils. Mr. James Hatt, however, informs me that he
found the Scholithus, a tubular polyparian, in the most easterly mass of the granular quartz.
On visiting the place as described to me, I was not successful in my search for this fossil ;
but at another locality, I found what appears to be an orthoceratite. The fossils, however,
are more abundant in the newer rocks of this system; and they belong to beings of an
extremely delicate construction, as the reader may see by reference to our description in
another part of this report.

CHAPTER VI.

THE NEW-YORK SYSTEM.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. CLASSIFCATION OF THE NEW-YORK ROCKS. I. CHAMPLAIN DIVISION : ITS RANGE AND
EXTENT, PHYSICAL CHARACTERS OF THE COUNTRY OVER WHICH IT EXTENDS, AND AGRICULTURAL RELATIONS
OF THESAME, If. ONTARIO DIVISION : LITHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS, DISTRIBUTION, FRACTURES, etc. ; SUMMARY.
Ill. HELDERBERG DIVISION : LITHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS, INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS, FAULTS OR FRACTURES 3
SUMMARY. IV. ERIE DIVISION : LITHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS, INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS, FAULTS OR FRACTURES 35
SUMMARY. V. CATSKILL DIVISION : LITHOLOGICAL CHARACTERS, CHANGE IN FOSSILS, POSITION AND DISTRIBU-
TION ; SUMMARY. CONCLUSION.

GENERAL VIEW OF THE NEW-YORK SYSTEM.

§.1. PRELIMINARY REMARKS.

I Ave now disposed of those rocks which I have denominated Taconic : rocks, which
underlie that part of the State included between the Hudson river on the west, and the
base of the Green mountains on the east. Their agricultural characters and relations will
form the subject for a chapter in another place. I shall now proceed with the report on
the plan I have already marked out, namely, that of bringing before my readers first those
subjects which may be considered strictly geological ; after which, we will be prepared to
enter upon the consideration of the agricultural relations sustained by the several individual
rocks, and the influences they exert upon the superincumbent soil.

The series of rocks immediately succeeding the Taconic, in the ascending order, constitute
a full and distinct system in themselves, even if considered only within the geographical
limits of New-York ; and inasmuch as the series is complete, and they form by themselves
one of those great and leading divisions of rocks, they have been brought under one head,
which has been denominated the New-York System. Under the word system (p. 36),
the reader will find what is to be understood by the term when geologically used. In
New-York, the change between the period occupied in the formation of the Taconic rocks,
and the commencement of the New-York system, is marked both by a change in the posi-
tion of the former, and by a change in the character of the fossils of the latter. One
of the most remarkable facts observed, is the introduction of the mollusca. I can speak

{AcricuLTuRAL Report.] 15

114 CLASSIFICATION OF THE ROCKS

merely from the authority of the observations which have been made up to this time.
What may be discovered hereafter, we can not know; but it is right to draw inferences
up to the present time : it is necessary only that we should keep ourselves ready to change,
or alter our views with the progress of discovery. c

The introduction of mollusca, then, begins with the New-York system : even at its base,
the Potsdam sandstone, the Lingula abounds. In the previous system, plants and worms
abounded ; but it is worthy of observation that we have not yet discovered land plants,
nor with certainty any terrestrial animals: all the organic bodies are marine.

The base, then, of the New-York system, is clearly marked ; but the outgoing of it, the
limits superiorly, are far more obscure. In this State, it is certainly not marked by re-
markable changes in the sediments, or by powerful disturbance of former beds, in such a
manner as to create unconformability between the newest members of the New-York and
the oldest members of the succeeding systems, so as to cause the latter to repose uncon-
formably upon the former. So in Wales,* the upper Ludlow rocks crop out from beneath
the old red sandstone (Red system) conformably. The distinction, then, between the
systems in both cases, rests upon diversity of organic remains. In order, however, that
the foundation for the two systems should stand upon sufficient evidence, it is essential
that those remains should be quite dissimilar in their types: such is found to be the case.
In the Old Red system, fish possessing peculiar characters prevail ; while most, if not all
the mollusca of the New-York system, disappear. In New-York, however, there is a great
want of fossils of any kind, except some obscure plants: the fish are confined to a thin
mass ; but time may bring to light a greater abundance of the peculiar forms of the Old
Red system, by which it will be more perfectly identified with the same formation in
Europe. We may recur to this subject again when I have reached the Old Red system:
I therefore dismiss it for the present.

§2. CLASSIFICATION OF THE NEW-YORK ROCKS.

The New-York system, then, comprising as it does a series of great thickness, and con-
sisting of numerous members, it becomes important that we should adopt some mode of
subdividing it. In doing this, I find that the divisions heretofore proposed meet all the
necessities of the case ; besides, they have been approved of by those who are acquainted
with the New-York rocks, and hence I shall retain the division adopted in the reports. It
is admitted that they are geographical ; still they will be found useful geologically, as in
each of the divisions we find rocks allied to each other, rather than to those in the other
divisions.

The New-York system admits of four divisions, and it gives to each of these divisions
the name of the particular region in which they are found. In the ascending order, the
divisions stand as follows :

* Murchison’s Silurian System, p. 196, section 22.

OF THE NEW-YORK SYSTEM. 115

1. The Cuampiain pivision, embracing as members,

. Potsdam sandstone.

Calciferous sandstone.

. Chazy limestone. —

. Birdseye limestone.

Isle-Lamotte marble.

Trenton limestone.

Utica slate.

Loraine shales, terminating ina gray sandstone, and sometimes a conglomerate which has
been called Oneida conglomerate, and sometimes the Shawangunk grit.

These masses constitute the base of the New-York system; and though we may not regard

the subsequent division with the same favor, this, to say the least, embraces a series of

rocks, which, in natural history, would be considered as a natural series ; or rather they

may be looked upon as having been formed during a period,* in which the condition of the

earth, as it regards heat and cold, and other circumstances which modify life, were quite

uniform for the entire period they were being deposited. They might even constitute a

system independent of the subsequent formations.

ONOW pwn

.

2. The Ontario pivision ; the individual rocks of which are,
1. Medina sandstone.
2. Green shales, embracing one or two thin beds of oolitic iron ore; grits, coarse and fine, in alter-
nating layers with the shales, some of which answer for flagging stone.
3. Thin beds of limestone filled with the Pentamerus oblongus.
4. Niagara limestone.
5. Red shale.
6. Green calcareous shale, with a bed of limestone with cavities in the form of hoppers.

* PERIODS.

What characterizes a geological period ? If the reader casts his eye for a moment over the pages of history, what
will he find? Something quite analogous to what is termed a period in geology. Take for example European history
from the dark ages down to the present, will he not find certain events crowded into a distinct interval, which will
characterize it from all others, and set it forth prominently to the gaze of the world? The period termed the Reforma-
tion is clearly such an one as will illustrate our meaning. But though distinct and prominent, it was not a sudden
movement : it did not break out at once like a meteor, which comes forth from darkness and lights up the sky for a
moment, and then as suddenly disappears —a something for which the world was wholly unprepared. Yet it hada
beginning and anend. The historical period, if we scrutinize it, has its way prepared, and events are long shaping
themselves that way ; and when it actually commences, though it begins by some striking event, still that event is
but one effect of what has already transpired : the world is prepared for it. As the burning of the papal bull by
Luther in 1540, was, in one sense, the beginning of a period; yet was it foreshadowed by the past, and what had
transpired rendered it, if we may use the expression, possible. So the geological periods never appear to have com-
menced by a sudden physical change in the condition of air, ocean or earth ; nor in the great domain of life, either by
a great and wide-spread destruction, or by a remarkable creation of wonderful forms. Still, when periods are com-
pared, when the vestiges of one period are brought by the side of another, they are quite unlike, and yet are befitting
the state and condition in which they appear; and as men are the actors in all historical periods, so nothing in the
geological period appears but what might be expected from the agents then already in operation, excluding all traces
of beings inconsistent with nature in any time or in any circumstances. He who looks upon the past periods as more
remarkable than the present, takes a wrong view; and though it is clear that times and seasons have been for other
beings than those of the present, yet the present is, if any thing, the most remarkable of all periods.

15*

116 CLASSIFICATION OF THE NEW-YORK ROCKS.

This important division may be farther subdivided into four groups: 1. Medina sandstone,
consisting of hard and soft bands of rocks, sometimes suitable for flagging. 2. Green shales,
oolitic iron, thin beds of limestone, and coarse and fine grits. 3. Niagara limestone. 4. Red
and green calcareous shales, with the thin beds of limestone which together form the On-
ondaga salt group.
3. The HeLpDERBERG DIVISION, comprising,

1. The Manlius waterlimes and thin shales.

2. Pentamerus limestone.

3. Delthyris shaly limestone.

4. Encrinal limestone.

5. Oriskany sandstone.

6. Cauda-galli grit.

7. Schoharie grit.

8. Onondaga limestone.

It is difficult to subdivide this group by neutral planes, though the objection to consider it
under the three following divisions are not very great : 1, the Waterlime group, em-
bracing the thin and lowest beds, and the rocks up to the Oriskany sandstone; 2, the
Sandstone group, embracing the Oriskany sandstone, Cauda-galli and Schoharie grits ;
3, Onondaga limestone, including the Selenurus rock of Conrad.

4. The Erte pivision. It embraces the following rocks :
1. Marcellus shales, terminating in a hydraulic dark-colored limestone.
2. Shales and grits of great thickness, which have been denominated the Hamilton group.
3. Shales and grits alternating in thin beds, which, taken together, have received the appellation of
Chemung and Portage groups.

The upper beds are extremely deficient in limestone ; only thin bands existing, which seem
to have derived their origin from the fossil shells they embrace. This upper division,
which is intended to extend to the Catskill or Old Red Sandstone, is distinct and correct so
far as lithological characters are concerned, and may be undoubtedly subdivided by means
of fossils. It embraces without doubt the Devonian system of Puiturps; but as yet it is
quite difficult, if not impossible, to say where this system begins. The change from the
Marcellus shales upward to the Catskill rocks, is so gradual and imperceptible, that the
outgoing of the Silurian or New-York system, and the incoming of the Devonian, never can
be settled by geologists, except by conventionally agreeing where the one shall stop and
the other begin.

5. The Carskixt pivision, or the Old Red system. It is formed by the green and cho-
colate grits, and sometimes by a red marl, a material softer than a sandstone usually is.
This division, although it has been denominated the Old Red sandstone, is made up of by
far a greater amount of greenish-colored grits than of red ones. Beds of conglomerate
also abound in different parts of the mass, but more conspicuously towards the top of the
Catskill mountains.

CHAMPLAIN DIVISION. 117

I. CHAMPLAIN DIVISION.

Having given the grand divisions of the New-York system, we may proceed rapidly to
the consideration of the individual members which compose them ; and in doing this, their
agricultural relations appear to us the most important, and hence I propose to keep those
relations in the foreground. In the Taconic system Thada special object in view, namely,
its establishment, and therefore those characters and relations which are geological were

mainly dwelt upon.

§ 1. PorspaM SANDSTONE.

This sandstone is more uniform in its characters than most of the individual rocks in the
series. At Potsdam, it is yellowish brown; at Moira and its neighborhood, and also in
Mooers, it is nearly white, and sandy ; at Chazy, it is of a deep red at the bottom, and
gray towards the top; while at Whitehall, Corinth, Hammond, and near Glensfalls, it is
gray and more or less crystalline. In many places it is a coarse conglomerate, as at Mooers
in Franklin county, and at Dekalb in St. Lawrence county. It is of course a siliceous
rock, yet it does not exclude other substances or elements ; for, a true sandstone, far from
being composed of pure siliceous sand, admits into its composition mica and felspar, oxide
of iron, and probably even a greater variety of the primitive minerals, as hornblende,
pyroxene, etc. ina state of fine division. This being the case, it does not necessarily
make, on decomposition, a pure siliceous soil, or one free from alkaline matters: the mica
and the felspar being decomposable minerals, especially the latter, we may expect to find
traces of their elements in the soil. One way of determining the nature of the soil formed
from this or any other sandstone, is to inspect it carefully with a common microscope, by
which means we may discover the composition of the rock: the mica will be found in
small glimmering scales, and the felspar in dull earthy grains destitute of the vitreous
lustre. All grains possessing this lustre, or that of glass, may be considered as either
silex or quartz.

This rock has suffered greatly by denudation. Being superimposed in New-York upon
the Primary system, it has been exposed more directly, and for a longer period, to the action
of those causes which destroy the solid strata, than have the subsequent ones ; and, besides,
it has been exposed more directly in consequence of position. It has been first broken up
on its interior rim, which rests on the primary, north of the Mohawk valley ; and_hence,
for this reason we find it more or less fissured or cleft, as well as distributed widely in
boulders and fragments.

Its soil. The soil formed from this rock, is one possessing very distinctly the character
of a granitic soil ; which, to be sure, is partly owing to the position it occupies, inasmuch
as the debris of granite and gneiss must mix more or less with it.

118 CHAMELAIN DIVISION.

How to distinguish the Potsdam sandstone. To distinguish this rock from other sand-
stones, its position must first be noted. Traced downwards, we are led directly to the
primary mass, as gneiss and granite ; traced upwards, we find it terminating in a sandy
limestone. The exception to this rule is only found in the interposition of a mass of black
siliceous slate, with obscure vegetable fossils, as at Whitehall and Chazy. The Medina
sandstone, some parts of which resemble the Potsdam, is connected below with another
gray sandstone, and above with green fragile shales. If any doubt exists, look for fossils,
Of fossils, a single species, a lingula, is common at the High bridge at Keeseville, but
small and obscure. At French creek, it is larger, but still obscure, in a sandy variety of
the rock one and a half or two miles east of the village.

To learn the geographical position of this or any of the New-York rocks, study the map.
It will be seen that this rock encircles very nearly the Great Primary region north of the
Mohawk. Let it be observed, however, that it is wanting from near Fort-Ann in Wash-
ington county, south to the Highlands. It is also wanting in the valley of the Mohawk.
When this is the case, the next rock, the Calciferous, rests upon the Primary, as at Little-
falls, and numerous other places in the valley of the Hudson.

Before dismissing the Potsdam sandstone, it is necessary to call the attention of the
reader to a variety of it which occasionally appears in Washington county. It is a tough
black or brown mass beneath the calciferous, and varying in thickness from six or ten
feet to more than one hundred feet. It is difficult to describe it: it is sometimes compact
and irregularly striped, and unlike any other rock in the New-York system. It some-
times resembles hornstone, and breaks like it into irregular uncouth lumps with sharp
angles: hence it is of no value as a flagging or building stone, except for the coarsest
stone fences. This mass may be examined at Bald and Toby mountains: I have spoken
of it as equivalent to Potsdam sandstone: it may probably with equal propriety be con-
sidered as a subordinate bed of the Calciferous sandstone, inasmuch as it is associated with
it at the places just mentioned, and is not known to be associated with the potsdam. It
is sufficient to consider it as an intermediate mass ; but it is of no consequence, any farther
than as it is necessary to be noticed to complete the description of the entire series.

§ 2. CaLciFEROUS SANDSTONE.

Considered in its totality, this is one of the most heterogeneous rocks in the New-York
system. That part which has furnished the name (meaning a sandstone bearing carbonate
of lime, or a mixed rock consisting of siliceous or sandy particles and limestone) , is well
designated under the descriptive term, and is easily recognized. But there are several
singular compounds embraced under this term; and without a brief notice of them, our
descriptive geology would be incomplete. So heterogeneous is this rock, that Mr. Vanuxem,
of the Second district, applied the term Calciferous group.

The typical rock under this name, is a gray mass with sparkling grains of lime, in which
distinct masses of calcareous spar are always imbedded. It is an impure limestone, being

CALCIFEROUS SANDSTONE. 119

mechanically intermixed with fine grains of quartz and slight interlaminations of argilla-
ceous matter. In weathering, the lime dissolves, and leaves in relief the silex ; and the
thin interlaminations, which often course along the surface in undulating lamine, are of a
darker color than the body of the rock. In consequence of the tendency to weather, it
presents a rough exterior when it has been long exposed ; still it is susceptible of form,
and as it splits into thick masses in consequence of being often thick-bedded, it becomes
an excellent material for construction, and has been largely used for locks on the canals.

Another variety of this rock, is a fine-grained blue limestone nearly pure as a carbonate.
Its peculiarity consists in the possession of two prominent characters, a compactness with-
out lines of stratification, and an intermixture of white spar. Not unfrequently it appears
as if the whole had been broken up, and then reconsolidated by means of white calcareous
spar. The rock has not, however, been broken at all those places where these appear-
ances occur. It is probable the appearance has arisen from the rapid formation of the rock,
which, on drying, cracked by shrinkage, and into which cracks a pure calcareous matter
has infiltrated. This mass is beneath the former : in fact it is the lowest or oldest of the
deposites of this singular rock, resting directly upon the taconic or black slate.

Another mass which comes under the Calciferous rock, is still farther removed from the
typical portion than the preceding. It is a red or chocolate-colored rock, consisting of
sandstone slightly interlaminated with shale : it is not much unlike lthologically to some
portions of the New Red sandstone. At Charlotte in Vermont, it is clearly a red sand-
stone ; and considered only as a local mass, it would pass for the Potsdam sandstone; but
inasmuch as at some other points it is above the blue limestone of the preceding paragraph,
I have placed it in the Calciferous rock. Some portions are for a few feet a chocolate-
colored slate ; but in tracing it upwards, it is found to terminate in the gray calciferous
sandstone by imperceptible changes.

This mass lies along the east shore of Lake Champlain. It does not appear in New-
York, unless we regard that curious brown rock of Mount Toby as an equivalent. The
vicinity of Burlington is the best region for forming an acquaintance with this mass.

One variety still remains, which requires at least a passing notice. This occupies a
position above the last described : in fact, in tracing the chocolate sandstone upwards, we
find it losing its color, and while becoming lighter, it shows an increase of carbonate of
lime. It becomes, in the end, a fine-grained white limestone, sufficiently pure in many
places for quicklime. Generally it contains silex or sand, and preserves a reddish tinge.
In this condition it often resembles the Stockbridge limestone ; though I have not observed
it in that saccharoidal condition, it is always much finer grained than the Stockbridge
limestone. But then again this variety passes into the ordinary calciferous sandstone, the
gray variety first described : hence its relations, and the place where it belongs, need not
be mistaken.

I have noticed already four varieties of the Calciferous sandstone, and at no single
locality do they all appear. At St. Albans in Vermont, the blue, the brown and gray,

120 CHAMPLAIN DIVISION.

may all be seen in juxtaposition in the order in which I have named them : in fact, at
many places in the immediate neighborhood of St. Albans bay, the brown may be found
passing into a whitish calcareous rock ; but it is no where so distinct as at and near Bur-
lington and Addison (Vermont).

All the preceding varieties occupy the lowest part of the rock ; although, at the locali-
ties I have given, one or two of them constitute the whole of the mass.

Then again the Calciferous sandstone, when examined in its superior connections, is
found quite as protean as in those masses which connect it with the Potsdam, or the Pri-
mary system, when the former is absent. For example, at Chazy, it furnishes a mass
from 150 to 200 feet thick, composed of encrinal remains in fragments. I include, how-
ever, the fine oolite, and some subordinate beds which are highly charged with remarkable
fossils. Some of these beds are sufficiently calcareous to form good quicklime, and even
some of them are quite pure marbles of a reddish color. Subordinate to the whole rock,
we may discover, at many points, beds of chert, and beds of large concretions or extremely
coarse oolite, together with those masses which are commonly called waterlimes or hy-
draulic limes, and which may be known by their drab colors when weathered. This last
mass might with propriety be reckoned as one of the principal varieties of the Calciferous
sandstone.

The preceding may be recapitulated in the ascending order thus :

1. Blue compact limestone, and often sparry, but the planes of deposition obliterated.

2. Brown or chocolate sandstone, passing into both a fine white limestone and the ordinary gray
sparkling limestone. Both varieties are confined to the east side of Lake Champlain.

3. The ordinary gray calciferous sandstone in thick beds. At the base of this variety, in the Mohawk
and Champlain vallies, the drab colored or hydraulic limestone mostly occurs.

4. Superiorly are the important beds of encrinal limestone. Traces only of these beds occur in the
Mohawk valley. Chazy is the only locality in New-York, where they exist in force.

Mineral contents. The minerals peculiar to this rock, belong mostly to the third variety ;
and they all occur in irregular-shaped cavities, some of which are the size of a four-quart
measure.

1. Limpid quartz, containing water and anthracite. At Middleville, Littlefalls, also thick beds of chert
or flint.
. Sulphuret of iron. Many places in the Mohawk valley.
. Sulphate of barytes. Franklin county.
. Calcareous spar, associated with the limpid quartz.
. Sulphate of strontian, less common than the barytes.

uo - ww

Diversity in the composition of this rock. I have already noticed the most remarkable
kinds of Calciferous sandstone. In the Mohawk valley, and also surrounding the great
primary nucleus north of the valley, this rock is uniform in its composition, and easily re-
cognized by its lithological character ; but those masses adjacent to the Champlain valley

— ae —

~~
>
*

CALCIFEROUS SANDSTONE. 12]

of the east side, are quite heterogeneous in their composition. This may be explained
partly on the ground that the-materials were derived from that remarkable system which
lies adjacent to it upon the east. Some of the insulated masses upon this eastern range
present us with a combination of products resembling the calciferous, birdseye and trenton;
in which, too, the forms of the fossils are such that it is at first sight difficult to determine
to which rock they are to be referred, a fact which fully corroborates the opinion that all
the limestones of this group may be very properly included under one name. Even the
Bellerophon bilobatus, which has been credited to the Trenton limestone, often occurs in
the Calciferous sandstone.

A locality of this rock, in which there is a combination of the several limestones of the
Champlain group, exists opposite to the city of Albany in Greenbush, crowning a remark-
able knob near the site of the Old Cantonment; but in other places the line of distine-
tion between the masses is quite evident, and from those localities one would infer that it
is quite proper to keep up a distinction of the masses. In these instances, certain fossils
are limited to the masses; and they often appear to be cut off suddenly, on some distinct
change in the composition of the rocks.

Range and extent. The Calciferous sandstone covers a wider area than the Potsdam
sandstone. It is, in the first place, coextensive with the potsdam; but in addition to this
it passes through the Mohawk valley, where the latter is hardly known. In the counties
of Dutchess and Orange, it forms an imperfect belt. In Columbia, Rensselaer and Wash-
ington counties, its continuity is still more broken. It occupies, in the three last counties,
the knobs, as at Greenbush, Greenwich and Whitehall. These knobs lie contiguous to
the valley of the Hudson : it is, however, still sparingly found twenty miles east of the
Hudson river, as at Hoosic ; and, as I now believe, near Pownal in Vermont, forming at
the latter place heavy beds of siliceous limestone, which are peculiarly attractive by their
bold broken outlines and perpendicular walls. Probably this broken range or belt runs
obliquely across Columbia and Dutchess counties, and thence onwards through Orange,
crossing the Hudson river a few miles above Newburgh.

We can hardly avoid the inference that this belt was once continuous, and formed an
important mass, overlying the Taconic slate. At one period it undoubtedly was conti-
nuous with the same rock which passes through the Mohawk valley, and onwards to the
northwest through Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties, and thence over wide tracts in the
Canadas and the region of Lake Superior.

In the Hudson valley, the indications of its former extent are found in the insulated
patches, which sometimes crown the highest knobs of the region; but then as the forces
which occasioned the great northern fractures of this valley, disturbed and broke up the
rocks unequally, we find it sometimes in the vallies outcropping from beneath the Hudson
river slates, which have been preserved from denudation. These patches vary much in
extent : some are limited to a few acres; others extend several miles, but they are quite
insulated, and may be observed on all sides. At favorable points, the position they occupy
need not be mistaken. They rest upon the slates of the Taconic system.

[AcricuLTuRAL Reporv.] 16

122 CHAMPLAIN DIVISION.

Before I pass to the consideration of the succeeding members of this group, I desire to
call the attention of geologists to a narrow and irregular belt of the Calciferous sandstone
which extends from Greenbush to the Canada line. It is apparently fragmentary, and is
in some places undoubtedly so. It is fossiliferous, but most of the fossils are mere frag-
ments, consisting of pieces of the crust of the I/lenus and Isotelus ; but among these
fragments, some small specimens of crustaceans may be seen, nearly perfect.

This mass is very liable to be confounded with the Sparry limestone, inasmuch as it is
traversed by veins of calc-spar ; and where the soil conceals its borders, it is apparently
interlaminated with the Taconic slate ; yet in many places it may be taken off from the
upturned edges of the slate, and is absolutely and entirely removed from these where it
has been quarried in several localities. This shows plainly, then, that it is a rock of an-
other age, from the slates upon which it rests; and as this rock is broken up, and as into
it we find there has been introduced peculiar fossils, it shows that there was a change, a
beginning of a new era, which we may with great propriety consider as the commence-
ment of a new system.

§3. CHAzy LIMESTONE.

Notwithstanding the remark that the lower limestones of the Champlain division may,
with at least a show of propriety, be placed under one name ; still it is right, in our esti-
mation, to designate certain masses under local names, where they are found in thick beds.
This especially seems right in the case of this limestone, which exists in Clinton county,
and whose entire thickness is at least one hundred and thirty feet. At Chazy, it is a dark
durable limestone, more or less cherty and thick-bedded ; but so little disposed to split in
any direction, that it is quarried with difficulty. This limestone is quite limited : it is best
developed at Chazy, but still may be observed at Essex, where the characteristic fossil, the
Maclurea, is quite abundant.

§4. BrrpsEyE LIMESTONE.

This is the only perfectly compact limestone which occurs in the Champlain division.
It breaks with a conchoidal fracture. The color is a light drab, passing into a dark blue.
The light-colored variety has been pronounced a good lithographic stone. At Chazy, it is
interlaminated with a few beds of fine granular siliceous limestone, similar to the hydraulic
variety in the Calciferous sandstone. This variety is the most important for making quick-
lime ; for although it is often quite dark-colored, still it forms a remarkably pure white lime,
and well adapted for glass-making, and for any of those arts where a pure lime is required.
Such are some of the beds at Chazy. Some of the beds are singularly filled with calca-
reous spar: it often replaces the curious fossil hitherto known as the Fucoides demissus,
but which (as will be seen by reference to my report) is strictly a polyparia. This is con-
sidered the characteristic fossil ; though near its junction with the next mass of limestone,
several fossils allied to those in the Trenton limestone are somewhat abundant. The
Orthoceras multicameratus is, however, equally characteristic with the Fucoides demissus.

CHAMPLAIN DIVISION. 123

§ 5. IsLE-LAMOTTE MARBLE.

Reposing upon the birdseye, is a black finely granular limestone, called the seven-foot
tier by the quarrymen at Watertown in Jefferson county, but which is better known in
market as the Isle-Lamotte marble. At the latter place, it is twenty-five or thirty feet thick ;
while at Watertown it is only seven or eight, and being at the same time lumpy, is unfit
for marble, or any use except for the coarsest structures. At Glensfalls it is nearly as im-
portant as at Isle Lamotte. When present, it intervenes between the birdseye and trenton :
into the latter it gradually passes. The fossils of the trenton are never, or very rarely
found in it, and then only in the superior layers: neither do those of the birdseye pass
upward into the Isle-Lamotte marble. It seems to be constituted of one or two thick beds,
as if it had been deposited with great rapidity.

§ 6. TRENTON LIMESTONE.

The Calciferous sandstone and the Trenton limestone constitute the two important lime-
stones of this division; inasmuch as they form continuous masses, and far more extensive
than all the other limestones put together. It may be described under three varieties: 1,
it is a rock made up of alternating layers of limestone and black slate, as at Chazy ; 2, of
a thick mass of black limestone, as at Trenton falls; 3, a gray limestone, sparkling from
crystallization. These varieties sometimes exist together, and sometimes they are sepa-
rated ; and, besides, where all are present, their relative position is not constant. At
Montreal, the gray variety is the inferior mass; at Watertown, it is the superior. But
though there is irregularity in the position of the varieties, there is much constancy in the
kind of fossils which belong to the rock. The upper part of the rock is a black calcareous
slate, and passes by imperceptible gradations into the succeeding slate. Sometimes, the
rock consists of alternating layers of black fine-grained slate: this is the case at Chazy,
where it is between four and five hundred feet thick.

§ 7. Urica sLaTE.

We propose to retain the divisions and names which were adopted in the Geological
Reports, although some of them have but a slight claim to the distinction of independent
rocks. This is the case with the Utica slate. It would do no violence to geological classi-
fication, to incorporate it with the slate of the Trenton limestone below, or with the Loraine
shales above. It is an intermediate deposite ; or, in other words, a transitional formation,
connecting the two; on the one hand, it departs from the typical mass of the limestone,
and becomes merged by gradual approximations with the Loraine shales. The fossils
partake more of the character of the shales, than of the limestone.

This slate has no distinctive character in its composition, by which it may be known

16*

124 CHAMPLAIN DIVISION.

from any other slate, of a distant formation. It is only by position, and its fossils, that it
can be recognized. Its fragile character is quite worthy of notice ; as by its inability to
withstand the combined action of water and frost, it is constantly passing into soil. This
is especially the case if broken and raised from its beds. Under these circumstances, it
forms an argillo-calcareous soil of the best character.

This mass is well developed in the valley of the Mohawk ; but in the Champlain and
Hudson, it is very imperfectly known. In the vicinity of Glensfalls and Sandyhill, it is
easily recognized in its place above the Trenton limestone, It skirts the valley of the
Hudson at Miller’s falls ; but in this range, especially upon the east side of the valley, it is
concealed among the shales, and so much altered by pressure and other disturbances that
it is by no means clearly defined. It may be studied in the gorges of Loraine in Jefferson
county, where it may be seen in its inferior and superior connections. Its thickness is not
less than seventy-five, nor over one hundred feet. In obtaining this estimate, I have been
guided by the distribution of the Triarthus beckii, and the lithological character of the rock.
There is less siliceous matter in the mass, which has received the appellation of Utica slate.

§ 8. LoraIne SHALES.

The incorporation of the Utica slate with the shales of this section, may be well observed
in the deep gorges of Jefferson and Lewis counties. A band of slate, quite fossiliferous,
lies at the base of the shales, which is usually considered the superior part of the Utica slate.
Within a few feet of this band, I have found the Pterinea carinata, which is one of the
characteristic fossils of the shales. The shales are composed of alternating beds of slate in
this mass in New-York, similar to the Utica slate, and thin siliceous beds, which become,
in the superior portion, thick beds, with far less interposed shale. It forms, strictly speak-
ing, thin and thick-bedded sandstones, of which the thick beds were deposited last.

The distribution of the fossils in this mass is worthy of notice. Proceeding from the
fossiliferous band of the Utica slate, the fossils diminish rapidly, so that in the middle and
inferior parts of the Loraine shales very few fossils exist ; while at the upper portion the
mass becomes highly charged with organic bodies, though distributed more abundantly
through calcareous bands. But then they diminish again; and when the thick-bedded
sandstone appears, they cease, with few exceptions. This peculiar distribution, and the
confined limits of the fossiliferous beds, render the recognition of these shales, when they
lie in proximity to the Taconic system, quite difficult ; still, by careful examination for
the thin fossiliferous bands, doubts may be usually removed. I say careful examination,
for a careless observer would probably pass over some highly fossiliferous strata without
recognizing them, in consequence of their obliteration outwardly ; and it is only where the
stratum is broken in the disturbed part of the formation, that they can be observed.

In describing this rock, it is hardly possible to separate the thick-bedded mass at the
superior part, from the Loraine shales proper: there is a perfect transition of one into the

a, en ie
7

CHAMPLAIN DIVISION. 125

other, and hence we can not say where one begins and the other ends. Still it is to be re-
membered that the thick-bedded mass is not always present: thus, near Utica, it seems to
be replaced by the Oneida conglomerate. They are not to be regarded, however, as equi-
valent rocks, for both exist together in the valley of the Rondout in Ulster county. The
thick beds may be observed in many places east of the High falls, exposed. by the exca-
vations along the Hudson and Delaware canal, and also by the main road leading up the
valley. ‘The mass may be observed to still better advantage at the northern outcropping
along the termination of the Helderberg range, where it probably forms the thickest mass
of any other locality in the State: it is here composed of alternating beds of sandstone and:
black slate, the latter varying in thickness from twelve to eighteen inches. The entire
thickness of the mass here is not less than seven hundred feet. It has a slight dip only to
the southwest, and is finely exposed from top to bottom by a small stream which flows
ever it near the roadside. It is here almost destitute of fossils, and in this respect resem-
bles the beds which occur in patches upon the east side of the Hudson, along the Western
railway. These latter beds may be clearly distinguished from the slates and shales of the
Taconic system: they neither conform with them in dip, nor in strike ;. and except in the
immediate vicinity of the great northern fracture of the Hudson valley, their dip and dis-
turbance is not excessive.

This mass of slate and sandstone is almost worthless as a material for construction. Beds
of the thick sandstone, in the course of a few years, break and fall into angular fragments ;
and even where they are defended in a great measure from the operation of atmospheric
causes, they are very liable to crack. This may be seen on the Western railway, near
Greenbush. The stones appear sound when first quarried, and so remain for a year or
two, when they begin to show the influence of the weather. It is proper to state, how-
ever, that the disposition to crumble by the action of the weather, is less in Oneida and
Oswego counties, where the same rock is quarried for grindstones : here the layers are quite
regular, at least in some portions of the rock.

§ 9. ONEIDA CONGLOMERATE.

This rock is the newest member of the Champlain division, and, like some other depo-
sits, is not continuous over wide areas. Its composition and character may be understood
by those who are familiar with gravelly and sandy beaches, or pebbly beds, which, when
indurated or consolidated, are perfect representatives of*this mass. It is formed of rounded
oval pebbles, small and large, intermixed with sand. Very little cement agglutinates the
mass. Green chloritic matter is not uncommon in the body of the rock. It is firm ; quite
remarkably so, as it is often employed for millstones.

The Shawangunk range in Ulster county is composed of this rock, and the conglomerate
near Utica belongs to the same formation. It is limited to those two ranges in New-York,
and these are disconnected. The first is by far the most extensive and important. At
Utica, it is a mass twenty or thirty feet thick, overlying and resting immediately upon the

126 CHAMPLAIN DIVISION.

thin-bedded Loraine shales: the thick-bedded superior masses are wanting, though at Rome
and its vicinity they are well developed, and appear even-grained and even-bedded, se
much so as to be employed in the manufacture of grindstones.

This rock, at the Shawangunk range, is thick-bedded, and rises in mural escarpments
of from thirty to two hundred feet. The position is often horizontal, but not always so,
inasmuch as it is found dipping at a high angle to the southeast ; and in other places, par-
ticularly upon the west side, to the northwest at a variable angle. In New-York, this
rock extends from the New-Jersey line to Rosendale near Kingston, a distance of forty-
three miles. The range is narrow, direct, and of a very uniform height, similar in this
respect to the more southern ridges of Pennsylvania. The maximum thickness of the
Onieda conglomerate of this range, is estimated by Mr. Marner at five hundred feet.

It is not well settled where this reck belongs, or in which of the two divisions it may
be placed with the least violence to the rules ef classification — whether in the Ontario
division, or in the Champlain. This difficulty is created by the absence of fossils, ex-
cepting a few obscure casts of fucoidal stems. It may be regarded as an intercalated
rock; asa landmark, indicating that a very important change has taken place, which
marks the termination of one era, or the commencement of another. If we regard it as
marking the termination of a period, it belongs to the Champlain division: if it is consi-
dered as the beginning of an era, it will belong to the Ontario division. Its importance as
a way-mark is unaffected by either view of the case. Being made up of rolled stones and
pebbles, it must have formed the shore of an ocean when it was consolidated; after
which, it was elevated. Or, as some would regard it, it was formed as before stated of
stones rounded by attrition; but they were brought together during a period of turmoil,
whieh affected very materially the existing races of animals.

§ 10. GENERAL RANGE AND EXTENT OF THE CHAMPLAIN DIVISION.

If we separate clearly this lower division from the succeeding ones, we have mastered
the geology of New-York. Nature has done this, and there is scarcely a locality where
the rocks succeeding this division are so intermingled as to lead necessarily into error.
We turn our attention first to the Mohawk valley, for in this we find a definite southern
boundary. In this remark, however, we adopt what was the ancient boundary, rather
than what appears to be its present limits, especially of the eastern part of it.

To obtain a point of departure, let the reader in imagination pass over the Schoharie
stage road from Albany, but stop sixteen miles west. This part of the route is over the
shales of the Hudson river, concealed mostly for the first ten or twelve miles by the
tertiary clays and sands. The last mile, however, he ascends the northern terminus of
the Helderberg range. The first part of the ascent is still Hudson river, and thus it con-
tinues until he has apparently reached the highest part of the mountain. A little to the
left of the road on the westerly route, less than half a mile, the limestones of the Helder-

CHAMPEAIN DIVISION. 127

berg appear, occupying a position immediately upon the thick-bedded sandstone of the
Hudson-river group. °

If a tangent line, then, be drawn in the direction of Utica, so as to touch the Helderberg
spurs as they come up from the south, this tangent line will form a very correct line of the
boundary of this division. It may be carried on in the direction of Rome, and terminated
upon Lake Ontario. South of this line there are no rocks belonging to the lowest division,
except at the opening of the north and south vallies with the Mohawk. Thus, at Scho-
harie court-house, the Hudson-river rocks really underlie the clays and alluvions as high
up as the bridge southwest of the village. So they may probably be traced a short distance
up some other minor vallies lying parallel with this. They are all vallies of erosion, and
the superior rocks have been removed, and hence the exposure of the lower ones in the
bottom of these excavations.

We have, then, nothing more to do with the Champlain division in the whole of New-
York south of this imaginary line: neither are the rocks superior to those upon the north
side of it; not a fragment in place, or even a boulder.

But here it is necessary to state, that on another route, we find the Champlain division
largely developed. Departing from the eastern slope of the Helderberg range, and avoid-
ing the higher spurs, we shall find the lower division continuing in the direction of
Coeymans, Catskill, and onwards to Kingston, and thence to the High falls of the Ron-
dout. The eastern side of this route is mostly the lower division. The only exception is
at Becraft’s mountain, near the city of Hudson, where the Helderberg rocks form an in-
considerable area: it is the only place where they appear east of the Hudson river.

The Hudson-river group stretches. from the northern base of the Helderberg range,
passing through Schenectady and onwards north of Ballston, and thence northeast towards
Sandyhill. On the route of the canal from Schenectady to Albany, and at about four miles
east of the former place, we meet the disturbed belt, where the shales and slates are curved,
arched and broken, or form undulating planes for a great distance. These disturbances
are well exposed along the route of the canal.. Near the Cohoes, they may be examined ;
and eyen here, although badly broken up, a faithful observer will find the fossiliferous
bands. Soa few miles west of Milton, opposite Poughkeepsie, the disturbed masses of
the Hudson-river group. disclose the fossiliferous beds. But in the slates of the Taconic
system, though less broken and disturbed, we find no bands charged with mollusca. Those,
therefore, who deny the existence of the Taconic system, should be able to account for and
explain this fact; and should this fact be sustained by continued observation, it is itself
of sufficient importance to establish the position we have taken in regard to a system of
rocks beneath and older than the Silurian or New-York system: it would mark clearly and
ineffaceably a line of demarkation between the two systems we contend for. And should
mollusca in the taconie rocks be discovered hereafter, it would not affect our position,
unless indeed they were identical with those of some part of the superior system; and
even then how are we to explain the fact of superposition? Now, the rocks below the

128 CHAMPLAIN DIVISION.

Potsdam sandstone are not extensions downward of repeated beds conformable thereto,
but they are throughout non-conformable, of divers kinds, following each other in suc-
cession, and forming together an immense thickness far superior to all the rocks of the
New-York system, embracing even all the masses up to the coal of Pennsylvania. For
this reason, we say that those who maintain that the silurian rocks are merely altered
rocks of the Champlain group, maintain that which is not far removed from an absurdity.

But to return to the consideration of the distribution of the Champlain group. I have
already spoken of numerous insulated patches of some of these rocks. These are usually
the Calciferous sandstone ; and inasmuch as they frequently resemble the Sparry limestone,
they are very liable to be mistaken for it, especially when they occur in the neighborhood
of the latter. This mistake has been, and is still, very likely to be committed in the eastern
towns of Rensselaer and Washington counties, where there are heavy beds of Calciferous
sandstone with the fossils peculiar to the same.

I may call the attention of geologists to the limestones in Hoosic in the former county,
where the Maclurea has been found by my friend Mr. L. Witper. Generally those
masses of limestone are not extensive ; and even some are so limited, in which these fossils
occur, that the entire mass has been removed, showing conclusively that they do not form
a constituent part of the rocks upon which they rest; and moreover their dip and strike
do not conform at all to the slates upon which they repose.

Another small range of the Hudson-river rocks occurs between Chatham centre and
Chatham four-corners. The Great Western Railway passes over and through many of
these thick-bedded masses, which are clearly the same kind of rocks as those which ap-
pear in the northern face of the Helderberg range. They lie in deep troughs ; and as the
thickness exposed in the railway cuttings are never deep, no lower rocks appear, but those
which belong to the superior part of the Champlain group.

The superior rocks of the Champlain division berder the west side of the Hudson, from
Coeymans to New-Jersey. On this river, upon either shore, not a single member of any
of the superior divisions exists. At Hudson city, on the western side, the Helderberg division
forms the surface rocks over a limited area, but they are removed two and a half to three
miles from its banks. At Coeymans, the same rocks are at least two miles west. At
Kingston point, the Pentamerus rock is within about one mile, which is the nearest ap-
proach of this rock to the river.

The Shawangunk range, farther south, is a distinct western boundary of the Hudson-
river group to the New-Jersey line ; at least, neither the Ontario or Helderberg division
appears on the east of this very remarkable range. The limit of these rocks, however,
may be better understood by a direct reference to the accompanying map.

Important developments of the upper members of the Champlain division exist at the
northern termination of the Mohawk valley, the valley of Oneida lake, and of Salmon
river. It is interesting to notice some of the differences in these masses. At or near Rome,
it is a tolerably clear gray sandstone, free from slate comparatively ; and from its consoli-

“TT ALE Td

CHAMPLAIN DIVISION. 129

dated state, it isin a better condition for building, and architectural and economical purposes.
In this direction, it is largely developed in Camden, Florence and Oswego, and still more
largely in Mexico, New-Haven, Scriba, and Redfield. The most perfect exhibition of the
gray sandstone mass is upon the Salmon river, where it appears in the three falls of the
river, and the rock is exposed for more than one hundred feet. It disappears about two
miles west of Oswego village, beneath the Medina sandstone.

§ 11. PuysicaL CHARACTER OF THE SURFACE OF THE COUNTRY UNDERLAID BY THE CHAMPLAIN
GROUP.

There is nothing very peculiar or striking in the region underlaid by the Champlain
division. The surface is generally hilly, or rather undulating. The hills are not steep
or rugged, neither are they bare of vegetation. The soil upon the limestone, and even
upon the Potsdam sandstone, when thin, is not washed off in consequence of the steepness
of the surfaces. All the rocks embraced in this division occupy comparatively a low level,
not having been forced upward so as to reach mountain heights ; and where they rest im-
mediately upon the primary, they are merely broken up, but do not then form a rugged
country.

In the annexed plate (Pl. 2) I have given a view of the scenery of these rocks, or rather
a characteristic view of a large portion of the territory underlaid by them. It is perhaps
more peculiar to the Mohawk valley, but it is intended also to convey a general idea of
the vegetation of this region, which forms rather a contrast with that of the Genesee
valley, as will appear on comparing the view at Amsterdam with that near Mount Auburn
at Rochester. The peculiarity is seen in the difference existing in the growth of the elms:
in the former valley, they are comparatively small, with pendulous branches; while in
the latter, they are tall, with a straight trunk and a heavy overshadowing head. This is
undoubtedly owing to the deep clays charged with the alkalies; and wherever we find
those enormous but splendid elms, we may invariably see the indications of an excellent
wheat soil.

§ 12. AGRIcULTURAL RELATIONS OF THE CHAMPLAIN DIVISION.

I do not propose to speak particularly of the soils of the district which I have named
the Hudson-river district, and which in the main corresponds or belongs to this series of
rocks. The first observation which strikes me as important, is that the soil is uniformly
coarse. This is particularly the case with the shales and slates, which break up by the
action of the weather into small angular pieces, and frequently fill the soil. The ten-
dency, however, is to become finer by cultivation and stirring; but where the rock is
near the surface, new layers are broken up as often as it is ploughed, and a supply is thus
continually furnished. These pieces keep the soil open, which, without them, would in
process of time become too compact. The limestones, except where they are shaly, are
but little affected by the weather: hence but little calcareous matter is furnished by them

[AcRicuLTuRAL Report.] v7

130 CHAMPLAIN DIVISION.

to the soil. In this respect they are dissimilar to the primary and magnesian limestones,
which crumble, and frequently form around their beds from twelve to twenty inches of
comminuted calcareous earth. Another feature in the limestone, and even in the Potsdam
sandstone, is its fissured state. The natural joints at the surface are opened widely, so as
to admit the falling of large bodies into them ; and into these cracks or fissures the surface
water flows freely, and for this reason some portions of the country are liable to suffer from
drought. But this is not all. Few if any springs issue from these rocks, except at a low
level ; and hence we find very frequently the waters which have been swallowed in the
deep fissures, flowing out of the banks of some stream. The limited extent, however, of
these fissured rocks, does not affect very materially the agricultural products: they are not
barren in consequence of a want of water, as are some large limestone tracts in the State of
Kentucky.

Upon the whole, the country underlaid by the Champlain division is favorable to agri-
culture. The slopes are rarely steep ; the hills are susceptible of cultivation to their tops,
and the disposition to produce grass of a sweet kind renders the fields and hillsides favorite
grounds for the pasturage of flocks. The slates and shales are much less fissured than
the limestones and sandstones ; and, hence, from the impervious nature of their beds, they
prevent the rapid escape of surface water. This holds good, whether the slates are hori-
zontal or raised to a steep inclination ; for, in the latter case, the lamine are so powerfully
pressed together, that ifany thing they become more impervious than the undisturbed beds.
However, where the rocks are horizontal, or even inclined, they always admit of an easy
drainage ; for ravines occur wherever there is a stream of running water, and these form
general drains, into which artificial ones may be opened over the whole country where
these rocks prevail.

§ 13. Sprincs WHICH ISSUE FROM THE MEMBERS OF THE CHAMPLAIN DIVISION.

It is not possible always to determine the source of a spring, unless indeed the rock itself
is sufficiently exposed to observation. A spring issuing immediately from the soil, may,
previous to its exit, have traversed the rocky strata from a great depth ; or it may only have
percolated to an inconsiderable depth into the soil, and meeting an impervious stratum, it
is soon forced again to the surface. If it passes through sand and gravel, it remains nearly
pure ; but if, on the contrary, it passes through shales or slates, charged with pyrites, with
lime and saline matters, it dissolves a portion of them, and becomes in consequence what
is termed a mineral spring. Its temperature too will suffer some change: if it percolates
through fissures to a great depth, it will be raised. Every sixty feet,* in this country, will
impart a degree of temperature. It may, however, lose a portion of its temperature in its
upward passage. By far the greater number of springs issue from the earth at a tempera-
ture above the mean of the place.

The composition of the water of a spring is evidently affected by the strata through which

* This holds good only below the line of no variation.

SPRINGS FROM THE CHAMPLAIN DIVISION. 131

it passes. Those which merely pass through sandstone retain the purity almost of rain
water ; while those which pass through limestones are invariably impure, or hard waters,
as they are termed. The water of the springs which issue from the Potsdam sandstone, is
soft, or very rarely so highly charged that it will not wash well. The waters issuing from
the slates of the Hudson river are more or less charged with saline matters ; and what is
worthy of remark, is, that they furnish many chalybeate and sulphur springs, or springs
whose waters contain hydro-sulphurous acid in solution. They are mostly weak, and of
but little medicinal value.

The most interesting and important springs, however, issue from the Calciferous sand-
stone. It is this rock, for instance, which gives origin to the celebrated Congress spring of
Saratoga. This fact was proved two years since, when the spring was retubed. On care-
fully removing the deposit at the bottom of the spring, the water was found to issue from
a small hole or fissure in this rock. It is of course impossible to trace the water farther ;
but this shows that it is not from the clay which fills the valley, nor from the Hudson-
river rocks or slate of the Trenton limestone.

It is not my purpose to attempt to give a detailed account of the springs of this celebrated
locality ; inasmuch as in the report of Dr. Beck, all the most important facts are embodied,
and may be consulted by the reader. Some independent observations, however, were
made by myself in the summer of 1844, which may be found of some interest.

These springs issue from near a fracture in the lower rocks of the Champlain division.
The geological structure of the valley may be understood by the annexed diagram :

Fig. 16.

4 | == tell ch bs Mle
a Pe
tA E

a. Calciferous sandstone. F. Fracture.
b. Birdseye limestone. 1, 2, 3. Sand, yellow and blue clays, forming
¢. Trenton limestone. the eastern side of the valley.

Those who have informed themselves of the relative position of these rocks, will per-
ceive that there is both a fracture and uplift. The calciferous sandstone, which occupies
a position inferior to the birdseye and trenton, is at this place elevated above them. The
fraciure runs to the southeast, but the valley opens to the northeast. This fracture forms
quite a depression, which runs nearly parallel with Broadway, the principal street of the
village. We gain access to it at the south end of the street, near the site of Congress
spring, where the rocks are less elevated. It is not proved, as I have already remarked,
that any of the springs, except Congress spring, rise out of the calciferous ; but from the
fact of the existence of a fracture, we may infer with great propriety that they originate

iW

132 CHAMPLAIN DIVISION.

below the drift sand and clays of the valley ; and as the slates are absent, or distant two
miles at least, we may also infer that the waters do not originate in them, but probably
are connected with or rise out of the fault or fracture which has been already described.
I made many careful observations on the temperature of all these springs, which I deem
proper to insert in this place.

The temperature of Congress spring was -.- ---- 50° Depth 12 feet.
Washinpteh ic? Met See 49 «2 22
Hamilton ‘ai Y SoearSee 49 eet 1B
Putnam a ese ee 49 -. 20
Pavilion ee ee ee 481 sas
Flatrock Sy eS 50 moet!
Hiphrock. e.g) | one aee 514 - 8
Todine Be 50 se OE.

The Pavilion spring constantly overflows, and resembles a boiling fountain, from the
rapid rise and escape of carbonic acid. Putnam spring rises out of sand. Washington
spring rises out of a blue clay and pebbles : this is ferruginous.

One mile northeast from the springs whose temperatures I have just given, are ten other
springs, whose general character is the same. The temperature is as follows :

Brook spring- ----- 5ie
Union, 42h Hes 51
PHCSON fai aoe 56

TESA whe core 2 ne

The five remaining springs are too much exposed, and open to the incursion of rain-
water, so that observations are of no consequence. The Union spring is equal to the
Congress for drinking. Jackson and the Twins are much exposed to variation of tempe-
rature, in consequence of their unprotected state. These ten springs are in a deeper part
of the valley, which is filled with blue clay that has been bored into to the depth of eighty
feet without reaching its bottom ; still it is not improbable that all these springs are directly
connected with fractures of the upper cluster of springs, but issue from it at certain points
which prevent their reaching the surface immediately.

In addition to the springs already noticed, there are two others of fresh water situated a
little to the west of the main valley, whose temperatures are 49° ; and a well near by,
with temperature of 48° : these are shaded and protected from the direct influence of
external heat. Good water, in this neighborhood, is readily obtained by wells at the
depth only of sixteen or eighteen feet.

An interesting fact which can not escape the notice of the most careless observer, is, that
these springs, though situated very near each other, and probably having one common
origin, yet differ very materially in composition. Perhaps it may be said that this very
difference disproves the assumption of their common origin. It may be so: still the cir-
cumstances, upon the whole, go to prove that they are connected with the fault; and if
so, the assumption does not militate against any fact or principle.

EE ———————————

FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS. 133

Before I pass to the consideration of another subject, it seems proper to state that this
fault probably forms the most western limit of that disturbed district so often referred to in
these reports, and which oceupies the whole of the territory between the Hudson river and
the Green mountains. The rocks, it is true, are inclined as they approach the primary :
still their dip is much less than towards the Hudson river. Not far from Schenectady, the
slates and shales of the Hudson river are horizontal ; but three or four miles east upon the
canal, they are greatly disturbed. Draw a line then north or a little east of north from
Schenectady to Saratoga-springs, and then onwards to Baker’s falls on the Hudson, and it
will pass near the line of fracture, where, upon the west side, the rocks are but slightly
inclined, and on the other they dip precipitously to the east, and in this state underlie an
immense extent of territory. This fault appears to be quite similar to that at the falls
of Montmorenci in Lower Canada.

The disturbed district does not end or terminate, as has been described by Mr. Rogers,
by a gradual opening of the curves of dip ; but the dips continue with very little variation
to the very line or place where they terminate abruptly in horizontal strata, and with a
simple fault or fracture. This is the fact throughout the whole extent of New-York. It
may be observed at numerous places along the Hudson valley, as at Coeymans, Coxsackie,
and Kingston. Still there are numerous inverted curves, and undoubtedly many points
where the phenomena indicate lateral pressure. Indeed it seems impossible that the strata
under consideration could have been fractured and broken without this lateral pressure,
which would produce very frequently curves and arches of various kinds.

§ 14. FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS OF THE ROCKS BELONGING TO THE CHAMPLAIN DIVISION.

It is frequently impossible to determine the era of any given fracture, for the reason that
the series of rocks may be incomplete and deficient. It is notwithstanding well determined
that the consolidated sediments have been fractured or broken, and also that this has taken
place at certain periods, though it is not pretended that these intervals were regular ; that
is, that disturbances have prevailed and continued during certain periods, when they have
ceased, and the territory has remained in a quiescent state for an indefinite time. In one
word, it is supposed and maintained that changes of the kind which are under considera-
tion, have been paroxysmal. A feature which is very common in faults and fractures of
strata, is the nearly linear direction they pursue: in this feature they are analogous to
dykes, which may often be traced forty or fifty miles in a continuous route.

Two other facts render the subject of faults interesting and important. It is not un-
common that they have been made the repositories of valuable ores, when they become
in fact metallic veins; and, again, from them issue some of the most important mineral
springs. For these reasons, I propose to notice some of the faults and fractures which
traverse the strata composing the Champlain group.

Commencing, then, with the lowest member, the Potsdam sandstone, we find this rock

134 CHAMPLAIN DIVISION.

traversed by irregular fractures adjacent to or near the line of contact between it and the
Primary rocks. ‘The only ones, however, which I propose to notice, are now in the form
of deep gorges, one of which gives passage through it to the Ausable river at Birmingham
in Clinton county; and the other isin the town of Mooers, in the vicinity of the Pro-
vincial line, or indeed it is stated that this line passes through the gorge. In both of these
instances, the displacement of the strata is only slight, just sufficient to break their con-
tinuity. As has been remarked, they are deep gorges, varying in depth from twenty-five
to one hundred and fifty feet. A particular account is given of them in my report of 1842.
These gorges do not appear to be connected with metallic or any other veins of mineral
matter. They were formed, in the first place, by a slight upheaving, which served to
crush or break the strata, forming a line of fracture ; afterwards this broken line became a
water course, and the movement of water through it was sufficient to clear out and
widen the breach already produced.

A more interesting and important fault or fracture, however, traverses the State from
south to north, and involves in its derangements not only the lower rocks, but some of the
Helderberg series. I can only indicate some of the points where it may be observed.
One mile south of Kingston, the thick-bedded sandstones of the Hudson-river series are
elevated and raised up to the base of the Pentamerus limerock. The dip of the former is
to the east at an angle of 30°, with their edges resting against the horizontal beds of the
pentamerus and the upper part of the Waterlime series. The exposure at this point is one
of the best, in consequence of a cut through both series of rocks, whereby the relations of the
masses are satisfactorily revealed. Apparently there is here an unconformity of the Hud-
son river series with the waterlimes which immediately succeed them : this unconformity,
however, is produced by the disturbance of a portion of these rocks only, the conformity
remaining with the masses which are undisturbed. Fig. 17 represents the position of the
rock at the locality specified, which, to be more particular, is about one mile from Kingston
point, at a place where the rock is extensively quarried for cement.

Fig. 17.

a. Pentamerus limestone. 6. Waterlimes. c. Thick-bedded gray sandstone of the Hudson-river series.

We may trace this same fracture north to Saugerties, four miles west of Catskill, and
through Coxsackie, New-Baltimore and Coeymans. At New-Baltimore and Coeymans,
we may see disturbances of the same kind as those at Kingston point, with the easterly dip
of the Hudson-river series, which terminates at once with the waterlimes and pentamerus,
the latter retaining their horizontal position. At Catskill, the fracture passes through the
Delthyris shales, or affects the whole of the Helderberg division. From Coeymans, this

-

VD HIE SUE

COMMONER Jt Of ENOIC ONS LiTHe N FORK
AN Tar
eb oll

PENTA MERU S ROCK ;

on Cuttokill Creck .

‘ig

FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS. 135

fracture changes its direction, and makes its way to the valley of the Mohawk. It is only
two miles from the river at Coeymans; but when it has passed so far as to be directly
west of Albany, it is twelve miles distant. This point is near the route of the Cherryvalley
turnpike, where it commences its ascent over the north end of the Helderberg range,
which route is mostly over the Hudson-river series. From Albany to near the foot of the
mountain, these rocks are steeply inclined to the east and southeast ; while on the route
over it, they have the common inclination to the southwest of the upper New-York rocks,
which does not differ much from thirty to forty feet to the mile.

This fracture sends a branch north, which passes east of Schenectady. At Saratoga, its
western limit, as already stated, is Saratoga-springs, where it bounds on the west the
valley of the springs, and where the calciferous is the lowest rock which is exposed, and
which remains nearly horizontal, while the trenton appears on a lower level, as if it had
been affected by a down-heave. See fig. 16, p. 131.

In this line of fracture, it is interesting to observe the modifications or changes which
the strata have suffered at different points. I therefore give two additional illustrations :
the first (fig. 18) is taken from the rocks four miles east of Schenectady, upon the line of
the canal. It exhibits contortions which the strata have undergone by the force of lateral
pressure. It shows only segments of the curves, one of which rises and forms a high
arch in the mural procession, while the other projects down beneath the surface. The
other (fig. 19) is taken from the line of railroad, two and a half miles west of Catskill. It
is a massive inverted arch in the thick-bedded sandstone of the Hudson-river series. A
great variety of contorted strata may be observed in the course of a mile on this road, of a
highly interesting character. These, however, are sufficient to show the character of the
disturbances to which this belt of rocks has been subjected.

Fig. 19.

136 CHAMPLAIN DIVISION.

Another great line of fault exists upon the eastern side of the Hudson and Champlain
vallies: it in fact has elevated the country in such a manner that the line of fracture
bounds the valley. The most conspicuous eminences are near this line, and the rocks are
the slates of the Taconic system, surmounted by one or more varieties of the Calciferous
sandstone. Greenbush, Baldmountain, Granville, Whitehall, Addison, Burlington, Mil-
ton, are upon this line of fracture, and I might mention many other intermediate points
where all the phenomena I have stated may be witnessed.

The agent which determined the existence and direction of this great longitudinal dis-
placement of the strata, gave origin also to the vallies of the Hudson river and Lake
Champlain ; or, it may be more properly said, that the boundaries were first determined by
it, and that then the vallies themselves were formed by denudation. The entire series of
sedimentary rocks, which have been elevated and thrown into an inclined position, lie
between the base of the Helderberg and the Hoosic mountains. But in taking so wide
an area as this, we undoubtedly embrace fractures more ancient than the one which forms
the valley of the Hudson. This, though it disturbs the Hudson-river rocks mostly, yet in
one section of country it passes through a prolongation of the Helderberg division ; showing,
in this fact, that it was really of a date as late as the Onondaga limestone. But the Taconic
rocks were elevated, and made to assume an inclined position, before the deposition of the
oldest member of the New-York system: this follows from the unconformability of the
two systems ; but it is impossible to fix upon the era. The Taconic rocks rarely occur su-
perimposed upon one another, as we see in the arrangement of the Helderberg division,
and in the slates and shales above ; and hence, it is, that though they may have been
fractured many times between the deposition of the granular quartz and the taconic slate,
still the relative position of the masses is such that no rational conclusions can be formed
in regard to the era in which they took place, whether in the earliest or latest period of
the system.

Another limited fracture appears on the southeastern side of Becraft’s mountain, about
three miles southeast of Hudson. On one side the Taconic slate appears supporting a
fragmentary mass of the Calciferous sandstone ; on the other, the inferior members of the
Helderberg division, the thin-bedded waterlimes and pentamerus, beneath which are the

gray sandstones of the Hudson river. The relation of the latter mass is illustrated in
fig. 20.

Fig. 20.

a. Pentamerus limestone. e. Talus. b. Thin-bedded watetlimes. c, c. Hudson-river series.

FRACTURES AND DISLOCATIONS. 137

Another instance of a fracture, apparently more limited and local, occurs at Essex. This
fracture is fully illustrated and explained in my report of 1842. It is, however, so inte-
resting, that I subjoin a figure, with an additional explanation of its features.

The first and most prominent character of this uplift is the upward thrust of a thick
mass of the Chazy limestone through the Trenton limestone and Utica slate, the former
of which is adjacent and upon the south side. At the line of junction of the slate, it is
crushed and bent upward. The same effect has taken place upon the north side also. The
mass thus elevated is not less than eighty rods in width (fig. 21).

Another change that has taken place, and which seems to stand connected with this uplift,
is the short fracture, first in the slate south, and next in a portion of the mass which has been
elevated. In the former, however, the change consists in shifts of the strata, as where
a particular calcareous layer is broken several times, and moved out of its original place.
On the other side, the thick strata of limestone are fractured, and, at each fracture, the
ends are bent, as at 6, which may be considered either as an oscillation, or as the effect of
an upward moving force acting upon very limited portions of the rock, for the broken
masses are only about ten feet long.

a. Slate, the layers of which have been shifted. 5. Layers of limestone, which have been moved by oscillation.
d. Dyke passing through the limestone. f. Mass of limestone pushed upward. g. Crushed strata of slate.

Phenomena of the kind just described seem to throw some light upon the mode by which
the slates, and many of the other rocks, have been thrown into steep dips over wide areas.
If, for instance, a force is applied in a very limited area, and in such a way as to break
and elevate the rock on one side, and at the same time leave it inclined, it would be only
an instance of the phenomena which have been illustrated, carried a little farther ; and in
order to have a wide area underlaid with steeply dipping rocks, it is only necessary that
the process should be repeated. We may indeed suppose that the first application of a
force breaks the strata as represented in the diagram ; and, afterwards, a repetition of the
same force, would probably result in giving an inclined position to the masses. In sup-
port of this view of the subject, I may refer to the changes of an analogous kind which have
resulted in displacing the same rocks in the valley of the Mohawk. Thus, at Tribe’s hill,
by the side of the railroad, three uplifts occur at short intervals, as has been shown by Mr.
Vanuxem. His diagram is annexed,* by which it will be observed that the strata are not

* Vanuxem’s Report, p. 205.
[AcricuLTuRAL Report.] 18

138 CHAMELAIN DIVISION.

only broken at quite regular intervals, but have been made to assume an inclined position.
They only require to be uplifted a little more, in order to resemble the strata upon the
eastern side of the Hudson river.

Fig. 22.

1, is the Calciferous group. 2, consists of the Birdseye limestone. 3 & 4, Trenton limestone. The dip is 10° south.

Many other instances might be given, illustrating and supporting the same views, both
in the Champlain and Mohawk valleys; and it is perhaps proper to remark, that it is
principally in these valleys, and other parts of the State adjacent to the Primary system,
that the changes of the kind I am describing are found : they are scarcely, if at all, to be
found at only a short remove from these ancient rocks.

The falls of Montmorenci exhibit an interesting view of the rocks, resembling the frac-
ture which has been already described. It is upon the western limit of this line of fracture.
a, 6, c, d, Utica slate, Trenton limestone, Calciferous and Potsdam sandstone, in a hori-
zontal position. f. Utica slate thrown down so as to dip at an angle of 60 or 70°, and
leaning against the gneiss that forms the precipice over which the water is precipitated.

§ 15. TuickNEss OF THE ROCKS OF THE CHAMPLAIN DIVISION.
The following is the best estimate of the thickness of the individual members of this
division, that I have been able to make: it of course applies only to these rocks as they
exist in the State of New-York.

- 1. Potsdam sandstone..------ 300 feet.
2. Calciferous sandstone. ..--- 400
3. Chazy limestone --------- 150
4. Bizdscye limestone-_--.--- 50
5. Isle-Lamotte marble -_---- 25
6. Trenton limestone -_--.--. 400
7. Wea siale 52 22 p25e: 3 100
8. Shales and gray sandstone. 700
9. Oneida conglomerate - --_~- 400

Total thickness. ..__. 2525 feet.

CHAMPLAIN DIVISION. 139

The above estimate is offered as the maximum thickness of the rocks in New-York. It
must, however, be taken in connection with the fact that many of them are much thinner ;
and if they occurred only with the thickness which they attain in a few localities, they
would not be regarded as distinct rocks, but as subordinate layers in other and more important
beds. Thus the Oneida conglomerate is about thirty feet thick in Oneida county ; but in
Ulster, it is between four and five hundred. The birdseye, which is always, however, a
thin rock, is only one or two feet thick at Tribe’s hill; while at Chazy, it is at least fifty
feet. The calciferous also varies greatly : several important and interesting beds are
wanting in the valley of the Mohawk, which exist in great force near Chazy. The Pots-
dam sandstone is wanting at Littlefalls, but is probably more than four hundred feet thick
in Mooers in Clinton county, and in fact all along the Provincial line.

There are, therefore, two very curious features exhibited in the Champlain division :
the great irregularity in the thickness of the rocks composing it, and the suddenness with
which this change seems to have taken place. Still, in order to form an approximate idea
of the length of the era during which these rocks were being deposited, it is necessary to
ascertain the maximum thickness of the whole series. It is not probable, however, that
even the whole age of the Champlain division can be determined in New-York. If we
find individual members thicker and better developed in Pennsylvania, it is evident that
something must be added to the age of this division: the era, in other words, will be pro-
portionally lengthened.

§ 16. THE RELATION AND CONNECTION OF THE CHAMPLAIN DIVISION WITH THE SUCCEEDING
ROCKS IN THE ASCENDING ORDER.

The connection of the Champlain division with the rocks which succeed it in New-
York, is quite interesting as well as important. On the western and eastern sides of the
Hudson river, the upper members are succeeded immediately by the thin-bedded lime-
stone and shales of the hydraulic limestone of the Helderberg division. This is also the
fact at the northern terminus of the Helderberg range ; so also at Schoharie village, and
as far west as Cherryvalley. Near Utica, however, the upper rocks of which I am
speaking, or those of the Hudson-river group, are succeeded by the upper members of the
Ontario division, or the Clinton group; while at Oswego, they are succeeded by the
Medina sandstone, the lowest member of this division.

From these facts, it is inferred, that at the close of the period to which the Champlain
division belongs, the surface, or the rocks themselves, were subjected to oscillations, and
to movements which were more remarkable than those which occurred during the period
of their deposition. It must be admitted, however, that the intervals between these move-
ments were rather wide, inasmuch as rocks of considerable thickness were sometimes de-
posited between them. These facts, however, indicate that the close of this period was
one of considerable consequence ; and that we should probably be justified in considering
the Champlain division rather as a system by itself, than as a subordinate division of the

18*

140 CHAMPLAIN DIVISION.

New-York system. This view appears to be supported by facts of another kind, and, if
any thing, of greater importance than those which belong to physical changes of surface.
The fossils, for instance, belonging to this subordinate division as it now stands, do not
exist in the succeeding rocks. Even where the Medina sandstone succeeds the Gray sand-
stone of Oneida county, the fossils are not carried up. In fact, the entire fauna of the
Champlain rocks became extinct at the close of the period during which they were depo-
sited. From these facts, then, this division must be regarded rather in the light of a
system, as we have just observed ; inasmuch as it is made up of a series whose characters
are peculiar, and which do not belong to the preceding or succeeding era. It is true that
the fossils of the succeeding rocks do not differ widely from those of the Champlain divi-
sion: many genera continue, though all do not; yet it is worthy of remark, that those
which disappear are quite limited in their ranges both vertically and horizontally. The
genera Orthis, trypa, Strophomena, are continued ; but the crustaceans, as the Isotelus,
Ilenus, with some others, are not found after this period.

§ 17. RecAPITULATION AND SUMMARY OF FACTS RELATING TO THE CHAMPLAIN DIVISION.

1. The Champlain division is conformable to the succeeding divisions ; but as its members
are placed upon the outside, and form a belt, consisting of a series of rocks adjacent
to the primary, they are more disturbed and broken than those of the succeeding
divisions.

2. The inferior rock of this division, the Potsdam sandstone, is in the greatest force upon
the western borders of Lake Champlain and the northern boundary of the State,
nearly encircling the primary nucleus of Northern New-York ; but in some places
it is absent on the south side of this nucleus, as in the Mohawk valley. In this
case, the next superior rock, the Calciferous sandstone, forms the base of the divi-
sion, and reposes upon the primary.

3. The division embraces lithologically all forms of rocky strata : Conglomerates, breccia,
sandstones, limestones, calcareous and sandy shales, and slate. Sandstones gene-
rally form the base (but there are two locations where it is a conglomerate), and
the summit of the division: the former are red or brown; the latter, gray. The
limestones occupy the inferior and middle portions of the series, and may be justly
described under one name in a general system.

4, The principal depositories of metallic bodies are at the base of the system, where the
peroxide of iron has been forced upward from the primary, and hence occasionally
occupies some of the inferior layers of the Potsdam sandstone. Galena and sulphu-
ret of iron form veins in the limestone, but they are not important.

5. Agriculturally the most important masses are the limestones or calcareous shales, all of
which decompose and form a rich and valuable soil. Water and frost greatly faci-
litate the process; and masses of these shales, when thrown into heaps, speedily
break and crumble into a dark argillaceous earth.

a rf eee rei ties ee

ONTARIO DIVISION. 141

6. The lower limestones of this series give origin to the celebrated springs of Saratoga
county, where they issue from a fault. ~The shales of the Hudson river give origin
to many weak hepatic springs, or those whose waters are charged with sulphuretted
hydrogen. The sandstones give origin to waters comparatively pure. Faults and
fractures, and undulations of the strata, are not uncommon. Of the latter kind of
displacements, the Mohawk valley furnishes several good examples: thus, at or
near Fultonville, the Utica slate at one time appears in the banks at the level of
the canal; at the same level, and farther on, the trenton and even the birdseye
are brought up so as to occupy the same plane as the the Utica slate. This fact
should not be lost sight of, in estimating the thickness of rocks by the amount of
dip, when they are concealed beneath the soil.

7. The rocks which are useful for construction, are the Potsdam sandstone, Calciferous
sandstone, and the gray sandstone of Oneida and Oswego counties. The Isle La-
motte limestone, which is the same as that at Glensfalls, furnishes a fine black
marble.

8. The peculiarities in the characters of the organic remains, are, that the species are not
numerous, but the individuals are, and they occupy extremely limited ranges both
vertically and horizontally : some in fact occupy but a few strata of only two or
three feet in thickness.

9. This series, when considered in its totality, is well entitled to the appellation of a
system : its thickness and its fossils both support and sustain this view. This view,
however, is founded upon a comparison of this series with others which constitute
divisions of a similar kind in this country and in Europe, as the Devonian, Old Red,
Permian, &c.

II. ONTARIO DIVISION.

Geographically this division of the New-York rocks is very clearly defined. It appears
in characteristic masses only on the south of Lake Ontario. It embraces, however, rocks
which are somewhat diverse in character, and hence it will be necessary to consider them
under separate and distinct parts or subdivisions. The individual members are given on
page 115, with the subordinate divisions proposed, and which in the ascending order stand
thus :

1, Medina sandstone.

2, Green shales, grits and limestones, composing the Clinton group.
3. Gypseous rocks, or the Onondaga-salt group, with the red shale reposing upon the Niagara limestone.

142 ONTARIO DIVISION.

§ 1. Mepina SANDSTONE.

This rock, as its name indicates, is a sandstone, taken as a whole ; but when examined
in some places, it bears but a slight resemblance to a rock of this kind, though at these
locations it has undergone an important change from atmospheric influences. Thus, on
the Niagara river, it is a soft marly rock, cracked and broken, or ready to break into short
columnar masses, which in their turn are still farther changed, and which finally pass
into an argillaceous paste, or an argillaceous soil when dry. That this is the effect of
weathering, appears from the fact, that where the deeper parts are exposed, it is a sand-
stone, which retains its original characters for a time, but finally disintegrates, and becomes
in process of time a soil, as has been stated.

The Medina sandstone is a red rock, or else is red and mottled with green. It is never
a white sandstone for any considerable distance, but retains a tinge of red. Some parts
are harder than others ; and, when viewed in this light, it may be divided into the follow-
ing kinds: 1. The inferior mass, which is a soft and mottled sandstone, which may, by
exposure to the weather, become still softer. 2. A hard sandstone, suitable for flagging,
and, as such, is extensively quarried at Lockport. 3. A still harder sandstone, possessing
somewhat the characters of a conglomerate : it is lighter colored than either of the pre-
ceding. The soft inferior sandstone is repeated, and lies upon the thin-bedded flagging
stone of Lockport.

Extent and distribution. This rock, which is colored brown upon the Geological Map,
extends from Oswego to Niagara river, in a narrow belt upon its south shore. It has been
extensively denuded, but is notwithstanding a well defined rock. It rises but a few feet
upon an average above the surface, through this entire route ; and hence, where exposed,
it is not in mural or elevated escarpments, but in deep ravines which have been cut in the
rock by running water. The harder parts have resisted this force for a time, and perhaps
have formed falls and cascades. The deep gorges of the Genesee and Niagara rivers are
the most important and interesting places for examination. But it is advisable that the
localities where this rock appears, and where it may be examined, should be more dis-
tinctly described.

The rock, then, appears first in the northeastern part of Redfield, in Oswego county. It
there forms a thin stratum in the most elevated part of the town, reposing directly upon
the grey sandstone already described. It appears again in Oswego, on Little river, near
Panther lake, extending about one-fourth of a mile. It occurs again near Amboy centre,
and also in Colosse at Petrick’s mill: this locality furnishes a hard variety, and free from
argillaceous matter. Then again it forms the lower fall at Mexicoville: this is the lowest
part of the rock. The best and largest exposure of the rock in Oswego, is at Fulton,
where it appears on both sides of the Oswego river. The upper layers at this locality are
light colored, somewhat variegated as usual, and covered with the peculiar fossil of this
rock, the Fucoides harlani. Some layers of slate appear a few feet below, which are suc-
ceeded by red and gray sandstone, suitable for building materials, hearth-stones, etc.

MEDINA SANDSTONE, 143

Again, in Cayuga county, the Medina sandstone appears in the north part. At Stirling
centre, the exposed rock is about twenty-five feet thick. It appears at Martville, where
it is of two kinds: a hard and variegated mass, with diagonal cleavage planes; and a
coarse friable rock, of a color darker than the preceding.

In Wayne county, at Wolcott furnace, and on Salmon creek about two miles northeast
of the furnace, this rock appears in a ravine. It is also quarried on Beard’s and Little
Red creeks, for building and for hearth-stones. Still farther west, in Monroe county, it
appears on the lake shore in the town of Penfield. At the lower falls of the Genesee
river, it is exposed for more than one hundred feet. At Medina, on Oakorchard creek,
the rock is still better exposed and characterized than at any of the places which I have
named. It is better, not because it is thicker, but because there is a better exposure of its
fossils than elsewhere.

From Medina to Lockport, the harder part of this rock crops out near the line of the
canal, or in a terrace which is formed by its protrusion. At the latter place, about one
mile below the village, on Eighteen-mile creek, it exhibits the same characters as at the
former place. Proceeding from Lockport to Lewiston, it is found forming a part of the
slope of the terrace, and contributes principally to its height by the resistance which the
hard middle portion has offered to the weather; while the lower portion, by its rapid
change when exposed to the weather, and consequently by its destructibility, gives a more
depressed surface to the country under which it lies. At Lewiston, it forms the banks of
Niagara river, where it is exposed for two hundred feet. It extends towards the lake, but
gradually slopes to its level, and disappears beneath the superincumbent clay.

Thickness. This rock is thin in Oswego and Lewis counties, but thicker as it extends
westward, as we have already observed. It swells to the thickness of two hundred feet
upon the banks of the Niagara river. On this river, too, it is more expanded than to the
eastward. The entire thickness of the rock, as determined by the survey of Mr. Hat,
upon this river, is not less than three hundred and fifty feet. The increase in thickness at
Lockport and Niagara, over that of Oswego, is due to additions which were made to the
inferior and softer portion of the rock. At Oswego and vicinity the rock is generally
hard, and destitute of those softer and argillaceous parts which are so important in the
western districts just referred to.

Agricultural characters of the Medina sandstone. The softer parts of this rock decompose,
and form an excellent wheat soil ; but its peculiar properties will be given in another part
of this treatise. It is only west of Oswego county, where the rock is adapted by its nature
to form a soil suitable to the growth of this grain.

Surface of the country over which this rock prevails. Two causes conspire to create a level
country, through which this rock passes: 1, a freedom from igneous action ; and, 2, even-
ness of composition in the rock itself, which secures a uniformity of action so far as at-
mospheric agents are concerned. The hard belt of reddish gray sandstone between Medina
and Niagara forms an elevated platform, but the country is by no means broken into

144 ONTARIO DIVISION.

ridges : hence it is, so far as evenness is concerned, a good agricultural district. Streams
which cross it, cut through the softer portions, and form impassable ravines or gorges ; but
these are not so frequent as to interfere with farming operations.

Reason why this rock should be studied. This rock forms an interesting chapter in the his-
tory of the progress of geology in this State. It was considered by the early cultivators of
this science as identical with the New Red Sandstone of Europe, which overlies the Coal
measures, that embrace the rock salt of the district of Cheshire in England. Hence these
opinions led to speculations and explorations both for salt and coal, underlaid by this rock.
This erroneous view arose from placing too much reliance upon lithological characters ;
for, in this particular, it closely resembles some portions of the New Red sandstone. Mr.
Coyrap and Mr. Vanuxem, however, were able, by the character of the fossils, to set this
matter right in the first year of the survey.

Springs originating in the Medina sandstone. Brine springs issue from the lower part of
this sandstone, but the water is too impure for the manufacture of salt. The fact is im-
portant in a geological point of view, as furnishing a high probability that it is from the
chemical changes which the materials undergo, that salt is formed, the elements of which
exist in the body of the rock. As in most instances of mineral springs in Western New-
York, the chloride of sodium is adulterated with the chlorides of calcium and magnesium.

Geological relations of the Medina sandstone. This rock is succeeded in the ascending
order by the green shales of the Clinton group. Below, it reposes upon the gray sand-
stone of Oswego county, which is equivalent to, and identical with, the gray thick-bedded
sandstone of the Hudson-river series. It is wanting in the southeastern part of the State.
In the vallies of the Hudson and Rondout, the Hudson-river series supports the shales of
the Waterlime series (See Pl. XXI. Sec. 1; and Pl. XX. Sec. 3).

PJ

§ 2. Cuinton croup.

The most interesting feature in this group, consists in the rapid changes in the strata
which enter into its formation, and which, taken together, constitute a most heterogeneous
assemblage of materials: for this reason, the group was called, in an early stage of the
survey, the Protean group. The formation consists of layers and beds, composed of green,
blue, and brown sandy and argillaceous shales, alternating with greenish brown sand-
stones and conglomerates, or pebbly beds, and oolitic iron ore. These different kinds of
materials rapidly succeed each other. The late Mr. Eaton called this formation ferriferous
slate, and ferriferous sandrock.

The parts of this formation which are the most persistent, are the green shales ; whose
color, however, inclines more to blue than green, where they have not been exposed to
weathering. The sandstone, which is rather harsh, in consequence of the predominance
of sharp angular grains, is also greenish, or greenish gray. The layers of this part of the
rock are never thick-bedded, or massive ; and their lower surfaces are often covered with
cylindrical bodies, varying in size from a barleycorn to that of the finger. These bodies

CLINTON GROUP. 145

have usually been considered as of vegetable origin, some of which have been figured and
described as marine plants, under the generic name of fucoids. One fact, however, which
is of some consequence as bearing upon the question of their origin, is that no two are
precisely alike ; and, taken as a whole, there is quite a diversity in the characters of an
assemblage of those upon the same surface, though there is a general resemblance among
them.

In Warren, Herkimer county, near Cruger’s mill, the following strata appear in the
ravine :

1. Bluish gritty shale, 1 foot.
2. Gray sandstone-.. 2 ..
3. Blue gritty shale._ 1
4. Gray sandstone... 4 ..
5 —6. Gray pebbly beds, 2 ..
7. Blue shale_.--.-- 6 inches.

8 —9. Gray, and, by weathering, brown and fine-grained sandstone, 6 inches.

10. Iron gray sandstone disposed to weather, 6 inches.

11. Thin-bedded sandstone. 1 foot.

12. Fine pebbly conglomerate, 6 ..

138 — 14. Layers similartol2-- 2 ..

15. Brown soft sandstone ---. 2 ..

16. Dark colored shale and bluish black sandstone, 2 — 3 feet.
Associated with the above is a layer or bed of red argillaceous iron ore, concealed in the
debris.

This heterogeneous series rests upon the Oneida conglomerate, of which it seems at the east
to form a continuation. :

The most easterly point where this group can be examined to advantage, is near Van-
hornsville, on Otsquack creek, where an extensive exposure exists, and the rocks present
the same characters as at Cruger’s mill.

The following are some of the most important localities where the Clinton group may
be examined :

In the town of Stark, the group is exposed on a small stream near Mr. Wicks. At this
place, the strata consist of, 1, a conglomerate ; 2, a green shale, which is succeeded by a
white laminated sandstone with a few pebbles. The rocks which succeed the latter are
green and grayish sandstones, and a shale. About one mile east, the shale is associated
with gypsum, in a small portion of which sulphate of strontian has been found.

On Steel’s creek, south of the village of Mohawk, is a cliff where the group attains its
maximum thickness, which is not far from seventy feet. The beds of iron ore may be
examined first between the east branch of Steel’s creek, and the road leading to the Mo-
hawk river: this is the lower bed of ore. On another branch of the same creek, to the
west, the upper bed may be examined in place: it is an accretionary mass, made up of
oolitic ore, and rounded fragments of organic bodies, which are coated with the peroxide.

[AcricuLturaL Report.] 19

146 ONTARIO DIVISION.

Blackstone’s, and Gaylord’s and Norton’s quarries are still more favorable points, where
these rocks may be examined. ‘The former is in the lower part of the group; the latter
in the upper, and between them the ore beds of Mr. Wadsworth are situated. The beds
are about twenty feet apart, and, upon an average, are not over a foot in thickness. Some
portions are highly fossiliferous, consisting of separated stems of encrinites, and a few bi-
valved shells.

Again, the Clinton group is well exposed on Swift’s creek, near its junction with
Sauquoit creek. It consists here of a series of green shales, alternating with thin-bedded
sandstone. The shale which succeeds the sandstone, is forty feet thick. It is succeeded
by a thin bed of hard grayish sandstone fourteen inches thick, upon which reposes the
lowest bed of ore. The ore is succeeded by twenty feet of green shale ; and, as usual, it
alternates with the thin-bedded sandstones, whose surfaces are covered with fucoids.
Ascending still higher in the series, the succession of layers bear very much the same
character as those below.

The parts of the group which contain the ore beds are exposed on the road leading to
New-Hartford, and also upon the road from New-Hartford to Clinton, at Dr. Ruddeck’s,
southeast of Clinton; at Griffin’s quarry, north of Hamilton College hill; and on the
turnpike near the line of Kirkland, leading from Utica to Vernon.

The surface beds of the Clinton group spread over most of the areas of the towns of
Westmoreland, Kirkland and Verona. At the latter place, one of the ore beds is imme-
diately beneath the soil ; and not far from the village, it is quarried for the Taberg Com-
pany; and a little distance to the south, it is quarried for the Lenox and Constantia
furnaces. Its greatest thickness here is fourteen inches.

Leaving Oneida county, and proceeding to Madison, the first locality worthy of notice
is at Donnelly, on the road from Canastota to the head of Oneida lake. The surface layer
is still an ore bed, which stains the soil of a deep red. The series appears on Little Sodus
creek, near Martville: it alternates with shale, some of whose beds are calcareous.

Pursuing the route of this group westward, we find it, as at the east, developed in ra-
vines where the streams have cut into the strata, and have exposed their edges upon the
banks. One of the most extensive localities is upon the Genesee river, below Rochester.
It is necessary to observe, that at this distant point, the lithological characters of the rocks
are altered, and from being sandy deposites, they are more shaly ; and that calcareous
matter also exists in greater abundance, and forms an important rock in the series.

The series at the lower falls of the Genesee consists of the following masses, reckoning
from the superior layer of Medina sandstone, the gray band :

1. A tender fissile green shale, about 15 to 20 feet thick.

2. The lower bed of oolitic iron ore, associated with an impure shaly limestone, 14 inches.

3. A limestone, which, from the great abundance of the Pentamerus oblongus, is called Pentamerus
limestone, 14 feet.

4, The latter is succeeded by a shale, whose characters do not differ much from the mass below, and
at the base of the series, 24 feet. This, however, embraces two or more unimportant masses of
limestone, which will arrest the attention of the observer by the great abundance of the Atrypa

;
/
.

CLINTON GROUP. 147

hemispherica. Itis in this second mass of green shale, that the superior bed of iron ore occurs in

Oneida and Madison counties.
5. Impure thin-bedded limestone, with thin seams of green shale, 18 feet.

At the steamboat landing, the following series exist upon the east side of the Genesee :

1. One hundred feet of Mcdina sandstone.

From fifteen to twenty feet of green fragile slate.

. From four to six feet of sandstone. °
. Six inches of the oolitic iron ore.

. Ten feet of sandstone alternating with shale.

Eight inches of limestone containing the Pentamerus oblongus.

Oo m w PD

Near the locks of the canal at Lockport, there is from thirty to thirty-six feet of shale,
and from ten to fifteen feet of limestone, containing many encrinal stems. The shale, at
its junction with the limestone, is a disintegrating mass.

The thickness of the rocks at Lockport is as follows :

1. Medina sandstone exposed - ---- 60 feet.
2. Limestone shale and green shale, 70 ..
3. Niagara limestone_--.-------~- 20) 2.

The shale below the Niagara limestone, predominates greatly over the limestone or hard
layers, or the impure siliceous limestones.

At this place, then, the change in the lithological characters of this series is still better
marked and more decided. Here the limestone and shale only remain: the coarse rough
sandstone and conglomerates, and the iron ore beds, are entirely absent. These, it will be
seen, constituted at the east the most important parts of the series. The same observation
applies to the series as it exists in Orleans and Niagara counties. On the Niagara river,
the limestone is about twenty feet thick, and the shale has diminished to four or five feet.
This change in the mineral constitution of the group is both interesting and important.
It is important, inasmuch as the change is one which is peculiarly favorable to agriculture :
the hard and scarcely decomposable sandstones and conglomerates of Oneida become soft
decomposable slates and shales, before they reach the Genesee valley.

General distribution of the Clinton group. I have stated somewhat in detail the pecu-
liarities of this group, as it appears at many places on and near the route of the Erie
canal. A general statement, however, of the distribution of the series is still required.
The first well characterized beds appear in the southeast part of Herkimer county, near
Vanhorn’s in the town of Warren. The series forms a narrow belt, and, extending west-
ward, are exposed to view at the quarries of Blackstone and Davis, two and a half or three
miles south of Utica. The north border runs about northwest, and intersects the Erie canal
about half way between Rome and Oneida lake. From this region, the series extends
westward to Niagara, as has been intimated. The greatest width of the belt is between
the Oswego river and Sodus bay, or rather in the town of Wolcott, where it approaches

Gs

148 ONTARIO DIVISION.

within two miles of the lake shore, and where it can not be less than fifteen or twenty
miles wide. This, too, is the most important part of the series, as the iron ore beds are
better developed than either east or west. At Rochester, the series is about eight miles
wide, which width it retains to the Niagara river. It crosses the Genesee below Rochester,
and forms the little ridge on the north side of the canal, or a low terrace which runs nearly
parallel with it. The canal soon intersects this ridge, whence it then extends on its south
side to within eight or nine miles east of Lockport. From Lockport it forms a sort of slope
or terrace, which extends to Niagara river.

Oneida lake, and the low marshy grounds in Cicero, are excavated in this group. Its
distribution, and the width of the formation, together with the course of the southern
boundary, may be seen by an examination of the map: the belt is colored green.

Relations of the Clinton group. To the eastward this group is superimposed upon the
Oneida conglomerate. The disappearance of this mass, as the series extends westward,
seems to alter or change its relations ; for instead of passing beneath the Medina sand-
stone, which it meets in the northern part of Oneida county, it takes a position superior to
it, and hence the Medina sandstone becomes the supporting mass or base throughout its
whole distance to the Niagara river. Superiorly the group is merged in a shaly sandstone,
which, if it does not coalesce with the more perfect limestone called the Niagara, still does
not disappear abruptly and form a strong and well marked line of demarkation with it.

The relations of this group, then, are by no means obscure on the route I have described.
We should expect, however, from so perfect a development of a series within this section
of the State, that it would also appear within its bounds wherever the inferior and superior
rocks are found ; but this is not the case. Thus in the valley of the Rondout, the Oneida
conglomerate forms an important rock, and ought to be succeeded by the Clinton group ;
but instead of this being the case, it is wanting. The relations of the rocks of this part of
the State are represented on Pl. XX. Section 3: see also the same plate, section 2, which
extends across the valley of the Schoharie creek. The same absence of this group will be
noticed in the section at Cherryvalley, still farther west, on the main-sectional route from
Albany to Auburn. It is only, therefore, in the direction and vicinity of the Erie canal,
that we are to look for this series ; parallel with which, it extends across the State, from
near the eastern bounds of Springfield or Warren in Herkimer county, to the Niagara river.

Contour of the country over which the Clinton group extends. The most level and unin-
teresting part of the State, is that which is underlaid by the Clinton group. To be satisfied
of the truth of this statement, it is only necessary to pass over the level and swampy lands
about Oneida lake, and the Cicero swamps. The long levels of the.canals, too, extend
over this series. There is, however, some interest in the scenery of the deep gorges:
thus, at Cruger’s in Herkimer county, but especially in the deeper and wider gorges of the
Genesee and Niagara rivers, the scenery is imposing ; but in consequence of the absence of
disturbances in this rock, the surface above it is invariably dull and monotonous. If, how-
ever, this section of the State rises at all into ridges, they are not all connected with this

CLINTON GROUP. 149

formation, but have resulted from the operation of far more modern causes than any which
have acted upon it. It is true that these rocks form a part of the mountain ridge in Nia-
gara county, extending from Lockport to Lewiston ; still they appear only in an inferior
slope, which gradually dies away, and is lost in the lower grounds which succeed it towards
the lake. It is in fact an inconsiderable elevation, rising only three hundred and fifty feet
above Lake Ontario and the surrounding country. The tortuous course of this ridge,
however, adds something to the variety of surface. In general the country descends towards
Lake Ontario, from near Rome to Niagara, in a very gradual manner. At the termination
of this group, there is a single steep offset ; but at Lockport, and most of the intervening
country, there are two terraces, which are formed by the presence of the sandstone below,
and the soft shales which succeed, together with the hard limestone that forms the surface
rock of this part of the district. The uneven surfaces, then, which are due to the rocks of
this group, exist mostly in Niagara county ; and the hilly surface elsewhere corresponding
to this group, is formed by the action of diluvial currents, which have brought together
sand, gravel and boulders, and arranged these materials in the form of ridges and rounded
hillocks.

Waterfalls in the Ontario division. I have just referred to the influence of running
waters upon the soft rocks which compose in the west a large proportion of the Ontario
division, and by which deep channels are cut. These, if interrupted by hard layers, form
cascades or falls in the stream, as the waters are longer resisted by these harder deposits.
Most of the high falls in the State are thus produced, and two remarkable instances have
just been spoken of. The Niagara fall, the most commanding of all the phenomena of
this kind, is formed in this division of the New-York rocks; a part of which, called the
American Fall, is represented in Pl. X. It is inferior in grandeur to the Great Horseshoe
Fall. It was drawn from the Canada side.

Agricultural capacity of the soil of the Clinton group. The nature of this formation, at its
eastern termination, favors the production of a siliceous soil ; while at the west, owing to
the predominance of argillaceous and calcareous matter in combination, the soil partakes
of the composition of the parent rocks. It is difficult, however, to estimate the influence
which this formation exercises on the soil, as it is underlaid at the west by a rock also
allied to a marl, or which at least decomposes like one. JI allude to the parts already
described of the Medina sandstone, which constantly crumbles by the action of atmospheric
agents, and passes into soil. So in the superior masses, it is soon succeeded by a marly
deposit, the only rock which intervenes being the Niagara limestone. It is therefore un-
necessary to dwell upon the influence this mass exerts, as it is merged in the rocks above
and below, all of which are particularly and nearly equally concerned in the production
of the peculiar soils of the western counties. Much of the country, however, which is un-
derlaid by the Clinton group, is low and swampy, and hence unfavorably situated for
exhibiting the true value to be placed upon the soil which it has formed.

The sandstones and conglomerates of Herkimer decompose slowly ; but the process is
aided by the interlamination of the green shales, which, however, do not crumble so

150 ONTARIO DIVISION.

rapidly as those of Wayne, Orleans, Monroe and Niagara counties. The shales of the
latter counties undergo the process sometimes called slaking, which consists in falling to
a powdery state even when they are dry. The change, however, is far more rapid where
they are exposed to an alternate action of atmospheric agency. It is almost impossible to
prevent the decomposition of a piece of shale when it is wetted after having been thoroughly
dried. This fact teaches us the mode by which they may be converted into renovators of
the soil; for it is found that they contain several valuable salts, which are important in
promoting the growth of vegetables. We shall recur again to this subject in another place.

Minerals usually associated with the rocks composing this group. The most important
mineral is the oolitic iron ore, which forms distinct strata by itself: it is a calcareo-argil-
laceous ore, and is used for castings, but not for bar iron. Masses of chert, in which are
cavities lined with quartz crystals, are not uncommon in the layers of limestone. Sulphate
of barytes, of a red color, occurs in the oolitic iron at Wolcott furnace. Crystals of car-
bonate of lime, sulphate of lime, pyritous copper and iron, and green carbonate, are
sometimes found in several of the masses belonging to this group.

Miscellaneous remarks. The most remarkable feature, as already observed, is the sudden
and repeated changes in the mineral type of the layers and rocks which enter into this
formation ; and perhaps the presence of those singular beds of iron ore, is not the least
interesting of the facts connected with it. That a mass whose average thickness does not
exceed one foot, should be spread out so extensively and by itself, unmixed with other
matter, is a circumstance of great interest, and worthy of special investigation. The source
of the iron is not well determined. In Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties, the red spe-
cular oxide of iron is abundant; and the beds which are now open, exhibit the fact that
they have at some former period suffered from denudation and transportation in a southerly
direction, but this occurrence belongs without doubt to a period long posterior to the forma-
tion of the oolitic iron. Still it is rational to believe that these northern beds may have
furnished the materials for the iron of the Clinton group; and it is evident that these
masses were brought to the surface at a period subsequent to the deposition of the Potsdam
sandstone, and the event may have happened in the era of the Clinton group. There is
yet nothing discovered that militates against this view of the origin of the iron in question.

The Clinton group is not confined to the State of New-York : it is found in Ohio, Penn-
sylvania and Canada. Its thickness in New-York, according to Mr. Haut, does not exceed
eighty feet. It is between fifty and sixty feet in Warren in Herkimer county,

§ 2. NIAGARA GROUP.

Geodiferous limerock, and Calciferous slate, of Eaton ; Lockport limestone and Rochester slate, Upper part of the
Protean group, of the Annual Reports.

This name, as proposed, is selected from the place where the group is best developed,
and where it not only is well situated to arrest the attention of the curious, but also occu-
pies a point more generally visited than any other within the bounds of New-York. It
consists of only two distinct members, and hence is comparatively a small group, or one
which is composed of a small number of members.

NIAGARA GROUP. 151

1. In the ascending order, thin laminated bluish green shales, tender, and subject to disintegration.

2. Dark blue limestone, the lower beds or beds of passage argillaceous : the beds of passage into the
limestone are silico-argillaceous ; when recently exposed, they are of bluish green; on exposure,
they become gray.

The limestone is often distinguished by cavities lined with crystals of pearl and dog-tooth
spar, and hence received the name of geodiferous limestone by the earlier writers on geology.

1. NIAGARA SHALE.

The color of this shale is dark bluish, which invariably whitens on exposure to the
weather, passing into laminated fragments, and finally into a stiff clay: alternations of a
dry and wet surface favor this change. The whole mass is slightly calcareous, but the
lower parts do not furnish calcareous bands ; the middle and upper, however, exhibit in-
terlaminations of impure limestone.

2. NIAGARA LIMESTONE.

This rock is dark colored and bituminous ; often strongly so. It admits of the following
subdivisions :

1. From the shale upwards, beds of gray siliccous limestone, often quarried for cement, or for hydraulic
mortars.

2. Thin-bedded shaly limestone, alternating with scams of dark colored shale.

3. Thick-bedded limestone above; below, the beds are thinner, and often bent or centorted, or even
concretionary.

4, Bituminous limestone, cherty, thin-bedded and gray or brown: geodes abound.

At Rochester, the limestone is crystalline, sparkling upon a dark ground, and brittle,
breaking with an uneven fracture : it is quite harsh, and apparently siliceous.

At Lockport, the Niagara limestone appears with some additions to its strata :

1. Reddish gray crystalline limestone, susceptible of a fine polish: the color is due to the numerous
broken stems of encrinites.

2. Concretionary and irregular-bedded limestone, with cavities containing spar in various forms.

3. Bituminous limestone with cavities, generally dark colored.

4, Gray limestone, with thin bituminous shale between its layers.

In Oneida and Herkimer counties, this rock first appears as one of the members of the
New-York system ; and so different are its features where it first appears at its eastern
position, that it would not be recognized as the western geodiferous limestone, if it could
not be traced almost uninterruptedly in its western route. It takes its origin only a few
miles west of the Clinton group, which it accompanies all the way to Niagara falls.

On Swift creek in Oneida county, it is a dark concretionary mass, about four or five feet
thick, accompanied with a dark colored slate. The concretions form segments of large
curves or semicircles, and may be split or separated from each other in tables a yard square
or more. The mass possesses the same characters at Hart’s mill, Steel’s creek, near
Hamilton College, at Vernon, and near Skanandoa. As the rock proceeds west, it be-
comes a purer lime, and loses in part its concretionary character.

152 ONTARIO DIVISION.

Range and extent. Commencing a little farther west than the Clinton group, and ina
slender band only, the Niagara group traverses the middle and western counties of New-
York in a closely parallel band with the inferior mass just described. It becomes an im-
portant rock in Monroe county. Its northern outcropping edge passes through Penfield,
Brighton, Ogden and Sweden. In Orleans and Niagara counties, the northern edge forms
an outcrop in Clarendon, Albion, Medina, Royalton, Lockport, Cambria and Lewiston.
Throughout this distance, the rock is not sufficiently altered in its lithological characters
to require comment.

Minerals usually associated with this group. The most noted and most sought for species
are those which occur in the geodes at Lockport. They consist of pearl spar in crystals with
curved faces, the dog-tooth spar in dodecahedral prisms, and a variety of sulphuret of iron
in long slender prisms. Galena is rarely found in this rock in New-York. Gypsum or
selenite, and sulphate of strontian, are common minerals in the geodes of spar, and occa-
sionally cubic crystals of fluor spar. Anthracite coal is also rare, but is sometimes found.

§ 3. THICKNESS OF THE ONTARIO DIVISION IN NEW-YORK.

The combined results of the observations and measurements of the strata composing this
division of the New-York system, are as follow :

Medina sandstone, which constitutes the base of the division, 350 feet.

ELT AE | ene eee Se ee 80

Niawara shale... —p2524 5 gone So Set = sate 100

iawara Dimestone . 2 — 5 oo a 164
Maximum thickness ---.--- 694 feet.

§ 4. SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL FACTS RELATING TO THE ONTARIO DIVISION.

1. This division in the State of New-York, is the least extensive, and of the least impor-
tance of the four or five divisions under which the strata are described.

2. The Medina sandstone and Niagara limestone are the best entitled to the appellation
of general strata.

3. The latter marks the termination, it would seem, of a distinct era in geological history,
whose importance, however, can not be well estimated in New-York.

4, The only mineral deposit of importance consists of a calcareous oolitic iron ore.

5. Agriculturally, some of the members of this division are not only interesting, but im-
portant, in the middle and western part of the State.

6. The country over which this division extends, is level, but is liable, from the soft na-
ture of the materials of which the rocks are composed, to be cut and traversed by
gorges and ravines, that give origin to falls and cascades, of which those formed by
the Genesee and Niagara rivers are the most important (See Plates 9 and 10).

PLAT H TN

Lumone 1F pay

toca

Mm) ‘

PLATE |

ONONDAGA-SALT GROUP. 153

Ill. HELDERBERG DIVISION.

Remarks descriptive of the appearance of the Helderberg range from the hills east of
Greenbush, and explanatory of Plate I.—This range is remarkable for the succession of ter-
races as it rises from its eastern slope, and for the offsets after it has attained its height
towards the north or valley of the Mohawk. Each terrace marks the position of the
several limestones, which, being harder than the shales, form permanent tables extending
beyond the limits of the shales, that are confined to an outcropping and nearly horizontal
edge. The slope or dip is southwest, and the range rises from beneath the Catskill moun-
tains, which rise up in dome-shaped segments upon the left. We see, in this view, merely
the eastern slope: to the west there is a succession of minor ranges, separated from each
other by north and south valleys. The Hudson-river series appears in the foreground,
and are colored purple ; the limestones are colored blue, the shales a light drab, and the
Catskill sandstones (which are the superior rocks, and beneath which all disappear) a light
brown.

§ 1. OnonDAGA-SALT GROUP.

If we estimate the importance of a group or series of rocks by the amount of useful
materials it furnishes, then this group is certainly one of considerable consequence. This
will be admitted, probably, when it is stated that it furnishes most, if not all the plaster
used in Western New-York, and much that is used in the New-England States. It un-
doubtedly gives origin to the brine springs from which a large proportion of our salt is
made, and from which an immense revenue is derived by the State. Besides these im-
portant considerations, the rocks themselves form by decomposition an excellent soil, and
the belt over which the group prevails is one of the best agricultural districts in the State
of New-York. Without doubt, then, if this view is the true one, this group becomes both
geologically and economically important. Its relations and associations are inquiries of
considerable moment ; for it is essential that its position in the series should be well un-
derstood, and the nature of the deposits forming it well determined. Such being our
opinion in regard to it, we proceed to describe the series in the same order which has been
observed in the preceding groups.

The specific characters which distinguish this group from the preceding, and the different
members which form it. Leaving out of view those characters which are derived from its
organic remains, we find that it is composed in the ascending order, of,

1. A red shaly fissile mass with green spots and a few bands, constantly breaking down under the
action of atmospheric agents.

2. Green shale, rather massive, in which plaster beds are embraced, and which also contain casts of
crystals of hopper-shaped cavities in which common salt once existed.

{[AgricuLTuRAL Report.] 20

154 HELDERBERG DIVISION.

3. A gray impure limestone, in which there are numerous small irregular-shaped cavities or cells,
resembling those of lava or amygdaloid. These beds are associated with the above.
4. Thin-bedded shaly limestone, passing upwards into a fine-grained one whose thickness has increased:

this limestone emits a ringing sound when struck. These beds constitute the Manlius waterlime
series of the Reports.

It is proper to observe here in regard to this last division, which is a deviation from the
reports, that there seems to be a gradual passage upwards, from the thin-bedded fragile
shales and shaly limestones, to the thicker and firmer beds of the last division. There is
no well marked line of divison between the lower and upper masses of the group, as defined
above. The Pentamerus limestone, which succeeds the waterlimes, is clearly a different
rock. Below, the Niagara limestone is a very distinct deposit in all respects ; but when we
once pass into the Onondaga-salt group, no characteristic lines can be discovered, which
seem to be suitable to the purpose of serving as lines of demarkation. Then again it is our
wish to diminish the number of groups, as far as possible, without doing violence to ar-
rangements founded in nature.

I shall now proceed to speak in detail of the division which I have just proposed.

1. RED SHALE.

The ground color of this mass is a blood-red, upon which patches of green are common ;
and sometimes or in some parts of it there are strata which are entirely green, a red shale
alternating to a limited extent with green. The true character of these beds is so much
concealed by their own debris, that it is often unnoticed. The rock is extremely fragile,
and is constantly breaking down by the action of the weather : hence the surfaces exposed
look more like a marl bed than a solid rock. The fracture is earthy, and the divisions
which usually mark the strata are obscure, if not entirely absent.

Localities where this rock is exposed. As has been stated in regard to the commencement
of the Clinton group, this rock too does not appear east of Herkimer county. At Steel’s
creek, at Cruger’s mill, and between Mohawk village and Dennison’s on the Sauquoit
creek, on the north and west side of Paris hill, the red shale crops out, and appears under
the characters which have been given above. Farther west, but still in Oneida county,
the rock appears near Hamilton College; from which place, it spreads out and extends
into Madison county, in the eastern part of which it is cut through by the Erie canal. In
its western prolongation into Onondaga and Cayuga counties, it forms a band to the north,
but it runs nearly parallel with the Canal. Still farther west and in the vicinity of
Genesee river at Rochester, the rock exists but obscurely. It was excavated in a well in
Brighton, four miles south of Rochester. Mr. Hau expresses some doubts of its con-
tinuance farther west than this river, unless indeed the character of the rock is changed.

Thickness of the red shale. Mr. Vanuxem estimates its thickness in some places at five
hundred feet, or as varying from one to five hundred feet. On the West branch of Steel’s
creek, it forms a mass, in a precipice or perpendicular cliff, eighty feet thick.

¥

ONONDAGA-SALT GROUP. 155

Extent of the red shale in New-York. It is highly probable that it is limited to the district
which is indicated by the localities already cited, by which it appears to form a narrow
belt running parallel with, but a little south of, the Clinton group, commencing in Herki-
mer county, and terminating in Monroe in the vicinity of Rochester. A red shale, spotted
with green, rests upon the Oneida conglomerate at the High falls of the Rondout ; but this
seems to belong to a higher part of the group. The same red shale underlies Becraft’s
mountain near Hudson. It only shows itself upon the east or northeast side, and then but
obscurely. These localities are cited, in order that observers may not be deceived by the
strata which so much resemble those of Onondaga county, and which form the base of
the plaster and salt deposits. These red beds are probably above both the plaster formation,
and that part of the shale which gives origin to the brine springs.

2. GREEN SHALE, WITH THE PLASTER BEDS.

This portion of the group begins with red, green, drab, and yellow-colored shales alter-
nating several times ; the green and drab colors, however, predominate, and it is probable
the red may be wanting in some places. Like the lowest portion just described, it has the
same disposition to decompose after disintegration has taken place. In some limited places,
the debris of the rock is lodged upon the shelving and projecting undecomposed parts of the
same, like ashes, or in a light powdery condition, and having a strong bitter taste of epsom
or glauber salts. This portion, too, when exposed in cliffs, or when penetrated by wells,
shows the strata traversed by thin columnar gypsum, either white and translucent, or red-
dish and opake in the mass. Besides the fibrous gypsum in thin seams, selenite is not
uncommon, but usually in small laminated transparent masses diffused through the crum-
bling rock. Opake gypsum too is abundant in it, but not in beds sufficiently large for
quarrying ; and it may be, that in some localities, one quarter of this portion of the group
is a sulphate of lime. Such then are the characters of this first mass above the red shale,
which, however, it is proper to say, is firmer at its superior part, becoming gradually a
shaly limestone with thick and oval beds of plaster, and finally so sound and compact that
it emits a ringing sound when struck with a hard body.

Fig. 24.

Section of the lower green shales embracing the lower plaster beds, which appear generally as irregular seams,
some composed of fibrous gypsum.

a. Gypsum beds enclosed in green shales both above and below, all of which disintegrate, and then undergo a real
decomposition : the process may be seen in the harder shelving parts of the rock, or beneath, where the debris
is partially sheltered, and where there is often half a bushel of fine gray ash-like substance of a bitter taste.

20*

156 HELDERBERG DIVISION,

Localities where it may be observed. Though this rock may exist in Oneida county, yet it
is too obscure, or too much concealed in its own, or in the debris of other rocks, to at-
tract much attention.

In Camillus, at the railroad cut, is one of the best localities for studying this division of
the group. The place is west of Camillus village, and can not fail to attract the attention
of travellers over this line of conveyance. More than one hundred feet of it is exposed,
and in all the conditions and with all the products of which I have spoken, except that the
red rock is not exposed or does not exist at this place.

Another locality of interest, is about three miles east of Manlius centre, at the Green
lakes, where the superior part of this division exists with massive beds of plaster. This is
superior to the rock at the deep railroad cut in Camillus. The limestone shale at the lakes
is thin-bedded and fragile, but not so much so as the mass below.

At Cayuga bridge, the same series is exposed in the banks, where many oven-shaped
cavities exist, from which plaster has been extracted, or from which it has been dissolved
by water percolating through the strata.

The lower mass exists still farther west, in the vicinity of Lyons, Newark and Lockville :
at the latter place, the locks for the enlarged canal are excavated in it. Westward beyond
the Genesee river, it is exposed in Byron and Alabama; and at Bergen centre, the railroad
runs near the excavation for plaster. At Palmyra, it is upon the banks of the canal. In
Erie county, the beds are concealed by thick beds of drift. Some few excavations expose
it sufficiently to prove its continuation. :

Fig. 25.
Section illustrating the position of the lakes, with the vermicular limerock of Eaton, or porous limestone.

a. Canal. 6. Green lakes, sometimes called Lake Sodom. c. Porous limestone: plaster beds above. T. Manlius
village. The section extends south three miles, passing over the formation embracing the plaster beds; the
highest strata are the waterlime layers on the slope of the hill. The hill intervening between the Green lakes
is traversed by fissures, through which most of the water percolates until it reaches the more impervious strata,
the green shales. The water of the Green lakes (of which there are two) is unpleasant, or rather bitter; con-
tains a great amount of lime: every twig or stick which happens to fall into it becomes incrusted with carbonate
of lime. They are situated on small but deep depressions or basins, which, unlike many others in the surround-
ing country, are not formed by drift currents, or by streams that have mechanically worn them out; neither are
they produced by fractures or uplifts, as the strata are undisturbed. To what cause is to be attributed the basin-
shaped depressions in which these lakes are contained, is a matter of speculation, that has not as yet been satis-
factorily determined.

Al general statement of the extent of this division of the Onondaga-salt group. Beginning
as heretofore, at the east, we find the green shales and gypseous rock first appearing in
Oneida county, near Vernon village, where, as is stated by Mr. Vanuxem, the constituents

ONONDAGA-SALT GROUP. 157

of the lower part of this mass were thrown out from a well, such as fibrous gypsum and
selenite embraced in fragments of green shale. From this extreme eastern point of the
rock, it widens and deepens westward, but probably attains its fullest development in
Onondaga county, in the vicinity of the principal salt wells and springs. But few of the
characteristic marks of this rock appear in Monroe and Erie counties; and probably it
thins out to such an extent, that it is but feebly represented in the extreme western coun-
ties. The belt which it forms, then, though not confined to the central part of the State,
is still wider and deeper there than elsewhere, especially the lower part so well known by
the hopper-form cavities. Ata low stage of the Niagara river, it appears in the banks at
Grand island. Mr. Haru speaks of this mass as not uncommon in Monroe and Wayne
counties, but as hardly known in Genesee or Erie.

Interesting feature in the region of the plaster beds and green shales. That these rocks
are easily worn down, and are liable to be cut deeply by running water, has been stated
already ; but the combined action of running water and of atmospheric agencies generally,
has not been sufficiently explained. Perhaps I ought also to include diluvial agency, as
particularly active in giving shape or contour to this part of Onondaga county. The fea-
ture which I propose to speak of, is exhibited in the numerous high and round eminences
that occur upon the plains, like immense mounds. They are quite round, sloping steeply
and equally in all directions, with summits almost perfectly oval or round: they are sixty
or seventy feet high, and from their summits many others are seen ; indeed they command
fine views of the surrounding country. The rock sometimes crops out from a point, showing
by this that they are not entirely drift hills. Section 26, though not designed to illustrate
the form of the hills, will give an idea of some of the facts which stand connected with
them.

Fig. 26.

1. Round hill, the highest points of the immediate region. 2. Gypseous rock. 3. Tufa deposits. 4. Drift, made
up of fine and coarse cobblestones.

As I have intimated that these hills, and the peculiar shape of the country, are not en-
tirely due to diluvial action, nor to present atmospheric agency, it may be expected that
some other cause shall be assigned for the phenomena under consideration. In searching
for something explanatory of these changes, I found that near the outcrop of the Onon-
daga limestone, circular gorges, or what might be called very appropriately roadways,
occur, which encompass, in the instance before us, an area of two hundred and fifty
acres. This area presents nearly a semicircle of perpendicular ledges on both sides, whose
height is not far from one hundred feet. By some means a cleft of a circular form has

158 HELDERBERG DIVISION.

been made in the mass: in the instance exhibited in the annexed map, it is thirty rods
wide, and the cliffs, though circular, run parallel with each other ; and the road space is
as free of rocks, boulders, and fragments of cliffs, as any part of the adjacent country. In
fact a clear sweep has been made directly into the rock to the depth of one hundred feet,
and in width twenty-five or thirty rods, giving all this space for a forest, or, if necessary,
fora meadow. Now it is imagined that these breaks or fractures in the rocks have laid
the foundation for the numerous hillocks of the surrounding country, they being in a
more advanced stage. They are composed beneath of insulated outliers of the same
rocks ; but by the action of a variety of causes, the space between them and the main
range of the same rocks is greatly enlarged. The accompanying map, which has been
drawn by my friend Georce Geppes, of Tyler Post-office, will explain more than I am
able by words, or by an elaborate description. M,M. Mounds; L, L. Roadway, or, as
it is called in the neighborhood by the significant name Splitrock. The map, for other
details, explains itself. The roadway slopes east and west: the west part is perfectly dry ;
on the south part, a small sulphur spring rises, which runs into a small pond b. ‘The
surface rock of the two hundred and fifty acres is the Onondaga limestone, and so it is
on both sides of the roadway. It is difficult to account for such a separation, unless by
subsidence of one side ; but as the rocks of the same kind correspond very nearly in height,
an objection is thus interposed to this view; though it must be admitted that this, after
all, is the most plausible view, when taken in consideration with the nature of the rocks
beneath, namely, the plaster beds and green shales, etc., which may in many ways be
removed, and thus undermine the hard superior rocks. Whatever cause may have been
instrumental in the production of this natural dry roadway, we certainly consider it as
among the most interesting geological features in Onondaga county. They differ mate-
rially from the deep ravines and gorges which constitute water courses (those, for instance,
of the Genesee and Niagara rivers), in which, wherever they occur, if hard rocks form
a part of the series, cascades or waterfalls are produced. On a magnificent scale we see
this remark exemplified in the Niagara river, where the hard Niagara limestone forms a
barrier in the form of a table, over which the waters pour, and send forth their everlasting
thunders in their fall (See Pl. X.).

3. ImMpURE GRAY POROUS LIMESTONE.

I place this rock by itself under a distinct head, because it isan anomalous rock. It be-
longs geologically to the preceding or second division of this series, the Onondaga-salt
group. In position, it lies between the two plaster beds. The rock is extremely fine-
grained, even, and compact between the irregular-shaped cavities. It is even-bedded,
however, dividing distinctly into layers or strata, like other sedimentary rocks. The cavi-
ties, or pores, as they exist in some places, are empty, certainly in all that part of the rock
which is at or near the surface. It is sufficiently described, when it is said that it resem-
bles very closely a lava.

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ONONDAGA-SALT GROUP. 159

The relations of the masses now under consideration, are well developed on Nine-mile
creek, where the following section was obtained :

Fig. 27.

1. Green shales. 2. Plaster beds, whose forms are usually oval, and appear like unconformable masses in the shale.
3. Porous limestone. 4. Green shales, with their seams of columnar gypsum. 5. Tufa beds, which are con-
tinually forming on the brows and at the base of almost every slope where the green shales make the underlying
rock of the region.

Opinions of its origin. From its lava-like structure, some geologists regard this rock as
the product of a mud volcano. Perhaps there are no facts which very strongly support
this view, or militate against it. The pores, however, are not so much like those of lava,
when closely inspected, as they seem to be when viewed only cursorily. They are not
such as are usually produced when pent air is expanded in a semi-liquid rock, and forms
thereby a small cavity. In these cases there is a smoothness upon the inner surface, which
is due to the pressure of the air upon a soft yielding body. The pores of the limestone
are excessively angular or jagged, as if some substance had crystallized in them, and was
subsequently dissolved, leaving the open space unoccupied. We may suppose that these
porous layers were sediments like the rest of the formation, but contained much crystal-
line matter, which has disappeared by solution. Still it is true that mud is ejected from
volcanoes, and is spread over wide areas, which, from the laws of soft movable matter,
will become, on solidifying, a stratified rock, provided the mass is not fused or exces-
sively heated, in which case it would rather become a crystalline unstratified rock similar

to granite.

4, THIN-BEDDED SHALY LIMESTONE ; THE SUPERIOR PART CONSTITUTING THE MANLIUS
WATERLIME GROUP.

This part of the salt group may be described as consisting of thin-bedded calcareous
shales, near the plaster beds, whose colors are usually bluish gray, excepting a few beds
which are red or red mottled with green in a manner similar to the red shale at the base
of the group. The beds are all thicker above, or superiorly ; but they are always fine-
grained deposits, and supposed to be impure carbonates of lime, containing magnesia, iron
and alumina.

This part of the group has been usually described by itself, under the name of Manlius
waterlime. As the purposes for which a notice of the New-York rocks is introduced are

160 HELDERBERG DIVISION.

better answered by considering the whole mass above the plaster beds, up to the Penta-
merus limestone, as one division, we have disregarded the former grouping in this respect.

I propose describing the superior division, as it exists in different parts of the State ; as
this, like several other groups or sub-groups, exhibits many important variations in the
composition of the individual strata.

Valley of the Rondout in Ulster county. The best, or perhaps the most interesting expo-
sure, is at the High falls. The series at this place stands thus in the ascending order :

1, Oneida conglomerate; or, as it would be called here, the Shawangunk grit of Mr. Marner.

2. Thin-bedded red and green shales below impure thin-bedded limestones; above, similar in form
and structure to the Manlius waterlimes. The inferior part contains many irregular-shaped
geodes lined with crystals of lime, and the brown and red masses contain many implanted crystals
of sulphuret of iron: some of these crystals are liable to decompose.

3. A grayish white grit, ten feet thick. It resembles the grits of the Clinton group in Herkimer
county; but it will be understood that this remarkable mass, in this position, is above this group,
and hence is not an equivalent of it at this place, but is an intercalated portion.

4, Thick irregular-bedded cherty limestone, geodiferous in some parts: it is dark-colored. It is pro-
bably the pentamerus in part blended with the delthyris shaly limestone, as some portions are
drab-colored and shaly. The thick dark-colored layers are quarried for cement.

The falls of the Rondout are produced by an uplift, in which the entire series enumerated
above are broken three times (See Plate XX. Section 3).

One remarkable fact is worthy of notice in the valley of the Rondout. Near Rosendale,
the Hudson-river series supports and is in connection with the shaly limestones I have just
noticed ; so also the same relations prevail near Catskill, and at Becraft’s mountain. At
the falls of the Rondout, however, the Oneida conglomerate is in connection with the
Waterlime series. It is possible that the series described as the waterlimes may be a
disguised form of the Clinton group, and the limestones referred to the pentamerus and
delthyris would then become equivalents with the Niagara group. A fact which supports
this view, is the existence of the Catenipora escaroides. Sufficient time could not be
taken to settle the question in regard to the true character of these rocks. At the time
they were examined, they were considered as the waterlimes, and equivalent to those of
Onondaga county ; and it is in this light that they have been regarded thus far in this
report.

If the red mottled shale is equivalent in part to the Clinton group, it is wanting in the
characters by which this series is known in Oneida and Herkimer counties. The fucoids are
absent, and the limestone beds replace the grits which abound in the counties just cited.
The decomposing green shales, with cavities lined with crystals of cale spar, resemble
very closely a mass which lies just above the village of Manlius, and which is there soon
succeeded by a thin band of the Pentamerus limestone. These remarks will prevent in a
great measure the inculcation of error, as they will serve to put the student in the track of
inquiry when visiting the valley of the Rondout. Mr. Marner regards a part of the series
here as belonging to the Clinton group. In whatever light, however, we may regard this

ONONDAGA-SALT GROUP. 161

series, the thin shaly beds, which in Onondaga county contain gypsum and the hopper-
form cavities, are certainly wanting, and they have not been recognized in this part of the
State. They ought not, it is true, to be found at the falls of the Rondout, if the series
consists only of the Clinton and Niagara groups ; the former comprising the shales, green,
red and mottled, and the ten feet of sandstone ; and the latter, the limestone at the head
of the falls, which is quarried for cement. The plaster beds in this case ought to be found
above the falls, resting upon the cement rock or the Niagara limestone.

The waterlimes are also exposed on the eastern outcrop of the Helderberg, on a range
not far west of the Hudson river, near the villages of Kingston, Saugerties, Catskill,
Leeds, Coxsackie, Coeymans, New-Baltimore, and also on the east side of Hudson river
at Becraft’s mountain. At all these localities, the upper beds are the ones which are
exposed, and which are ranked rather as thin-bedded limestones than as shales, the latter
being always disposed to disintegrate rapidly, and pass into the condition of soil.

Other parts of the Helderberg range also furnish important points of exposure: thus,
about one and a half or two miles east of New-Scotland in Albany county, the same series
of beds appear; and these may be traced around on the northern outcrop, or rather ter-
minus of the Helderberg range, as far as Schoharie. Still onwards through Carlisle,
Cherry-valley, Springfield, Warren, and through Oneida and Herkimer counties, they
maintain much the same character. In Onondaga county, the lower part, and that which
crops out in the village of Manlius, is shaly, and green or drab-colored, with cavities lined
with crystals of lime. This part can not be distinguished from that at the falls of the Ron-
dout, of which I have expressed some doubts whether it is to be regarded as belonging to
the Waterlime series or the Clinton group.

In Onondaga county, the series terminates abruptly above ; a fact of considerable im-
portance in fixing the limits of the series, as the circumstances show that an important
change took place in the condition of the seas in which these rocks were in the progress of
formation.

At Manlius, the exposed rocks are as follow :

\. Greenish shales with imperfect geodes, fragile, and rapidly decomposing: exposed in the road above
the village,
2. Thin-bedded limestone, which becomes of a drab color on exposure to the weather.
3. Compact black thick-bedded limestone, much broken, in thin beds, from eight to ten feet thick.
4. This is succeeded by a lighter colored limestone, eight feet: this last supports a few feet of the
Pentamerus limestone, which is quite concretionary.
The mass which is burnt and used for hydraulic cement, is the upper four feet of the drab-
colored No. 2, and just beneath the black compact limestone. It is a mass thicker bedded
than the lower part of the same tier, from which it is not very easy to distinguish it.

At Auburn, the quarries north from the town give nearly the same series. The black
rock, with a small univalve, occurs in great abundance at both places.

In Monroe county, Mr. Haut gives a section at West-Mendon, consisting of the Onon-
daga salt group, twenty-five feet, in thin courses of light drab or ashen hue, succeeded

{AcricuLturaL Report.] 21

162 HELDERBERG DIVISION.

by a thin band of Oriskany sandstone. The bed usually quarried for cement, is not no-
ticed ; though at Vienna in Ontario county, it is two feet thick ; and in Genesee county,
at Morganville, the waterlime is thirty-eight feet thick, consisting of four feet in thin
courses, twenty-two feet in thick courses (in combination with silex), and twelve feet in
gray layers with seams of blue marl. ‘The series terminates below in the green and grayish
fragile shales or marls.

The development of the upper part of the series I have been describing, is best in Scho-
harie county, while the lower part is best exposed in Onondaga county. At Schoharie
village, the following series occurs at the strontian locality, on the slope west of the creek :
1, Hudson-river series, three hundred feet exposed ; 2, Waterlime series of the Onondaga-
salt group, consisting of blue thick-bedded limestone, and greenish or drab-colored shaly
limestone, one hundred ‘feet, and pentamerus, twenty feet. Between the Hudson-river
series and the waterlimes, the red shales are feebly developed, and contain, as at the Ron-
dout falls, numerous crystals of sulphuret of iron. Developed also in and beneath the mass
of thin-bedded limestone containing strontian and barytes, is a mass of compact blue lime-
stone about eight feet thick, in which favosites abound, and which is scarcely known out
of Schoharie county.

Soils of the Onondaga-salt group. The debris of the rocks of this group is almost uni-
formly of a drab color, and it may be usually traced to the source from which it is derived.
It becomes fine by the slow process of disintegration ; constantly furnishing, in the changes
it undergoes, suitable materials for vegetable food. The soil, as might be expected from
the character of the rock, is excellent: it possesses a sufficient tenacity for the growth of
wheat ; but sometimes, especially where the clay predominates, it acquires too much tena-
city for indian corn. ‘The clay beds possess the same colors as the soil, only they are of
deeper tint.

It will be noticed, from the preceding description of the localities where these rocks are
developed, that the lower parts of the group furnish the best soil, as they undergo more
rapid decomposition. ‘The process is slow in the superior portion of the waterlimes, still
the soil furnished in each case has the same general character ; but in consequence of the
great development of the lower portion in the central part of the State, the soils are
much more widely spread and extended than to the eastward: it is, moreover, derived
from the rocks themselves, and without intermixture to any considerable amount of the
northern drift.

The soil and clay of this series may generally be distinguished from that of the slates of
the Hudson-river series: the latter is bluish, and rarely of that distinct drab-color possessed
by those derived from the waterlimes, although it is true that the upper clay of the Hud-
son river series is of a drab or yellowish brown color. As I propose to treat of the soils
of the different rocks under a separate head, I leave this subject at present.

Springs and wells whose origin can be traced to the Onondaga-salt group. Probably no
series of rocks furnish such a variety of soluble products as the Onondaga-salt group ; and

ONONDAGA-SALT GROUP. 163

for this reason, the name is quite appropriate. The quality of the water which has perco-
lated through these strata differs according to the depth it has penetrated, and the place
from which it has its exit. Those springs which issue just beneath the Waterlime series,
and above the green shaly mass, furnish very good water to drink. So the wells that
receive the water which has only percolated through the same strata, furnish very good
drinkable water, though it is never soft, or free from the sulphate and chloride of lime.
Again, those springs which issue from the green shales, and whose waters have not pene-
trated through the plaster beds and the masses in which the hopper-form cavities occur, are
medicinal waters, or springs similar in composition to the Sharon springs. Of these
springs, a great many are found issuing from the northern outcrop of these rocks, and
they extend from the Helderberg to Buffalo nearly in a line. But the most important
are the brine and acid springs, and the salt wells: these issue, and derive their waters,
from the inferior mass. The saline as well as the acid matters are derived from the rock,
or the rock furnishes all the elements from which they are spontaneously formed by active
chemical changes, or decomposition and recomposition. Wherever the sulphurets of iron
abound, they give origin to the acid astringent salts. The vegetable matter about these
springs is charred, and intermixed largely with the soil and with oxide of iron, so as to
forms mounds four or five feet high around them. The hepatic or sulphur springs derive
their properties, also, from the decomposing sulphurets. The sulphur is often deposited
upon leaves, sticks and sténes, over which the water flows, and which is sometimes white
and sometimes bluish black.

Another class of waters, differing from the preceding, may be termed, from their com-
position, dime waters. They are perfectly transparent, and flow usually in the greatest
amount from the inferior or middle strata. They have given origin to the numberless
beds of tufa which occur on a level, or else below the terrace that skirts the south side of
the Erie canal. These waters, though cool, are unfit for use.

Wherever the Manlius waterlimes form the surface rocks, however great the area, no
springs or wells can be obtained in them, except at their base, or at the beginning of the
green shales, which, being comparatively impervious, throw out the surface water when
it reaches them. Thus at Manlius centre, there is a hill near the village, and directly
north, which has probably four square miles of surface, in which no water can be obtained
by digging, until the base is reached. From this base, many active and living springs
issue, which in the aggregate furnish sufficient water for several streams each large enough
to turn a mill, and indeed several mills are moved by the water direct from these springs.

The brine springs and salt wells, without doubt, come from the deepest part of this forma-
tion. They may be obtained at almost any point, by sinking a deep well, upon the Onon-
daga reservation. A singular fact, and which at first view seems to militate against the
opinion that the saline waters are derived from this rock, is that the best wells are sunk
entirely in the drift, some of which penetrate three hundred and fifty feet. In those in-
stances where the rock is not penetrated at all, it appears that the salt water was originally

212

164 HELDERBERG DIVISION.

absorbed by the gravel, sand, clays, ete. which constitute the drift beds. However this
may be, it seems more rational to suppose that deep excavations, forming basins, have
been hollowed out of these rocks, into which the drift has been precipitated. These drift
beds are quite pervious, but they rest on an impervious foundation ; and the saline waters,
which are supposed to be formed in the rock, flow out and accumulate in the beds of
drift, which, when penetrated, give exit to them. ‘This appears from the fact that when,
on boring, the instruments soon penetrate into the drift, the workmen are encouraged to
proceed, because experience has proved that in such a case a great flow of water is sure to
be obtained.

There is another fact worthy of notice, and which is important to the valley of Onondaga
lake : it is this, that an impervious stratum of marl overlies nearly the whole region. This
serves to keep the surface waters from intermingling directly with the waters below, or,
in other words, requires the water to penetrate from the distant slopes, and to traverse a
large space in order to reach the basin of the lake, and thus to become highly charged
with saline matter. This impervious stratum of marl overlies all the beds, inasmuch as it
is the most recent. Whether it is now increasing in thickness, is not determined. Tufa
is continually forming ; and all the waters of this region, being charged with calcareous
matter, must part with it whenever their flow is interrupted, and hence we see it gathering
upon stones, sticks and leaves, and even in many cases petrifying them.

The annexed diagram (fig. 28) is an imaginary section of tht basin of Onondaga lake,
and represents our view of the relations of the masses concerned in the origin of the Onon-
daga salt springs.

Fig. 28.

ZL. Onondaga lake. a, a, a. Impervious marl. 4, }, b. Drift nearly filling the valley. c, c. Gypseous shales with
hopper-form cavities. e,e. Redshale. d,d. Niagara limestone.

The salt wells penetrate the drift to the depth of 340 — 350 feet, and quite large cobble-
stones have been brought up from that depth. The strength of the water increases with
the depth. The stones brought up, are derived from the harder parts of the Medina sand-
stone.

It is proper to remark, before closing, that it is not well settled whether the salt, the
chloride of sodium, is merely a dissolved salt already formed and enclosed in the inter-
stices of the rock, or is actually formed daily from elements contained in the rock, and

iu’. 9

ONONDAGA-SALT GROUP. 165

which require to be brought together before the chloride of sodium can be obtained.
We are obliged to remain in darkness on this subject ; while upon the origin of the other
saline and acid springs, there is no doubt but that they are formed from the decomposition
of the materials in or of the rock itself.*

Genera! remarks on the middle and upper members of the Helderberg division. It has been
useful, up to this point of my description of the New-York system, to throw many of its
series into groups, which, mineralogically considered, have some striking characters in
common. Thus the last series described consists of four, and perhaps more members,
which graduate into each other: they may be quite different apparently at their extremes,
still we are unable to discover where it would be necessary to consider them as distinct
rocks. When, however, we reach the rocks which form the Helderberg and Schoharie
ranges, beginning with the Pentamerus limestone, we find it necessary to abandon the
plan of throwing the series into groups, and to adopt that of describing the succeeding
rocks as distinct individual masses. Limestones, it is true, predominate, and we might
describe them under some such appellation as this, namely, the Schoharie limestone group,
were it not that the limestones resemble each other so faintly, that the combination of this
common name would form an assemblage as heterogeneous as possible. If, for example,
we compare the Delthyris shaly limestone with the Onondaga limestone, we may see at
once that they are incongruous rocks. So the same may be said of the Pentamerus and
Onondaga limestones ; and finally, no two of the rocks can be grouped together without
violating some principle of classification. But what still makes the difficulty greater, is the
presence of three beds of anomalous sandstones, which, neither lithologically, nor by their
fossils, can be associated together, or with the limestones which are adjacent to them. For
these reasons, then, the succeeding rocks of this division are described individually as inde-
pendent rocks. It is not intended, however, by these remarks, to convey the idea that
there is nothing in common among them; for some fossils pass upwards through two or
more rocks, and thus link them together by conditions which must have been somewhat
similar at the period they were deposited.

Metamorphic rock. At Syracuse, a mass resembling serpentine appears in the gypseous
rocks : it is yellowish green, passing into deep green with a tinge of blue. It softens and
whitens on exposure to the weather. It effervesces briskly with acids, and hence contains
considerable carbonate of lime. The interior is hard, and sometimes siliceous and ex-
tremely tough. Mica, hornblende, and indeed very well characterized granite, have been
observed in a portion of this rock.+ It takes a fine polish, and would form a beautiful ser-
pentine marble if it was of a uniform texture and hardness. The origin of this rock is not
well determined. Mr. Vanuxem regards it as having been formed by a chemical union
of its elements in solution in water. This view is adopted in preference to that of an

* The green shales, and a part of the Onondaga-salt group, were inadvertently placed in the list of rocks which
compose the Ontario division, p. 141.
¢ Vanuxem’s Report, p. 109.

166 HELDERBERG DIVISION.

igneous injected mass, similar in its formation to a trap dyke, inasmuch as there are no
appearances of ignition upon the adjacent rock.

§ 2. PentamMerus LimesToNE (Plates xx. and viii.).

This is a gray crystalline limestone, with thick beds from its beginning. Its beds,
however, are uneven, and some are concretionary and extremely rough; in fact, as will
be seen, this concretionary mass is the most persistent and extensive. Its name is derived
from the great abundance of a fossil called the Pentamerus galeatus (See VanuxEm’s Re-
port, p. 117, fig. 1). It is constant in the rock as far west as Herkimer county ; but at its
extreme western limit, it is rare, if it exist at all.

Points where this rock may be eramined. The most eastern limit of the rock is Becraft’s
mountain, about three miles southeast of Hudson, on the road to Catskill: it forms two
or more high bluffs on the east side of the road. Again, west of Catskill, or on the rail-
road between Catskill and Leeds, or on the turnpike between the two places. So also it is
an outcropping mass on the west side of the Hudson river, forming the first of a series of
cliffs from Kingston point to Coeymans. At numerous places also nearer the main hills of
the Helderberg ranges, this rock is constantly present in heavy beds, whose aggregate
thickness is about thirty feet. Another extensive outcrop of this rock forms the northern
brow of the Helderberg hills: it exists in cliffs, formed by its outcrop, from Knox to Her-
kimer county, where it begins to lose this character, and to become more depressed. At
Cherryvalley, at the head of a ravine, it seems to have attained its maximum develop-
ment: from this point westward, it begins to thin out; and when it has reached Manlius,
Onondaga county, it is only a few feet thick, and destitute of its characteristic fossils or
other marks except its peculiar concretionary structure. At Tyler Post-office, and at
Geddes, five miles west of Syracuse, the Onondaga-salt group is in contact with the Onon-
daga limestone, this whole mass having thinned out entirely.

Uses. This rock is totally unfit for purposes of construction : it is rough, and makes an
indifferent wall. A part of it forms the cement rock of Ulster county. Asa limestone, for
ordinary purposes, it is not esteemed ; for agricultural purposes, it may be well adapted,
but has not been tried.

Range and extent. It will not be difficult to trace this range of limestone, from what has
been said already. It begins at Becraft’s mountain, near Hudson ; forms one of the highest
outcropping rocks in the first tier of hills which bound the Hudson valley west, from Coey-
mans to Kingston, and thence from Kingston to the falls of the Rondout. The same may
be traced from Coeymans west to Manlius, and disappears entirely a few miles west of
Manlius. The belt it forms is every where inconsiderable, and would be more properly
represented by an outcropping edge.

Relations and connection of the Pentamerus limestone. Below, every where in New-York,
it is succeeded by that part of the Onondaga-salt group which is called the Manlius water-
limes. Above, and at the east, it is succeeded by the Catskill shaly limestone. Near its

———

‘Etwuoss ae oni.

ven

PLATE Vil

oF pHOIGOTT

HELDERBERG DIVISION. 167

western terminus at Manlius, it is succeeded by the Onondaga limestone, the rocks which
interpose at the east between it and the onondaga in the valley of the Hudson being dis-
continued (See Pl. XX. Main section 1; also sections 2 and 5).

Disturbances which the Pentamerus limestone has suffered. It is principally in the valley
of the Rondout that this rock has been disturbed to the greatest extent, in common with
its associates. " Upon Catskill creek, three miles west of the village of Catskill, near the
railroad, the rock is not only elevated, but curved as represented in Pl. IV., forming an
interesting and rather picturesque view. The effect is due to lateral pressure and the joint
operation of an elevating force, which has fractured this thick rock, and separated it from
its continuity. It appears in the face of a precipice 250 — 300 feet high. The exposed
rock at the top of the eminence is the Pentamerus limestone.

Terrace and outcrop of the Water and Pentamerus limestones, as they appear in the Schoharie
range (PI. viil.). The semi-panoramic view in Plate 8 gives a better idea of the outcropping
rocks of the Helderberg, than can be conveyed by description alone. The series of rocks
in this plate are the same as those of PI. I. of the Helderberg range, except that the Old
Red sandstone does not occur within the field of view. The naked perpendicular cliffs are
formed of the pentamerus, which is the superior and prominent rock, and the thin-bedded
waterlimes which are directly beneath. The superior masses are the Onondaga limestone
and Marcellus shales; the inferior, the thick-bhedded Hudson-river series, which extends
north to the valley of the Mohawk.

§ 3. DeLTHYRIS SHALY LIMESTONE (PI. xx. Sec. 1).

The passage of the Pentamerus limestone into the Delthyris shaly limestone is rather
abrupt or indistinct. The entire mass of the shaly limestone is argillaceous ; some layers
consisting of slate, which disintegrate: others resist the action of the weather for a long
time, and are extremely tough and difficult to break; they all, however, become drab-
colored externally on exposure to the weather, while internally they retain a bluish color.
The grain is fine, and unlike the pentamerus ; in fact, the harder layers are nearly com-
pact. The limestone throughout is impure, mixed with argillaceous matter and silex,
and for this reason it is unfit for lime. It is useless too as a flagging stone, and is only
good for stone fences.

Distinctive characters. It is not difficult to distinguish this rock from the preceding lime-
stones, when once we have become familiar with its aspect; still, the best characters are.
derived from its fossils. Several species of Delthyris are confined to it (See VANuxEM’s
Report, p. 120, and p. 122 for figures of a few of its characteristic fossils) .

Extent and limits of the Delthyris shaly limestone. It requires to be traced in a line, as,
with the exception of one or two limited patches, it appears only in an outcropping edge. -
At Becraft’s mountain it is one of the principal rocks: this is its eastern limit. It forms
a north and south outcropping edge near the west side of the Hudson, from Kingston point
to Coeymans ; and from thence west, it accompanies the Pentamerus limestone as far as

168 HELDERBERG DIVISION.

the eastern border of Madison county. It is twenty or twenty-five feet thick in Cherry-
valley. Where the streams from the south in the Helderberg range open into the valley
of the Mohawk, this rock is usually exposed on the east and west sides, as at Schoharie
and Cobleskill creeks.

Soi! derived from this limestone. So far as the disintegrating mass is concerned, the soil
is of an excellent quality ; but the rock is too limited to exert important effécts by itself.

Thickness. Its maximum thickness is at the base of the Helderberg, where it is seventy
or eighty feet thick : at Schoharie, it is sixty feet thick. It is sixty or seventy feet at Be-

craf’s mountain; thence, from the Helderberg, or near New-Scotland, it continually
diminishes in thiekness to the west.

§ 4. Encrrnan Limestone (PI. xx. Sec. 5, 6).

This rock may be considered by itself, or it may be regarded as the terminal portion of
the preceding rock. It differs from the preceding very clearly in its high crystalline
structure and light grey color; but a green matter, or a thin stratum of that peculiar shale
derived from the same sources as that of the delthyris rock, appears between its layers,
showing that both rocks were derived from one common origin. In composition, it is
essentially a pure carbonate of lime crystallized throughout : it is remarkable for the stems
of encrinites, which, from something peculiar to these organic bodies, give the rock fre-
quently a reddish tint.

Value as a marble. It is proper to place this mass among the marbles, as it receives a
good polish, and is used to some extent for mantle pieces and jambs. It is not, however, a
profitable rock for this purpose. It is a strong durable stone, less subject to decomposition
than the delthyris shale.

Thickness. Its maximum thickness is twenty-five feet. It is scarcely ten feet thick at
New-Scotland.

Extent. It accompanies the Delthyris shale as far west as Sharon springs, where it dis-
appears ; at least the writer did not observe it at Cherryvalley, where the Delthyris shale
is not less than twenty feet thick, and where it ought, if continued, to appear superimposed
upon the shale. Its agricultural characters are unimportant. Its geological relations are
also scarcely deserving of notice. Above it is the Oriskany sandstone, when that is present.
The pelvis of a large encrinite, of a mammillary shape, or rather shield-form, and nearly

two inches in diameter, is considered as its most characteristic fossil. For other relations,
see P]. XX. sections 1, 2 and 5.

§ 5. Oriskany sanpsTone (Pl. xx. Sec. 1).
Among the many interesting rocks of New-York, this, which is placed at the head of
the section, is one that has always excited its full share of attention. It is net because
it is economically important, or of great thickness, but rather on account of the numbex

ORISKANY SANDSTONE. 169

and the singular association of fossils which are found in it. Sometimes, though it is but
a thin mass, not exceeding a foot in thickness, it is composed almost wholly of organic
bodies, being so crowded together that they appear a mass of shells. In addition to the
number of the fossils, it is highly interesting to observe the sudden transition of genera
and species that occurs in passing from the Delthyris and Encrinal limestones to the
Oriskany. Almost every species in the two former rocks seems to have perished about
the time the latter was in the process of deposition. To learn at this late day the cause of
this sudden extinction of life in so many animals, is certainly no easy matter.

The Oriskany sandstone, being a clean sandy deposit, does not seem a sufficient cause
in itself for occasioning such a loss of life among the tenants of the deep; though there is
no doubt of the position that the mollusca have their favorite habitations, a choice in the
materials in which they bury themselves, and in which they may seek their food. Still
one would hardly suppose that simple sand would prove so injurious to life, as to destroy
entire races. Hence it is more natural to suppose that some change preceded the deposi-
tion of the rock, to which must be attributed the catastrophe under consideration. This
change may have consisted simply in the elevation of the bottom of the sea, while the
preceding deposits were accumulating. This seems to be a rational hypothesis, inasmuch
as there is a change in the kind of materials which compose the sandstone. Previous to
this rock, there were calcareous deposits, mixed with sandy argillaceous ones ; afterwards
there were siliceous deposits, which must have come from another direction. The reader
of course will understand, that all the rocks which we have had under consideration in this
chapter, are formed of sediments abraded from preéxisting rocks, brought from a distance
by rivers, to the oceans or seas which existed at this era. Again, the beings belonging
to the era of the sandstone were not only suddenly ushered into life, but they were as
suddenly put out of life, or, in other words, were destroyed as suddenly and as uncere-
moniously as their predecessors, and after an extremely brief period of existence.

Characters of the Oriskany sandstone. It is composed in the main of coarsish angular
sand: in this respect, it is unlike many of the sandstones in the New-York system. The
sand is usually gray or yellowish, but sometimes white. Pebbles or rounded stones are
not common, if they ever exist in it: it is, at any rate, far from being a conglomerate.
Although the sand seems to be held together without cement, yet the presence of lime is
indicated by effervescence in a very large proportion of the rock, even in that portion which
to the eye appears altogether sandy.

Localities where this rock is developed. Near the village of Leeds in Greene county, this
rock is crushed in, and concealed or greatly obscured by contortions which it has suffered
along with its associates (See Pl. XX. sec. 5). But the Helderberg range is the region
where this rock, for a thin one, is quite conspicuous, namely, on the road to New-Scotland,
near Mr. Clark’s; in Knox, on the road to Schoharie; at Schoharie, on both sides of
the valley, but more particularly on the western terrace, and also at Cherryvalley; at
Auburn, and four miles west of Auburn, on the road to Cayuga bridge. It forms an

{AcricuLturaL Report.] 22

170 HELDERBERG DIVISION.

outcropping edge all the way from near Catskill to Cayuga bridge. It is eighteen inches
thick at Auburn. It extends on this line no farther west than the last mentioned locality.
It is proper to say, in this connection, that from its hardness, it frequently forms a narrow
terrace, something more than merely an outcropping edge ; but it never properly consti-
tutes the surface rock of a continuous belt of country, as many of the New-York rocks do.

In giving the preceding localities, it is not designed to intimate that they are the only
ones at which this rock may be examined with profit, but they are leading localities in the
range in which it appears in its northern outcrop. Many others exist at intermediate places,
and this is perhaps found with a greater certainty than any other in the New-York series,
and hence becomes one of the important landmarks in studying the system.

Thickness of the Oriskany sandstone. At Leeds, compressed between its associates, it is
only six inches thick ; at the rise of the Helderberg mountain, east of Clark’s, it is one
foot ; at Schoharie, two feet ; at Cherryvalley, about eighteen inches; at Oriskany falls,
twenty feet; at Perryville, and below Cazenovia, only a few inches; between Elbridge
and Skaneateles, on the old Seneca road, thirty feet ;* at Auburn, eighteen inches; a
mile and a half south of Onondaga hollow, seven feet.* In places still farther west than
any which have been named, a sprinkling of its peculiar angular sand is all which indi-
cates its continuance ; yet out of the State of New-York, and within the limits of Penn-
sylvania, this rock is said to be seven hundred feet thick.

Relations of this rock in the New-York series. In Hudson river district, its relations have
been spoken of: it succeeds, in the ascending order, the Encrinal limestone ; above, it is
succeeded by the Cauda-galli grit. West of Cherryvalley, however, where some of the
succeeding rocks disappear or thin out, it is immediately below the Onondaga limestone.
These are the relations of the rock in Onondaga and Cayuga counties. The Hydraulic
limestones are in contact with it below, and the Onondaga above. We have already
stated that the Pentamerus, Delthyris and Encrinal limestones disappear in succession.
The same fact exists in regard to the two rocks which intervene between the Oriskany
sandstone and the Onondaga limestone. Near Mr. Gepprs, at Tyler Post-oflice, the
Oriskany is represented by a few boulders of the Niagara limestone. One was removed
from beneath the Onondaga limestone, and found to be more than a foot in diameter:
this mass belonged to the bituminous part of the Niagara limestone.

Some peculiarities worthy of notice which accompany this rock. Ata few localities, the
lower part of the rock is a dark-colored sandy limestone. Fossilized wood, in angular
pieces, as if broken by violence, have been found in the rock at New-Scotland.

This rock is widely distributed in the drift south and southeast of the Helderberg. At
the base of the Catskill mountains, in many of their gorges, and on the summits of the
highest ridges in Greene and Albany counties, excepting those of the Catskill, boulders of
the Oriskany sandstone are abundant. Many have found their way over the valley of the
Hudson, and lie upon its eastern side, far beyond the limits of the rock.

* Vanuxem’s Report, p. 126.

~~

CAUDA-GALLI GRIT. 1

The agricultural characters of this rock are unimportant ; and no mineral, excepting a
jaspery iron ore, has been found in it (See Vanuxem’s Report, pp. 125-6).

Fig. 29.

§ 6. Caupa-caLii crit (PI. xx. Sec. 1, 5, 6).

A spiral vegetable fossil, which, when flattened, appears like a cock’s tail with its long
flowing feathers, gave origin to the name of this rock.* It is a dark bluish sandstone
beneath, with a quantity of argillaceous matter ; and brown above, where this singular
fossil abounds, though the lower part is not destitute of them, and they are even in some
places impressed upon the upper surface of the Oriskany sandstone. The rock breaks —
down under the action of the weather : the first change in its integrity consists in the sepa-
ration of the surface portion into short imperfect columns ; and these continually diminish,
until they pass into an imperfect gravel. It is thin-bedded throughout the whole rock :

* See Vanuxem’s Report, p. 128.
22°

172 HELDERBERG DIVISION.

the individual strata are indistinct, but the stratification is sufficiently manifest when
viewed as a whole, and as it appears in a cliff. Fig. 29, at the head of this section, re-
presents the usual appearances of the rock, where its horizontal strata are exposed. It is
a view of the rock at New-Scotland, as it appears in the creek a few rods below the mill.

In some localities this rock is recognized with difficulty: thus, at Leeds in Greene
county, in the disturbed belt, it is unlike the same mass at New-Scotland or at Cherry-
valley. At the former place it puts on a columnar appearance, especially in the gorge
below the village ; and as the peculiar fossil is not readily distinguished, the geologist will
inquire with some concern what the rock is, or what it is like? He will at first suspect that
he has fallen upon a disturbed mass belonging to the Hudson-river series ; and he will not
be able to satisfy himself that it is really the Cauda-galli grit, until he finds it succeeded
below by the Oriskany sandstone and Delthyris shaly limestone, and above by the Scho-
harie layers and a poor variety of the Onondaga limestone. The columnar structure is
well represented in the mass by fig. 30, which represents the strata in the gorge at Leeds,

Fig. 30.

where the Cats creek cuts through this rock, and exposes it upon its southwest side in
a bold cliff fift sixty feethigh. It is difficult to account for this singular instance of

CAUDA-GALLI GRIT. L7{5:

a columnar structure ; for the strata are not vertically disposed, as we should infer from the
exhibition of the cliff itself: this is proved by the fact that fossils are found between layers
whose inclination departs only a few degrees from a horizontal position. The most ra-
tional conclusion which I have been able to form of this instance of disturbance, is that
the strata have been simply crushed, so far at least as to obliterate the.planes of deposition ;
afterwards, the weathering of the cliff completes the change, and imparts to it that peculiar
columnar appearance which I have attempted to delineate in the cut.

This rock, though described under the name of grit, is quite an imperfect one: it is a
harsh shale, though massive as a whole ; and yet it is partially fissile, and splits into im-
perfect layers a quarter of an inch thick. No part of the rock is even-bedded, nor can be
split into handsome plates or layers, but it is always more or less lumpy and uneven.

Thickness. This reck, in New-York, never exceeds sixty or seventy feet. It attains its
maximum thickness at New-Scotland, where it is well known in the bed of the creek at
Mr. Clark’s, and where the layers for ten feet are impressed throughout with the flowing
appearance of a cock’s tail. Below, in the road and at the base, the rock is bluish black,
and a few round or oval stems of vegetables often fall out of the mass, disconnected with
the principal part of the vegetable to which they belong.

Extent or range of country over which the Cauda-galli grit prevails.

1. Near Coeymans, Coxsackie, Catskill or Leeds, this rock appears in a southeastern outcrop in which
it is represented only by its edge: at each of these places, it is broken and disturbed.

2. The locality at New-Scotland has been referred to: it is the best place for an examination. At
Schoharie, on both sides of Schoharie creek, it forms a terrace of a limited extent, with only a
slight dip to the southwest.

3. At Cherryvalley, it is the surface rock near the great gorge one and a half miles northeast of the
village: it is about fifteen feet thick, and crops out beneath the Onondaga limestone. It is also
exposed between Cherryvalley and Springfield, and on the road between Fort-Plain and Richford
springs, and in Warren and Herkimer counties. Farther west it is unknown, but the precise
point where it entirely thins out is not determined.

For some general remarks on the fossil referred to, and for a more particular account of
localities, see Vanuxem’s Report, pp. 129 — 130.

Agricultural characters. It forms a miserable soil, which only gives support to stunted
buckwheat = this at least is its character in Schoharie, where it forms a few limited terraces.

Relations. Its position in the Helderberg range, at Schoharie and New-Scotland, has
been given. It stands in connection with the Oriskany sandstone below at Cherryvalley,
and with the Onondaga limestone above, while the rock reposing upon it at New-Scotland
is the Schoharie grit. For the disturbances which this rock has suffered, see Plate XX.
sections 5 and 6; and for its general relations, see Pl. XX. section 1.

174 HELDERBERG DIVISION.

e

§ 7. Scnonarte crit (PI. xx.).

This rock is a brown decomposing sandstone, in consequence of a mixture of lime, which
dissolves, and leaves a granular tender mass that may be broken in the hands: hence it is
always soft upon the outside, from disintegration by the action of the weather.

Thickness. In New-York, it attains a thickness of only four feet ; and were it not that it
is impossible to annex it to the inferior or next superior mass, it would be entitled only to
the subordinate place of a layer.

Extent. It is confined to the Helderberg range ; at least it does not reach Cherryvalley.
It is about two feet thick at Leeds in Greene county, and appears on both sides of the
church, resting on the Cauda-galli grit, which is elevated into a flat dome upon which
the church stands (Pl. XX. Sec. 5, 6).

The general remarks upon the Oriskany sandstone, apply in part equally well to this
rock. It succeeds a rock quite poor in fossils, a few mollusca only having been found in
it as yet. Suddenly, however, a deposit is formed, which encloses a multitude of mollusca
and a few crustacea. Some parts of the rock are formed of the remains of animals ; and
of these animals, it is quite doubtful whether any have been found in the inferior rocks.
After four feet of rock had been deposited, not only the kind of material which for a short
time had been in the process of accumulating, is changed, but the fauna is changed also ;
so that after a comparatively brief space of time, its numerous species of living beings
became extinct, and gave place to others.

This rock, from its limited extent, is unimportant agriculturally ; neither does it, or the
next mass below, furnish mineral bodies of importance. Its interest is principally for the
palzontologist.

§ 8. OnonpaGa LrmEsTONE ( Plates xx., xxi.).

It is designed to include under this designation a dark colored limestone, which has been
described in the Annual Reports under the names of Selenurus limerock, Seneca limestone,
and Corniferous limestone.

The Onondaga limestone is a gray and crystalline rock beneath, dark colored and some-
what shaly above, through all that portion which received the appellation of Selenurus
limerock. Lithological characters are not competent to distinguish this from any other
gray or dark colored limestone. Disregarding the fossils, we may look for its connections
in order to be satisfied of its identity. Above, it is succeeded by a black shale ; below,
in the eastern part of the State, by the Schoharie grit and Cauda-galli sandstone ; in the
middle and western part of the State, by the Oriskany sandstone and Manlius waterlimes
and shales. One feature which is interesting, though not distinctive, is that it contains
chert or hornstone, or, as it is usually called, flint. It occurs in layers and irregular
masses, Which are the most abundant in the superior portion. In the Helderberg, it is not
so distinctly in layers; but at Leeds in Greene county, it is made up of flinty layers in

ONONDAGA LIMESTONE. 175

strata, or at least from eight to ten feet of the rock consist of two-thirds flint. At Cherry-
valley, and farther west, the flint is in palmated and nodular masses, but arranged in
strata: the interior of a flint nodule is often calcareous. It is the most cherty or flinty of
any rock in the New-York series, and hence was named by the late Mr. Eaton, Corniferous
limerock.

Exient or area over which the Onondaga limestone is the surface rock. It forms a narrow
belt from the Hudson to Lake Erie. ‘This belt is on the south side of the Erie canal. Its
northern edge, beginning at Leeds, four miles west of Catskill, runs northeast to New-
Scotland. It then sweeps round the northern terminus of the Helderberg range, but keeps
south of the Cherryvalley turnpike. Its course is west from Schoharie to Blackrock,
though it will be observed that the edge is rather convex to the north, in consequence of
denudation which has taken place in the central part of the State, in the region of the
smaller lakes, as Cayuga and Seneca. It passes through Onondaga, Cayuga, Genesee and
Erie counties. The belt in some places is five or six miles wide, but considerably less in
others (See the accompanying geological map, upon which its course may be traced, being
the southernmost blue belt). In the Hudson valley, it appears in an outcropping edge, and
also in a belt, sweeping round the base of the Catskill mountains, and passing a little west
of the valley of the Rondout, or along the Warwarsing valley. It terminates, or passes
out of the State of New-York, into New-Jersey, at the bend of the Delaware river.

Thickness. The whole thickness of the rock included under the name of the Onondaga
limestone, is not less or more than sixty or seventy feet at Clark’s in New-Scotland. It is
not far from one hundred feet at Cherryvalley. At Leeds in Greene county, the whole
mass does not appear to exceed twenty-five or thirty feet. At Leroy, the dark and com-
pact part of the rock known as the Corniferous limestone, is seventy-one or -two feet, and
is accompanied by thin masses of gray and dark colored limestone and hornstone, some
of which is slaty. The amount of siliceous matter is large at Leroy. It then forms the
limestone terrace, which continues onward to Blackrock. At the latter place, the calca-
reous and flinty portions are more or less blended, and the laminz are separated by a
dark colored shale.

If the rock is divided, and the lower mass treated as a distinct rock, it is found that it
varies greatly in thickness on its westward route to Blackrock: in some places, as at the
Helderberg and Cherry-valley, it is twenty-five or thirty feet thick; while at others, it
is only three or four. Indeed the entire mass of the limestone is unstable as to thick-
ness ; and it may be said that, for a limestone, it is quite unsteady as to composition: in
some places, the hornstone or chert predominates ; in others, it is a pure limestone ; and
in others still it admits considerable shale into its composition, though it usually appears
between the layers. The hornstone also differs somewhat in its characters: in one place,
it is massive and in beds; in others, it is in nodules or palmated masses. As a whole,
this hornstone belongs to the corniferous mass ; in fact, it was owing to its great abundance
that this name was given it. The impropriety of the name appears, however, when it is

176 HELDERBERG DIVISION.

known that all the limestones in the New-York system contain it: even the Stockbridge
limestone, in the Taconic system, contains occasionally a few layers of light colored horn-
stone.

Relations of the Onondaga limestone. At Leeds and New-Scotland, it reposes on the
Schoharie grit; at Cherryvalley, upon the Oriskany sandstone ; at Manlius, upon the
concretionary part of the pentamerus ; at Tyler Post-office, or rather a mile west, at Split-
rock, upon the Manlius waterlimes, in which connection it continues to Blackrock. Above,
from east to west, so far as New-York is concerned, it is every where succeeded by the
Marcellus shales, a black shaly or rather slaty rock. At some other points farther west,
however, there are vestiges of the Oriskany sandstone, and in a few places it has its usual
thickness. For instance, five miles east of Cayuga bridge, as well as at Auburn, the
latter rock is present: in a few localities, it is represented by a sprinkling of sand ; at
others, as at Splitrock, by a few boulders and cobblestones, which are mostly derived from
the Niagara limestone, and some of which may possibly weigh fifty pounds. This may
be regarded as an important fact. At the east, the Onondaga limestone is separated by
several distinct and well characterized deposits from the Niagara limestone ; but at the
west, they are separated only by the red and green shales, and as these seem to be inter-
calated or rather local deposits, it is possible the two limestones may be actually in contact
still farther west or southwest.

Natural joints and fissures. The Onondaga limestone is traversed with some show of
regularity by joints, which, upon the surface, become wide fissures: these admit the
passage of water; and, hence, wherever it is the surface rock, the rain subsides and passes
through it, or to that stratum, whatever it may be, which is impervious, when it is thrown
out. Owing to this stratum, no springs are found except at its base, and there frequently
large ones issue at once of sufficient size to turn a mill-wheel. At Clark’s in New-Scot-
land in Albany county, at Springport in Cayuga county, and at Clarence in Erie county,
are springs of this description. In many instances, however, they are to be regarded only
as subterranean streams, which have entered one fissure at a distance, and at last found
their way out through another. The disappearance of Allen’s creek at Leroy, which is
noticed by Mr. Hatt, is an example. This is not indeed an uncommon occurrence at the
south and southwest, in the region of the Carboniferous limestone. The waters are cold,
but are not sufficiently charged with inorganic matter to be entitled to the appellation of
mineral waters: they are as pure as most springs in a limestone district, and they are quite
unlike those waters which have percolated through the strata composing the Onondaga-salt
group.

Agricultural characters. It has been generally supposed that this limestone exerted an
important influence upon the agricultural productions of the central and western counties
of New-York ; indeed, that this rock furnishes one of the essential elements of a wheat
soil, and was also principally instrumental in giving this character to quite a wide belt of
country to the south, or beyond its visible limit. That it does exert an important influence

ONONDAGA LIMESTONE. 177

is true, but not to the extent which has been supposed. From a careful collation of facts,
I am rather disposed to attibute the high character which the western counties have en-
joyed, and do now enjoy, as a wheat-growing district, to the lower part of the Helderberg
division. It is here, as I have just pointed out, that the green and red shales, the plaster
formation, etc., are situated, and to which, from their peculiar composition and their ready
decomposition, we may with greater probability attribute this important feature in the
agriculture of these counties. Upon this limestone, however, we invariably find an excel-
lent and productive soil, and it is one which this rock has assisted in creating, but it is not,
in the eastern or western part of the State, wholly derived from it; neither has the soil
which reposes upon it a greater amount of calcareous matter, than has the soil of the next
rock above or below it. It is a mixture composed of drift from a distance, and some de-
rived from the green shales. It is not a rock which is very much subject to disintegration,
and hence there is not an accumulation of calcareous matter, or an excess of it any where
disseminated through the superimposed soil.

Mr. Hatt, in speaking of this rock, remarks, that where it is thin, as in the eastern part
of the district, it scarcely produces any effect upon the soil ; but where it is thicker, it has
essentially modified its character. Where hornstone prevails, and when the larger masses
are removed, the soil, though quite siliceous or abounding in angular fragments of this
mineral, is nevertheless always of the best quality. This is supposed to be owing toa
constant supply of fresh calcareous matter derived from broken down fragments, which
constantly acts as a fertilizer.* This subject will be brought before the reader again, when
the peculiar composition of the soil upon this rock will be stated in detail.

Uses to which the Onondaga limestone is adapted. It is extensively employed for producing
lime ; and much that comes to the Albany market is from the Helderberg, and mostly
from the inferior part of this rock, or the gray and white portions which are free from
shale and hornstone. Where the rock is sound and free from flint or hornstone, it may be,
and is to some extent, wrought as a marble: it is gray, and sometimes reddish, and then
receives a tolerable polish, and besides it is durable and strong. It is well adapted to
works in which a durable material is essential : it is not at all subject to disintegration
where the surface is well wrought; neither is it traversed by fissures that open by frosts,
in case the stone is well selected. It is, therefore, one of the most important and useful
rocks in the New-York series.

* Hall’s Report, p. 170.

{AcRicuLTURAL ReEport.] 23

178 HELDERBERG DIVISION.

Tasue exhibiting the thickness of the rocks composing the Helderberg division, at different places in the
State of New-York.

eo ' z - = : F1
& ee » -.| & : pe

| P/E ELE] ELEVEIE,E| ala

} ° = 3 I, ote > 5 pe] Og] 2 ° Et se |

NAMES OF ROCKS. <2] 84| #2/ 8 | 2 | 86) 28] 8 | 8 | Be) 3

as] »F] <s * = os| <5] < a esi gs

a5 == no a 2 ss as ~) a aS EB

pm <Z on =| = al z= > re) i) =

=a the Pt Se RE Pe eS FP = 5

is) < a ° ad Me =) ° S) 2) a =
Feet, | Feet. | Feet. | Feet. | Feet | Feet | Feet | Feet | Feet | Feet. ‘eet.
Red shale AS eee Se 80 | 500 500* 500
Green shale, gypseous rock & waterlime,| 60] 60 | 100 100 | 700*| 700*} 70f} 40f} 700
Pentamerus limestone . . . .. . 20} 25] 25 80 4 80
Delthyris shaly limestone . . . . . 70} 60) 60 20 70
Encrinal limestone... 4. % ©. 30 10 10 14 30
Upper Pentamerus limestone . . . . 3 4 1 4
Oriskany Sandstone . . . ... . 2 2 2
Cande-palliigtit . .>. . - +=. 60 |} 60 10 60
Schotsméert. ss > bs. es 4 4 4
Onondaga and Corniferous limestone . 60 | 80 100 75t| 50 | 100
1550

* VANUXEM. + Haru.

The Onondaga limestone, the superior rock of the Helderberg division. The importance
of this rock is seen in another and different point of view, namely, in forming a distinct
line of demarkation between two divisions of rocks, which, though intended only as geo-
graphical lines in this instance at least, yet really defines the end of a series in the system.
Lithologically the end of the series with this rock is indicated, though it could not be
proved. If, however, organic bodies are permitted to speak, they tell us that such is the
fact ; for it is rare that those of this rock go up into the succeeding deposits, and still less
probable is it that any of the rocks below the Onondaga limestone reach the shales and
sandstones of the Erie division. This rock, then, forms or marks an era in the New-
York system, which must always be regarded as important ; and this is true, in whatever
light we may regard this system ; or whatever classification we may adopt, this rock must
form the termination of one of the divisions. It is true that the upper portions are dark
colored, and the layers are separated by seams of shale; still this only proves that the
change which was about to take place was not sudden or immediate, but gradual. It is
probable the dark color of much of the upper part of the Corniferous limestone is of the
same nature as that of the Marcellus slate, the mass which reposes upon it.

On referring to what is said in the closing remarks upon the Champlain division, it will
now be seen that we have at least two very satisfactory divisions in the New-York system :
the first, ending with the gray sandstone of the Champlain division ; and the second, with
the Onondaga limestone. Between the lower division.and the next succeeding, the On-
tario division, the affinity or resemblance is only slight. There is, however, a greater
resemblance between the Helderberg division and the Erie, probably, than between the

ONONDAGA LIMESTONE. 179

former and the Ontario divison ; but as yet the relationship has not been fully stated, and
perhaps it will be many years before it can be determined. The same limestone which is
here described under the above name, is known and described in England under the name
of Wenlock limestone. Ours probably resembles the latter as far as any two distant rocks
can resemble each other. It is doubted by a few geologists, at least, whether any of our
rocks can be considered strictly as identical with those of Europe. For this reason, it is
proper, where the identity is not established, to give distinct names to the systems which
are widely asunder, and especially when there is really such an amount of difference as
there is now proved to be between the Silurian system of Mr. Murcuison and the New-
York system.

§ 9. SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL FACTS RELATING TO THE HELDERBERG DIVISION.

1. The greatest thickness and most perfect development exists in Albany and Schoharie
counties, or in the eastern part of the State.

2. The Salt group is developed only in the central part of the State.

3. The upper part of the Onondaga limestone is the most persistent mass; it extends
from near the Hudson river at Catskill to Blackrock, and maintains its importance
throughout, though subject to variation in thickness.

4. The lower part is the reservoir of the salt springs, the gypsum, and the hydraulic
limes, which are the principal valuable productions of this division.

5. The lower part of the Onondaga limestone is susceptible of receiving a polish, and
may be wrought into mantle pieces, etc.

6. The agricultural characters are strongly marked and important, both in the inferior

and superior masses, but less so in the middle.

The superior part is well defined, and the era of its deposit is clearly an important one.

8. The dip of the rocks included in this division, is conformable with the Ontario and
Erie divisions : it amounts to thirty feet to a mile, and its general direction is south-

=

west.

9. The surface of the country over which the rocks of the Helderberg division extend, is
hilly in the eastern counties, but is comparatively a plain and level country in the
western counties, or rather the hills are not so elevated. The ranges of hills have
usually a north and south direction, and hence receive more sunshine than if they
ranged east and west.

10. The gorges and waterfalls, though quite remarkable in this, are less so than in the
Ontario division: they are formed mostly in the lower masses, the red slate and
Onondaga-salt group, and the limestone shales of the Hydraulic lime series.

23*

180 ERIE DIVISION,

IV. ERIE DIVISION,

§ 1. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS IN REGARD TO THE ERIE DIVISION OF THE NEW-YORK
SYSTEM.

A fact of the highest importance, which has been ascertained in regard to the succeeding
rocks, is that all the heavy beds of limestone are confined to the three inferior divisions
that have been already described. Calcareous matter is disseminated through some of the
lower members of the Erie division, and even strata of tolerably pure limestone occasionally
occur; still we consider it at least questionable whether any of these thin deposits should
be treated as distinct limestone rocks. Should they be found to expand and thicken in the
extension of the shales in which they here occur, in any direction so as to become in other
places important masses, it would in that case be proper to treat them as rocks. Thus the
Oriskany sandstone in New-York is quite thin and unimportant, yet in Pennsylvania it
becomes an important rock. So the Tully limestone, when a more extended series of
observations shall prove it an important mass elsewhere, will undoubtedly be regarded as
a distinct rock. At present, however, it is only worthy of notice as a landmark, or as a
deposit that serves to mark the termination of a group of shales; as such it is important,
and it is in some places important in furnishing lime. As a rock, or a member of a system,
it only requires a passing notice, notwithstanding its fossils may be somewhat peculiar or
limited to this mass.

The same remarks will be found applicable to another bed of limestone, that is some-
times associated with the Marcellus shales, the inferior rock of the Erie division.

The lithological characters of the rocks belonging to this division scarcely differ from
those of the Hudson-river series. They are shales, brown, black, gray and green : the
darker colored ones are mostly confined to the inferior part of the division; the gray and
green, to the middle and superior portions; while the brown shale forms the superior part
of the division. The gray beds often contain fine and beautiful flags, suitable for walks,
window sills, coverings for cisterns and wells, and for a great variety of common purposes
unnecessary to be particularly stated in this place.

The Erie division terminates above in a series of green and red sandstones and shales,
which are known in New-York as the Fifth or Catskill division. The passage is gradual
and indistinct, and hence it is not well ascertained where the division line should pass,
or even whether the whole mass constituting the Fifth division might not with propriety
be embraced in some general division of the upper members of the New-York system.
This plan, however, though it is always desirable to limit the number of systems as well
as rocks, will not probably be regarded as admissible beyond the bounds of this State, as
the lines of demarkation are more clearly drawn in other parts of the United States and in
Europe.

MARCELLUS SLATE OR SHALES. 181

Another remarkable fact, and which ought not to be passed over without reference, is
the absence in New-York of the important mass of limestone known elsewhere as the
Mountain or Carboniferous limestone : its position is between the Chemung group and the
Old Red system or sandstone. The absence of this limestone has deprived the southern
tier of counties of an important rock, and which, if it had been deposited in its normal
position, would have changed the agricultural character of these counties.

§ 2. MarceLLus SLATE OR SHALES.

I have already stated that the upper part of the Onondaga limestone is charged with
black shaly matter ; that the rock itself is black from its presence, and that thin beds of
shale appear between the layers. Such then are the indications of change in the rock.
With the commencement of the black shale, the change appears complete. It is, however,
chemically a mere predominance of silico-argillaceous matter over the calcareous ; for most
of the rock, if not the whole of it, retains sufficient lime to effervesce with mineral acids.
The lower part of the rock is more highly charged with lime than the upper, and this fact
agrees with other circumstances that attended the deposition of the mass.

The Marcellus slate or shales may be thus described : Rock a slate, thin-bedded and
fragile ; color black, and soils the fingers ; often exhales a bituminous odor when rubbed or
broken ; undergoes an exfoliation when wet, by which process it breaks down into soil :
calcareous matter disseminated throughout the rock. It would be impossible, from these
characters alone, to distinguish this rock from the Utica slate, the shaly portion of the
Trenton limestone, or the Genesee slate : its relations, and its fossils when its relations are
concealed, furnish the only distinctive characters by which it may be known.

This rock has excited attention in consequence of its color, and also by its containing a
small amount of coal : hence wherever its outcrop appears, numerous excavations have
been made, under the expectation of finding this valuable product. It is scarcely necessary
to say that all these attempts have failed : notwithstanding this, many persons are still
confident that they will succeed in finding coal, provided they had the means of pene-
trating deep enough into the rock.

Relations of the Marcellus slate. It reposes upon the corniferous portion of the Onondaga
limestone, from east to west, and along its southern outcrop, from New-Scotland in Albany
county, through Greene and Ulster counties, to Pennsylvania. Above, it passes into the
gritty and shaly portions of the Hamilton group. We have not yet been able to detect any
change in the relations of this rock in its prolongation westward. In this respect it is an
exception, as many at least of the rocks already described stand in connection with rocks
in the western counties which are unknown at the east,

Places where this rock may be observed. The Helderberg range, which has become so
universally known for its fine display of rocks, may be visited for this purpose. It is,
however, concealed by its own as well as the debris of the succeeding rocks, in consequence
of its fragile character. Hence, in fields, or other places unwashed by creeks, its out-

182 ERIE DIVISION.

cropping slopes are often concealed by a thick mantle of its own debris. It forms the
upper terraces in Schoharie, Carlisle, Cherryvalley, Springfield, Waterville on the road to
Cassville, Madison and Manlius (where the highest hills are crowned with the Marcellus
shales), Onondaga and Camillus, shores of Cayuga lake above Springport, at Aurora in
Seneca county (a little distance south of Waterloo), on Flint creek two miles south of
Vienna, at the outlet of Conesus lake, two miles south of the village of Caledonia, and on
Allen’s creek at Leroy. Sutil farther, and west of Leroy, at Alden, the upper part of the
rock is exposed ; but generally in this part of the State, the deep beds of drift and debris
effectually conceal this rock from observation.

The southeastern exposure of the Marcellus shale, from the northern slope of the Hel-
derberg to Ulster county, furnishes but few localities of much interest. Upon the hills, or
rather low mountains west of Leeds or Catskill, Saugerties and Kingston, this rock occupies
the first distinct terrace, but the debris conceals the strata too much to permit us to observe
the connections or the fossils.

Septaria. The Marcellus slate is the first rock which contains those concretionary bodies
known as septaria. These oval and sometimes round bodies are impure limestones, the
materials of which were deposited along with the shaly matter ; but in consequence of the
play of affinities, the calcareous part separated from the great mass of shaly matter, and
the molecules combined to form the bodies under consideration. During the process of
drying, the argillo-calcareous matter shrinks and cracks, forming thereby septa which
radiate from the centre and terminate in the circumference : these are subsequently filled
by infiltration, either of calcite or the sulphate of barytes or strontian. In the formation
of septaria, we are furnished with a beautiful as well as a striking illustration of a series
of molecular changes, which the strata may and do undergo during the process of soli-
dification ; and indeed we may be well assured that even the solid strata are continually
undergoing extensive changes, in consequence of the ever active and energetic forces with
which matter is endowed. Hence it is important, in speculating upon the conditions
of strata, to bear in mind the fact that matter is never quiescent; never reaches that dead
point where it is destined to remain stationary. Freedom of motion is found in fluids : in
the tenacious clays, the particles are freer than in the granite of the mountains ; but even
here they feel the force of molecular attraction, which results in regularity though not in
stability of form ; for heat and cold must continually modify the shape of the particles, by
altering the saliency of their angles.

Limestone stratum associated with the Marcellus slate. At Schoharie, Cherryvalley and
Manlius, a black limestone, from five to ten feet in thickness, occupies a position in the
midst of the shales. It is an argillo-caleareous rock, and probably is capable of forming an
excellent hydraulic mortar. It weathers out into extremely rough masses, so that persons
who have occasion to work the rock generally call it chawed rock. In the Helderberg, this
mass is concealed by debris, if it exists there; and it is not distinctly recognized in the
western counties. The composition of this limestone does not differ materially from that

HAMILTON SHALES. 183

of the septaria ; and probably the latter will increase in value and importance, when it is
known that they make the true Roman cement.

Thickness of the Marcellus slate. As this rock is not clearly defined in its upward passage,
but is merged in the dark grayish shales of the Hamilton group, its thickness is not deter-
mined. It is probably not less than one hundred feet at Schoharie and Manlius ; in the
middle and western counties, it hardly exceeds fifty feet.*

Agricultural characters of the Marcellus slate. The chemical constitution of this rock,
and the ready conversion of its materials into soil, confer upon it important and useful
adaptations to agriculture. The rock, especially the lower part, effervesces with acids ; and
hence the calcareous matter is in sufficient quantity to influence the soil favorably, and fit
it particularly for wheat. In addition to the lime, it also contains carbonate of magnesia,
which, by its presence, adapts the debris of the rock to the culture of maize. Observations
upon the region where this rock prevails, confirm these statements. Where there appear
to be exceptions to them, it will probably be found to arise from height, or some physical
cause independent of composition.

§ 3. HamILron sHALES.t

It is difficult to ascertain the point where the Marcellus slate ends, and the Hamilton
shales begin; partly from the circumstances under which we are obliged to make our
examinations, and partly from the similarity of the masses themselves. The Marcellus
slate becomes sandy, and loses its dark color, as well as its slaty character, and is conse-
quently merged gradually into the shales which succeed in the ascending order. The
Hamilton shales, however, are limited above, or superiorly, by a dark colored mass which
has been called the Tully limestone. This would seem a sufficiently distinct limit, if the
limestone extended eastward ; but as it is absent in the river counties, and scarcely extends
beyond the central counties in this direction, the group is still left without a distinct line
of demarkation in nearly one half of the State. We are, therefore, obliged to resort to a
careful study of its fossils, in order to define the limits which the mass occupies.

However this may be, we have, with this group, entered upon a series of rocks which
are in the main siliceous, and in which very little calcareous or magnesian matters are to
be found ; and hence it is that the agricultural capabilities of those sections of the State,
where these rocks predominate, are also changed. ‘The masses composing these shales, as

* Hall’s Report, p. 159.

+ I have changed the word group into shales, as will be seen by the several reports on the rocks of Central and
Western New-York The change seemed to be called for, as the name now expresses the character of the masses to
which it is applied. In accordance with this view, I have frequently used the denomination Marcellus slate as also
expressing the nature of this reck. It is, however, to be understood, that the word slate, or shale, is always appli-
cable to a mass which may fall under our examination; for there are some slates in the Hamilton rocks, and the upper
part of the Marcellus slate becomes a shale. The difference between a slate and shale simply is the predominance
of sandy materials in the latter over the argillaceous. In consequence of the excess of sandy matter, shales are thicker
bedded than slates. The two kinds of rocks, however, run into each other by insensible gradations, especially when
the grains of sand are fine.

184 ERIE DIVISION.

we have just observed, are sandy ; but they are often interlaminated with thin soft slate of
a bluish or greenish color, and all its beds, as a whole, are thin, but rarely even-bedded.
The particles too are usually fine, and it is exceedingly rare to meet with coarse conglo-
merates ; though near the superior part of the group, a few thin pebbly beds are sometimes
observed, and seem to occupy pretty constantly a uniform position.

Lithologically the Hamilton shales resemble those of the Hudson river. They are
usually gray, but sometimes brown from weathering — some beds particularly so towards
the top of the series.

Imbedded or associated minerals. It can hardly be said to furnish any minerals. The
beds are rarely (if ever) even sparry in this State. This arises from the perfect quietude
which prevailed during the deposition of the beds, and the slight fractures which they
suffered at the time of their elevation. The only indication of foreign mineral matter
which this group discloses, is a thin band of impure carbonate of iron which is occasionally
seen in the upper beds.

Relations of the Hamilton shales. The relations of this mass are nearly the same, both
eastward and westward. It reposes every where upon the Marcellus slate. Superiorly
the Tully limestone seems to be wanting in Schoharie and Albany counties, and hence in
this direction the line of demarkation is not well defined. The shales run into, and are
imperceptibly incorporated with, the next series of rocks, which are known abroad by the
name of Devonian, and in this State by that of Portage or Chemung. To the west, as has
been remarked, the series is restricted by the Tully limestone. It may be that this restric-
tion is too artificial and arbitrary, inasmuch as the same mineral characters are preserved,
and also some of the fossils; and it is hardly possible to find any where those physical
changes which sometimes appear, and mark the introduction of a new epoch. Some of
the beds, towards the upper part, are less regular, more concretionary, and appear as if
they were deposited under a slight change of circumstances, such as would occur if a
change of level had taken place in the bottom upon which the former materials had been
deposited.

Agricultural capacity of the Hamilton shales. We are now introduced into a region,
whose capabilities in production are decidedly of a different kind from those of the lime-
stone shales that have been already described. This change is due to the constitution of
the rocks mainly, although we have no doubt that height, configuration and slope, may
modify to a certain extent the productive capabilities of the region over which these rocks
extend. Agriculturally they closely resemble the Hudson river rocks, and we may per-
haps say with truth that this resemblance is no less than that of their lithological characters.
Both series are remarkably destitute of calcareous matter, and both are distantly associated,
if the expression is proper, with limestones below. Thus the Utica slate resembles the Mar-
cellus slate: both are somewhat calcareous, and both succeed heavy beds of limestone,
which constitute important landmarks or wayboards for the determination of series and
groups. In the Hudson river shales, a few bands of limestone, highly fossiliferous, ap-

PLEAL EE VL,

ee

pies MMe rors rite

a, Bowen
‘2 Bes §

ENDICONT'S Lith. NEW YORK.
mY , ; te) fh ‘anal bali} all = Dara in WV) AY Cal RIM (OO TH
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Pelohkarie Co.

HAMILTON SHALES. 185

pear towards the end or about the middle of the series. So in the Hamilton shales, im-
pure calcareous bands are met with, though the calcareous matter seems to have been
derived from the petrifactions which they inclose. This shows that some calcareous mat-
ter existed in solution in the waters from which these rocks were separated or deposited ;
indeed, the shales sometimes effervesce feebly. Now the main peculiarity which we find
in these rocks, consists in the ability to produce good pasturage: the soil possesses that
light character which fits it for sweet grazing. There is always seemingly sufficient alu-
mine or clay in these rocks to give the debris the proper consistency to hold water, and
this rarely to excess. There are two other circumstances which contribute to form a
grazing country where these rocks predominate, namely, sweet or pure water, and a hilly
surface. The water, under such circumstances, drains off rapidly, and leaves the soil
refreshed: it will not stagnate above or beneath the surface. If the grass and herbage is
not so luxuriant, it is sweeter, and promotes the health of the animals which feed upon it.
The atmosphere circulates freely over the hills and through the valleys, and thereby
rapidly renews the essential elements of life and activity.

Succession of strata and illustrative views. The succession of the groups and strata are
well exposed on Cayuga and Seneca lakes, and in the valley of the Schoharie (See Plate
XXl., sections 3 and 4; or Plate xx., sections 2,4, 5 and 6). For illustrative views, see
Plate vi., which may be compared with Plate iv.: the formations of the former are un-
disturbed, while the latter is on a zone or belt which has been broken up by internal
convulsions.

Thickness of the Hamilton shales. It is difficult to obtain the data from which the thick-
ness of this rock can be determined. By estimating the fossiliferous and non-fossiliferous
parts by themselves, and summing up the result, we obtain from 1000 to 1200 feet thick-
ness. In the eastern part of the State, in Albany and Schoharie counties, the thickness
appears to be much greater than in the western counties; at the same time it must be
acknowledged that the line of demarkation between this and the upper part of the Erie
division is indistinct, and hence masses which belong properly to the Devonian or Catskill
rocks may be included. The lower part of the Hamilton shales are destitute of fossils in
Schoharie county, for about fifty feet: then we meet a band of fossils, among which is a
Conularia and Posidonia ; this is succeeded by another non-fossiliferous band of conside-
rable thickness, and then fossils again occur; and in the Olive shales, so called, the fossils
are very numerous, and among them we find a great abundance of the Delthyris mucro-
nata, the beautiful Orthonata undulata, and Dipleura dekayi. Still higher in the series,
we find an abundance of vegetable fossils, which extend through beds of sandstone and
shale for sixty or seventy feet ; and lastly, in the tops of the hilly region of Fultonham in
Schoharie, the rock becomes a grayish sandstone, with stems of plants, encrinites, and a
large delthyris. In the hills of Fultonham, the thickness of the superimposed masses is
at least eight hundred feet. The beds are thin at the base, but not even-bedded ; at the

[AcricutturaL Report. ] 24

186 ERIE DIVISION.

summit, they are thick and more even, though a band of contorted sandstone appears two
hundred feet below the top of the mass.

The view of the head of the gorge at Summit, is only one instance among many of the
wearing action of the streams. Upon this series and range of rocks from the Hudson to
Lake Erie, all the water courses cut through the shales and sandstones of this group. An
interesting fact is well worthy of notice in this place, namely, that as the New-York sedi-
mentary rocks are composed of hard and soft materials, the whole series seem to be cut
through from the Potsdam sandstone to the top of the Erie division. The aggregate amount
of the perpendicular falls of the streams which flow over the series, is not less than one and
a half miles, from the top of the Catskill series, to the base of the Potsdam sandstone.

§4. TuLLy LIMESTONE.

Towards the top of the series composing the Hamilton group, calcareous matter in-
creases ; and in the central counties, it is so far increased that a compact black limestone
has been deposited. In Albany and Schoharie counties, it is unknown; neither has it been
noticed west of the Genesee valley, and yet beds of a black limestone occupy its place at
Moscow above the Moscow shales. These layers or strata are compact, black, bituminous,
and interlaminated with shale. They contain a few fossils, the most interesting of which
is a microscopic orthoceratite; and all the remains are extremely minute, but very nu-
merous.

The thickness of the Tully limestone is from twelve to fifteen feet: hence the mass is
too inconsiderable to exert an influence upon the soil. ‘The rock is exposed upon the west
shore of Cayuga lake, and the eastern shore of Seneca lake near Hathaway’s landing ;
also at Bellona in Ontario county, and the outlet of Crooked lake. At Bethel on Flint
creek, it forms a part of the banks ; while four miles northwest, it is only three feet thick.
Farther west, on Canandaigua lake, it is represented by a few inches only of impure cal-
careous rock. West of this lake, according to Mr. Hall, it is virtually absent, although
its place is indicated by bands of calcareous shale.

CATSKILL DIVISION. 187

View of the Head of the Gorge at Summit.

NW
Og

V. CATSKILL DIVISION ;

OR OLD RED SANDSTONE OF THE NEW-YORK REPORTS.

DEVONIAN SYSTEM (IN PART) OF ENGLISH AUTHORS.

So far as agriculture depends on the composition of the soil, the separation of the rocks
below the Tully limestone, from those above, is of but little consequence. There is
throughout a great preponderance of sand in these rocks; but this element is modified by
alumine, even in the thick-bedded sandstones, and more especially in the thin beds of
shales and slates with which the beds of sandstone alternate.

24*

188 CATSKILL DIVISION.

Geologically this is an interesting part of the New-York series. It forms by itself a dis-
tinct system, and has been described by Mr. Phillips under the name of Devonian system.
It is designed to embrace not only the peculiar rocks of Devonshire, but those of Scotland,
and of places on the continent, which have hitherto been known and described under the
name of Old Red sandstone. Comparing our rocks of this division, however, with what
we know of their equivalents in Europe, we find that they present a different phase ; re-
serving, in this expression of opinion at this time, the right to change our views from time
to time as discoveries may progress. In Scotland, for instance, the Old Red sandstone
contains many fishes of remarkable forms; but in no place in this country, where this
rock is even well developed, have these interesting fossils been found. Here, conchifera,
associated with a few fishes, seem to characterize the rock; and these are confined to the
lower beds, the upper ones, so far as discoveries have been made, being destitute of animal
remains. Some land vegetables, belonging to three or four species, run through the sys-
tem. In this country, whatever differences may have been observed between the Hamilton
shales and the masses intervening between them and the Coal series, there is no where a
sudden transition by which we pass at once from the Silurian to the Devonian system,
either in fossils or in mineral matter: there are no disturbances, which could have broken
the general quiet of the period during which this great series was being deposited. Ata
few points, inconsiderable movements may be observed, affecting slightly a portion of the
deposit; but the same observation applies equally well to the Hamilton shales, and the
Helderberg division. The physical changes which seem to have occurred during these
periods, were merely gentle oscillations, destitute of violence or rapidity. Hence these
rocks repose in unbroken strata; or, if broken, the change of position amounts to a few
feet only ; or it is of such a nature as to have resulted in gentle flexures, along which the
layers remain unbroken. The mass has received, as a whole, that slight movement by
which the layers have been placed in a position inclining to the southwest at a very mode-
rate angle, a position ‘which was given them when the great central primary mass north
of the Mohawk valley emerged from the Apalachian sea.

§ 1. PortaGe AND CHEMUNG GROUPS OF THE GENESEE VALLEY.

The Moscow shales represent the Hamilton group in this valley. The rock is a light
green, soft and fragile. A black slate, interlaminated frequently with thin beds of black
limestone, succeeds the Hamilton shales both at Moscow and Geneseo. The change in the
mineral constitution of the rock is accompanied with a change also in fossils ; and, as has
been stated, microscopic orthoceratites abound in the layers which immediately succeed the
Moscow shales; while, at the same time, all the characteristic fossils, without exception,
belonging to the last mentioned rock, remain below. Fossils, then, in this valley, and in
this series, determine where one group ends and another begins. We are not, however,
furnished with distinct lines of separation in the vicinity of the Catskill and Helderberg
ranges, as we shall have occasion to show in the sequel.

PORTAGE AND CHEMUNG GROUPS, 189

GENESEE SLATR.

The first mass above the Moscow shales is the Genesee slate : it is usually colored black,
but often stained brown upon the outside by decomposing pyrites. Its laminz separate
easily, and fall to thin pieces of the size of a penny ; forming, by this kind of disintegra-
tion, a flat gravel. The whole mass is bituminous. Its fossils are peculiar, but few in
species ; yet it is not improbable that, if fresh deep cuts were made, it would be found
largely supplied with them. The exposure which results from weathering, obliterates
fossils especially when they are obscure or small.

The lower part of the Genesee slate consists of strata or lamine of thin slate, alternating
with thin-bedded compact black limestone. The thickness of the strata of limestone varies
from three to eighteen inches. These beds of limestone continue upwards at least one
hundred feet, when they disappear: above this, for three hundred feet more, the rock
continues a black slate; and after this it becomes shaly, or changed into a mass in which
slate alternates with thin-bedded sandstone. The thin laminated masses continue onwards
to Portage ; and even at the Lower falls, the flags are thin-bedded, and alternate with a
black bituminous slate, indistinguishable from the Genesee slate at Mountmorris. The
strata undulate, or form short curves, which coalesce like those of the slates of the Hudson
river.

Thickness of the Genesee slate. If, as we suppose, this slate succeeds the Moscow shales,
and if it forms the cliff at the fall near the village of Moscow, it is at least four hundred
feet thick. This we consider as an under estimate, rather than an over one; for, at one
place near Mountmorris bridge, the exposed part is three hundred and forty feet above the
river. At the same time it is not improbable that undulations may exist, which must in
that case be set off against the dip, which amounts to fifty feet to the mile at a few points
where it is susceptible of measurement.

Localities where the Genesee slate may be observed. ‘The most important locality has al-
ready been noticed, namely, the great gorge above Mountmorris, through which the river
flows. We remark, however, that calcareous bands are numerous in the lower part, and
that the middle and upper portions are interlaminated with shale. Proceeding east, it
may be observed on Cayuga lake, south of Ludlowville, supported by the Tully limestone ;
at the falls of Lodi, and the outlet of Crooked lake. It forms the base of the hills of De-
ruyter in Madison county, and those of Fabius, Truxton and Preble. At all these places
it is succeeded in the ascending order by gray flags, as in the gorge of the Genesee. On
Lake Erie, it is well exposed and well characterized by its fossils at Eighteen-mile creek.
Between Lake Erie and the Genesee river, it is exposed in ravines which open to the north.

As a general guide to the position of this rock, and the localities where it may be ob-
served, the student may take advantage of its position above the Hamilton shales, and its
general east and west range from its position at Moscow and Mountmorris.

Thickness of the Portage group. The Portage group, as it exists in the cliffs and gorges
at and below Portage, is mainly a gray sandstone. So gradual has it changed from a thin

'

190 CATSKILL DIVISION.

black slate to a thick-bedded sandstone, that it is useless to attempt to draw division lines
between the lower and upper strata. Drawing, then, an arbitrary line along the strata,
near to a plane where the Genesee slate seems to terminate, or where the rock has ceased
to be a decided slate, or has become a thin flagstone, and then including in the Portage
group the whole mass above as it exists at Portage, we believe the thickness is not far from
twelve hundred feet. But Mr. Hall, who has had better opportunities for determining this
question, has estimated it at one thousand feet. It must be recollected, however, that the
cliffs from Mountmorris to Portage maintain an elevation of three hundred and fifty, and
perhaps four hundred feet in some places, and that the dip is at the rate of about fifty feet
to the mile.

Gorge in the Portage group. At Mountmorris the Genesee river issues from a gorge,
which is remarkable both for depth and length. It is in this deep cut, made by the river,
that these rocks may be observed to the best advantage. At the bridge near Mountmorris,
steep and even perpendicular cliffs bound and shut in the river on both sides. These cliffs,
in consequence of the increased thickness of rock, rise up above the river three hundred
and forty feet on both sides. With these formidable banks on either hand, the river wends
its way from Portage. A part of the distance there is space for a road ; but the descent to
the river is practicable in a few places only, while most of the distance it is totally out of
the question. The slate is the only rock which forms the cliffs for four or five miles towards
Mountmorris ; and the character of the mass, as indicated above, is preserved. ‘The first
change which appears, is produced by an increase of silex or sand. The layers are still
thin ; but in the place of argillaceous layers, thin undulating shaly ones appear. If we
trace the changes as we proceed towards Portage, we find the sand still increasing, and the
strata becoming thicker, till finally at Portage the formation has become a thick-bedded
sandstone. It is a gray fine-grained rock, and works well under the chisel ; and, when
wrought, it is durable. Some exceptions, however, ought to be made: the masses must
be free from slate, in order to resist the action of the weather.

§ 2. PorrTaGE, ITHACA AND CHEMUNG GROUPS OF THE CENTRAL COUNTIES OF NEW-YORK.

The Chemung group is made up of flags and slates, whose beds are thinner than those
of the Portage group upon which they rest. The flags are gray, olive and brown, with
impure calcareous bands of fossils; the shales are green and olive, but sometimes black.
These forms of mineral matter are arranged without order. The stratification is usually

Fig. 31.

PORTAGE AND CHEMUNG GROUPS. 191

distinct : in the upper part it is diagonal, a fact which may be used for determining the po-
sition of this mass at distant points. The diagonal stratification (fig. 31) prevails in the
Catskill mountain rocks, but has not been observed below the Chemung group.

At Ithaca and Cortlandville, the lower part of the Chemung group is represented in the
green slates and flags. At the former place they are exposed in the cuts of the inclined
plane, while the Portage group is below, rising from fifty to one hundred feet above the
lake. At Cortlandville, the Ithaca group is exposed in the quarries about half a mile south
of the village. The same species of fossils have been found here as at Ithaca, namely, the
Microdon bellistriata ; a flat coral ; an ornamented univalve, which appears to be a Mur-
chisonia. ‘The series ascends to Virgil. Here is a full development of the Chemung rocks.
It would seem, from a comparison of facts developed by a careful examination, that the
Ithaca group is not equivalent to the Chemung as it is developed at the Chemung nar-
rows; but rather that is beneath, and situated between the Portage and Chemung groups.
There is, however, no necessity for separating the Ithaca from the Chemung group: it is
more simple to regard the masses as parts of one series, in which the inferior and superior
may differ in many points. According to this view, the rocks of Virgil and Chemung be-
long to one and the same age, and those of Cortlandville and Ithaca to another ; and this
view is borne out by the fossils collected at both places.

Springs and mineral contents of the group in the central counties. The springs which
issue from the upper part of the Chemung rocks, are comparatively pure; those of the
Genesee slate, may be bituminous. In a hilly region, numerous streams, originating in
springs, are expected; in the valley of the Genesee, however, adjacent to the great gorge,
very few exist. The traveller, passing over the fine road from Mountmorris to Portage, will
be surprised at not meeting more than one or two small streams the whole distance. This
scarcity of running water is a great inconvenience to farmers, inasmuch as frequently it is
difficult to procure water for cattle. Cisterns and wells are the only modes left for fur-
nishing a supply, which of course becomes precarious in dry seasons. ‘The nature of the
rocks, their porosity, and especially the deep cut of the Genesee river, combine in their
effects to produce a very thorough draining of a very wide extent of country on both sides
of the gorge. Still where there is a deep soil, upon a surface only moderately steep, the
drainage is not so perfect as to lay the upper parts dry; and where a clay forms the sub-
soil, draining in the usual way may still be required.

The minerals of the group have no claim to a special consideration: pyrites, in the
shale, is the most common; it is the source of the chalybeate waters, wherever they exist
in the formation. Its presence aids the decomposition of the slates, facilitates first their
disintegration, and finally perfects those changes which end in a thorough separation of
the elements of the rock.

192 CATSKILL DIVISION.

View in Gilboa.

§ 3. PorTAGE, ITHACA AND CHEMUNG GROUPS IN THE SCHOHARIE AND HUDSON-RIVER
DISTRICTS.

The development of the Hamilton shales is excessive in the eastern part of New-York,
but there are only slight differences in the lithological characters. At Summit in Scho-
harie county, in a deep gorge near the village, the Chemung group occupies the upper
part and the higher slopes adjacent to it, and also the hills above the village. As yet,
however, the fossils of the Chemung narrows are not common or numerous ; and it seems
to be established that the fossils of the Hamilton shales go up higher into the shales and
flags, and occur nearer to the base of the Catskill division or Old Red sandstone, than at
the west. The flags at the top of the Helderberg range, and the rocks occupying the
highest position in the southern towns in Albany and Schoharie counties, belong to the
Chemung group.

The purposes of agriculture do not require an identification of the rocks under conside-
ration: they belong chemically and mineralogically to the same class. The structure, the
tendency to decomposition, and the soil which is formed by disintegration, does not differ
essentially in Albany county from that of Allegany or Cattaraugus county. We do not
find the exact equivalents when they are tested by fossils: it is possible, however, that
this may be owing to exposure. Other fossiliferous strata than those, for example, which

CATSKILL GROUP. 193

are exposed in Chemung, may be exposed in Schoharie and Albany counties, or in the
rocks of the eastern part of the State. Where fossils are limited to narrow bands, and
where their vertical range is small, corresponding strata at two distant points may be con-
cealed at one or the other. The kind of distribution alluded to, is that which prevails.
A stratum from two to twelve inches is loaded with fossils; but above or below for fifty
or one hundred feet, they are either very scarce or do not exist at all. ‘This is the general
mode in which they are distributed in thick beds, sandstones and flags, a mode which
does not seem to prevail in calcareous shales and limestones. In these deposits, it is not
uncommon to find organic bodies distributed throughout the whole mass.

Localities where the sandstones and flags described above may be examined. Many localities
have already been mentioned, at which the strata are well exposed, and afford opportu-
nities for observation. At Portage, and at points intervening between it and Mountmorris,
many interesting and important facts are disclosed in the deep gorges. All that relates to
the power of moving water in-excavating rocks, the nature of the rocks themselves, their
stratification, etc., are displayed to great advantage. Few fossils only are found, and
those not of the most interesting kind. Bodies called fucoids, and which are referred to a
class of marine plants, are common. The same are common at Deruyter, Homer, and in
the hills in the same geological range for a wide extent east and west of the points named ;
also in Oneonta, Harpersfield, Summit, Rensselaerville, Virgil and Ithaca. Most parts of
the counties of Tioga, Broome, Allegany and Chautauque, are mainly underlaid by this
series of rocks.

Agricultural characters of the shales, flags and sandstones of the Portage and Chemung
rocks. ‘This is not the place to state, with any degree of particularity, the relations which
these formations bear to the capabilities of the soil derived from them. They have, however,
characters of their own ; that is, peculiarities which distinguish them from calcareous and
limestone formations. The greatest chemical difference is found in the absence of lime,
except where it is derived from strata at a distance. When the soil is first broken up,
some lime may be found; but cultivation, and the exposure which a cultivated surface
suffers from percolation of water, soon removes the calcareous matter. The soil is then a
silico-aluminous one, and may in some places be a stiff hard soil ; in others, the predomi-
nance of sand gives it a character directly opposite. The full consideration of the soils of
these rocks will come up in another place, where they can be treated in connection with
those of other parts of the State.

§ 4. CatskILL GRouP.

Mr. Vanuxem describes these rocks as consisting of light-colored greenish gray sand-
stone, usually hard; of fine grained red sandstone, red shale or slate ; of dark-colored
slate and shale; of grindstone grit, and a peculiar concretionary or fragmentary mass
composed of shale principally, cemented by lime. The mass referred to in the last place,
varies in thickness from a few inches to two feet, and, from its nature, may he regarded as

[AcricuLtTurAL Rerort.] 25

194 CATSKILL DIVISION.

characteristic of this part of the New-York series. Certainly it is not observed in any of the
lower rocks ; and as it is a very constant mass, and widely extended, we deem it a valua-
ble wayboard by which position may be determined with a good degree of certainty. This
mass, too, it may be important to say, is regarded by Mr. Vanuxem as equivalent to the
cornstone of the Old Red sandstone.* It appears quite early among the strata, and goes
up to the middle of the series. We have not been able, however, to connect our observa-
tions together so as to be satisfied that such is the fact, or that it does not extend farther than
the central part of the rock. We believe it belongs to the inferior part, and may be sought
for the purpose of identifying this part of the group. The diagonal stratification is another
peculiarity of the rock, which has been referred to already. It is spoken of by Mr. Hall,
as appearing in the upper part of the Chemung group. The difficulty, in New-York, of
defining the limits of groups, is such that it can not always be made clear where one begins
and another ends. Hence it may be true that this part of the so called Chemung group
might, with great propriety, be referred to the Catskill division.

The great body of materials forming the Catskill division, are grits, alternating fre-
quently with olive-colored shales, red slate, or red marl. The latter is sometimes from
thirty to fifty feet thick ; yet there is less of red rock than is generally supposed, or less
than is implied in the old name by which this rock has been distinguished. The name
Old Red sandstone, or Red system, would lead to the inference that it is a red rock mainly ;
whereas only about one-third of it is red, the rest being a dark slate, or greenish or grayish
flagstone. Originally the color of the slate was olive or green, throughout the series of
beds: it is by atmospheric action that the slates and shales have changed their primitive
color. ‘This process is still in progress; and the darkish green rocks, on breaking down,
assume first a brownish tint, and then a red one, capable of staining substances with the
same color, an effect due to a change in the oxide of iron, which in the green slates is a
protoxide, but by a further acquisition of oxygen becomes the peroxide.

The engraving on page 192 is a view of the Schoharie creek at Gilboa, on the road from
the village leading to the Manorkill falls: it looks south. All the ranges which close in
upon the creek, and bound its valley, belong to the Devonian system.

Dip and stratification of this series. To the eye within a distance of a few feet, the rocks
appear horizontal; but when viewed at a considerable distance, or from a point where
there is a sufficient range, they indicate a dip to the southwest, less, however, than the New-
York rocks are known to exhibit at distant points; yet this remark applies to the series
which form the body of the Catskill mountains. At the base, especially on the eastern slope,
the dip is quite steep; at least it is decidedly marked even in the outcrop of the cliffs which
terminate the successive terraces. The stratification is no less regular than the dip: at the
base, the strata are parallel; at the middle, and towards the summit, the diagonal stratifi-
cation is common.

*Vanuxem’s Report, p. 186.

WN DLV Td

CATSKILL GROUP. 195

Termination of the strata. The conglomerates and coarse grits above the Catskill Moun-
tain House, have been referred to the Coal series, and this is probably nght. In Chau-
tauque county, beds of conglomerate, apparently occupying the same position, are referred
also to the same period.

Strata at Gilboa. An interesting locality of the Catskill division exists at Gilboa. A
good section is exposed by the Manorkill, a creek which flows from the east, and falls into
the Schoharie creek near the village. The lowest rocks on the creek are,

Four feet of green fragile lumpy shale.

One foot brown hard compact sandstone, blotched with green.

Two feet red slate, alternating with one or two feet-of green shale.

. Ten feet of gray sandstone.

. Three feet of black shale.

An undefined mass of gray sandstone succeeds, which contains land vegetables, and, at the Manor-
kill falls, one mile above the village, also contains numerous fossils, among which are several
Cypricardia, two species of Solen, and what appears to be the Terebratula lepida.

OO om oN

The rocks are coarse grits at the falls, with some layers of green tough shale, in which
are contained most of the Cypricardia. ‘The tough lumpy character of this shale is a great
inconvenience to the collector of fossils. Above the Manorkill falls, the red marl or slate is
many feet thick. This is succeeded by the greenish and coarse sandstone shales alternating
for five or six hundred feet, and appearing in high and steep escarpments on the mountain
half a mile north of the kill: the rock contains a few Cypricardia. The whole series is
fossiliferous ; more so, we think, than what appears upon a cursory examination, princi-
pally on account of the coarseness of the grits and the unfavorable state of the stratifica-
tion. The beds at and immediately above the bank of the creek near the village are destitute
of animal remains, or at least we did not succeed in finding any. Now the stratum which
contains vegetables at other places, contains also Cypricardia. In this stratum, many
fragments of stems and long leaves are preserved, but crushed, and so broken that they
are worthless as cabinet specimens; yet the stratum itself is a good guide for the rock.
It is the same as that described in Mr. Vanuxem’s report, in which he first discovered the
fossils at Mount Upton on the Unadilla. The discovery of this stratum (or strata, for there
are several) at Gilboa, at the base of adjacent mountains, identifies two distant series, and
proves their equivalency and age.

Continuation of the strata to Prattsville. The coarse grits continue to Prattsville ; and
though often concealed by debris along the banks of the Schoharie creek, yet a glance at
the cliffs of the adjacent hills will be sufficient to settle the fact that the strata of Gilboa
continue uninterruptedly to Prattsville ; and as but little progress is made towards the
south, or in the direction of the dip, we may feel satisfied that we gain but little in height.
This is important to be borne in mind, for it has been said that the rocks of Gilboa belong
to the Hamilton group, and as fossils closely resembling those of this formation were
discovered six or seven hundred feet at least above the locality on the Manorkill, where

25*

196 CATSKILL DIVISION.

Devonian fossils had been found, it became important to accumulate as many facts as
possible which would bear upon the question ; and we were fortunate enough to discover
the remains of fish in the strata between Prattsville and Gilboa, and, what was still more
satisfactory was their association with the Cypricardia catskillensis discovered by Mr. Va-
nuxem on the Unadilla. These fossils will undoubtedly be found quite numerous in this
neighborhood, as we observed several specimens in the rock two miles above Prattsville, on
the banks of the creek. It appears, therefore, that it has a wide range in this series, and
may be regarded as characteristic of the formation in which it is found.

Series at Jefferson. Here the rocks exhibit the same character as at Gilboa and Pratts-
ville. They are flags, some of which are quite thin, and they are interlaminated with black
slate, At this place, near the village, we discovered the same fossils as those of Gilboa,
namely, the Cypricardia, Tentaculites, Orthis, etc. Besides the strata of crushed vegetables
and the diagonal stratification already mentioned, Mr. Hall has discovered a seale of the fish
characteristic of the Old Red sandstone. In these discoveries we have the facts which have
settled the character and age of the rocks in the southern part of Schoharie, Albany, and
those of Greene and Delaware counties. They form one series of rocks, which may be
traced south, southwest and west, through the southern tier of counties; and as a few
fossils of the Chemung narrows have been found in Gilboa, we are able to connect the
series with distant points west. The Chemung group, which had been supposed to be
confined to the southwestern counties, has been proved, by the discovery of fossils, to oc-
cupya place also at the base of the Catskill series. Of the Dipleura dekayi, Microdon
bellistriata, Cypricardia angulata, the latter is credited to Chemung narrows, while the
two former are well known Hamilton fossils: these, with several others, occur five hun-
dred feet above strata which have hitherto been regarded as belonging exclusively to the
Catskill series. Facts of this kind may lead us to distrust the value of our lines of de-
markation between the groups of a system.

Agricultural characters of the Catskill series. The soil is colored red, when derived from
the Catskill rocks. The red marls form a soil very well compounded of sand and clay :
it derives an advantage from its color. Red soils are warmer and earlier, yet they do not
bear drought so well as the brown and yellow loams. The soil of these rocks may be re-
garded as light; and being deficient in lime and alkalies, it is not so productive at first,
nor so durable, as those of Onondaga and Cayuga counties.

Localities where the Catskill series may be advantageously examined. These rocks may be
reached by two routes: Ist, that of the Mountain House or Pine Orchard; and 2d, that of
Schoharie creek. The Mountain House route leads over part of the Champlain, the Hel-
derberg and the Erie divisions. The Hudson-river series, and the whole of the Helderberg
series, are finely exposed, but in an interesting state of disorder. The Erie division is tilted
up, but not materially crushed or dismembered; the angle of dip continually dimi-
nishes from the Hamilton shales upward, each ascending terrace being disturbed less and
less as it is distant from the belt of disturbance, passing between the Hudson river and the

CATSKILL GROUP. 197

village of Madison. This is a short and interesting route, but not so favorable for collecting
fossils. The second route, that of the Schoharie creek, begins at Schoharie Court-house,
and follows it up to Gilboa, Prattsville, Lexington, Hunter, and then to the Catskill
Mountain House. The whole New-York system is traversed by this route, and it leads up
a beautiful valley, on the sides of which the strata are finely exposed in receding terraces or
steep escarpments. Beautiful cascades and splendid scenery gratify the sight at every turn ;
while to the geologist the succession and stratigraphical arrangement is so clear and satis-
factory, that all doubts are dispelled. The advantages of this route are decisive, in con-
sequence of the fine field at Schoharie, where the succession is over a complete division of
the Helderberg rocks: the Erie division is full and complete also, and may be observed first
in the rounded hills about Schoharie village, dipping in the direction of the route up the
creek ; and the succeeding members slowly follow each other, till, finally, at Gilboa, the
Catskill rocks are found at the base of the high ranges which have hedged in the creek
for twenty-five miles. The route will be completed by descending on the eastern side by
the steep road of the Mountain House, which leads over the belts of the disturbed rocks
that have been already noticed.

Thickness of the Catskill division of the New-York rocks. The strata rise horizontally,
or nearly so, from Gilboa to Conesville. The latter place is the highest travelled point be-
tween the former place and Catskill. It is twelve hundred feet above Gilboa, or two
thousand feet above tide. The mountains rise over one thousand feet above Conesyville.
The rocks belonging to the Catskill division are between eighteen hundred and two thou-
sand feet thick.

Illustrative views. The clefts through the mountain ridges furnish an exceedingly rich
scenery. We have selected the Platerskill clove for this purpose, although it is in no
respect superior to several landscapes of the same region (Pl. xix. and Fig. 7). The
panoramic view is taken from the ridge east of Catskill, on the opposite side of the river.
The general appearance of stratification is intended to be exhibited. It was more particu-
larly designed to illustrate the denudation of the mountain, and the deep cuts which were
made in the drift era: it is an accurate representation of the north face or slope. The
first view, the Platerskill clove, looks down upon the valley of the Hudson, over the fine
flourishing village of Saugerties. The river appears in clear weather like a silver band
winding through a high plane, beyond which the taconic hills seem to rise in even slopes,
tll far in the horizon the whole country becomes dim and lost in air. The view from
the Catskill Mountain House is still more extensive, as it is not shut in on either side by
towering peaks. It is here the world becomes a world; it is here man becomes a man,
and physical nature speaks a lesson full of rich and precious truths.

The sectional illustrations of the relations of the rocks described in the foregoing pages,
may be found on Pl. xxi., sections 3 and 5.

198 DEVONIAN SYSTEM,

VL THE UPPER ROCKS OF NEW-YORK EQUIVALENT TO THE DEVONIAN
SYSTEM OF ENGLAND AND THE CONTINENT.

Mr. Conrad was the first American geologist who perceived the equivalency of the upper
New-York rocks, to those which were described by Mr. Phillips under the name of Devo-
nian. To him also is to be given the credit of identifying the Silurian system with the
lower rocks of this State. When the outlines of resemblance have been traced, it requires
only diligence and moderate capacity to fill up the details. While it is admitted, however,
that the New-York and Silurian rocks have been proved by American geologists to belong
to a coeval period, it is not proved that the two are identical. Such a closeness of agree-
ment, in such distant rocks, could not be expected. This much seems to be established,
namely, that the rocks of the two continents, limited upwards by the Coal series, and by
the Taconic system below, were deposited during the same period ; but whatever of a mo-
difying nature existed in either continent, had its infiuence on each series respectively.
A prolongation of a particular deposit beyond the corresponding one of a distant continent,
often took place. Intercalated members appear in a few instances. Organic beings were
formed on the same types, but rarely identical. While resemblances were preserved in the
greater number, the novelties were rarely common. As New-Holland must have her
kangaroos, and quadruped-like forms in her aviaries ; the Galapagos, their lizard forms ;
and Africa and America, each their peculiar faunas; so analogy forbids our expectancy
that the faunas of our two silurian worlds should be identical. It is not a variety, however,
which arises from necessity, from obedience to physical causes: the variety exists foi
variety’s sake, and to fill creation with diversified grades of being.

The advancement of geology in this country received a new impulse, when its cultiva-
tors began to study our rocks independently of European formations. So long as investi-
gations were directed towards identification with foreign rocks, just so long our own for-
mations remained unknown to us, perhaps from the want of proper characters by which:
they could be made out. The study of fossils has, in later years, been followed by a real]
progress in the science of geology ; and this has arisen, not so much from the use of fossils
as characteristics, as from an independence which they gave to the thoughts and methods
of observers. They gave us the power to compare our rocks with each other at distant
points, and to work out our system on a basis which is truly American, and which has
really created an American geology. This result has been practically of great value here,
in addition to the confirmation of leading principles which had preceded it abroad. We
have now our Silurian and Devonian systems sufficiently well defined to answer all the
ends of science. The work of accurately identifying strata may go on, now that correct
outlines have been marked out, and our great landmarks are so well defined.

OR UPPER NEW-YORK ROCKS. 199

SUMMARY OF FACTS RESPECTING THE UPPER ROCKS OF THE NEW-YORK, SILURIAN, AND

DEVONIAN SYSTEMS.

1. The series of rocks above the Tully limestone consists of alternating masses of sand-

stone, slate and shale. The greatest mass of slate is the Genesee slate; and the
greatest mass of sandstone, in continuous beds, is the Portage group.

2. The rocks, from the Genesee slate to the conglomerates of the Coal, form one series ;

3.

4,

and though this series is divided into groups, the subordinate divisions are made for
convenience rather than utility or necessity : they serve, however, one or two pur-
poses, namely, those parts of the series which have intercalated members, or other
differences, are more fully brought to view, the economical portions may be clearly
defined, and the comparison of two distant points is made more striking. It will be
said that the groups are important, and an appeal may be made to the fossils for
sustaining the position. The better division of the series seems to be into upper
and lower, or upper, middle and lower. The division of the rocks above the
Taconic, and below the Coal, into two great systems, the Silurian and Devonian,
simplifies the study of the geology, and encumbers the mind of the student less than
that which makes many subordinate parts. The deepest part of the Devonian sea
appears to have been in the region of the Catskill series; and if we may form an
opinion of the continuous depth of such a sea, from the extension and thickness of
a formation, it would seem that the depth increased rapidly upon the eastern shore,
but shallowed more slowly to the southwest. This view seems to be sustained by
the fact that the prolongation of the Silurian and Devonian systems eastward is
quite limited, some of the beds of the Lower Silurian extending only five or six
miles east of the city of Hudson; while in order to place ourselves in the midst of
a deep silurian and devonian sea, we have only to travel ten miles southwesterly
from this city. The whole mass composing both systems disappears at once, as it
were, on the eastern side, thinning out suddenly; and the Taconic slates, plunging
down at a steep angle, form a basis upon which the whole is supported.

There is less difference between the lower part of the Devonian and upper Silurian in

New-York, than there is between the Champlain and the Ontario divisions.

The economical products are fine and valuable flags, quarries of which may be opened

through a wide horizontal as well as vertical range. The rock contains neither
ores, limestones, nor brine springs.

5. Some of the springs, which issue from the Genesee slate, are hydrosulphuretted in an

6.

eminent degree; while the springs of the rocks above the slate, are pure as those
of a primary district.

The country underlaid by these rocks is hilly, and the slopes afford an excellent soil

for grazing. Wheat, though not the natural crop, is still raised on the bottoms of
the narrow valleys.

200 NEW RED SANDSTONE. ‘

VIL NEW RED SANDSTONE. r

It is a singular fact, that this rock, whose position is above the Carboniferous series,
should range along in close proximity to Upper Silurian rocks, almost touch the Old Red
sandstone, and yet never be found reposing upon either. It occupies a small area only in
New-York. It borders the west of the Hudson river for twenty miles, underlying all that
remarkable and highly picturesque shore known as the Palisadoes. The sandstone sup-
ports the pillars, the material of which seems to have been ejected through the rents in the
sandstone beds. That this may have taken place is not at all improbable, inasmuch as :
the material of which the columns of greenstone are composed is interlaminated with the
layers of sandstone in such a way that it can scarcely be questioned but that it was forced

«between them after consolidation, and while the greenstone was in a molten state. This
statement is corroborated by the appearance of the sandstone. It is not only partially
melted, but the iron, which formed a constituent part of it, is segregated into masses and
thin veins in a crystalline state. Fig. 32 is an illustration of the relative position of the
rocks near Slaughter’s landing.

Fig. 32.

a. Horizontal beds of sandstone : the sandstone, when in contact with the greenstone above, is often white
or gray, compact and hard, portions of which resemble hornstone or chert.

6. Columnar greenstone, resting upon the sandstone.

c. Injected beds of the same, and communicating with the columnar mass above.

The New Red sandstone is undistinguishable lithologically from the Old Red or even the
Medina sandstone : it is at base a conglomerate. The Potomac marble, as it is called, forms
the base of this rock. This rare conglomerate rests on the Magnesian slate and Sparry

NEW RED SANDSTONE. 201

limestone of the Taconic system, near Stony point, below Caldwell. The other parts of
the rock are a coarse micaceous sandstone ; and a thin-bedded red and black shale, passing
into a soft marl, more or less variegated and spotted with green.

The New Red sandstone is a highly interesting formation. It is rendered so by certain
marks or impressions upon the strata, so closely resembling footmarks, that few now doubt
the truth of this hypothesis of their origin. The evidence, however, of the truth of this
hypothesis, does not rest upon the shape of the impressions alone: these are so exact and
uniform, that if there were no other ground for this belief, it would be difficult to maintain
that they had any other origin than that now ascribed to them. In addition to this evi-
dence, is that which is drawn from their position with respect to each other; for example,
where a series of footmarks are ina line, the toes turn alternately to the nght and left,
precisely like the tracks made by birds when walking upon mud or sand. ‘There is a
uniformity, too, in regard to the number of toes; being usually three before, and some-
times the impression of the hind claw. There are also the swellings between the joints
of the toes; so that in all those points in which they may be compared with the footprints
of animals, it is found that the agreement is so exact, that we are forced to admit that the
marks in question were made by shore birds travelling upon the beach, while the rock
was being deposited. Numerous species of birds existed at this period, inasmuch as the
tracks are of various sizes, beginning with the tracks of our small sandpiper, and ending
with those twice as large as the tracks of the ostrich.

Footmarks have been found by Mr. Redfield in New-Jersey, not many miles from the
New-York State line. President Hitchcock and Dr. Dean of Greenfield (Mass.), have
been the most successful cultivators of this branch of paleontology.

Other marks are often found upon the smooth red shale, of a rounded shape, which are
usually called fossil rain-drops. These marks, however, are questionable in their origin,
inasmuch as bubbles issuing from a muddy bottom often produce like appearances in the
mud after it has become indurated by exposure to the sun and air; still there is no great
objection to the conjecture that they were made by the pattering of drops of water upon a
soft surface. We can see no objection to the notion that it might have rained in the era
of this sandstone, as well as on the 4th of July, 1846.

This rock is distinguished from others, by peculiar fossil fishes. They belong to the
dark shaly part; and what makes the paleontology of the rock interesting, is the absence
of mollusca and conchifera. The fish are solitary, and seem to have been the sole pos-
sessors of the Red Sandstone sea.

| AcricuttuRat Report. | 26

202 TERTIARY SYSTEM.

VI. TERTIARY SYSTEM.

§ 1. TERTIARY AND POST-TERTIARY CLAYS ; ALBANY AND LAKE CHAMPLAIN CLAYS.

This formation is the most recent in New-York, if we except the peat and marl beds,
which have usually been referred to the present era. It apparently consists of three por-
tions: the lowest, a blue stiff clay ; the middle, a lighter colored clay ; and the uppermost,
asand. The middle portion differs but little from the lower in composition. The diffe-
rence in color is partly owing to a longer exposure to the atmosphere, by which it becomes
lighter, and even a pale brown or drab. The sand appears between the layers, but only
in extremely thin beds: the great mass of sand is on the top of the formation; it is a ma-
rine deposit, a point which was determined at an early period of the New-York survey,
by the discovery of fossils, known as living inhabitants of the Atlantic ocean.

The largest or most extensive deposit occupies the Champlain and the St. Lawrence basins,
from which it extends into the Hudson valley. It is impossible to determine its real extent ;
for it differs in no respect from other clays, and can not be distinguished from them, unless
it is traced continuously to beds which are well known, or to those which contain fossils.
It is one hundred feet thick upon Lake Champlain; and what is worthy of special notice,
is that the deposit rests on the grooved surfaces of the Champlain rocks, or else upon beds
of drift. It exhibits all the characters of a deposit made during a period of perfect quietude.
We have to notice, however, that at the close of this period, one of some violence suc-
ceeded ; this is clearly indicated by the removal of large portions of the formation. The
sand, and part of the clay, has apparently been removed to distant points, leaving only the
lower portion, and even sometimes the whole mass down to the rock has been removed.

§ 2. Fosstts oF THE TERTIARY SYSTEM.

About twenty-two or twenty-five species of marine animals have been discovered
towards the upper part of the clay. The indurated clay, or claystones, in one or two
instances, have contained fossil fish. Besides these, a fossil jaw of a walrus was found by
Mr. Lyell in this formation in Maine.

Of the conchifera belonging to this deposit, the Saricava rugosa, and the Sanguinolaria,
have a wide distribution ; the remaining species are quite limited, and are confined to one
or two places on the borders of Lake Champlain and of the River St. Lawrence. At
Beauport, a village four miles from the city of Quebec, about fifteen species of fossils have
been found, all of them distributed throughout a single bank of clay and sand. Some of the
same species inhabit the northern seas ; and hence Mr. Lyell maintains, that during the era
of this deposit, the temperature of the part of the continent where these fossils are now found
was lower than itis at present. Doubts are thrown over the justness of this conclusion,
by the fact that some of the species are the present inhabitants of the Atlantic ocean on
the coast of Maine; that marine animals have a wide distribution; and as our waters have

———

TERTIARY SYSTEM. 203

not been examined very carefully, it is not at all improbable but that all may yet be found
in the range of latitude which these fossils themselves now occupy. We have reason to
expect this.

Upon Lake Champlain, Port Kent is the best point for procuring these fossils. The
locality is about eighty rods south of the steamboat landing, in the clay bank, twenty-five
feet above the level of the lake. If the shells are immersed in a weak solution of glue,
the colors will revive and become permanent.

For additional facts respecting this formation, see the Report of the Second district, in
which the fossils are figured.

The Tertiary system, as already stated, extends into the valley of the Hudson. The
fact of its extension is sustained by its continuity with that in the valley or basin of the
Champlain. The character of the formation, in its southern prolongation, does not differ
essentially from that already given. It may be regarded as extending to New-York bay,
and probably westward into the valley of the Mohawk. Its full extent, however, can not
be clearly defined. Its composition is quite uniform, as will appear by the analysis of the
clay obtained at distant points. At Albany, this clay is an important material for making
brick. In the process of extending the bounds of the city, a mass from ten to twenty feet
thick has been removed, in order to bring the surface to a uniform grade. The banks
exposed by this operation often present many curious contortions, of an anomalous cha-
racter, and difficult to explain. A mass of ten feet thickness which has been exposed by
a vertical section, is highly contorted, while its base rests upon horizontal strata. An
illustration of this curious contortion is furnished in the following cut (fig. 33). A portion

Fig. 33.

on the left, which is bent, rests on the undisturbed clay bed below : in the middle it is still
more centorted, and is a miniature representation of phenomena which are often witnessed
in slates and shales of the different formations, and usually explained by the action of some
uplifting force, accompanied by lateral pressure. This explanation is properly given in
many instances. These contortions of the clay beds, however, seem to indicate the possi-
bility of their production by other causes; for there will be found but few persons, who,
after examining the instances here specified, will advocate the doctrine that these clay
beds have been forced upward or wrinkled by lateral pressure, in the mode this force is
usually supposed to act. It appears, after a careful examination of the circumstaces at-
tending these irregularities, that they take place at points where the adjacent beds have
been removed: they are then left unsupported on one side; and in consequence of this

26*

204 TERTIARY SYSTEM.

state of the beds, they are liable to slide down in mass. This movement may extend for
some considerable distance, and sometimes the sand has flowed into and filled the exca-
vations. There are, also, occasional faults in the clay and sand beds; and, as in other
cases of a like nature among rocks, these faults give origin to springs.

In the excavations in the city of Albany, a boulder is sometimes found in the clay, but
always near the top of the formation. This assertion is intended to be confined to the true
sedimentary beds: it does not apply to the drift beds, which are sometimes exposed in
this valley. They repose generally upon the rock, and belong to the base of the forma-
tion, or to that moderate drift period which followed the deposition of the clay and sand
beds whose strata are uniform and unbroken, and which are comparatively free from
coarse sand, gravel and boulders.

The sand of this formation is yellowish, porous, and rather barren. There are beds,
however, which are quite the reverse of this, and are really remarkable; they form the
excellent moulding sand so well known in the vicinity of Albany. It is a sand which is
evenly mixed with loam, and which retains a certain amount of moisture under all cir-
cumstances. Even when exposed in heaps in dry weather, it appears moist beneath the
surface, and when pressed in the hand, retains the shape and form given it. This sand,
too, forms an excellent soil, of which we shall have occasion to speak hereafter.

§ 3. Maru anp PEAT.

Before dismissing those formations which have been called tertiary and post-tertiary, it
is proper to speak of the deposits which are considered by all geologists as the most recent,
and which really are the proximate formations that connect the modern deposits with the
ancient; the present, with the past; and in which geological changes bear an aspect more
real than those of the Carboniferous or Silurian era. It is by means of the fossils of a period
just anterior to the present, and which is not to be regarded precisely as a tangent to it,
but rather as forming with it a continuous portion of a great circle, that we may familiarize
our minds with the nature of those peculiar changes and phenomena which clothe the
history of the earth with so much interest. Just before us, there lived races of animals,
whose forms and whose habits scarcely differed from those which are now familiar to us:
they were really members of different families at present existing and known to us,
having affinities and relationships with them of the closest kind. Knowing the living and
the present, we also know the dead and the past. Conjoined in both periods, we have
the last term of a series, from which we may travel back to the remoter periods, and trace
up the analogies as they have been successively developed. We judge the past by the
present; and from the store of knowledge accumulated by modern discovery and modern
induction, we are enabled to supply many of the links which are wanting to complete
the system of a perfect scale of being, such as shall represent the whole of life and
organization as it was made for the earth. The chain is complete, and its extremities are
united in one eternally revolving circle of life. It looks an ocean of being, formed by the

“5

MARL AND PEAT. 205

contribution of vast numbers of streams of all grades of magnitude, meandering and in-
osculating in a thousand arbitrary ways, but all finally merging in the great deep of
unfathomable existence.

The marl and peat beds rest upon a diluvial stratum, that seems to have been formed
immediately after the Champlain tertiary ; and, at first view, they seem to be but insigni-
ficant formations. They are not, however, so very insignificant, if the presence of fossils
can impart importance to a formation; for in these beds, the remains of extinct elephants,
mastodons or mammoths, and the gigantic beaver and deer, are deposited. Though these
formations are never very extensive, or spread widely over a country continuously, yet
they are numerous: they make up in number, what they lack in breadth. They occupy
shallow basin-form depressions, which were once submerged by small bodies of fresh
water. The marl formation itself is a white calcareous earth, which is never consolidated.
There is no regularity in the depth of this earth: it varies from one or two feet, to sixty.
Peat, a peculiar vegetable product, usually overlies it, though it is not always present:
the order is never reversed; the marl never rests on the peat, but the latter often exists
independently of the former.

It is scarcely necessary that we should attempt to describe the localities where these
materials exist. It is sufficient to remark, in this place, that they are numerous in all the
counties bordering the Hudson river, and the Erie and Champlain canals. Peat beds
occur by themselves in most of the highland marshes, and marl occasionally in high
primary districts at a distance from calcareous rocks.

The fossils of these formations have been alluded to, and it is only recently that they
have assumed the interest to which they are entitled. Formerly there were too few of them
known to attract much attention, and their position was not sufficiently well determined to
enable geologists to found upon their existence an opinion as it regards the period of their
extinction. The obscurity in which this question was shrouded, has been partially re-
moved by the determination of the relative position of the beds in which the fossils have
been found. The beds are situated uniformly in the following order: 1. Diluvial gravel
and boulders; 2. Fine sediment of blue clay; 3. Marl; 4. Peat. The two inferior beds
are below the fossils; and the marl, which is the thinnest deposit, is the principal reposi-
tory of the remains of quadrupeds. The following animals have been found in this forma-
tion: The elephant; the mastodon or mammoth; two species of deer; an animal closely
allied to the beaver, first discovered in Ohio, but since found in the Cayuga marshes in
this State; the ox; the horse; and the sheep, or an animal belonging the family. All
the species found in this deposit are extinct; although the freshwater mollusca, which
abound in them, are still living in all our freshwater bays.

From the preceding facts, it is obvious that these animals have become extinct since the
drift period, an inference which is warranted from the uniform position of the marl and
peat beds. This inference is sustained by the state of the bones, which still contain gela-
tine or other organic matter: they are not fossilized, as all the older remains usually are.

206 TERTIARY SYSTEM.

The cause which operated so extensively, and which resulted in the total extinction of
these vigorous races, is only to be conjectured. We have no data on which to found a
rational hypothesis concerning it. Whatever it may have been, it was one affecting the
same races over an immensely extended territory ; one which operated over the whole of
the northern part of this continent, as well as in that of Europe.

CHAPTER VII.

ORIGIN, DISTRIBUTION, AND CLASSIFICATION OF THE SOILS OF
NEW-YORK.

I. ORIGIN OF SOILs. II. DISTRIBUTION OF SOILS : DILUVIAL ACTION ; TRANSPORTATION OF BOULDERS ; SCORING OF
ROCKS : CAUSES OF DILUVIAL ACTION : ERA OF DILUVIAL ACTION : FINAL CAUSE OF DILUVIAL ACTION. It.
CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS; ELEMENTS OF SOILS; TEMPERATURE OF SOILS; RELATIONS OF SOILS TO THE ROCKS
ON WHICH THEY REPOSE ; ANALYSIS OF SOILS, REMARKS ON CLIMATE,

In the two preceding chapters, we have given a description of the rocks of the State, and
determined their range and location; and we now proceed to investigate the origin of the
soil, and the manner of its distribution.

I. ORIGIN OF SOILS.

In describing the rocks of New-York, we have had occasion to refer to the mode in
which sedimentary rocks are formed; the first step in the process being a destructive one
upon the solid strata, by which the exposed surfaces are abraded. Several causes combine
to produce this result, each of which varies in intensity according to certain circumstances.
One of the ordinary effects of water is to dissolve the materials composing a rock, the disso-
lution being promoted by the presence of carbonic acid held in solution by the water. All
rocks containing carbonate of lime, are dissolved more or less by water charged with this
acid. The materials thus dissolved, and held in chemical solution, are not deposited at once.
If the water is saturated, or nearly so, the carbonate of lime will separate by crystallization,
especially if the fluid be diminished afterwards by evaporation; and it appears that water,
highly charged with carbonic acid, may dissolve a large quantity of solid matter, as car-
bonate of lime, magnesia or iron, or other bases. In these instances, all that is required,
in order that a deposit should be made, is that a portion of the carbonic acid be set free ; and
this takes place when the solution is exposed to the atmosphere. Deposits around springs
are formed in this manner: in these cases, however, the matter separated is usually hard
and crystalline. In the same manner, deposits, not inconsiderable in extent, may be
formed in the ocean,

208 ORIGIN OF SOILS.

But this mode of waste of the existing solid rocks is not the one by which soils are made :
these originate almost exclusively from mechanical action by abrasion, and from at-
mospheric influences, by which particles are separated from the rock and from each other.
This atmospheric action, however, is promoted by certain chemical changes among the
elements of the rock. Iron, in a state of protoxide, absorbs another equivalent of oxygen
from the atmosphere, and is converted into the peroxide, and such a change would be
one step towards disintegration. So almost any change whatever in the constitution of
the elements of a rock, though it is only a mechanical product, will be followed by a se-
paration of its parts. All changes affecting the composition of a rock are promoted or
aided by frost. Water is absorbed more or less by rocks during the frosts of winter, and
the superficial portions gradually crumble and become detached. The exposed surface is
thus greatly increased, and hence the chemical changes are proportionally promoted.

The nature of the rock itself may or may not favor disintegration. Rocks whose ele-
ments contain an alkali, or alkaline earth, undergo changes by which they are directly
converted into soils. Some granites and greenstones are of this description. Aluminous
rocks, soft slates and shales, are eminently disposed to disintegration: they break down
by moisture, without freezing. The presence of sulphuret of iron in these, or in any other
rocks, promotes those changes by which they become soils, especially when the iron is in
the state of a protosulphuret. Other rocks, the pure sandstones and limestones, are acted
upon more slowly.

Another condition which promotes the formation of soils, is the alternation of hard and
soft layers; the latter are destroyed, leaving those which rest upon them to fall by their
own weight.

Rocks exposed on the tops of mountains decay rapidly: the intensity of the frost, and
the length of time during which they are exposed to it; the suddenness of the changes of
temperature to which they are subjected ; and the dampness of the air during the summer,
when watery vapours condense upon their summits and sides, are circumstances that favor
the destruction of rocks in these places.

With these causes in continual operation, the solid strata are broken down into soil.
No matter how hard the rock may be: some change takes place ; some impression is made
upon it, and some matter is separated from it, which goes to increase the amount of debris
covering the surface of the earth.

If these, however, were the only causes in operation; if there were no other movements
than those of the simple separation of the particles of rock from each other, the soil would
be very different from what we now find it: it would be less in quantity, or thinner,
over the whole earth, and its general characters would be somewhat different. Each rock
would then be covered by its own debris, and the soil would partake exclusively of the
character of the rock from which it is derived. But soil or debris, when formed, is not
suffered to remain in situ ; and this leads us to the consideration of those causes by which
it is and has been distributed.

DISTRIBUTION OF SOILS. 209

II. DISTRIBUTION OF SOILS.

The common agent, which is now general, and is quite effective in the distribution of
soils, is water. We might consider, were it necessary, the many ways by which water
transports soil from place to place, and the times when its action is the most powerful ;
but it seems unnecessary to dwell upon the latter question. We need only to recognize
this particular power of water, for the purpose of familiarizing us with the fact that all
running water bears along sediment, and leaves it when the force of the current dimi-
nishes: the coarsest portion is deposited early; the finer is carried forwards farther, and
the extremely comminuted material may be moved as long as the current moves at all.
When it has reached the point of destination, and ceases to move forward, all the sus-
pended material falls to the bottom, and there forms a fine layer of sand or mud. Trans-
portation from the higher grounds to the lower, takes place during every rain or shower,
and meadow land is partially formed in this way. The higher grounds are continually
losing, and the lower are gaining: the former become thinner, and the latter thicker.

We recognize a power, then, in water, to transport and carry along materials which
have been already separated from their parent rock: this is only an ordinary movement,
an almost daily operation. But we can not, if we are acquainted with all the facts bearing
upon this subject, regard these daily operations as the only ones by which the soil has been
distributed in the manner we find it over the face of the earth. There are evidences clear
and indisputable of a general movement of the soil, together with all the loose rocks, aside
from and in addition to the ordinary movements to which it has been subjected, which
can not be explained by any cause or causes now in operation. Such a movement as is
here alluded to has been recognized over a great part of the earth, but more especially in
the northern hemisphere; and from its strongly marked features, from the indelible evi-
dences which this movement has left in its own characteristic phenomena, all geologists
now agree in stating alike the main facts by which it is known and distinguished. The
movement here referred to has usually been described under the name of diluvial action,
on the hypothesis that it took place at the time of the deluge.

This subject may be treated under the following heads :

1. The phenomena of diluvial action.
2. The mode in which the soil of New-York was distributed by diluvial action.
3. The causes of diluvial action.

§ 1. PHENOMENA OF DILUVIAL ACTION.

Although the descriptive name, diluvial action, is retained, we do not wish to be under-
stood to say that the Noachian deluge had any thing to do with it: it may, or it may not,
have taken place at that time. We only mean to be understood, by employing these
words, that it was by a catastrophe, allied in character and kind to that which overwhelmed

[AcricuLTuraL Report. ] 27

210 DISTRIBUTION OF SOILS.

the earth in the days of Noah. The record of such a catastrophe is contained in two re-
markable phenomena: first, the presence of immense rocks, generally called boulders, in
places where they could not have been put by any human means; and secondly, by the
occurrence of marks or scorings upon the surfaces of rocks, which could not be made by
causes such as are now in operation.

Transportation of boulders. The occurrence of rocks in the soil or upon it, or upon other
naked rocks, of a kind different from any in the immediate vicinity, is a phenomenon that
arrested the attention of the earliest observers. For example, detached masses of granite and
gneiss were found resting upon limestone or slate, or upon recent sedimentary rocks ; or, on
the contrary, detached sedimentary rocks were found reposing upon granite or gneiss, the
general phenomenon consisting in the presence of a loose rock at a distance from its known
parent bed. The importance and interest of this phenomenon is increased, when we take
into consideration the great distance which the fragment has sometimes travelled, a distance
which is often susceptible of determination by direct proof. Where the boulder consists of
a particular kind of granite, or of a peculiar variety of rock, it may often be referred to a
distant locality of rocks identical with it in constitution. In proof of this assertion, we may
state that hypersthene rock has been found in fragments on the Catskill range, and in Orange
county and elsewhere; but this peculiar rock is known to exist in situ nowhere in this
State, except in Essex county, where it forms the nucleus of the Adirondack mountains.
In this case, then, the inference is, that by some means or other, the boulders of hyper-
sthene rock, found in Orange county, were brought from Essex ; and what strengthens this
inference, is the fact that they are strewed along in this direction to the very mountains
themselves, that is, they may be traced to their beds. This single fact is illustrative of this
part of the subject, namely, that all boulders or loose stones, occurring far away from their
parent beds, have suffered transportation.

We may extend this subject farther. If the soil is sufficiently examined, it will often
be found composed of materials different from any in the vicinity. Thus, mica in glim-
mering scales is seen among the soil of an argillaceous slate, or of a limestone district:
hence the inference that the soil has been brought from a distance ; and as the soil and the
boulders are mixed together, we can scarcely avoid the conclusion that they have been
transported together, perhaps in mass and from one district. All these facts, however,
may be kept apart from hypothesis, and it may be that in the facts alone is comprised all
that need be said upon the subject.

There is another circumstance which it is here necessary to inquire into, namely, the
direction in which the soil and boulders have been carried. On this point, we refer to
what has just been said concerning the boulders of hypersthene found in Orange county :
these are located nearly south from the mountains of Essex county, where they originated ;
and we may say, for once, that this instance represents, in general, the direction in which
all the boulders and soil of the northern hemisphere have been transferred. We must, it
is true, admit of some variation in the direction of these movements; but it is remarkable

DISTRIBUTION OF SOILS. 211

that this variation is confined between the limits of a southeast and a southwest course,
with a few interesting exceptions which will be given in the sequel. The number of re-
corded observations which go to establish the general fact of a southerly distribution of the
soil and boulders, is extremely great, and is .gathered from the whole extent of country
between the Atlantic ocean and the base of the Rocky mountains ; and no instance has
happened in which a boulder has travelled northwardly, or been found in a situation with
its parent rock towards the south. The two great facts, then, which geologists have been
-able to establish on this question as general, are, first, the transportation of rocks and soils ;
and, secondly, the southerly direction in which they have been uniformly carried. Ac-
cording to this general announcement, a soil occupying any given situation, if out of place,
lies south of the rock which gave it origin; and the pebbles which are large enough to be
readily distinguished, indicate the origin of the soil, or the rock to which it belongs. If
we find many limestone pebbles, or if lumps of earth are found to effervesce with vinegar
or other acids, it shows that the soil is formed of the debris of a calcareous rock.

A soil which contains many pebbles, or rolled stones like paving stones, is frequently
called drift, a term which is convenient, as well as short. All soils which have been
transported, may be termed drift ; but where cobblestones make up a large proportion of
a formation, the evidence of its having been drifted is obvious, and hence the term is
usually confined to beds exhibiting these sure marks of transportation. The term drift,
however, would not be properly applied to a pebbly beach.

Scored surfaces. The second phenomenon above mentioned, which is believed to be
somehow connected with the transportation of soils, is an effect observed upon hard sur-
faces over which the drifting soil has passed. The upper surface of most hard rocks, of
whatever age they may be, is scratched, grooved, or sometimes polished. These effects
differ at different places, according to the nature of the materials which have passed over
the surface. If these materials were coarse and heavy, deep scorings seem to have been
the only result; if of a finer texture, the surface is slightly scratched, or it may be polished,
an effect which can not be produced by coarse substances. The markings vary in degree,
from the slightest scratch, to a groove four or five inches in depth. The direction of these
scratches or grooves is southerly ; and it is a curious fact that they are not made in vary-
ing directions, and without order, but always correspond to the direction which, from other
considerations, we find the soil to have taken in its transportation: in other words, the
grooves run in a southerly direction, and are parallel in sets; and, as a general rule, their
directions are confined within the limits of the southeast and southwest points of the com-
pass. From this correspondence between the direction of the grooves, and that of the
transportation of the boulders and soil, we are legitimately authorised to associate the two
phenomena as cotemporaneous effects of one common cause, whatever that cause may
have been. This interpretation seems to be borne out by the fact, that in uncovering a
rock of its soil, which we usually denominate drift, the bottom boulders are frequently
found each occupying the groove it had made, like a plough left in its furrow; and like

27°

212 DISTRIBUTION OF SOILS.

as the furrow extends no further than the point at which the plough was arrested in its
motion, so the groove formed by the moving rock stops with the rock itself. From these
and kindred facts, we infer the general transportation of the soil, or at least of that portion
of it which is called drift, and which in some parts of the country forms three-fourths of
its entire contents.

In order to put the reader in possession of all that relates to this subject, we must dwell
a little longer upon it, and state some exceptions to the statements above given. The
direction we have assigned as that of the general movement of the boulders and drift, is
that which is indicated by extended observations; but some instances of deviation have
been observed, in which the drift has been spread over a wider area, and surpassed the
limits we have given as those of its direction. In some cases, drift has been forced from
its wonted direction by obstacles to its progress; and in others, it has evidently followed
the course of pre-existing vallies. As examples of both eases, we may state that the di-
rection of the grooves upon the slate of the Hudson and Champlain vallies is conformable
to the direction of these vallies; and where the direction of the grooves of a number of
vallies is compared with that of the vallies themselves, there is quite a coincidence. The
most remarkable exception we have observed to the general direction of the grooves above
stated, occurs in the Catskill mountains. As we approach these mountains from the north,
we find the grooves directed towards the base of the mountains ; but on reaching the base,
on the side toward the Hudson river, the grooves are deflected decidedly to the east, and
this deflection is the greatest in the gorges and mountain vallies. On the several routes
which wind around the spurs, the grooves point directly east and west by the compass, in
all cases where the vallies themselves run east and west, thus forming a right angle with
the direction of the grooves at the northern base of the range; a change of direction evi-
dently produced by the obstacles met by the moving current, and which deflected it to the
eastward. These exceptional cases, however, are local, and very few in comparison to.
those in which the grooves maintain the general direction from north to south ; nevertheless
they are invested with much interest, and seem to point out that the general shape and
contour of the surface, at the time our soils were undergoing transportation, were much
the same as they are now, although that surface itself was essentially modified by the-
operation which accumulated upon it these loose materials from a distance.

§ 2. DisTRIBUTION OF SOILS BY DILUVIAL ACTION.

We come now to the consideration of the local distribution of soils, and more especially
the particular manner in which the soil of New-York has been distributed. Boulders, in
the first place, are usually distributed in belts upon the hills or elevated grounds, and val-
lies are comparatively free from those which have travelled a great distance. Boulders
are rarely found in vallies, flat lands, or meadows; but they are so much the more nume-
rous upon hillsides, that some special condition must have favored their tendency to lodge
in these situations. We merely advert to this general fact in this place, however, and pro-
ceed to inquire into their geographical distribution.

DISTRIBUTION OF SOILS. 213

Beginning on the eastern borders of the State, and proceeding westward, we may ar-
range the soil and boulders in separate and distinct belts. The first belt, according to this
view, comprises the soil and boulders resting upon the Taconic system of rocks, which
borders the State eastwardly. Here almost all of the boulders, and the whole of the soil,
consist of the debris of the Taconic rocks. Now it has been found that this system of rocks
ranges far north, and in the direction which the drift has travelled : hence the soil is what
it would be had it never been moved at all ; it is the soil of the rock upon which it reposes.
This forms the first belt, and extends to the slope of the valley of the Hudson river. In
the valley, however, we begin to find the rocks and soil of the lower part of the New-York
system, together with a few granitic, gneissoid, and hornblendic boulders ; but these con-
stitute only a small proportion of the matters composing the soil of the valley. From the
eastern rise of the Hudson valley, to a point a few miles west of the city of Schenectady,
the boulders and soil are derived from the Champlain group: this constitutes the second
belt. At and near the village of Amsterdam, and extending perhaps as far west as Cana-
joharie, hypersthene boulders are quite numerous, and serve to characterize a belt, which,
so far as boulders are concerned, is somewhat peculiar, by the presence of a great number
from the Adirondack mountains: it is therefore considered as a distinct belt, although the
soil is still that derived from the Hudson-river or Champlain rocks. This is the belt of
boulders that extends south into Orange county, and perhaps much farther in the same
direction.

West of Littlefalls, the Potsdam and Medina sandstone, together with the Calciferous
sandrock, and also the Primary rocks of the western slope of the high grounds of Jefferson
and St. Lawrence counties, abound ; but in Herkimer county, or the eastern part of Oneida,
we believe the hypersthene boulders are not found, or at least are not so numerous. When
we reach that belt, however, which ranges along the St. Lawrence river, hypersthene
boulders are again common. But here there seems to be a range or belt of them entirely
distinct from those of the Adirondack mountains, which are found in the belt at or near
Amsterdam. The former can not be traced to these mountains, but range onwards farther
to the north, and probably extend to Labrador, or the great primary region of Canada
West. This hypersthene belt is much wider than the first, and even reaches the borders
of Lake Erie.

On the line of the Erie canal, it is impossible to distinguish belts of boulders, for as
soon as we pass the Little falls and Herkimer county, the sedimenary rocks begin to trend
to the west, and from hence the boulders of Medina sandstone extend to Lake Erie. There
can be distinguished, then, only two belts between the village of Littlefalls and Lake Erie.
Still some of the rocks form distinct bands of drift: the Niagara limestone, for example, at
Rochester, has been carried a few miles south from that city, where its fragments lie in
great numbers, and in their original angular condition, without the least change having
been wrought upon their sharp corners. This is sometimes the case with other boulders
also, but they are usually more or less rounded.

214 DISTRIBUTION OF SOILS.

In the middle and western counties of New-York, where the outcrop of the rocks is north,
and where the line of strike is nearly east and west, the soil of each rock is carried south
upon the next one above, or perhaps beyond it. Here then the character of the soil of a
belt running east and west, is modified by intermixture with that derived from a rock at a
distance. For illustration, we may cite the soil of the Medina sandstone, which, cropping
out on the south shore of Lake Ontario, its debris is found overlying the next group of
rocks south of it; and a similar change has taken place with the soil of the Onondaga-salt
group, which is carried up to the Onondaga limestone, and even still farther south, and it
thus modifies the soil embraced in a belt twenty-five or thirty miles south. To this fact,
the lands south are greatly indebted for their excellent properties in bearing wheat; but
we shall have occasion to speak more particularly of this hereafter.

If the strike of the rocks of Western New-York was parallel to the Taconic range, the
distribution of the soil would have altered materially the character of the belt of country
at the base of the Allegany ridge. Notwithstanding the transport of the soil, it is not diffi-
cult to find large areas with soil composed of the debris of the rocks beneath: it results
from the rapid decomposition of the rocks, or the ease with which air and water convert
them into pulverulent matter. This too has favored the production of a great depth of
soil; and hence we find in Livingston county, and in the tier of counties in the same east
and west range, an immense depth of soil. In the Taconic range, although slates form a
large proportion of the strata, yet in consequence of the strike, and the angle at which they
are inclined to the horizon, far less debris has been formed than in Central New-York.
The strike is nearly in the direction of the drift current; and hence the effect was far less
than it would have been if the loose materials had been driven directly against the out-
cropping edges of the inferior rocks, as in the case just noticed. This is strikingly mani-
fested in’some parts of the Helderberg range, where the current encountered the outcrop-
ping edges of the thin-bedded sandstone of the upper Silurian beds, and not only broke
them up, but transported immense quantities far towards the base of the Catskill mountains,
where it lies in such profusion as to cover extensive areas with broken rocks, and thus to
render large tracts of land nearly worthless. One of the rocks that is very abundantly
strewed over the fields of Greene county, is the Oriskany sandstone, which, in consequence
of its hardness, was able to resist attrition. The drifted soil of this region is frequently
one or two hundred feet deep, and it appears in many places to have been derived from
the outcropping edges of the rocks of Albany county.

§ 3. Causes OF DILUVIAL ACTION.

We now proceed to inquire into the causes or agencies concerned in the breaking up of
rocks, and in the transportation of the debris which covered them at the time these agen-
cies or powers were called into operation. We embrace these two phenomena in the single
question concerning the transportation of soils; and in framing a hypothesis adequate to
the solution of this question, it is essential that every assumption should bear with equal

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DISTRIBUTION OF SOILS. 215

force upon each of the two phenomena, so that whatever explains the one, shall also ex-
plain the other.

In some places, boulders, the most effective instruments for scoring rocks, lie in imme-
diate contact with the scored surfaces, and in so unequivocal a relation to the grooves and
surfaces themselves, that we deem it a rational judgment that they were the immediate
agents of the work. This view excludes the hypothesis which maintains the groovings to
have been produced, in all cases, by the movement of icebergs shod with boulders and
gravel; for if the great mass of the soil has been moved as we have reason to believe, then
icebergs are incompetent to the work: they can not have pushed forward the whole coat-
ing of the northern hemisphere. That they do carry boulders and gravel, is true, and
they have assisted in the distribution of these materials over various portions of the surface
of the earth; but their agency in this operation becomes very insignificant, when compared
with what has actually been done: we might as well attribute the work to our mountain
Fills.

Our view also excludes the hypothesis which ascribes the scoring of our rocks to the
operation of glaciers. A general movement and transport of the entire body of the soil, is
a condition of the surface totally at variance with the existence and motion of glaciers.
The glacier hypothesis necessarily supposes a state of things entirely different from that
which evidently existed during the drift period. It supposes a high region, or one of per-
petual frost, surrounded by a mild and temperate one, toward which the melting glacier
slides, bearing along its burthen of rocks and stones and gravel. Such a hypothesis im-
plies the existence of an elevated region from which the striz would diverge, or an elevated
centre towards which they would point; but the facts themselves furnish no indications
of such an arrangement. ‘The striz or grooves point southward ; and though in some
mountain passes they are deflected at right angles to the main course, yet they never
proceed from a culminating point: they even pass directly over mountains. But we deem
it unnecessary to dwell further upon this hypothesis, not because it is absurd in itself, or
destitute of facts to sustain it in its own field, but because it is inapplicable to the pheno-
mena in this country.

We have stated some objections to two theories, which are favorites with a few geolo-
gists; but in taking this liberty, we by no means wish to convey the impression that we
are confident we can propose a better theory. We have ever regarded the phenomena of
drift and diluvial action as forming the most difficult problem in the whole range of geolo-
gical inquiry. An expert theorist, possessing a full command of language and logic, may
propose a scheme which, if put into execution according to the terms of the hypotheses
and requirements, might meet the conditions required for the solution of the problem.
Waves of translation, mountain high, may be demanded, that shall travel from continent
to continent with hurricane speed, bearing in their bosoms the comminuted materials of
the earth, and forcing along enormous rocks by the vehemence of their momentum; but
the invention of a hypothesis that will plausibly account for the occurrence of a pheno-

216 DISTRIBUTION OF SOILS.

menon, is a different thing from the investigation of the manner in which that phenomenon
was really produced. There is a simplicity in the operations of nature, which it is well to
heed. The hypothesis which we have framed, is based upon two or three facts, the prin-
cipal one of which is the submergence of the northern part of our hemisphere. This
submergence is proved by the discovery of the marine formation which occupies the valley
of Lake Champlain, and which may be traced far south into the vallies of the Hudson and
the St. Lawrence rivers, while another branch extends eastward to the Gulf of St. Law-
rence. So also in the vallies and upon the coast of the State of Maine, a marine formation
is found to exist. This formation was deposited after the period of diluvial action, inas-
much as it reposes upon the scored rocks, and also upon the drift in many places where it
was left on the cessation of its transport. It is a formation that indicates a state of quiet
after one of turbulence ; for the fossils are entire, though extremely thin, and the valves
often remain attached together, which could not well have happened in such shells as the
Terebratula psittacea, if they had not been deposited during a period of quiet. The thick-
ness of this formation is about one hundred feet ; and it is now found to be three or four
hundred feet above the level of the sea, preserving at this height the character of a deposit
from an ocean in quietude.

Our hypothesis connects the transportation of the soils and scoring of the rocks, and the
submergence of this continent, as antecedent and consequent. We might add to the former
the simultaneous uplift of a continent to the north, which, displacing suddenly the waters
there existing, would give them a southward movement, with a force capable of trans-
porting all the moveable materials found in their way. A mighty rush of the waters
would thus be produced, which would be competent to tear up the exposed strata, and
bear the ruins along in constantly accumulating masses.

It is no part of our business here to attempt to offer an explanation of the causes of a
submergence. That such a change has occurred in the condition of our continent, is a
position that is borne out by many facts; not only by the existence of the marine forma-
tions of the Champlain and St. Lawrence vallies, but by the condition of all sedimentary
rocks, each of which was deposited at the bottom of a sea that has long since retired, and
now covers lands that formerly existed as continents or islands.

On considering the relations of the period of submergence above spoken of, we are in-
clined to place it in juxtaposition to that of the diluvial action, for the reason that the
marine deposit is found either upon the drift, which is the product of the diluvial period, or
else immediately upon the scored surface itself, which is one of the consequences of the
same period. This scratched surface, where the removal of the superincumbent materials
has been recently made, is as fresh as if it were made yesterday; but where it has been
exposed for a few years to the action of the waters of the lake, those of Lake Champlain,
the grooves are obliterated. It is then proved that these surfaces could not have been long
exposed to abrading action, before they were covered and defended by a deposit.

We do not propose to enter into farther attempts to explain the phenomena of the trans-

DISTRIBUTION OF SOILS. 217

portation of the rocks and soils of this country ; since they could amount to little more
than hazardous conjectures, and perhaps we have enough of these already, although we
claim to have presented a few considerations which have been too little regarded by writers
upon the subject of drift and diluvial action. We think, too, that the fact that the whole
body of the soil of this country is a transported soil, has not, to say the least, been suffi-
ciently dwelt upon, and has not had its proper weight in the framing of hypotheses to
account for diluvial action,

Era of diluvial action. We are now to inquire into the era of the transport of the soils
and rocks. Only one opinion is known to prevail upon this question: all geologists agree
in placing the diluvial period among the last of the great revolutions of the globe. We
are compelled to place it before the Noachian deluge, from considerations which seem to
prove that that time is too short to admit of the deposit of the tertiary of Lake Champlain,
which, from its position, is proved to have been deposited posterior to the drift period. All
we can say, then, is that it is comparatively a recent epoch.

Final cause of diluvial action. What was the final cause of the transaction? It may be
irrelevant to the purposes of this essay, to discuss the bearing of a question of this nature ;
still we hope it will not be found unprofitable to offer one or two remarks upon it. As in
numberless instances of less magnitude than this, we are impressed with the idea that some
special design was manifested by the accomplishment of an event, some general good
secured by it, and that this good had reference to the benefit of man; so we are now to
seek what beneficent design is manifested, what great general good has been secured, and
what benefits have enured to the human race, through the change wrought upon the sur-
face of our planet by the mighty upheavals and subsidences and currents which have
converted sea into land and land into sea. Among these benefits, no inconsiderable one
appears to us to come from the mechanical effect of the drift upon the strata. Fractures
and uplifts had rendered the earth’s surface rongh and rugged, broken and uneven; so
much so, indeed, that it would have been but a sorry field for cultivation, and for the
habitation of man. Hence we regard the drift period as having been designed for the
purpose of polishing down the strata, and removing their roughness and their asperities ;
while at the same time a vast amount of new soil was produced by the same operation,
and mixed and spread widely over the surface, serving to increase the depth of the soil,
and fill up many irregularities which then existed.

Such we regard as an epitome of the final causes of this great and astonishing event.
But are there no other instances, in the earth’s history, of similar phenomena? We answer
that there is at least one, or indications of one: it occurred in the era of the Trenton lime-
stone. During the deposit of this important rock, the process of deposition was suspended,
and in an intermediate period, diluvial action took place, wore down and polished and
grooved its surface as in the period we have just described. This fact we were the first to
observe at Plattsburgh and Cumberland head. In splitting off a layer of the limestone,
we observed that its surface was smooth, and even polished, and that the inferior surface

| AGRicuLTURAL Report. | 28

218 RELATIONS OF SOILS

was faintly scored, and the surface taken from it presented an exact cast in relief. But it
was particularly interesting to discover, on the same day, the same stratum four miles
distant, in the same condition, only the strie and grooves were much deeper than those at
the village of Plattsburgh. Of the extent of this smoothed surface, we have no means of
determining. We had, however, observed the same thing a few years before, thirty miles
south of Plattsburgh. An interesting fact in this discovery, is, that the rock above is the
same as that below. There is no change in the lithological features of the rock: neither
is there any in the fossils.

IIL RELATIONS OF THE SOILS OF NEW-YORK TO THE ROCKS ON WHICH
THEY REST.

From what has been now said of drift and diluvial action, it may be inferred that the
soils are so far removed from their parent rock, that the one upon which they now repose
can not give us much light or information of their nature or composition. This is true to
a certain extent; yet it is not so generally true in New-York, as in the New-England
States. Here, as every attentive observer must see, is a series of rocks, in the midst of
which there are many thick and heavy beds of slate and shale, and of slaty and shaly lime-
stone, which are eminently disposed to undergo disintegration. Now we have no doubt of
the statement we have already made in regard to the denudation of large areas ; still, such
is their inability to resist the changes of the climate, that in a few years the exposed and
naked surface would be covered again with soil. In all the great divisions of the New-
York system, decomposable beds occupy no inconsiderable portion of its surface. Observa-
tion fully sustains this view. A careful examination of the soil of the Onondaga-salt group
shows that it is derived from the rocks beneath : it is filled with small angular fragments,
where it is ploughed; and these may be observed in all stages of decay, from lumps of the
size of a walnut, toa fine pulverulent soil. The same is true of the Utica slate and the
slates of the Trenton limestone, and of the Marcellus shales and the Niagara green slate
or shale. Hence, though a most thorough removal of the whole soil of the early periods
may have taken place, yet the rocks of this State are such that they would soon be covered
again by their own debris ; but we by no means suppose that this remark applies to every
part of the Un on, or even to all parts of this State indiscriminately.

But we do not wish to be misunderstood in these remarks. It is true, that for large
areas, the soil is derived directly from the rock upon which it rests; still it is not identical
in composition with the rock. The rocks, when pulverized, give quite a different analysis
from that which results from the soil. This is an important fact, and could not have been
known except by analysis and by experiment, though such a result is in accordance with

TO THE ROCKS ON WHICH THEY REPOSE. 219

other known facts. It appears that rocks must yield to atmospheric influence, and the
more so as their surface is increased; and hence upon rough surfaces the effects are far
greater than on smooth ones, and still greater where the natural joints are open and admit
water, which, on freezing, exerts its ordinary effects by expansion ; and as these effects
continue, the most stable materials are finally broken up and removed ; and when com-
pletely reduced to soil, they have already lost a large part of their soluble matter, whatever
itmay have been. The debris is then composed of the most insoluble parts or elements,
as silica and the silicates, alumina, and oxide of iron; and the probability is that all soils
would, in the end, other things being equal, be reduced to about the same state. If two
kinds of soil were treated with water, or washed upon a filter, the soluble matter would
soon be removed from each, and they would be reduced to about the same value. The
difference in the value of soils is often preserved by the natural vegetation, an effect due
to the power, which vegetables possess, of taking up by their roots the soluble matter, and
conveying it to the surface; and so long as a soil is covered with a natural vegetation, no
matter how heavy or how rank it is, the surface grows richer. By this means a certain
amount of inorganic matter, essential to vegetation, will be always preserved at the surface,
provided it is not ploughed or put under artificial cultivation; for then, aside from what
is removed, the ploughing and stirring of the soil exposes it to the water, which percolates
through it, carrying the soluble matter from the surface beyond the reach of roots. The
result then is, that a soil differs more and more from the rock from which it is derived, by
gradually losing some of the elements which were contained in the rock. What the rock
does not contain, will be absent from the soil, but the proportions will vary. Knowing
then the composition of the rock, we only know what the soil probably contains, and what
it certainly does not; making due allowance for the loss of soluble matter, which it must
sustain under a course of cultivation.

The amount of material essential to the growth of good crops, can be learned only from
analysis. The information to be derived from the rock beneath, embraces that knowledge
which concerns the kind of elements, and not their amount, except in those cases where
there is always a supply. Silex, and probably alumina and iron, are so generally diffused,
that it is not difficult to determine the fact of their presence or absence by mere inspection.

One important effect which has not been fully stated in regard to the transportation of
the soils of New-York, is this: the softer rocks have been made to contribute largely to
those of the harder ones. The harder rocks, in the first place, resisted the force of the
diluvial current; they checked its force, and hence the debris which was borne along was
deposited at those places where the resistance was the greatest. It is for this reason that
the north and northwest slopes are coated with an enormous depth of soil. The slopes of
Livingston county have a greater amount of soil from the Onondaga shales, or Salt group,
than Onondaga county itself. The wheat clays and wheat sands of Livingston came
mostly from the Salt group, and the soil is deeper and more abundant than in Onondaga.

28*

220 ELEMENTS OF SOILS.

The same kind of soil bottoms the vallies far south: even the Chemung vallies are greatly
indebted to the soft rocks of Onondaga for fertile soil, but it does not reach the hill-sides.

The soils of the primary rocks, especially those of Franklin county, have acquired much
additional material from the Hudson-river shales of Canada; and a vast amount from the
north is lodged on the northern slope of Franklin and Clinton counties, from Lake Cham-
plain to the St. Lawrence river. It does not extend very far south, however, and most of
the soil of this primary region is derived from the rocks themselves. .

In proceeding, then, to the examination of the soils of a district, especially if we wish
to make a comparison between them and the underlying rock, the first step is to determine
whether our soil is from a drift bed, or if it is filled with many large and small rounded
pebbles of some other rock ; if so, we can not get much light upon the nature of the soil
from the rock beneath. The pebbles, in this case, are sufficient of themselves to give
some information of the probable nature and composition of the soil: if they consist of
limestone, lime will probably be found in the soil ; if of slate or shale, there is the same
indication, though it is not so important; but if the pebbles consist of silex, or sandstone
gravel, the inference is decidedly negative so far as lime is concerned. Siliceous pebbles
exert simply a mechanical effect, but that effect is valuable,

1V. ELEMENTS OF SOILS.

PROPERTIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE ELEMENTS IN THEIR INDIVIDUAL AND COMBINED
CAPACITIES.

Of the fifty-eight elements of matter, only about fifteen enter into the composition of
vegetables, if we disregard marine plants. These fifteen elements are all found in soils,
and are all necessary and essential parts of it. Each may be said to have its peculiar
function: it may be entirely useless so far as it is considered an element of a particular
vegetable, but highly important in imparting a certain condition to the soil. The office
of these elements is twofold: first, as performing a specific function in the organization
of a living body; and secondly, as giving a particular state or condition to the soil: the
first office is vital, the second mechanical.

We have been considering elements, by which is usually meant a simple undecomposed
body, as iron, gold, silver, oxygen, chlorine. This is not the state, however, in which
they enter into the soil, or into plants; in their uncombined state, they are unsuited to
either place. Hence we always find iron combined with some other element; and so also
of sulphur, nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon, etc. The diamond (pure crystallized carbon) ,
reduced to an impalpable powder, would be totally valueless as food for plants. Oxygen

db

ELEMENTS OF SOILS. 221

must at least be diluted with nitrogen, else it destroys rather than promotes the healthy
functions of organic bodies; and as respects nitrogen.by itself, we have no proof that it is
ever received into the constitution of an organic body. We shall therefore consider the
elements of soil in their compound state. Elements in this state act as simple bodies:
they are homogeneous ; and when they enter into combination, it has the force of a simple
substance. Every particle, however minute it may be conceived to be, is still composed
of the same matter. In carbonic acid, the pure carbon of the particle is incrt: it is the
oxygen which combines and brings about the result.

The elements, as now explained, may be divided into two classes: 1. Those which are
essential to all organized bodies, and hence are called organic elements; and 2. Those
which compose the inorganic world, and hence have received the name of inorganic mat-
ter. The first class numbers only four elements, namely, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen,
and carbon. The second class comprises eleven elements, namely, silex, alumina, lime,
magnesia, potash, soda, sulphur, phosphorus, chlorine, iron, and perhaps manganese.

Oxycen. When free, it is a gas, or an invisible aériform body. Its weight is a little
greater than that of atmospheric air. Its constitution is such that it is ready to combine
with all other bodies; and, in the act of combining, it gives rise to one general pheno-
menon, termed combustion: the only difference which belongs to specific cases, is the
rapidity of combination, the end or result being exactly the same. Thus oxygen combines
with iron, and forms the black or red powder, frequently called the rust of iron. If the
combination goes on under the ordinary states of the air, it is an invisible action; but after
a few days, the surface is red, and the oxide is formed, consisting only of oxygen and iron.
If, however, we contrive some means by which a rapid combination takes place, it is then
accompanied with all the ordinary phenomena of combustion, the emission of heat and
light; but here it is an oxide which is formed, and nothing else, and the difference of the
two cases is one of time only; for, undoubtedly, just as much light and heat are produced
in one case as in the other; just as much ice might have been melted by the slow com-
bustion, or as much light emitted, as by the rapid one. So in all other cases there is a
combination of oxygen with some other substance ; as when wood burns, light and heat
are attendant phenomena, the combination proceeding with such rapidity as to render
itself both visible and palpable; but if the wood combines slowly with oxygen, as is the
case when it rots, then time is required to make us sensible of the change, and yet the
final result is but the reduction of the wood to the condition of an oxide as in the preceding
case. The compounds which form in these and all other combinations, are called oxides,
or acids, of the properties of which we will not now speak, but refer the reader to books
of elementary chemistry.

Oxygen is the controlling element of both organic and inorganic matter. Few sub-
stances are known which are destitute of it; and even if the number were greater than it
is, this would hardly affect the truth of the proposition. Its range of affinity is such, and
so wide, that all the other elements are usually found in combination with it. Few func-

222 ELEMENTS OF SOILS.

tions in vegetable or animal life are performed without its agency. The leaves of the
forest trees are spread out to exhale it, and the roots fill the soil to suck up fluids which
contain it. The lungs of animals expand to absorb it, and vitalize the currents of blood.
Every organ, every tissue feels its stimulus. Every thing in nature is formed with refe-
rence toit. The tiny insect and the feeble worm are subjected to its action. Every living
being breathes it; and though of the cold-blooded class, no animal can subsist without a
certain quantity to which its nature is adjusted: diminish that quantity, and the animal
languishes and dies; increase it, and the animal dies from a too rapid combustion of its
organs. Perfectly organized bodies can not withstand the effects of oxygen, if made to
inhale it in a proportion greater than one to five. Inert as vegetable life seems to be, it
will bear no more: neither will it survive a dose less than nature has provided for it.
Rocks and soils are but oxides. One half of the solid crust of the earth is oxygen. The
waters and the air are combinations of it suited to the conditions of the existence of ani-
mated nature, and these conditions are controlled by oxygen.

Hyprocen. This is the lightest aériform body whose properties have been examined: it
is sixteen times lighter than oxygen. It is combustible, and, when slowly burned, emits a
pale blue flame. If oxygen and hydrogen are brought together in contact with flame,
the combustion is instantaneous, and followed with a report loud in proportion to the
quantities employed. The product of the combustion is water, a result which proves
synthetically the composition of this fluid ; the proportions being, by volume, 2 hydrogen
and 1 oxygen; or, by weight, 1 hydrogen and 8 oxygen.

Nirrocen. This is a gas, remarkable, it is said, for its negative properties. It is lighter
than oxygen. Under ordinary circumstances, it is but feebly attractive of other bodies,
even of oxygen; and though their temperature be raised to the highest point which we
can command in the furnace, they refuse to combine. If, however, the electric spark is
passed through a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen, combustion ensues, and nitric acid is
formed. Lightning is supposed to effect a similar combination in its passage through the
atmosphere. Atmospheric air, which is considered a mixture of these two gases, contains
20 oxygen and 80 nitrogen, omitting decimals. This proportion has been regarded as
indicating a chemical union; but it seems to be explained by the fact that there is no more
free oxygen in the universe, by which the air can be charged so as to alter the proportion ;
for doubtless these two gases will mix as well in any other proportion as in that which
composes the atmosphere. It is the proportion created, and to this organic bodies and
beings are fitted.

The physical properties of the atmosphere are no less important than the chemical. Its
height, its density, and consequently its pressure, are subject to as little variation as its
composition. When in motion, its weight is diminished. It is a solvent of water, which
exists in its interstices as sugar in those of water; and, like water, its capacity for solution
under given conditions is limited. If the atmosphere was anhydrous, the bodies of animals
would be required to be anhydrous also; but the constitution of living bodies requires a

F
;

ELEMENTS OF SUILS. 223

great proportion of liquids. The physical constitution of the atmosphere being determined,
life, its functions, and its apparatus, are adjusted to those conditions.

Carson is a solid. The diamond is always referred to as an example of pure carbon,
because, when burned, the residue is carbon in union with oxygen. The common form,
charcoal, differs but slightly from the diamond in composition, but the physical properties
are quite different, although the difference is not greater than that of pure alumina and
the sapphire. So it is not improbable that, like the instance here cited, the difference is
due to crystallization. Carbon forms the solid parts of organic bodies, except those which
are formed of the compounds of lime. In the vegetable kingdom, especially, carbon is
the element which gives solidity and strength to the individual. It also enters largely
into the composition of fluids, or it may be said that this state is preparatory to a conver-
sion into the solid form. Carbon is always black when uncrystallized. Chalk and lime,
magnesia, together with a great number of other bodies of the mineral kingdom, are com-
pounds of carbon, or rather triple compounds of oxygen, carbon, and lime or some other
base. Carbon is widely distributed in both the organic and inorganic worlds. It is asso-
ciated with the oldest products of the latter, and is brought up from the lowest depths of
the earth, and hence is as ancient and consequential as any of the elements except oxygen.

Soil without carbon, very rarely, if ever, produces perfect vegetables. The experiments
which go to prove the contrary are suspicious. Soil which has been heated to redness
does not part with its carbon ; the acids do not destroy it; and hence those instances where
it has been attempted to destroy organic matter, or the carbon in soil, may be set off against
the difficulty of destroying it under circumstances more favorable. Crenic or apocrenic
acids are scarcely destroyed by a red heat, when the quantity is very small; so the organic
matter of soils is very rarely consumed, when brought to a bright redness preparatory for
analysis.

.

PRINCIPAL COMPOUNDS OF THE FOUR PRECEDING ELEMENTS.

The compounds which oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon, form among themselves,
are water, air, and carbonic acid. These will be fully treated in this place, as they are
agents of the highest importance in the economy of life.

Warer. Few substances are anhydrous; although it is necessary to premise that we do
not here mean to employ the term in its usual sense. Some substances retain water me-
chanically, and, if dried, are truly anhydrous, or without water in their constitution. We
mean, by the term anhydrous, to specify that condition of substances in which they neither
contain water mechanically by absorption, nor chemically by combination. We use the
word with a wider than the usual latitude ; and for this reason, that so far as the welfare
of either kingdom of nature is involved, the mechanical combination is as important as the
chemical.

Nearly four-fifths of the matter of animals is liquid, all of which is lost simply by drying
in the atmosphere at its natural temperature. Vegetable matter contains less. Wood

224 ELEMENTS OF SOILS.

loses, in drying, one-fourth at least; fruits and tubers, from 85 to 93 per cent; grains,
from 50 to 90 per cent. Water therefore performs an essential function in organized
matter.

Water is colorless, transparent, destitute of taste and smell. It is solid at 32° Fahr. if
agitated ; if quiet, it may be reduced still lower, and retain its fluidity; but if then agi-
tated, it solidifies, and its temperature rises to 32°. In these changes, its bulk or volume
is also altered. During the act of solidifying, it expands with great force: even its expan-
sion begins at 40°. Water passes into steam or vapor at 212° F.; one cubic inch of water
expanding to one foot of steam, or 1728 cubic inches. The boiling point, however, is de-
termined by the pressure of the atmosphere, which, at the level of the sea, is equal to a
column of mercury 30 inches high.

Water is never pure. It dissolves the air, a great number of gases, and various saline
matters, as salt, sulphates, nitrates and carbonates. Where these ingredients are in excess,
the waters are called mineral waters, and exert very frequently an important effect upon
the animal system. ;

The foreign bodies most frequently present in water, are carbonic acid, ammonia, and
atmospheric air; and when it has fallen upon the earth, and has issued again in springs,
or collected in wells, the number of its foreign ingredients is increased.

Of the amount of gases which water is capable of dissolving, we may state, that ac-
cording to the latest practical chemists, they stand as follows:

Sulphuretted hydrogen,...------------ 253.0 volumes.
GChiormés {Et 22 2k eee ee ee 434.0 «©
GCarbonic'acids (225+ 3.522 ees 206.0) *
Osyoene=- =o: $e ee 12.5), 16
Nitrogen and hydrogen, -.------------ 0.6 «&

Although water scarcely dissolves nitrogen, yet it dissolves atmospheric air ; and it is

this which gives it a pleasant and lively flavor, so refreshing when compared to distilled ©

or boiled water from which the air is expelled.

Sea water contains the accumulated soluble matters of all climes, which have been
transported to this great reservoir by rivers. When this water is frozen, the salts are
excluded from the ice; and hence, in high latitudes, fresh water is obtained by melting
blocks of ice.

Water is the standard with which the weights of all other solids and liquids are com-
pared : it is 1 in the scale of specific gravities. In this comparison, equal bulks or volumes
are compared ; thus, a cubic inch of granite is found to weigh 2} times as much as an
equal volume of water.

Tue armospHeRE. The constituents of the atmosphere have been given. It is a body
of aériform matter surrounding the earth, and exerting a pressure equal to 15 lbs. on
the square inch. The atmosphere is supposed to be acted upon by two forces, which
conjointly fix its limits, namely, its own elasticity, and the earth’s attraction. Refraction

OO I

E’EMENTS OF SOILS. 245)

indicates that the atmosphere does not extend beyond forty-five miles from the surface
of the earth, although some other phenomena would lead us to infer that 1t extends much
farther.

The sun’s rays, in passing through the atmosphere, do not impart to it a sensible amount
of heat. They pass on to the earth and are absorbed by its surface, whence the heat again
issues by radiation, and warms the lowest stratum of the atmosphere, which ascends and
communicates its heat to the other layers in succession. By contact with the earth, then, the
air is heated ; and the farther it is removed from the surface, the less caloric it receives,
ull at a certain height the uniform temperature is reduced to 32°. The height at which
this effect occurs, depends upon the quantity of heat which the earth receives from the
sun. This is greatest at the equator, and hence the point of perpetual congelation is the
highest there. Thus, at the equator, this point is 15,000 feet above the level of the sea ;
and from the equator it constantly approaches the earth, until at the poles it sinks below
the surface.

The relations of the atmosphere to heat, form one of its most important properties. Air is
ranked among the non-conductors. When confined in a space, it prevents the escape of
heat. If it was capable of being heated by the transmission of the sun’s rays, it would
render the earth uninhabitable.

Ammonia. This compound of nitrogen and hydrogen is exceedingly important in ve-
getation. Some of onr most important grains require its presence. It exists in the
atmosphere ; and it is developed in the decay of animal and vegetable substances, from
which it escapes into the atmosphere, ready to enter into new combinations. One single
property of this substance fits it to play its important part in the vegetable economy, namely,
its ready absorption by porous bodies. This property is manifested and proved in innume-
rable instances, some of which fall under observation in our ordinary manual operations ;
for example, plaster, when placed in a stable, or in any place where organic matters are
undergoing decomposition, takes up the ammonia as it escapes: lime also performs a
similar office. A direct experiment, which proves this statement, is often performed in the
laboratory ; thus, we have only to pass a little plaster, lime, charcoal, earth, etc., into a
receiver containing ammonia over mercury, when the whole of the ammonia disappears :
it is absorbed and condensed in the pores of the body employed. Any moist substance
whatever produces this effect instantaneously, so powerful is the affinity of ammonia for
water. The same process goes on in nature: the ammonia floating in the atmosphere is
continually absorbed by soils, by humus, and especially by clay ; and all these substances
give out their ammonia on the application of sufficient heat to dissipate their water. Ex-
posing fresh surfaces of soil to the air, is one means of procuring a fresh supply of this
matter. Clay, and the oxide of iron contained in the soils, perform the important function
of absorption. ‘This property of clay is the one which renders clay soils so much better for
wheat, than sandy soils: it furnishes a supply of ammonia, from which the wheat forms its
nitrogenous matters.

[AcricutturaL Report. ] 29

226 ELEMENTS OF SOILS.

Sutpnur. This well known substance is widely disseminated in the mineral kingdom,
and is also found sparingly in the vegetable and animal kingdoms. The two most common
combinations are sulphurets and sulphates. In the former condition it is combined with
the metals; in the latter, with oxygen, forming sulphuric acid. In this state it combines
with earths and alkalies, and forms salts, as sulphate of lime, of soda, of magnesia, ete.
It is an important substance. It is obtained mostly from Sicily, and is a volcanic product,
resulting from the sublimation of a native sulphuret. It may be also procured in this State,
by the roasting of certain ores in which it abounds.

Puospuorus. In its pure state, this is a white solid, highly inflammable, comparatively
soft and flexible at blood heat, and taking fire readily by friction. It is quite abundant in
the animal kingdom, in combination with oxygen, forming phosphoric acid, which, like
the sulphuric acid, combines with lime and other bases, forming salts. 'The phosphate of
lime is its most common combination. It is an essential constituent of bones, and of the
coverings of many marine animals, forming in both cases the hard substantial part of the
animal. [tis also met with in the mineral kingdom. It is contained in all good soils,
but only in small quantities when compared with the other elements. It exists in combi-
nation with lime, iron and alumina, and is detected with difficulty. Both phosphorus and
sulphur form constituent parts of proteine, which is regarded as the basis of albumen, fibrine
and caseine.

Carsonic acrp. It is a constant constituent of the atmosphere. Its origin is not known:
it is, however, a constant product of combustion and respiration, and in this way continu-
ally escapes into the atmosphere. It also escapes from the earth in the neighborhood of
volcanoes; but it is here one of the results of combustion, or of the action of heat on the
limestone contained in the interior of the earth. It is heavier than atmospheric air, and,
hence, if operated on by its specific gravity only, would always be found on the surface of
the earth; but gases, when mixed, never behave like liquids, where the heaviest finds
the bottom and the lightest the top: they, on the contrary, become equally mixed, and all
parts of a volume will be found to contain the same proportion of the heavier and the
lighter gas.

Carbonic acid is a poison. When inhaled, death speedily follows, unless means are soon
instituted for counteracting its effects. It is not simply a deprivation of oxygen. It extin-
guishes a burning taper if immersed in it, or even if it be simply poured over the taper.
Hence by trying a suspected gas with a lighted taper, it may be known whether carbonic
acid is present. When mixed with air in the proportion of 1 to 10, it still remains irrespi-
rable, producing stupor and death like a narcotic poison. Its specific gravity is 1.52. It
dissolves in water, forming an agreeable acid taste. It turns litmus paper red.

Carbonic acid is liquid under a pressure of 36 atmospheres = 15 lbs. x 36 on the square
inch. If the pressure is suddenly removed, the evaporation is so rapid that a portion of
the liquid solidifies from the loss of heat.

Carbonic acid has a wide range of affinity. It is one of the important and most common
of the compound elements. This importance is due partly to the ease with which it may

7
f

ELEMENTS OF SOILS. 227

be disengaged from the base with which it is combined ; thus we have only to heat lime-
stone, to obtain quicklime. It is a solvent’of rocks and soils.

Smex. It is a solid, the purest form of which is known as rock crystal. White sand is
often nearly as pure. It is hard, and, in these natural states, resists the atmospheric in-
fluences, and is insoluble in water. Its specific gravity is 2.66.

Silex or silica is a compound of oxygen and silicon: it is the only compound known of
these bodies in a state of purity. Silica, in consequence of its peculiar composition, and
the compounds it forms with other bodies, is regarded as an acid; and hence its combi-
nations are termed silicates, after the manner of carbonates and sulphates.

Silex is the largest constituent of the earth. It not only forms large masses, or thick
strata in the earth’s crust, but it is very frequently combined with the other elements,
forming with them the extensive class of bodies called silicates, as silicate of lime, of
magnesia, of potash, of soda, etc.

The silicates are important bodies, notwithstanding they are apparently so insoluble.
Their feeble insolubility serves an important end. Were the case reversed, and were the
elements so necessary to vegetables quite soluble, they would be speedily removed from
the soil; but with their present constitution, they remain and are dissolved slowly, and
no faster than the necessities of plants demand.

Soils are principally silicates. They are probably more so in this country than in some
parts of Europe, where chalk or some other calcareous rocks enter largely into the com-
position of the soil. In New-York, calcareous soils are unknown, notwithstanding large
areas of limestone exist.

Silex is known by its harsh gritty feel ; and where it predominates, it imparts the same
grittiness to the soil. It differs in feel from chalk ; the sensation in the latter case being
described as meagre, while that from silex is sharp and gritty. It has no adhesiveness,
and hence never coheres ; and when its particles are fine and smooth, the mass flows like
aliquid. This character in soils requires to be understood.

Atumina. Clay and alumina, although often used as synonimes, ought not to be used
in the same sense. Alumina is the pure earth, the oxide of aluminum. Clay is a silicate
in part of alumina, mixed probably with both alumina and silex. Alumina is white, like
pure silica, but, unlike that, it is soluble in acids. ~

Adhesiveness is a striking property of alumina, and also of clay ; hence the latter holds
together the substances in mixture with it. Soils are close and compact in proportion to
the quantity of clay present. In the arts, this property, or one allied to it, is highly im-
portant; for instance, a fibre of cotton, immersed in a solution of acetate of alumina,
attracts the clay and detaches it from its acid: it is thus covered with a coating of alumina.

Clay or alumina, when contained in bodies or in soils, gives to them a smooth feel,
which covers the gritty feel of silex. Such soils exhale the peculiar odor called argilla-
ceous, when they are breathed upon. The excess or deficiency of alumina is indicated
where a soil is wet, and it is capable of being rolled or kneaded ; when there is a de-
ficiency of alumina, the soil falls to pieces by its own weight.

29*

228 ELEMENTS OF SOILS.

Live. Calcium is the name of the base of lime. Neither calcium nor lime exist un-
combined in nature. The compound familiar to all, is lime combined with carbonic acid.
Rocks of limestone are found in all parts of the earth. It is the carbonate which is neces-
sary to vegetables, or some other form combined with an acid, as carbonate, sulphate,
crenate, etc. of lime. Lime has a strong attraction for carbonic acid and water ; hence,
when exposed, it absorbs both, or, as the phrase is, aiv-slacks. Carbonate of lime, ina
soil, operates in a mechanical way like silex: it has no adhesiveness. Lime is soluble in
water, and its carbonate is also soluble, especially when the water contains carbonic acid
in solution.

Carbonate of lime is known to be important to many vegetables, as it is found in their
ashes. It is equally important to animals. Bones contain phosphate of lime, and the
shells of the mollusca and testacea contain carbonate of lime.

Maenesta. It is a soft white earth, with a slight alkaline taste and alkaline reaction,
both in the state of pure earth and that of its carbonate. It is quite abundant, being a
constituent part of many rocks, as the dolomites, serpentine and steatite. It is a protoxide
of magnesium. In the earth it is found as a hydrate, a carbonate, sulphate and silicate.
It enters into the composition of the cereals. Minerals which contain magnesia have a
soft feel, as soapstone. Magnesia is sparingly soluble in water, but less so in hot than cold
water. It is a constituent of soils, especially those which bear fine crops of corn.

Porasu. It is derived by lixiviation from the ashes of vegetables. It is white. The
common potash is a protoxide of potassium. Its affinity for water is so strong, that it is
impossible to separate it except by forming a salt. In the soil, potash exists in combina-
tion with silica, forming a substance comparatively insoluble in water.

Potash is one of the essential elements of felspar: hence those rocks, such as granite
and gneiss, where felspar abounds, furnish this alkali for the vegetable world. Clays and
clay slates furnish it; and hence in some districts, those vegetables which require it are
rarely found in their highest perfection. The elm, whose wood furnishes more potash
than almost any other vegetable, flourishes remarkably on the clay bottoms of Central
New-York.

Sopa. This substance is a protoxide of sodium, and is formed when sodium is burned in
dry air or oxygen. Itis a white powder, and attracts water and carbonic acid from the
atmosphere. If the protoxide is dissolved in water, it becomes a hydrated protoxide of
sodium.

Soda forms important salts with acids, all of which, with scarcely an exception, are
soluble, and hence it is not precipitated from solutions. This property serves to distinguish
some of the salts of soda from those of potash, when it is known that one or the other is
present in a solution. This negative test of the presence of soda may be safely relied upon,
especially if we set fire to an alcoholic solution of the suspected salt ; if soda is present, a
rich and pure yellow color will be given to the flame.

Soda is employed in the manufacture of glass, and of hard soap. Soda is a milder alkali
than potash, though it is still a powerful detergent.

‘

ELEMENTS OF SOILS. 229

Oxrpe oF rron. Iron is distributed throughout the mineral kingdom. The form which is
best known is the red oxide, or red rust of iron, of which there are two kinds, called pro-
toxide and peroxide. Both exist in some soils; the first is recognized by its forming a dark
greenish precipitate with ammonia. The peroxide is found in the ashes of plants, and
when taken up, is combined either with crenic or phosphoric acid. The kernels of indian
corn contain iron; there is, therefore, no doubt that it is an essential constituent of many
vegetables.

Iron is invariably found in soils; and in addition to its use to the vegetable, the color
which it imparts to the soil is of some moment. Red and brown soils absorb more heat
than light colored ones: they are said to be warmer.

Oxie oF MANGANESE. Its color is black. It is not known as a necessary constituent of
vegetables. It gives a blackness to meadow soils sometimes ; but, so far as is known, it is
a neutral body : it may impart color to the petals of flowers.

Silex composes the greatest bulk of the soil. It is the base or support of the mineral
kingdom: it is here, what carbon is to the vegetable kingdom. Its properties are modified
by combination. Clay is the principal substance which counteracts the openness of sand.
The other elements of the soil, carbonate of lime, magnesia and oxide of iron, exert very
little influence mechanically upon it; they, however, belong, as modifiers, to the siliceous
compounds, rather than to the argillaceous ones.

V. CLASSIFICATION OF THE SOILS OF NEW-YORK.

The ordinary course of observation among agriculturists has distinguished several classes
of soils in this State, and has recorded certain facts as associated with certain kinds of soil
adapted to a peculiar practice of husbandry. Such observations have been sufficiently
extended to lead to a general classification of the soils of the State. It was observed in
the southwestern part of the State, that where the gravel and drift beds contained lime-
stone, wheat could be cultivated with success, and hence it was inferred that the limestone
region was especially adapted to the cultivation of this crop. Experience and observation
coincided in this case, and many good observers had drawn an imaginary line between the
wheat district and the grazing district. There is, however, an error in the observation,
which we shall point out in the sequel, although the error does not affect the principle of
the classification, as there is truly a wheat and a grazing district.

The common classification of soils is founded on the predominance of certain elements,
which we have just described in the foregoing pages. Where, for example, silex pre-
dominates, the soil is sandy ; and where, on the contrary, clay predominates, it is called
argillaceous: a mixture of the two with organic matter, is called loam. To be still

230 CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS.

more specific, loams were designated by the predominance of clay or silex, and thus
farmers are wont to speak of a clay loam and sandy loams. In regard to this classifica-
tion, it is not pretended that it is not useful, and it may be that it is as good as the nature
of the case admits. Theseevarieties, however, are met with on almost every farm; and
hence, on reflection, it was attempted to class the soils of New-York geologically, or
according to the products of a section of country, although these sections consist in each
case of different formations. The divisions which we have adopted seem to answer well
in the territory for which they were framed, but probably may have only a trifling value
elsewhere.

In New-York, it seemed to be necessary that a classification should embrace wide areas,
wherever it was possible to fix upon characters that would make a proper discrimination.
The subdivisions which would be adopted must of necessity be based upon facts which are
generally received, and upon differences which are readily cognizable as well as practically
useful. The division of the State into large sections, according to the natural products,
is useful particularly in giving greater clearness to our labors in the analysis of soils. It
will be found useful, were there nothing more than a simple geographical division of the
State. When, however, we speak of natural productions, as wheat, for example, it is not
intended to inculcate the opinion that wheat can not be grown in any other than what is
termed a wheat district. It is supposed that it may be better grown in this than in any
other district, taken as a whole; that in the favored districts, wheat-growing is a more
profitable business, the grain of a better quality, and the yield more abundant than else-
where. The same general remarks apply to every agricultural district. Grazing must be
followed all over the State ; but there are certain districts where the raising of cattle, and
the making of butter and cheese, is a more profitable business than the raising of wheat.
Some districts are well adapted to the culture of maize, which, for certain reasons, are not
suitable for wheat. We conceive, therefore, that districts might be marked out, each of
which should have in itself so many characters in common, and such differences as it re-
gards others, as to be considered a distinct agricultural district.

Such agricultural districts have already been sketched out, and their peculiar charac-
teristics briefly detailed in the first part of this volume. It may not appear, on a thorough
examination, that these characteristics depend on the composition of the soil. Other
conditions often determine the character of an agricultural region; these are its height,
surface, and depth of soil. It is true that certain characters relating to each condition go
together. A high mountainous region, and a thin and broken soil are associated in one
district; and such a region, whatever might be the composition of the soil, would be
unsuitable for the plow, and hence would necessarily form a grazing district. On the
contrary, a level or merely rolling surface is usually coated heavily with soil, and is
frequently smooth and arable, yet it might furnish fine pasturage ; and though the com-
position of the soil might not be entirely suited to wheat, still this would not be a bar to
its profitable cultivation, under a variety of circumstances which it is easy to imagine.

TEMPERATURE OF SOILS. 231

Labor, directed with intelligence, or guided by a full knowledge of facts, may overcome
great and serious difficulties.

Each district is underlaid by rocks unknown in the others, and which in each case have
something peculiar. Thus the Highland district is underlaid by primary rocks; the
Eastern district, by the taconic rocks; the Third district, by rocks of the Champlain divi-
sion ; the Western, by the Ontario and Helderberg divisions ; the Southern, by the shales
and sandstones of the Erie division ; the Atlantic, by seasands. In each there enters some
gelogical element, and this modifies the respective productions of the district. } The clas-
sification is also geographical, and hence convenient for reference ; and the geography too
has its influence, which is clearly seen in the length of the winters of the northern, when
compared with the middle and southern parts of the State. Height is another element
that must not be lost sight of. Climate, which is intimately connected with elevation, is a
complex condition, and must also be studied as one of the controlling conditions affecting
the husbandry of the State.

VI TEMPERATURE OF SOILS.

As the atmosphere has its own climate, so the soils have theirs, which is not, however,
independent of that of the air, but has probably a fixed relation, and is controlled by it.
The temperature of a place, if derived from observations taken just beneath the surface,
would be found to vary in its mean several degrees.

The climate of the soil has not, so far as we have observed, been determined for any
latitude: indeed we do not know that any observations have been made upon the subject.
We shall here give a few observations of our own; they may be regarded as a beginning
of an inquiry, which may result in something at least interesting if not useful. There are
certain conditions of the soil, which modify its temperature, irrespective of place or height.
The principal modifying condition is water. The influence of this is well known, and the
popular opinion here is correct: wet lands are said to be cold; the application of the thermo-
meter proves it, and this coldness is found to arise from a superabundance of water. The
coldness in question depends upon the property of evaporation: water, in passing from a
liquid form to that of vapor, takes caloric from the surrounding bodies ; and hence where
this process goes on rapidly, the surface will be kept cold by the loss of heat required to
convert a liquid into a vapor.

The following observations were made in this city, upon soil which is always slightly
shaded, or which never receives the direct rays of the sun. The bulb of the thermometer
was usually placed about seven inches below the surface. The place for inserting it was

232 TEMPERATURE OF SOILS.

opened by a shovel, but the earth was merely raised sufficiently to insert the instrument,
where it remained from ten to fifteen minutes, entirely covered with earth, the air being
shut out by pressing the earth down.

TABLE COMPARING THE TEMPERATURE OF THE EARTH AND THE ATR.

arn, | EARTH.| OBSERVATIONS. DAY HOUR AIR, | SARTH.| OBSERVATIONS.
1844, APRIL. 1844, MAY.
22 5PM 61° | 50° |Elm in full blossom.|} 23 7AM 51° | 42°
Sap ascends inthe!! .. 1PM 68 52
bark, asIhaveseen|| 24 8AM 62 50
in 20 instances to-|| .. 1PM 80 60
day. .. | 6PM 62 | 52
23 5PM 65 52 \Wind south. 25 8AM 68 62
24 7AM 50 ae 5PM 70 62
25 7AM 50 46 26 7AM 70 60
26 7AM 50 48 |Rain. a 3PM 68 64
27 7AM 31 40 27 8AM 68 64
28 7AM 44 42 |Clear. An 8PM 64
A Even’g. 61 42 |4 hours sun, 28 SAM 62 62
29 7AM 14 41 |Wind west, clear. 30 8AM 67 56
5PM 56 46 31 8AM 76 59
30 7AM 32 41
1844, JUNE.
1844, MAY. 1 SAM 56 57
1 7AM ol 46 2 8AM 66 57
2 | 7AM | 60 | 57 3 | 1PM 67 | 56 cs
3 7AM 58 93 ; 4 6AM 46 50
= 6PM 58 56 |Rain wet the earth,
as low as the bulb 1844, AUGUST.
of thermometer, 6 |.12M 76 68 Depth 8 inches.
4 SAM 56 53 : 7PM 68 65
oe 6PM 59 55 |Cloudy. 30 5PM 69 64 |Dry.
5 7AM 50 49 |Overcast.
a SAM 56 50 |Chilly. Thermome- 1844, SEPTEMBER.
ter put 13 inches|| 1 6AM | 60 | 61 |Earth, morning of2a,
deeper. 58°,
ae 4PM 67 56 nA 7PM 64 59
6 7AM 50 49 |Temp. of fresh rain 4 6AM 46 55
water 54,° fell at] .. 12M 64 56
4P.M. Air 54°.|/ .. 7PM 59 58 |Clear.
7 7AM 48 51 |Cloudy. 5 6AM 42 51
ot 1PM 52 50 Clear. oe 12M 72 59 |Dry and clear.
8 7AM 46 46 |Chilly. a 7PM 62 59
a5 1PM 62 50 |Clear, but some sho- 6 6AM 41 53 |Clear,
wers. a 12M 74 58
15 7AM 46 44 2 7PM 60 56 |Clear. No wind.
ua 12M 66 52 ih 7AM 48 54 |Foggy. .
i 6PM 62 64 - 7PM 65 58
16 6AM 56 52 8 7AM 50 56 |Foggy. |
ome 2PM 60 | 56 i 1PM 76 | 62 |
s SPM 56 54 aie 7PM 65 61 |Overcast ; sultry.
17 6PM 50 46 The earth, when
18 SAM 46 overcast, does not
ote 2PM 50 48 seem to lose its
19 SAM 54 Ad caloric.
we 4PM 62 50 9 7AM 59 59
20 SAM 50 48 i an 12M 80 62 |Hot; sultry.
Pr 12M 56 52 7PM 70 62
21 SAM 46 48 10 7AM 53 59
aie i2M 48 48 oa 1PM 84 64
“f- 5PM 41 42 Se Even’g. 70 64 Overcast.
22 8AM 40 40 11 7AM 64 62 Overcast; wind high
oe 3PM 50 46 SE.

TEMPERATURE OF SOILS. 233

TABLE CONCLUDED.

EARTH | OBSERVATIONS.

HOUR. AIR EARTH. OBSERVATIONS. DAY. HOUR AIR.
1844, SEPTEMBER, 1844, OCTOBER.
1PM 72 60 21 7AM 23 33
7PM 58 58 3PM 40 40 |Hazy.
2PM 70 65 23 7AM 40 42
7PM 66 62 /Overcast. 24 7AM 34 40 |Hazy.
7AM 58 61 |Sultry; still. 25 7AM 35 42 |Clear.
1PM 76 63 26 7AM 42 46 Night rain.
7AM 61 60 27 7AM 46 45 |Hazy.
12M 77 64 28 7AM 30 39 |No frost.
2PM 77 64 29 7AM 35 35 |Hard rain.
7PM 70 64 30 7AM 35 35
7AM 58 59 31 7AM 40 36
12M 80 64
5PM 88 65 1844, NOVEMBER.
9PM 68 64 |Clear; still. Grass 3 12M 49 39
plat 60°; surface 4 12M 40 394
earth 64°, 5 7,8 AM] 33 88
7AM 58 613 )Foggy. 6 SAM 35 37 |West wind; cloudy.
7PM 66 64 |Clear. 7 8AM 43 38
7AM 56 60 |Clear. Earth 69° on 8 SAM 40 40 Hazy.
a sunny side. 9 74 AM 32 36 |Hazy.
12M 78 63 10 SAM 24 32 |Clear.
8PM 63 63 |Wind west moderate.|| .. 12M 44 35
7AM 54 58 |Clear. a 4PM 44 38 |Wind east moderate.
12M 79 62 11 SAM 42 388 |Thunder; rain at 10
7PM 68 62 {Wind SW moderate. P.M. Wind east.
7AM 54 58 = Even’g. 49 40 |Earth saturated with
i tat 82 62 |Windy. water.
8PM 70 64 |Slight breeze. 12 7AM 36 39 |Clear.
6AM 60 62 |Clear; slight breeze.|} 13 8AM 42 42
12M 83 65 14 7AM 28 33 |Clear. Earth frozen
6PM 72 65 (Wind SE. at the surface.
12M 45 56 |Thunder with rain. 16 7AM 26 30
6PM 56 54 17 7AM 25 30 |Clear.
6AM 32 50 |Frost. ae 1PM 4 46 32% |Hazy.
83;AM] 49 48 44 6PM 43 36 |South wind all day.
7AM 52 | 52 |Cloudy. is | 9AM 26 | 30
7AM 42 52 Cloudy.
1PM 54 50 1845, APRIL.
7AM 32 46 13 1PM 54 44 |Depth, 6-7 inches.
SAM 37 39 Earth had been ex-
posed all day to the
1844, OCTOBER. sun.
7AM 50 49 /Rain. 20 7AM 44 40 |Rain and cloudy.
7AM 44 45 Wind east.
2PM 66 50 21 7AM 52 47 |Clear.
7AM 34 44 |Rained in the night.|} 24 7AM 64 58
7AM 50 47 |South wind. 25 7PM 58 52 |Rain.
7AM | 40 | 44 !Rain. 27 | 2PM 58 | 52 |Hazy. Wind SE.
7AM 50 51 jj] 28 2PM 55 48 |Wind south.
7AM 48 50 |Rain moderate. | 29 7AM ! 62 Nees 56 ‘Clear. Wind west.
12M 42 40 |Clear. Wind west. 30 7PM | 56 Wind south; chilly.

It will be seen from the foregoing observations, that the greatest difference between the
temperature of the earth and the air occurs in the spring. The earth acquires the proper
temperature for the coming vegetation rather slowly, in consequence of the evaporation
required in order to dry it sufficiently. In the autumn, in September and October, it seems
to have acquired a stock of caloric sufficient to expend for some time without exhaustion,
while at the same time it operates favorably in sustaining the proper temperature for the

{[AcricuLTurAL Report.] 30

234 COMPOSITION

ripening of fruits and fall crops. There is sufficient caloric retained to preserve the tempe-
rature of the surface when the air is near the freezing point, provided the surface is covered
and its radiation checked, On one occasion, the temperature of the air was reduced to 26°,
while the soil beneath remained at 51°; and although a severe frost followed this reduc-
tion, yet many vegetables were preserved from destruction by the caloric which the earth
had accumulated the preceding week, and which was then given off. ‘This instance of the
accumulation of heat in the soil occurred upon one of the high peaks at the head of the
Delaware river, when the vegetation was just putting forth. On this mountain, the shrubs
which had already leaved, or had partially leaved out, and some which had blossomed,
were not in the least affected by the frost.

The accumulation of heat often preserves the roots of corn, and other crops, when the
herbage is destroyed. When the temperature of the surface is 60°, we have found that
maize, planted however early, comes up; while if planted when the temperature is several
degrees lower, although later in the season, it will certainly rot. The temperature must
reach the point of 60° in order to excite germination, which, if once secured, the grain
seems to be safe, though it may not appear above ground for some time.

From a few observations which we have made, it appears that mountain soils absorb’

more heat than the slopes at their base.

The surface heat is often preserved in autumn by rain. In the spring, too, rains aid in
warming the earth. A rain whose temperature was 54° fell when the earth was 49°, and
the surface was raised soon after to 51°.

The highest temperature of the ground, which has been observed, was 72°. ‘This tem-
perature has been maintained with little variation for several successive days, in August,
the present year, 1846. The earth acquired nearly the same temperature about the same
period last year. The water of a large cistern, whose surface is four feet beneath the sur-
face of the ground, acquired the temperature of the earth, which it has maintained during
the whole period of excessive heat.

VII. COMPOSITION OF THE SOILS OF NEW-YORK.

Several methods have been proposed for the analysis of soils, each of which has its par-
ticular advantages. The method which has been followed in the New-York Survey has
not differed materially from that usually followed in the analysis of a mineral. One hun-
dred grains of the sifted soil is taken after it is dried in its envelope, and exposed to a
temperature of about 300°, on a piece of glazed paper, or until the paper is slightly browned,
upon aclean metal plate. The loss is set down as water. It is then exposed to a red heat,
and stirred in a platina capsule, until its blackness has disappeared: thus its organic

OF THE SOILS OF NEW-YORK. 235

matter is dissipated. It is then boiled for half an hour in strong hydrochloric acid, or until
the soil becomes light gray or white. After dilution with pure water, the whole is thrown
upon a double filter, and washed till it is tasteless. The silex upon the filters is ignited and
weighed, and the filters are burnt, and their ashes weighed one against the other. The
filtrate is then warmed, and a few drops of nitric acid added to ensure a peroxidation of
the iron. Caustic ammonia throws down the alumina, the iron and the phosphates. The
precipitate is washed upon a double filter until the ammonia is removed, and then ignited
and weighed as usual. When it was deemed advisable to separate the iron and alumina,
caustic potash was resorted to. Frequently the whole was set down as peroxide of iron
and alumina. For the separation of the phosphates, pure acetic acid was employed.
From the remainder, the lime and magnesia were separated by oxalate of ammonia and
phosphate of soda. Sometimes a trial for manganese was made with hydrosulphuric acid.
Very few instances only occurred where even a slight trace of manganese appeared, but
some of the soils of the taconic rocks gave indications of its presence. Many of the analyses
went no farther than the process for obtaining magnesia. When a more exact determina-
tion of the organic matter was required, an equal quantity of the same soil was submitted
to the action of carbonate of ammonia, by which the soluble organic matter was separated
from the insoluble.

In many instances, however, two hundred grains of soil were infused in six or eight
ounces of rain water for forty-eight hours, or even longer, during which time it was often
shaken. The whole was then filtered, and evaporated in a platina capsule. When it
was reduced to half an ounce by measure, it was finished in a balanced platina capsule,
in which it was weighed while still warm. By this method, the true amount of soluble
matter was determined in any given soil. The product was examined and separated into
its components, lime, silex, alumina, etc.: even phosphate of alumina was repeatedly ob-
tained from this solution.

In conducting an analysis, we have been sensible that great care was necessary, and
that each should be carried to an exact determination of all the components, especially the
alkalies, the phosphates, and the saline matters which are known to be essential to vege-
tables. Many persons express a doubt whether the analysis of soils is of any service at
all, but we regard such an expression as altogether too sweeping in its declaration. The
determination of the existence of Jime and magnesia in a soil is certainly important. It is
true, that so far as silica and alumina are concerned, analysis is of but little use ; but every
other determination is of some utility. There are, moreover, other reasons for pursuing
analytical investigations of the soils of this State. No one has ever taken up the subject
with reference to the soils of sedimentary rocks, the limestones, slates and shales. Presi-
dent Hitchcock has analyzed many of the soils of Massachusetts, and Dr. Jackson those of
Rhode Island and New-Hampshire ; but these are principally soils of primitive formations :
they could not throw much light on those of this State ; and hence we could not but feel
that the work of analysis would be attended with useful results, though in many instances

30*

236 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

they were not carried out to that extreme point which often is necessary, and perhaps
always ought to be desired. Then again the analysis of the rock which gave origin to
a soil seemed to be equally important, and this work has been pursued as far as time and
opportunity would permit. Another undertaking, which no doubt will be regarded as
useful, was the analysis of the waters of the State. The mode pursued in this department
will be given when we reach that subject.

One of the difficulties to be overcome, was the proper selection of specimens for analysis.
The first attempt made to procure soils for this purpose, was by means of a published cir-
cular, requesting farmers, who felt an interest in the subject, to forward samples of such
soils as they might suppose could be rendered useful upon their lands, or which would
illustrate somewhat generally the subject of inquiry. To this circular, no response was
ever made. It then became necessary to visit different parts of the State for this purpose.
After some deliberation, in which some previous experience was made to bear, I deter-
mined to collect, first, new soils — those which had never been cultivated ; and secondly,
old soils, under cultivation, selecting specimens of the latter from those farms where a
history of the husbandry could be obtained, and usually specimens of the soil and subsoil,
the former taken just at the termination of the roots of grasses, and the latter from the
bottom of the furrow slice. All these soils were labelled upon the spot, and put into strong
double papers. In the whole of this matter, it is plain enough that only general results
could be obtained, except in particular instances; and it may be that the majority of
farmers will feel themselves just as much in the dark about the composition of their own
soils, that of their farms, as they were before the present undertaking was commenced.
It was, however, totally impossible to visit every town in the State. In some instances
we were warranted in generalizing freely as it regarded the composition of soils over large
areas. For it is perfectly evident, and the observation is borne out by trial, that the nature
of the soil of an area of moderate extent is sufhiciently well determined by the analysis of a
few specimens ; and we think we do not hazard much in saying, that in the several dis-
tricts, there is such a similarity, that the composition of their soils is well determined, and
may be practically useful in the pursuit of agriculture. Hence we believe that the results
of our labor may, notwithstanding we have not visited every town, much less every farm,
be still found of some service to the husbandry of the State, especially if agriculturists ob-
serve, in connection with the analyses, the rocks and the nature of the drift which prevail
on their estates,

1. HIGHLAND DISTRICT.

The territory distinguished by this name is separated into two portions, which are widely
removed from each other. The first and largest portion may be termed the Northern
Highland District, and the second the Southern Highland District. The former comprises
a large territory of wild land, some of which is incultivable. It is the only part of the

a”

HIGHLAND DISTRICT. 237

State which furnishes a soil whose origin is directly from the Primary rocks. The latter
district is quite limited in comparison with the former ; and its soil, in consequence of a free
intermixture with the soils of a secondary and transition origin, can not be considered as
entitled to the appellation of a primary soil, or as one derived principally and direetly from
primary rocks. Both divisions of the Highland district are surrounded with sedimentary
rocks, and are really islands of unstratified masses in the midst of sandstones, limestones
and slates. These have at least modified the soils of the borders of the district by the
admixture of foreign materials, the result of which has been to improve their character and
increase their productiveness.

The primary masses of the Northern district are capable of producing two kinds of soil,
according as one or the other kind of granite, from which they have originated, prevails.
The first and most common kind of soil is that which is derived from the potash-felspar,
or the ordinary coarse granite; the second, is the lime-felspar, which belongs to the
hypersthene rock, which is made up, in a very large proportion, of labradorite. The
outside of this primary highland region is principally underlaid with the former, while
the central or interior is composed of the latter, All the high mountains are formed of the
latter rock. They are quite precipitous, and their sides thinly clad with soil whose im-
mediate origin is the rock beneath. The appearance and character of the surface of the
rocks, when exposed, clearly indicates that the rock undergoes decomposition : it is often
covered with the fine powder derived from the felspar. This rock is destitute of mica,
another mineral which is common in granites, and which assists, by its decomposition, in
supplying the soil with the alkalies. As lime is the principal alkali in the hypersthene
rock, we must of course expect to find it in the soil formed of this rock, and the analysis of
many soils of this region confirms this expectation.

The first variety of granite produces a soil which contains a larger proportion of the
silicates of alumina and potash, while the soils formed from the latter variety yield a
greater amount of the silicates of lime and alumina. The virgin soil of either kind pro-
duces a very large growth of grass. The wild grasses only are found in the natural
meadows, which yield about a ton and a half per acre. But when timothy is first sown, or
when by accident its seeds are scattered by the road side, its growth and size are truly -
remarkable : it not unfrequently attains a height of five feet, and its stems are as coarse as
rye straw. This fact is worthy of notice; for this gigantic growth is undoubtedly due,
first, to the abundance of alkaline earth in the soil, and, secondly, to the light vegetable
mould in which it takes root,

CoMPosITION OF THE SOILS OF THE HIGHLAND DISTRICT.

It was not considered important to analyze a great number of the soils of this district, as
we wished to learn merely their general character and composition. The samples were
all selected from Essex county, inasmuch as here they are entirely of a granitic origin,
without a perceptible intermixture of sedimentary rocks. A specimen of this soil, collected

238 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

in Elizabethtown, is made up of coarse and fine grained particles of light-colored hyper-
sthene rock. ‘The finer portion was separated from the coarse by a sieve, giving about
twenty per cent of finely divided matter. The analysis gave

Water 25 2 eee Sole oe cyte ee ae & Se 2-00
Qrpanic hatter = £82 St nose on - e 1-00
C1 Ey eee een oa, Se. Se Se SL 94:00
Peroxide of iron and alumina_._-------.--.--. 2°50
Marhonnte Of ne 24-8 on ee ee ee 0°50
IMQURESIN = oo as ee ne ee eee trace

This soil had never been cultivated, and seemed almost valueless, but it contains about
as much lime as many very good soils now under cultivation. It is a sample of the coarsest
and poorest soil of the granitic district, but which might bear one, two or three crops of
potatoes, or grass for a few years only, if removed from the field.

Another specimen of soil was examined from Lewis county, which gave a better result :
there was less sand and silex, a greater percentage of iron and alumina, and about the
same proportion of carbonate of lime. All the trials made with the granitic soils of this
district yielded carbonate of lime, but only a mere trace of magnesia.

A specimen of uncultivated sandy soil from Westport, gave the following result :

Water. Soo Se ees aoe en eee 4-00
Orpanic matter as eee ae eee ee 3°25
Peroxide of iron and alumina_...._-----.-..-- 5+00
Biles s oleae thas eee oe a 85°25
Lime <i Sone ee eae eee ee 1-00
(Pg eile Ree Oe Pe ee Ste Se 0:12

98 -62

This specimen was derived also from granite or gneiss, as, under the microscope, it was
found to be composed of quartz and schorl, with a few particles only of felspar, mica and
garnet.

Another specimen of the sandy soil of this place gave

Water... 26 ee et ae oe eee 1-00
ODE TT eee ee ee ee 2°50
FS 1 eg eae ea a. SE ig Re Ne Neen es 94-00
Alomma‘and wron . 3: so eee 2-00
an on ee a ae or et ce 0°25
Magnesia --—.~.2-<---.--~------ <=. 0-00

99°75

It is a gray sand, composed of quartz, garnet, and black schorl. The specific gravity of this
soil is 2°573. We give it as an example of the weight of a soil in which sand predomi-
nates ; and alhough sand is considered one of the easiest varieties to work, still it is the

HIGHLAND DISTRICT. 239

heaviest of all soils: a pure clay soil isnext ; and the loams, with much vegetable matter,
are the lightest, and are light in proportion to their amount of vegetable mould.
Another granitic soil, from the same neighborhood, gave

Wea tee ee aoe te Kea Sah oe 3-00
Orgamie Minliene. a= ana ae eae en 2-00
SS) CS. poe Ee ce 92-00
Peroxide of iron and alumina -.--------------.- 2-50
@arhonsate or ime. aes eee 0°50
Mapn csiay =e Sao = te eb ea Se trace.

100-00

Most of the granitic soils of the whole district give an excess of silex, or sand. The
amount of organic matter is proportionally too small to form a durable and productive soil ;
but as there is frequently an admixture of materials derived from the Champlain division,
its properties are improved.

The only remaining soil of this district which we propose to give is the argillaceous soil,
which prevails on the borders of the lake, and in fact surrounds the Primary district. It
belongs to the upper part of the Tertiary clay. Its analysis gives

R112) ems See yb RS 2 5-00
Orcare Watene == see eee hee ae eS 4+20
6S FB LES Ea Re 80-00
Peroxide of iron and alumina_.__---_......__- 8 +25
Carbonate of lime fee os ee eae eee ee 2-40
Magnesia gees a= see a= cere e oe ae ee 0-10

99 +95

This variety of soil gives results differing from the above in the amount of silex and lime ;
the former uniformly increasing towards the top, and the lime increasing towards the bot-
tom, so as sometimes to amount to five per cent. It is durable, and bears good wheat,
while the more sandy portions answer well for indian corn. It is the best soil either upon
Lake Champlain or the St. Lawrence river. One of the most important improvements
which can be pursued for benefitting this kind of soil, is paring and burning ; a kind of
process which has rarely been resorted to in this State, but which is one well adapted to
clay lands. It loosens the texture, and gives solubility to the soil. But it is only where
a soil has body, that this process is useful: when adopted simply to clear off vegetable
matter from a drift soil, which is mainly composed of gravel, with but a small admixture
of loam, it is followed with a great sacrifice, and is decidedly injurious. Hypersthene, the
principal rock of the interior of Essex county, disintegrates in the manner of all felspathic
rocks, and, in addition to the contribution which it makes to the general soil of the country,
it also forms a clay. It is very fine, dries firmly, and may be exposed to heat suddenly
without exfoliating. A few hard points, or small grains of felspar are occasionally found

240 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

in it. It is quite refractory in the fire, and fnses only after urging the heat of the furnace.
Its fineness fits it for looking-glass frames, forming a base on which to gild; besides which,
it will undoubtedly answer for all the ordinary purposes of potter’s clay. It is now used
only for brick, the color of which is a pale yellow brown. It is composed of the following
elements ;

Water of absorption’... 2s. o-\aesnceeeectace 2+284
Water and organic matter --.-.-------------- 4240
Pilsen 6 So acta ee 60-160
Peroxide of iron and alumina._-.------~----- 7-790
Garbonate:of lime, -%- 2s. 2s 0-940
Carbonate of magnesia--..------.-.--------- 0-600
Carbonate of potash. - «=. 42 s.2-2~--.4-.5-. 0-110
Phosphate of lime ...--..=--.-- amount undetermined.
BL CS eh a See ee ee eee trace.
Siiphate Gt ine== sco ena none

76°124

The specific gravity of the Adirondack clay is 2:1034, which may be taken as a standard
for stiff clays that are destitute of organic matter.

Had this clay been derived from an ordinary coarse granite, one whose felspar and mica
contain potash, it would probably have formed the porcelain clay. Lime is a more stable
element, less soluble than potash, and hence it has been retained, and remains in combi-
nation with the silex, or perhaps with carbonic acid. It does not effervesce with acids,
The existence of this clay in the midst of this highland district offers encouragement to
look for deposits of the same material in all of our other primary or mountainous districts.

The Southern Highland district, in consequence of its insulated position and its limited
extent, furnishes but imperfect examples of a primary or granitic soil. On the eastern
side of the Hudson river, near Peekskill, gneiss and granite prevail. In consequence,
however, of the proximity of the slates and limestones of the Taconic system, the great
mass of soils seem to belong rather to the latter than the former rocks: they possess at
least a mixed character. We find limited areas where the primary rocks have been de-
composed, and in which particles of mica and felspar abound ; but we have not submitted
the soils occupying such limited areas to analysis.

The following result of a chemical examination of the soil of Peekskill, resting on
granite, must suffice for this part of the Highland district :

Wieter' of} absorption $32 Ss. 2c524 ose ts ce 2°79
Osfanie milion S.-i ts 7°65
Siler 5 es ee et te Rida 75°83
Peroxide of iron and alumina..__--.--.--.---- 12-00
Carbonate of lime® =. 5 ai See ee 1-15
Magnesia. 328. oe os nomena ee 0-68

100-10

HIGHLAND DISTRICT. 24)

The following is the result of an analysis of the subsoil to the preceding, taken twelve
inches below the surface :

Water /ofiabcomton- sees ens econ 1-76
QGreanie matters eee ar oe Se ee eee 4-12
STU ei ea ey = oe ea ae ea i i ie hae 80:79
Peroxide of iron and alumina -...--..-...-.__- 12-00
@axrhonate offlimeh< 6 2084 = a ee 224 0°85
Maniesin te 2oeee J soe 2S eee ol 0-60

100°13

It will be observed that the principal difference between the soil and subsoil consists in
a greater amount of organic matter in the former, and more silex and less lime in the latter.
This result, as it regards lime, has often happened; and in many instances where a deep
subsoil was analyzed, and where it was expected that a greater amount of lime would be
obtained, the reverse has been the fact. It appears that in the process of a natural vege-
tation, the lime and other alkalies are retained at the surface ; but when the crops are
removed, or the soil ploughed and frequently stirred, the alkalies are both removed and
filtered deeper in the soil.

Another soil in the same neighborhood, taken twenty inches below the surface, gave

Water ofabsormptioin se 2 2 ea foe ae ee ES
Qreanie mailers S222 Se et Soe SUR SS S00
Silexmeses pe tt Des eteis aoe. oush odes 4 SI S6T,
Peroxide of iron and alumina -------.-.-.-.--- 12°21
@arbonatesat lirnGicss <2 Ss Ss ete SE te Sy OPCS
Carhonate' off mapnésias <<< one on ne ant LelG

100-00

A granitic soil, near Peekskill, gave of matter soluble in water, in 200 grains, 1°26; of
which 0-71 was organic matter: the solution contained chlorides and sulphates in addi-
tion to the organic salts. Another gave 0°87 soluble matter, of which 0°46 was organic.

Since the above analyses were made, the precipitate by caustic ammonia has been
examined carefully for phosphates; and in each of the Peekskill soils, and several whose
origin was derived from primary rocks, they have heen found. The mode of proceeding
for the phosphates was as follows: The precipitate, consisting of alumina, peroxide of iron,
etc., was redissolved in chlorohydric acid, and filtered to free it from any silex which it
might contain. This solution was neutralized by ammonia. Acetate of potash was then
added, which gave a yellowish precipitate, consisting of the phosphate of the peroxide
of iron, which becomes darker by exposure to light. The quantity was sufficient to have
been weighed ; but as the object was merely to ascertain the fact of the existence of this
substance in the soil, the quantity was only estimated.

[ AcRicuLTuRAL Report. | 31

242 TACONIC DISTRICT.

2. TACONIC DISTRICT.

The texture of the soils of the Highland or Primary districts is coarse, and the quantity
of finely divided matter is evidently deficient. The soils derived from the Taconic rocks
are finer than those of the Primary, and, as will appear, have been found to contain a
greater proportion of finely divided matter, and yet they are inferior in this respect to the
soils of Central and Western New-York, which are derived from rocks of a later date.
The cause of the difference observed between the texture of the soils of these districts, is
to be sought for in their origin. The first are derived from hard rocks, only a small pro-
portion of which decompose rapidly ; while the latter are derived from sedimentary rocks,
more susceptible to atmospheric influence ; and hence they not only disintegrate more
rapidly, but undergo, or have undergone, a more thorough change. If there were no
other differences in the soil than that of texture, that which contained the greatest amount
of finely divided matter would possess an advantage over the coarse or primary soils. One
cause of superiority consists in the power which finely divided matter possesses, in the
facility of absorption of the floating gases of the atmosphere. Finely divided platina will
absorb and condense hydrogen so rapidly and copiously, when blown upon it in a stream,
as to beget a red heat, and inflame the gas instantaneously. Charcoal absorbs most kinds
of gaseous matter. Fine soils readily absorb carbonate of ammonia from rain water; a
fact which has been long known with respect to the finer clays. The absorption of ammonia
is indeed an important fact, and we have often detected it in common soils when they have
been submitted to the action of rain water. The amount which a given soil can absorb
and retain, is proportional to its amount of finely divided matter. The ammonia is un-
doubtedly often combined with the organic acids, the crenic and apocrenic. Ammonia itself
operates favorably on the organic matter of the soil, the rationale of which is illustrated
every day in the laboratory, where it is employed in dissolving out the organic matters.
Clays contain the largest proportion of this substance, undoubtedly absorbed in solution
with water. Even anthracite coal contains a large amount, which has been stored up for
ages, and is separated from it when water is thrown upon an ignited mass.

There is another fact which may be noticed here, namely, that although loams and
porous soils must receive from rains the same amount of ammonia as the finer soils, they
have less ability for retaining it, or at least for storing it up.

The first inquiry in regard to the soils of this district, respects their chemical constitution.
In pursuing this subject, it has been found that though some differences exist, still they
are not remarkably different: they appear to belong to one class, and to possess essential
characters in common. Some of the differences observed in crops arise from elevation, or
the combined effects of elevation and other causes connected necessarily therewith. To
preserve order in the several statements of the analyses, we shall begin with those upon
the eastern border of the State, adjacent to Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont.

TACONIC DISTRICT.

Soil of Petersburgh, Rensselaer county.

243

This soil bears about two tons of hay to the acre; rock a coarse slate, but rests upon an
intervening hardpan from twelve to eighteen inches below the surface; height 1200 feet

above tide at Albany; color brownish drab; cultivated meadow.

In corn; fine and heavy growth.

Water «25a oe ee oe ae See 4+50
Organic matters 25-5252 5 soso UL Se 00
Siler pe eet ee th ee od peed Coe BUSTS
Alaina pe oo be ay st Ee ee TO
Peroxide of iran eee econ sone eet £200
Phosphoric, acid cesses 3 a wae owes 002
MH Dies Re ae ene ee eee nee ee OO
Sulphatelot lime mess seo ooo at ee ana 0-15
Warbonateorinmen ne noe mene e sare ateeeee OStp

99 +40

Soil of Chatham Four-corners.
ANALYSIS.

WWisters sees ee ee ee ee BOO
RN re ee a a es an Suet TOSOU
Weretable onattero-cssedoew aw soos eee ence O00
PAW TaN Ps ee SS 9 ht a er acer RIOD
PErOride Oh Ones = a5 sae aaa soeeegesce ee BPP1O
@arbenate,on limes —=--< 22-22 22-2 se oun, 20875
Mapncsinies = seen soe te ae a cee anne ONO
phosphoric athine sass ae—e eae aaa nae (OL0e

99-87

It contains

Manured with stable manure. Neither potash or soda sought for. The soil is based upon

hardpan eighteen inches below the surface.

It is one of the ynost productive soils of this

district, and corn and oats and peas are always sure crops: it is also productive in grass.
Wheat in large crops was formerly raised in this neighborhood, but has been mostly aban-
doned on account of the fly.

Soil from the range of hitls near the Western Railroad Depot, at the State line.

Uncultivated.

ANALYSIS.
RU te iat ae ita ake Sopa, ca eae arin no NO
Orramesmatter fonncne aoe eck oawasen cca = /.6°25

re Se nn ee es obese Leto
BA erantriteeees en aerate: Soe ie tro eee gh
(Perdxideotaran§) 22 322632 eS 2 oe eee

Carbonate‘of lime = -. 2:2 52 -22sscc--2-.----- ‘0°75
Magnesia .......

~ Feo esRsastrmccerceccoes Lae

99°90
3l*

244 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

This range of country is the most broken of any in the county. In the vallies the land
is valuable, but the soil is too cold without draining. The Sparry limestone traverses this
range north and south, but the effect on the soil is too small to be appreciated: the slate
predominates. Besides, the productiveness is diminished by height, as well as a coarse soil.
Peat and lime, which are abundant through the whole range, may be considered impor-
tant means for ameliorating the soil.

A remarkable substance was brought to us from Columbia county, for examination, in
the fall of 1845. It was supposed to be a valuable material, and the finder made a secret
of its locality. It was, however, nothing more than vegetable matter in a fine state of
division, and, as we found on examination, mixed with a little silex and alumina. It was
a thick pulpy mass, some of which, as we were assured, had been thrown out of the bog
upon a dry soil, and had remained wet the whole season ; and about half a pint remained
two months in an open tin cup, ina warm dry atmosphere, before it became dry, at which
time it had shrunk to the size of a butternut. We notice this substance, for the purpose of
calling attention to the fact, that some materials, combined in certain proportions, are
more absorbent and retentive of moisture than others. In this substance water existed in
great excess. On analysis, it gave

OR en eee ee a
Wepetable matter, <. - -- o ony aes Se
DUI eee - SE en SES
iAjommna.- =. -— 5.5055 5 =e naa nen ee Ee re

The silex was principally composed of the cases of infusorials.

Soil of Hoosic-corners.
Rests on fine slate; associated with ranges of limestone.

- ANALYSIS.
Water’... 232553 SONS. 825005 es ee
Organic ination: foe o22 shee See Bee 28D
DUEX 22-5 2th ee ee ES
Carbonate of ‘lime == 22-5 anaee nea ae LEO
Magnesia) “52: 0-4 23S eS te aelieoB
Phosphate of ‘alamma =~ 2-2-.2--n-=-4e---=-- 2°15
Peroxife of ‘iron’... =>. sees2S sos = *5S
Milmigg 2 oe oo te Ua ee ae, ES

99-90*

* The notes relating to this remarkably rich soil were lost, or the facts forgotten. It is, however, well known that
the soil of Hoosic is excellent. This was probably a new and uncultivated soil.

TACONIC DISTRICT.

Soil of Hoosic-falls, from the farm of Judge Baty.

ANALYSIS.

Walein See eee ee re. nk ee) SEO
Oreanicnnatipesas seo eae ceeaasee meses Woke
SIGS ses eet i a tee et a al ea ay 30 ( (
EAMG, eee a oe eS i M00
Matnesin! atroocasesece creases cesses) 02
Phosphate of. lime 2 f22s<s22222202 2o53-22e-2 2 ‘0°12
Peroxide of iron and alumina....-----------.-- 8-81

98-97

An uncultivated soil near Hoosic-falls.

245

Derived from the decomposition of an impure limestone. It forms a brown earth, upon
which forest trees grow rather luxuriantly ; slope to the east; exposure warm; surface

dry.

This soil bore a fine crop of oats, and is filled with pieces of dark-colored slate.

It forms an excellent soil for corn.

ANALYSIS.
Wiatertee S25 oe le Rae Soh Soe eae ce OOO
Oreanic matter sees et eee an eae 5+50
SHO re een Se een oe nace nee eee re 78-20
Peroxide of iron and alumina -..-..-.-------- 10°52
CHTDONACKOR MNCs ete e eee ean 1°52
Mamiesiqhon se cee te ae nee ratte caesaceeas 0°33

Soil from East-Salem.

Itisa

soil common to the long range of hills of Washington county: it lies west of the Sparry
limestone, and is much the same in quality with the soil of the range of hills east of Hoosic
Four-corners, except that the quantity of broken slate is greater.

ANALYSIS.
Widtereenia sews sem ence nsasnst ee ex wece 70 3°50
Oroanie matéNe <6 2.22 aa oes ce see oases 5 6-00
STLIDS ORE oe es Ee ee oe ee eee ee 79°00
Peroxide otro = n= acca he ceceest ase == 5°75
PAtaiiviaie eer eae bake Ss 4°20
Li Eri Gains Se ee a ee eee 0°75
WarbondtevOluine sng oe a ook ore 0°87

100+07

Phosphoric acid, in combination with peroxide of iron, lime, magnesia or alumina, has

usually been found in the soils of this range of hills.

Potash and soda have not been

246 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

sought for. The chloride and sulphate of lime are also invariably present. The organic
matter is also in combination with lime and other bases, varying from one to two per cent.

Soil from the western part of Schodack, in Rensselaer county.
ANALYSIS.
Pinber ses ce See een
Animal and vegetable matter. ..-.------------- 6°75
TS Se ee ee Oe er ee Re NF
Perozwig of iron son. cae eee eee eee ea
GTA ee oe re te ee Oe Se
Lame and mapnesia -.-- =< <5 2.s-snencnamces= 0750

98 +50
LORY cena la seaene cone CRE ans Sa E Ee ee Tl eee
100+00

Analysis of 100 grs. Roofing slate.
1) Ce MR aN BET TERS IE AMOR MAS EERE 8 0°50
Drpwiie MANE. oo nena eee ake aoe 2°20
THLE ce os mre epi att P= Renee Reso eh S 2 se D2 8S 80°72
Peroxide of iron and alumina........-..~-.--- 12°76
Harhonateof lime 222-=.2—ao.=—c6==-o5 mena 1-76
Ma trirtia oes cae Daten aeeenwene cee ae 0-40
98 +34

Analysis of 100 grs. of Welch slate.
(0 ieee ee _ we See panera, 5 a ee tse 0°34
OFPADIC: Wider: na eee a ee er 2°30
er ae ne eee ee ee Oe Oe oe eee en ee
Peroxide of iron and alumina _.......-.......- 16°64
Garbonate of dime i apes se eee 1°36
Magneria «225. dos sacncnweasteeamence ees 0°52
99-92

The slates of this district, we believe, always contain magnesia, as well as the limestones,
some of which, it is well known, are true dolomites. Hence magnesia is always found in
the soil, and it does not seem to be removed so readily as lime, being leas soluble; and
hence, too, in a few instances where the soil has been cultivated, magnesia is present in a
greater proportion than lime.

vil

TACONIC DISTRICT. 247

Soil near Fitch’s point, Salem, Washington county.
Uncultivated ; reddish brown.

ANALYSIS.
VGA) a SE SS Se Be ee eRe te eee 1:00
Wepetablounnttan’e sees cee teow cee een as 2°50
HGr ss . Socios Soe cece ces cie sees aeait 87-00
[Rerpxideof iron. — << 35 -<5s4-se45quses55558 5:20
Aloming, <2. 0c6. t2a- seen ee hcessssece ek 3-05
IAG GS) oneie nape eerie cree Sees sesecene 0°25
Garbonate of lime: 22 2-sssoss 22 esas tssecn 1-00

100-00
This is a local soil, derived from silico-ferruginous rock, in which there is sufficient lime
to effervesce ; but a large proportion of the lime is lost when it has disintegrated. It is a
warm soil, upon which the herbage is sweet; and were it extensive, it would form the
best of grazing lands.

The soil of the plains about Salem is mostly drift, in which cobblestones of Potsdam
sandstone are quite common. It is rarely sufficiently tight to retain manures well, and
yet they are not excessively leachy. Fine crops of corn are raised upon these lands ; and
the slopes of the hills form excellent grazing grounds, being dry and warm,

Soil of the plains and meadows at Fitch’s point.

The farm of Dr. Fitch has been long under cultivation ; and the meadow, being at some
distance from the barn, has received but little manure.

ANALYSIS.
IWater sone eo Secon eee eme wee a5 3°50
Olpanicmattoncr =. ce ss<jn~sc- cece steesses 9°25
STS GOR Se Sone oo. SS enOre ee Henn eae ae ae 77°50
Peroxide of iron and alumina ...------------- 712
Carbonate of lime-<2 225 -Se ose sess ete Se 0-10
Phosphate of, limes 2-5 = aw ee se = — ooo — on, 0°06
MAD TERIA = ate aes eee ee eee anette 0°50
99-03

Soil in Washington county.

ANALYSIS.
Water ofnbsorpion) << te ana ee ee owe 7°18
(ONS nT ee Se ee 6°12
Ril aes see ee oe ee eee a eaneanaes 19°72
Peroxide of iron and alumina-._.-.----------- 6:12
Carhdreie Ol UMS = See an nema an aa ae nee see 0-10
Phosphate of limes Fetes Sst oe Ss scot 0-06
Ma griesie a eee eee ae ere 0°50

248 ANALYSES OF SOILS,

Soils lying towards the Hudson river, western part of Schodack.

ANALYSIS.
WAG ano win er ee ie eee 3°50
Orpanic matter= 2==<<2c0s2.<sssccssesee te 6:00
Silex .cscieesc cecectsnddbesesscs mens 79°75
Peroxwe ef trons occ cece ce een ten ceseaesdes 5°75
I OMINR cA rr Ue 4*25
Garbonate of ime is< ssc 2s sero mneeee trace.
ROM 0818 36 i ss wen st age ee 0°75
100-00

Soil from Schodack.
Sandy ; color yellowish brown.

ANALYSIS.
WV alerts 388 SoS ede eee eee ete 2:07
Wepetablematter, <2. 2-5 a en me 6°05
Biles oa os oe ne eee 85°05
IPeracIOG Gf ACOH oe oon one aa eee 4°87
}.U ivi fh eee ines CR ee Ree ee ee 1°75
Lime and mapnesia ---= <2- 552-5 ils 8 ae trace.
99-79

A variety of this soil is found in the black sand of the drift, in which one-fifth is coarse
gravel, and the remainder a fine sand in which the alumina is still less than in the pre-
ceding example. It contains 4—5 per cent of vegetable matter, but which, on cultivation,
soon disappears. It is a poorer variety than the yellow sandy loam.

Soil from the western slope of Petersburgh mountain.

Uncultivated, and containing undecomposed slate.

ANALYSIS,
TAU GRO 92 Share ee ee ee ee 2-00
organic imalter eee eee eee er 2°75
BEY. 02 oo ae Se Sere Dee 85-00
Peroxide of iron and alumina -..------.------. 6°75
Garbonateiof lime . .. 223442 =. . = +. 3-00
Mapnrnia 2230 ee eee S_. 0°50

100°00

The Sparry limerock traverses the base of this slope. The only fact worthy of notice about
this soil, is the large percentage of lime which it yields. It is probably local, and its
general character indicates poverty rather than fertility. In some parts of Petersburgh
hollow, however, the soils are excellent.

TACONIC DISTRICT. 249

We give here the results of an investigation of the amount of soluble matter contained
in several specimens of the soils of the Taconic district, as determined by exposing two
hundred grains to the action of eight ounces of rain water for several days, during which
time the solution was frequently agitated.

Yellowish loam from Schodack.

Matter:disselyede=so-5-- =o noon ae ene saneeen. 2200
Saline mattereci:é o2ccc ce zade es Seen: = 1+44
Oroaninacids 2s sae see ae ae aa = oe aie iio 0-50

The saline matter consisted of the chlorides of lime and magnesia, and the crenate of lime.

Another specimen from the same neighborhood.

Solubletmiattery 2 wet at Boke tee oh pas sel 1-97
Splineanatten so see ee eee 0:50
Vegetable or organic matter......-..-.-------- 1-47

Contains chloride and sulphate of lime, crenate of lime, and magnesia and ammonia.
When these vegetable salts are tested with chloride of platinum, a light yellowish preci-
pitate is obtained, which was first supposed to be chloride of potassium, but I now believe
it is an ammoniacal salt, or a mixture of the two. This result is almost as constant as
those for lime and chlorine.

Specimen from a grass land in Chatham.

Whole-solable matter 2- 5222 0o-n-\ 2202.52 1-03

Bakmewmatters a= 2 ee. Shae eee fee, 0°62

Wieretable: matter >. <2 Soon ce on te 0-41
Another specimen.

olublenmattor 02 a oe he ne 0°75

PUNE MAE oa eee eee eee ne ee 0°43

Vegetable or organic matter _..__..--.-..-.--- 0°26

A reddish soil, of local formation and quite recent.

Many additional trials were made for obtaining the soluble matter. It is evident that
by this method we obtained what is available to plants at the present time. The solutions,
after standing a proper time, are filtered until perfectly transparent. It is necessary, in
some cases, to filter three or four times, before the solution can be rendered sufficiently
pure for determination. It is first evaporated in a porcelain dish to about half an ounce:
it is then transferred to a balanced platina crucible, in which it is completed, and then
weighed. It is afterwards exposed to a red heat, when it loses its organic matter, and is
then weighed again while hot: the loss indicates the vegetable matter consumed. Before
the last operation, the behavior of the saline mass shows the presence of the crenates by the
effect of acetate of copper. The presence of the organic salts is interesting and important.

[AcricuLTuRAL Report. | 32

250 ANALYSES OF SOILS,

Alumina, silex, magnesia, lime and ammonia, are the bases most generally present. None
of these solutions have shown an alkaline reaction. The quantity of saline matter obtained
by this process is less than that procured from the soils of Western New-York, and it ap-
pears that the fertility of the soil bears a relation to the quantity of saline matter contained
in it. The action of the atmosphere and water continually brings more of the organic
matter into a soluble state.

WATERS OF THE TACONIC DISTRICT.

We have likewise analyzed some of the waters of the Taconic district, which are
usually set down as hard waters, and the results are as follows:

Well water in Kinderhook village.

Soluble matter in one pint........-....---.--- 1-92
Organic or vegetable matter.......----.--.--- 0°92
Paling matter soo. saan eee es <bean ene 1-00

1-92

The saline matter is composed of chloride and sulphate of lime, together with the organic
salts consisting mostly of crenate of lime. This is probably purer than the water of the
district usually is, and it forms an excellent beverage. It was taken from the well of
Judge Burt.

Water from the village well of Kinderhook.

Saline matter in one pint..-.-.--------------- 1°34
Vegetable matter <2coa=dsenssesese0 2222200
2°34

The springs which issue from the Taconic hills, and which have their origin mostly from
the slate, yield comparatively pure water, which frequently contains less than five grains
of solid matter to the gallon. The chalybeate springs are weak, and issue from those slates
which are charged with pyrites.

Another class of springs, though but few in number, are the nitrogen springs of Hoosic
and New-Lebanon. The water is soft, but their temperature is above the mean of the
place where they are found. They issue, it is supposed, from rents or lines of fracture,
and come up froma great depth: hence their elevated temperature. These springs are
large, but,they are unlike those which issue suddenly from beneath the surface in many
parts of the West, and which are regarded as subterranean streams that have just found
a place for exit, after having run for miles just below the surface: these do not acquire a
high temperature, but are usually quite cold.

The waters, then, of the Taconic range, are merely the moderately hard waters of a
slate and limestone district. Those which issue from clay beds contain more lime, and

TACONIC DISTRICT. 251

those of a sandy district are soft, while those which issue from the slate rocks are charged
moderately with iron.

The water of a spring at Hoosic falls contained 1-48 grains of earthy and vegetable mat-
ter in solution. It gave

ORAM ANN iti See Seencc eo ssa sebseesesesicn a POU)
Garbonatejof limelsa2eS25 Sass. S22 e2e 228-26 0636
Mapniesiates seas Ses oot eet said 5 ee 048

In addition to these substances, there may be added a small amount of chlorine and sul-
phuric acid.

NATURE OF THE SURFACE OF THE TACONIC DISTRICT.

The condition of the surface of a country exerts a modifying influence upon its agricul-
tural productions: some being developed only in high situations, and others only in low
ones ; some in rocky localities, and others in the rich level alluvions and plains. Steep
and stony or rocky lands are devoted to pasturage, while the farmer seeks out the level
tracts for his meadows and his grain-fields. Oats and peas, as well as grass, may be cul-
tivated in regions more elevated than those adapted for corn.

The direction in which mountains and hills range is not a matter of indifference to the
agriculturist. A ridge running east and west has one cold side, while hills running north
and south receive the light and heat of the sun more equally, and yet the western slope is
not so well esteemed as the eastern. The dawn of the morning sun quickens the fluids of
vegetables: their vitality is awakened at an early hour in the day, and the impulse pro-
longs its effects to the setting sun; hence, to the vegetation on the eastern slope, the day
is longer.

The mountains and hills of the Taconic district pursue a northerly direction. The Ta-
conic range forms the dividing ndge between New-York and Massachusetts. Its height is
from twelve to sixteen hundred feet in the bounds of New-York. It is a slate ridge, with
a granular limestone at the eastern base and a sparry limestone at the western base. All
the ridges, whether high or low, have a direction parallel to the main ridge dividing the
two States. These minor ridges are also composed of slate, and the limestones usually.
occupy the vallies, as well as the sides of the mountains farther east and adjacent to the
Primary system.

Proceeding westward from the main range of the Taconic mountains, their height and
steepness diminish to the Hudson river, and there are no elevated plains. The principal
plains border the valley of the Hudson, and are rather sandy, with an underlay of clay.

The arrangement of the hills of this district is such as to favor vegetation, and to admit
and even invite useful improvements in draining and irrigation. Generally the slopes are
gentle, but steeper upon the western than the opposite side. The hills are susceptible of
cultivation to their very tops, and are not broken by the rugged outcropping of rocks (See
the woodcut on page 79, which illustrates the contour of the Taconic hills, their arrange-

32*

252 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

ment, etc.; and for the higher and sub-alpine region, see Plate xiii.). The sub-alpine
region is thirty-five hundred feet above tide, but is covered by a dense vegetation ; and in
the highest part of the region, the spruce and canadian balsam abound.

CLIMATE OF THE TACONIC DISTRICT.

From the great extent of this district, some constant difference of seasons must prevail
in it; and some difference will also be found to exist, when the higher situations are con-
trasted with lower ones in the same latitude. One or two remarks will exemplify our
meaning. Williamstown in Massachusetts, and Lansingburgh in New-York, are nearly
on the same parallel : Williamstown is elevated about eight hundred feet above tide level,
and Lansingburgh but thirty feet; the mean temperature of the former place is 45°°59,
and that of the latter 48°°17. Again, Poughkeepsie, at the point where the observations
were made, is in 41°41’ north latitude, and has a mean temperature of 50°°74. The dif-
ference of observed mean temperatures, then, between the most southerly and northerly
points of the district, is 5°°15, the range of latitude being 2°11’. For further particulars
in regard to climate, see Chapter III.

Quantity of rain in the Taconic district. Few observations have been made in this im-
portant inquiry, and hence only a few statements can be offered in this place. The average
quantity of rain which fell in Kinderhook, Columbia county, for nine years, was 35°55
inches; in Mount-Pleasant, 23°31. In 1832, in the latter place, 53°46 inches; and in
1834, 40°97 inches of rain fell. In Granville, near the northern termination of the district,
28°88 inches fell in 1844; and in Lansingburgh, 26°94 inches.

SUGGESTIONS ARISING FROM THE ANLYSES OF THE SOILS OF THE TACONIC DISTRICT.

1. The silex, when separated from the alumina and oxide of iron, is often in the form of
fine grains, or hyaline grains of sand, derived from the milky quartz of the slates, or from
the sandstone of the Taconic system. What is set down as silex, then, is quartz in grains,
and this performs merely a mechanical office in the soil. Another portion consists of sili-
cates of the alkalies, which remain undecomposed by the acids employed in the analysis.

2. The peroxides of iron and alumina exist in the soils in a large proportion, though the
soils are by no means clayey. We obtain as much alumina frequently from these soils as
from the tertiary clay: they are far removed, however, from this clay in texture, though
the proportion is as great as has been stated above. ‘This is a good feature, and indicates
a durable soil, and one upon which manure may be expended without an annual loss.

3. These soils, without exception, contain less lime than is requisite to form the best and
most productive kinds of land. Magnesia, which has been found in every analysis of
these soils, may be regarded perhaps as sufficient : it is less soluble than lime, and hence it
remains longer ; and, besides, it is furnished by the decomposing slates in quantities sufficient
for the purposes of vegetation.

4. The phosphates, though usually present in some form or other, are in too small a

TACONIC DISTRICT. 253

measure to meet the demands of a vigorous and healthy vegetation. A similar assertion
may be made in regard to potash: in a few instances we have found it; in others, it has
been doubtful.

MEANS FOR IMPROVING THE SOIL OF THE TACONIC DISTRICT.

It is needless to urge the importance of making or saving all the excrements of cattle,
in their best and most valuable condition for manure. The best materials for increasing
the quantity of manures of this district, are lime and peat, of each of which there is an
abundance. These materials are both wanted on every farm, without. exception: it is
proved by the analysis of every variety of soil in the district. They should be composted,
which is the only way they can be profitably employed. A very useful addition to this
compost, is either leached or unleached ashes, inasmuch as there is a deficiency of potash
in the soil to meet the demands of the cultivated crops. Leaves, also, and all refuse
organic matters, should find a place in the compost heap.

The soils of the Taconic district are rarely excessively leachy, but some are moderately
so. For a leachy soil, it is proper to make a bulky manure, consisting of burnt clay,
ashes, peat, or organic matters, the whole of which is only moderately soluble, but, when
exposed in a porous soil, it receives the influence of the air to bring it with sufficient ra-
pidity to a state fit for the consumption of vegetables. Ina close and compact soil, the
solubility of the manure may be greater ; for then it may be retained for the future use of
plants, if not required immediately.

Generally the basis for improvement in the Taconic district is excellent, there being
sufficient tenacity in the soil to hold manure, and not so much sand as to dry up in mid-
summer when there is a temporary suspension of rain. Scarcely a field is met with which
bakes and cracks, if it is properly treated. A defect which is general, is found in the
texture, which, compared with the western soil, is considerably coarser. This defect is
partially removed by frequent hoeing, which exposes a fresh surface of soil to the atmo-
sphere.

What are called cold dands are not uncommon in this district. They lie on the slopes of
hills, frequently two or three hundred feet above the vallies. This condition is produced
by the agency of many springs, which issue from the hill-sides, and saturate the earth
with water, in the shape of small fountains which percolate through the soil and subsoil
on their way to the valley below ; but this evil may be cured by draining.

We may remark here that the soils of this district require draining more frequently than
western soils, especially when situated upon sloping surfaces, in consequence of the peculiar
structure of the underlying rock. In the Taconic district, it is invariably placed edgewise,
or at an angle varying from 15° to 30° ; and the layers or strata are compacted so closely,
that water seldom or never finds its way into the rock, and hence must pass through the
soil; and if this is not very porous, the water passes off slowly, and frequently is detained
so long that the soil is most of the time saturated with it.

254 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

We are satisfied, that of all the means of improving the soil of this district, drainage is one
of the most efficient. It is frequently found most useful to drain only the low lands in other
parts of the State: this arises from the open condition of the natural joints of the under-
lying rocks, which permits the water to pass below the soil, and out of its reach. But the
joints of a slate, when standing upon its edge, retains the water, or at least it must pass
over it and not into it; and hence, as we have already hinted, lands thus situated must.be
drained artificially, if it is proposed to render them productive.

The succeeding soils partake decidedly of the qualities of those which belong to the Ta-
conic district ; but as they generally prevail and rest upon granite, I have given them in
this place. They will exhibit a contrast with those below, which are decidedly granitic,
but quite local.

Surface soil of Peekskill.

ANALYSIS.
Water of absorplon-~-— soon saeco se eon ae 2°10
@rganic matter =f 222S8S3 5S eae ee 3-70
Siler? tes See 6. ee aes ef eee 87°50
Peroxide of iron and alumina -._.-.----_--.--- 6+60
Carbonate of lime & 4 — soothe ast acekevens 0°30
Liar Gans Sains 2 Ses See ee trace.

Soil on the west side of the river at Caldwell.

ANALYSIS OF FIFTY GRAINS.

Water of absorption_~ =. —- + ee Nae,
Orpanic Mattern soo Se ee eee ee eee
HOE So ce Ss eh oa a eee Re ae
Peroxide of iron and alumina ....-.-...-.----- 5°02
Carbonate:of lime:22= 2525.22 ee ae be
Magnesia, 3-2-9 sete oa eee eee

50-08

This is a coarse soil, afid contains many pebbles of gneiss ; color brown.

Brick clay below Caldwell.

ANALYSIS OF TWENTY-FIVE GRAINS.

Water of absorption. -—-..<_--—.. <=... =~ 0°29
Soares TUS eS me i eee 1-38
Sen Eee See eS See eee ee 16-40
Peroxide of iron and alumina--_--.----------. 4°63
Carbonate of Limé .<- sn. Soe 2+23
Magnesia <n nooo non een e enn an ae a trace.

HUDSON AND MOHAWE DISTRICT. 255

3. HUDSON AND MOHAWK DISTRICT. t

It may not appear, at the first view, necessary to treat of the soils of these vallies under’
a separate head. It will be observed, however, by those who take time to consider the
subject, that the formation upon which they rest differs in many respects from that of the
Taconic slate district. The slates or shales are more decomposable, more calcareous, and
the beds of limestone are more extensive, especially if we include, as we propose to do, all
the country over which the rocks of the Champlain division prevail. Hence we expect the
soil contains more lime, and is in general more favorable for agriculture. The rocks too
are less disturbed, and remain nearer their original position. Leaving all essential dif-
ferences out of view, it will be found convenient to preserve this district distinct from the
others.

The boundaries of this district are intended to run nearly parallel with the rocks of the
Champlain division. It therefore surrounds the Northern Highland district. Some of its
best portions lie in Jefferson and Clinton counties, where the soils are really derived in the
main from the rock upon which they repose. It is of course intermingled with granitic
debris in the valley of the Mohawk, especially between Amsterdam and Littlefalls.

This district contains a distinct formation of clay and sand, which imparts a peculiar
character to it, and hence approximates to those of the western wheat district. This
formation gives a degree of stability to the soil, which is not possessed by the soils of the
hilly districts of the southern tier of counties, or even by those of the Taconic district.

The geographical position of this district, and the relations which it bears to the adjacent
ones, which have been already noticed, takes from it those peculiar characters which
would, in other circumstances, distinguish it. The Taconic slates border the long northern
valley of the Hudson river and Lake Champlain, and hence furnish no small amount of
debris or soil. The Northern Highland district, lying north of this, furnishes also its own
materials especially to the Mohawk valley. If insulated, the soil of the Hudson and Mo-
hawk district would contain a greater amount of calcareous matter. Where the soil of
limestones and slates is unmixed, it effervesces perceptibly with acids; but generally in
all those places where the soil is mixed with the northern primary, or with the taconic,
it contains only a small percentage of lime. The mixture, as in most other instances, is
due to diluvial action, or to that northern current which swept over the whole country
from north to south, bearing along soil, gravel, rocks, etc. The principal difference which
prevails between the soils of this and the adjacent districts, consists in the fineness of the
former soil.

This district is designed to be coéxtensive with the Champlain division, a series of rocks
commencing with the Potsdam sandstone, and ending with the shales of the Hudson
river, or the Loraine series. A very large proportion of the Hudson and Mohawk river
valley is underlaid with shales, some of which are calcareous and magnesian. The
northern parts of the district, especially those lying in Jefferson and Clinton counties, con-

256 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

tain large tracts of limestone, some of which is magnesian. The shape of the district !s
quite irregular.

One of its most important features is the occurence of an extensive bed of clay, and its
accompanying sands. It is quite impossible to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion in re-
gard to the origin of this formation. The shales and slates of the Hudson river, when
they decompose, form a clay; and in the sands, we often detect, with a microscope, small
particles of anthracite, which substance is known only in the Calciferous sandstone, and
in disseminated particles in some of the Hudson river shales. These facts taken by them-
selves, together with the large amount of calcareous matter the clay contains, seem to
indicate that the clays and sands originated from the rocks of the Champlain division. In
many places, however, the magnetic iron sand is quite abundant, which can only be de-
rived from the primary. These combined facts lead us to infer that both systems of rocks
furnished materials for the formation of the clays and sands of this district. Hence it
would seem that a part of the materials under consideration were not transported far, but
were derived from rocks in the immediate vicinity of the deposits themselves.

We propose to begin our analyses with the soils of the Mohawk valley, in which we find
those that may be considered as characteristic of the district, or that may be taken as re-
preseutatives of the general composition of its soil.

Soil of De Groff’s flats, between Amsterdam and Fonda.

ANALYSIS.
Water or abeqtpuen. =e = en eee eee 4°50
Vepetable matter-V nono ces eee ee eee ene 8 Oe
Aliso 2262 1 bo Aer) eee Zee 78283
Peroxide of iron and alumina .....-.-------.- 6°50
Garbonate of limb <<. cea ate 5 be sey i <p
Phosphate ofijime... ... <.=<c55.nn bass tessas 0-03
Mavneiia ano s6 ooo = as cee eee 0-40

99°63

The flats from which this soil was taken, are probably as productive as any in the Mohawk
valley. The soil is dark colored, from the large amount of vegetable mould upon and
near the surface. It is underlaid by the Utica slate, fragments of which are scattered
through the soil to a considerable depth. Notwithstanding this, it may be properly con-
sidered an alluvial soil.

On ascending from one to four hundred feet above the meadows or flats of the Mohawk,
we are able to distinguish soils of a different character, and differing from those below in
composition. Thus, four hundred feet above the Mohawk river, at Fonda, the soil is
composed as follows :

HUDSON AND MOHAWK DISTRICT. 257

Wrater’of absorption. 2 use 9s Se sss See 325

Vegetabla:matter o> Sesh ete se 4-20
Sp eee ee ee es ee nr ee 84°40
Pére HG oirOnis ts Nt ee 8 et te 4-11
yuri eee oe 2 ee eee eee 2°63
(arbonate atenme oss enn oe eee a wy OTS
Mironesint. 2s santa nae hina Saks ateeas wi oSe 0°65

98-99

Soil of Tribe’s-hill.
Derived directly from the Utica slate, and filled with fragments of the same; éffervesces
slightly with acids.
ANALYSIS.
Water/ofabsorpuon) 224 soos ese one eon as 4-00
Black organic matters =_ 2 9 22-282. 2 Shs TO*50
STU (Es «SS cee Pee ee ge ee epee Seem (|)
Peroxide of iron and alumina.--.-.---.------- 6°40
Carbonate tof fine & «3. Sees eI 2-08
Sulphaterof hme ss= 24-955 ss ee rare? OG
RON CSIR ase Se es aa ee eS ean aay OL4O

99-38

Soil taken from a hill about four hundred feet above the Mohawk in Amsterdam.
ANALYSIS.
‘Water0fiabsorptibns.22 aes ese Ses AO
Oroanie matter =] ace SA eee ee oe EA
TIE ae Soe as SE ee 8S! SEE TORO

Peroxide of iron and alumina ..__-...---.-.--- 8-40
Warbonate-ofe hime... eel ors oie BR es 1-09
1 EVER GS ger SS ee i RN A AS 0-40

98°84

Soil four miles west of Littlefalls.

Cultivated meadow ; surface soil.
ANALYSIS.
Water ok absorption =. 2 ety eee 5 Se se ch 00
Osgamicymnttor. 325 sos 058 oo ss See. 2 a= 1200
SSS ae Sas See Ee ie wees Sere tees Se weeeny ANY ts.

Peroxide of iron and alumina _.__-.__...---_-. 10°25
Phosphatawesimen ks eee ted 3 EOF
Warbonatejote Wmeie 2 ot ee 1-50

INisriesi a SA ee ee mee Na ote st am ce OAC

100-00
[AcRicuLTURAL Report.] 33

258 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

Analysis of four specimens of soil from near the village of Rome, furnished by
B. P. Jounson.

The accompanying letter explanatory of the soils, is copied into this report. The country
in the vicinity of Rome is underlaid by the shales and sandstones of the Hudson-river series,
or the upper members of the Champlain division of the New-York rocks. The cobble-
stones spoken of are of the usual size of paving stones, and are derived principally from
the Potsdam sandstone and the gneiss of the Primary district surrounding the head waters
of the Black river. In the neighborhood of Rome there are extensive tracts of peat lands,
frequently accompanied with marl, beneath which is the boulder system composed of the
cobblestones spoken of above. The depth of the peat and marl varies much at different
places ; sometimes there is merely a foot or two of peat resting on the drift bed, but at
other points it is ten to fifteen feet deep. These lands, as they remain at present, are cold,
and not productive of the valuable grains or grasses, but they contain an inexhaustible
supply of organic matter for compost, which we hope will be employed in correcting the
soils of this neighborhood at no distant day.

LETTER FROM B. P. JOHNSON.
Pror. E. EMMONS, Rome, July 3, 1845.

Sir —T enclose you two specimens of soil, taken from my land in this town, near the village of
Rome. The land is the first rise of land above the Mohawk: flats, and is mostly of the character of the
samples sent you. This land is, to a considerable extent, covered with cobblestones, and they extend
some distance below the surface. It is very productive usually, and is especially favorable for corn.

Formerly wheat was extensively cultivated here, but, of late years, not to any very great extent,
though excellent crops are still grown, when the seasons are favorable, and when the grain escapes the
ravages of the fly or “wheat midge,” an insect somewhat resembling a gnat. This fly is what is fre-
quently called in this country the “ weevil,” though entirely distinct from it.

The Mohawk flats, which extend to a considerable distance from the river, are of the same character
as the flats lower down, in Herkimer and Montgomery counties: they are very productive. .We have
another character of soil in this town, on land still more elevated, composed generally of gravel and
loam, which is good and productive land.

I enclose you also two specimens of soil from the land of Henry Huntington, Esq., near this village.

We feel a deep interest in the agricultural survey which you have been making, and we anticipate
very beneficial results to the farming interests of the State. It is of vastly more importance than has
generally been supposed, to the farmer, that the composition of his soil should be known, and the kind
of manures best adapted to it pointed out: so also as to the crops best suited to it. I have long been
satisfied that one reason why so many experiments have either wholly or in part failed, has been the
want of attention to this subject. I shall be disappointed, if, from your varied experiments,” great good
does not result: it can not, I think, be otherwise. Nothing so readily does away prejudice among
farmers, as facts which are presented to them from actual experiments.

There is much yet to be done in this State, before we shall be fully prepared to develope the abundant
resources of our soil. It is, however, very gratifying to witness the advances which are making: they
are such as to encourage every one interested in the subject, to persevere until the great work is fully
accomplished.

Wishing you every possible success in your labors, I am, very respectfully,
B. P. JOHNSON.

rs

and grains of felspar.

HUDSON AND MOHAWK DISTRICT.

ANALYSES OF THE SOILS FURNISHED BY MR. JOHNSON.

SOILS FROM THE FARM OF MR. HUNTINGTON.

NO, I.
‘Woaterint absamtions = 33225 sao oon te 2D
Organic Mate ss acter nate a eee. 8°00
DUK eee co ae ee eee eee Sapte ete 76-00
Carbonate Nine ote e ns eee ce Soe ees no 3°60
Mannesia ses Sens care cee ee ean O12
Peroxide of iron and alumina __-.-.-_.--.---- 8:3
100°02
No. It.
Waten/of absorptions. 2/232. ees
Orounic mation ces =p se hee Os oe on AOR
SST SRE ie Se NC eS EY OTE
Carbonate onsame:=s— tose = Ses eS 0
Mannesiat=- 2-222 - fo soo Sf stn eke 0-15
Peroxide of iron and alumina-.___.---...----. 5°50
100-15

SOILS FROM THE FARM OF MR. JOHNSON.

NO. I. SURFACE SOIL.

‘Water of absorption’ --5-- soos - esc nnec ste 5°25
Orranigimaen aseweeouse seston ne Sone ae wee 9-00
Silex fete eoesscce ca caatc bees. eben cee ees 74+80
Peroxide of iron and alumina----------------- 5°64
@arbonate’ of. limps <2 a2 SE Sth leek 524
IN conesia Se Sees ee ee eS oe Se 0-00

99-89

NO. If. SUBSOIL.

Water of absorphion=-—==2-—=-- = 2 noe 4°25
ONnaiic Waiter =e ee ie ot ae ence 6:00
Silex= 32 se 5 nt ete nos 3 eee 80°50
Canbonate of lime! 2S 52-252. 2 22-5 asec ee Sk 2 4+24
Peroxide of iron and alumina---_--__-.------- 4-94
1 UE Warr SE ie ee Pe ee eee trace.

99-89

33*

259

In all the four soils, the analyses of which are given above, the grains of quartz from the
Calciferous sandstone and the Potsdam sandstone, are accompanied with scales of mica
We did not search for potash, but it is probably present in a per-
ceptible quantity. The magnesia is much less than in the soils of the Mohawk valley

260 ANALYSES OF SOILS,

farther east, or in the western soils, while the lime is much greater. It was undoubtedly
derived partly from the Primary district, and partly from the shales and limestones of Jef-
ferson and St. Lawrence counties ; from the latter of which, also, the lime must have been
derived. The primary of the district referred to embraces extensive formations of primary
limestone, many boulders of which have been found south of Rome. The granite and
gneiss belong to those varieties whose felspar contains potash.

SoILs OF THE HUDSON RIVER VALLIES.

As a general rule, we have found only slight differences in the soils of the Mohawk and
Hudson river vallies. The alluvial flats are much the same, and so is the upland soil ;
but in the last named valley the tertiary clay is more extensive, and it is not unfrequently
accompanied with its peculiar sands. In fact, on both sides of the river, from Glen’s falls
to Kingston on the western side, and Sandyhill to Fishkill on the eastern side, sand, with
its clay beneath, is a strong feature in both of these long narrow belts.

Surface soil taken from the first ridge west of Coxsackie.
Just ploughed while in sward.

ANALYSIS.
Water DI absorptions 922 a2 se ee Oe 4+50
Vegptable matter. 220 o-2 ont eee tie ee 5*52
Siler eect aes cS eee eee no eee 82°88
Peroxide of iron and alumina-.--.---------_-- 6:04
Ostbondte.of lim6. o=.2 eae Sacco mentee ae 0-50
Mapnetia. (3 222 52 Sonata cee eee oeeee 0°25

99 +69

The Albany clay, or, as it is in other places called, Post-tertiary clay.

This clay, so far as it is regarded as a soil, may properly be considered in this place.
In connexion, we must also speak of the sands which accompany it. The whole may be
regarded as one formation. Below it is a stiff blue clay: above, by weathering, this
becomes a drab-colored clay, terminating finally in a gray or yellowish sand. The com-
position of the clay is as follows:

Water of absorption soo 2226-2020). e ot sesne 4°25
Organic matier 2-2 5 2S ee a ee eee i eg
Siiphate'of lime’=. 5-52-28 === 5a 1-00
ESREIEALOR Oe eS Se aoe 69 +02
Peroxide of iron and alumina -.-.-.-.-.------. 17°24
Potegh 6c: ete cee So Se 0.14
Carbonate of: lim 12 35555 4s ee et 4-00
[PT a na ee eee 3-00

99 +82

HUDSON AND MOHAWK DISTRICT. 261

The composition is not constant: the lime varies from four to six per cent, and the mag-
nesia from a trace to the amount given in the above analysis, which may be regarded as
the maximum quantity. The analysis by hydrofluoric acid gives a result which does not
differ materially from the above. The amount which is credited to the silicates may be
regarded as nearly pure silex, as this amount is removed when it is submitted to the action
of hydrofluoric acid, which acts upon the silex.

This clay extengs into the Mohawk valley, and forms an admirable basis for alluvial
flats which border the river. Its composition in Montgomery county gives a result some-
what different from the analysis above. We obtained, for example, from a specimen at
Fonda,

Water of absorption and vegetable matter. __----- 9°75
Siete at Sees seasahs < Os at ES a 71°92
Peroxide of iron and alumina_-_--...--.---_-- 14-98
Garhonatecof limes S882 te an ae ee 1°75
MI AON EST e NSS oS ote as Ae 0-70

99°10

Potash was not sought for.

It appears from numerous examinations which we have made, that clays contain more
or less vegetable matter; they all blacken previous to ignition, and give off the odor of
burning vegetables.

A still greater difference of composition exists in the clay-stones of this formation ; thus,
they contain

‘Water. oftabsorption! ces 2-2. Soest 6-28
QOxpanic; matterss2o2- 8c eo Ses cD 1-70
Seley ue Ns alg 2s Set 2S ge 30°88
Peroxide of iron and alumina_-__.-_--._------ 9-42
Carhonatexomlime tse. ek = oe = Se a 50:98
IMS OneStat mate an Se eee ee 0:22

99°48

The clay-stones or concretions may be regarded as recent productions, inasmuch as
many appear to be unfinished. They increase in size by accession of matter upon the
outside ; and as they contain a much larger amount of lime than the adjacent layers of
clay, this addition seems to be taken from the particles of lime disseminated through the
mass. Their mode of formation is instructive, as it illustrates the manner in which septaria
have been formed in the slates and shales of the Erie division of the New-York rocks.

Concretions are not constant in composition ; though from the analyses which we find
in different authors, the lime is more constant than the other elements. To illustrate this

fact, we quote here the analyses of concretions from several localities in Vermont, by
Prof. Adams :

262 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

COMPONENTS, DUMMERSTON. ADDISON. ALBURGH,
Carbonate of lime....... 50°08 45°09 53°17
Carbonate of magnesia... 5°40 17°34 2°48
Adominass 0s) <5 vais oe 28.40 21°13 20°95
Peroxide of iron ........ 8°12 1°73 6°76
Protoxide of manganese. . 1°50 0°65 1°50
SCR nara anes i ore 8°08 16°15 12°40
Water, <. .e sedessmopes dl of cae cacce 3°48

The variation in composition would appear still farther by other analyses: thus, the
silex in some of the Vermont concretions amounts to 29°08; the alumina varies from 7°30
to 28°40 per cent; the peroxide of iron, from 1:73 to 8°81 per cent.

Sulphate of lime, which is a common substance in the Albany clay, is not found in the
concretions. The largest and most spherical ones seem to-be formed where carbonate
of lime is in the greatest abundance. In many instances, the same material which forms
the claystone, forms, in the clay beds, distinct layers, in some of which silex instead of
carbonate of lime is the predominant ingredient. The force which produces a concretion
is closely allied to that of crystallization, for there is a tendency to build up regular sym-
metrical solids. It is active in all semiconsolidated materials, as paste, mortars and clays ;
and it always begins at a centre, and extends in the direction of the radii of a sphere.

PARING AND BURNING OF CLAY SOILS.

In this place the question comes up, what changes should clays be made to undergo, in
order to become fitted for cultivation? Some maintain that the iron contained in clay is
converted by combustion into a peroxide ; the former state of the iron being noxious, and
the latter congenial to vegetation, or else becoming so by its relations to other elements
existing in the soil. Others suppose that it is the sulphuret of iron, existing in clay soil,
which is converted into the peroxide by burning ; and that the sulphuret of iron is injurious
to vegetation. ‘This opinion can not be correct, unless indeed the sulphuret is of that kind
which decomposes and forms sulphate of iron, which, in large doses, is unquestionably
injurious to plants. We can hardly believe that sulphuret of iron is at all injurious, unless
it is undergoing decomposition. Admitting the correctness in part of this view, still the
mechanical effect of the burning is far more important than the chemical effect. Clay,
as deposited, is close, impervious, or difficult to be penetrated by the roots of plants. Two
effects follow from burning: Ist. The soil is rendered open, pervious, and penetrable ; 2.
Some of the matters in the clay become more soluble. This is maintained by Liebig, who
supports his view of the subject by reference to the greater solubility of argillaceous earths
in acids after they are ignited, than before. Itis true, we believe, however, that the peroxide
of iron does exert a salutary influence on vegetation ; and this opinion is supported by the
character of the productions of a brick red soil. This is certainly found to be a warm soil,
there being a perceptible difference in favor of the growth of grass and grain on lands of
this color; and it would seem that sheep and cattle are fond of grazing upon these soils,
and give them a preference. It appears, then, Ist, that the burning of clays of any kind

—
}

HUDSON AND MOHAWK DISTRICT. 263

changes their composition, converting the astringent salts of iron into the peroxide ; 2. By
ignition, the close texture of the clay becomes open and pervious; 3. Some of the mate-
rials contained in clay, or composing it, become more soluble ; 4. The color of the clay,
which by this process becomes red, absorbs more heat, by which the soil, in common
language, is changed from a cold to a warm soil; 5. We may reasonably conclude, that
clays, which have been thus treated, become better absorbers of the nutritive gases, as
ammonia and carbonic acid.

The operation of paring and burning argillaceous soils can not be followed with injurious
effects. Land which is injured by being burned, suffers from the loss of vegetable matter ;
but they are generally such lands as are cold, or too wet and compact, and require to be
drained in order to be cultivated with profit. But to return to the subject of burning clay :
Experience has amply proved the benefits of the practice ; and it is probable that it is
cheaper to treat clay soils in this way, than to attempt to make them porous by the use of
sand, which indeed can not impart so many beneficial results as does the method of paring
and burning.

WATERS FROM THE CLAY BEDS.

In this connexion we deem it proper to speak of the composition of the waters which
issue from the Tertiary clay, inasmuch as they differ materially from those which are
obtained from the general soil of this district. The waters which have been submitted to
an examination, were obtained mostly from wells sunk in the clay. The waters of the
springs we have noticed possess the same properties as those of the wells, but are some-
times more highly charged with sulphate of magnesia: they all contain large quantities of
salts, namely, the sulphates of lime and magnesia, and the chlorides of lime, soda, etc.,
and sometimes in so great a ratio as to be injurious to the animals which drink of them ;
but they are not charged with saline matter in the same proportion at all places. Some-
times saline effloresences cover the exposed banks of the clay in dry weather; at others,
large crystals of gypsum are formed in the clay; and usually, where these saline in-
crustations occur, the water is bitter, and animals, especially sheep, if they drink it, are
injured, as it brings on the scouring disease.

The numerous wells in the city of Albany furnish us an opportunity for ascertaining,
with sufficient exactness, the amount of saline and other matters contained in the waters
issuing from the clay deposit. The first well to which we propose to call the reader’s at-
tention, is that in the Capitol Park. It is proper to remark here, that the analyses were
all made when the wells were well supplied with water, and that probably the relative
amount of solid matter is often greater than what appears in the following results. The
water of this well gave the following substances on trial : Chlorine, sulphuric acid, lime,
magnesia, soda, silex and alumina. One quart of water contains

264 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

Silexy. 20. Se Re ee 0-12
Vegetable matter (partly crenic and apocrenic acids) 4°57
Garbonate off lime oi< 5 oni ws ee eed 3°62
LT. 21: ae Se ee ae eee aes 0°87
Peroxide of iron and alumina...-.--.-.------. 0°74
CEDIORMO Ol (ROUNIMN 9o e on os ee

Bulphate GF UUme sae a on nn a ey

Water of the well at the Old State House in State-street.
Solid matter in one quart, 9 grs.

Silex aes 20. i Shee oe ee eS S50
il omning 34 32 ete eR Bee:
Organicumatter,22-25 542 Se seh San ee B00
Carbonate of lime =<. s0se ean ei enen Scenery Rast
Chlorides and sulphates .._...-.--.---.-----. 3:98

Well at the Exchange.
One gallon contains 65°17 grs. of solid matter.

BUG. 2 sate eee koe catacomb MO ee
ASOUNIDE 2 on a ea aoe eee eee e SOLOD
“BLT Wee yet ep A ee pe Ee he ae ae toe SE ceri Ge
GOroaniemmatter 22 22s. 5 seers Se eee ee
Sulphate of limeviex Woeke esas Se SEIN SS
Chloride of sodium and magnesium. ---.----.-- 49 +29

In the course of evaporating the waters, it was not unusual for them to give off odors
which showed rather too plainly that they contained a disagreeable quanity of animal
matters in solution. In one instance the room and adjacent hall were filled with the odor
common to stables, and yet this water is in constant use both for cooking and drinking.

Another well is quite remarkable for the amount of solid matter contained in its waters.
We obtained from one gallon 245-76 grains of solid matter, after a large amount of ferru-
ginous matter had separated in the form of a precipitate. It consisted of protoxide of iron
and carbonate of lime: a trace of magnesia and the sulphates, only, was detected in the
water.

It is evident from the numerous analyses which have been made of the waters of the
Tertiary or Albany clay, that these waters are not only hard, but frequently are so highly
charged with mineral substances as to be unfit for domestic purposes. Another object for
which they are not at all adapted, is for the generation of steam for moving machinery :
it has been found in practice that they can not be employed for this purpose, as the boiler
is rapidly destroyed under their use.

The springs which issue from the upper part of this formation, are much better adapted
to the purposes of life. The water of the Patroon’s creek contains only 3°12 grains of saline
matter per gallon; in addition to this, 1°60 of organic matter was found, making the solid

HUDSON AND MUHAWK DISTRICT. 265

contents in a gallon only 472 grains. A little distance below, the water used for a large
manufacturing establishment gave 4°48 grains of solid matter, and of vegetable matter the
same as before. The soluble matters consist of chloride of lime, magnesia, sulphate and
carbonate of lime: probably the latter exists in a state of a crenate.

The water of the Hudson river contains 4°48 grains of soluble matter per gallon; the
amount of vegetable or organic matter is 1°84, in which it was evident some animal matter
existed, as, on ignition, it gave a perceptible odor of burning hair: the whole amount is
then 6°32 grains per gallon. Another specimen gave 7°24 solid matter, of which 3°34
grains consisted of organic matter. The waters of the Mohawk river gave 5:36 grains to
the gallon, of which 2°52 was organic matter.

The following is a summary of the results of several analyses of waters of the clay, to-
gether with penstock water of the city.

The penstock water of the city contains, of

Soluble matter, per gallon ---..---------- 4°64

Organic matter 5.....2-2-5225522555+002 8-00 — 12°64
A well in Lydius-street,

Holovleninter” son. ase. co ececeoe se Lae

Orpanic mater aecee see ee econ otee eases Ot cam L924
The well at the Old State House,

Solubleaiatter == ee eae =e 24700

@roaniemetter en ee ee eee a 12-00 = 36:00
The well at the Exchange,

Soluble matter2=22-cscsnc csc seas — se 40°20

Omcanicwmatter <5 <a o o e toee nee sa ate 17°48 — 64°68
The well of the Capitol Park,

SoluplewMatten,. ose ecan ao esco asa ae 47 +24

Organic matter 2 2=--2--=5-----5------+- [8*28== 65452

A well at the corner of Lydius and Union-streets gave 112 grs. to the gallon: it con-
sisted mainly of iron combined with an organic salt (crenate of iron). It gave a bulky
greenish precipitate with acetate of copper. The water, on standing an hour, becomes
turbid and yellowish, and, finally, in the course of three or four hours, deposits a large
ochreous sediment. Horses and cattle are quite fond of this water, and drink it freely.

Another kind of water of the Albany clay is quite common in the valley of Lake Cham-
plain. It abounds with the sulphates, particularly the sulphate of magnesia, and is so
excessively bitter that it can not be drank. It is used somewhat in cutaneous eruptions,
but is far too saline to be used to any great extent even as a medicinal water, inasmuch
as it is nearly impossible to drink it. The mineral springs which are pleasant, and so
extensively used, belong to the Hudson and Champlain district ; but none of these waters
issue from the clay. They either belong to the slate or the lower limestones, and consist

| AcRIcULTURAL Report. ] 34

266 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

mainly of chloride of sodium and the bicarbonates of magnesia, soda and lime. These
waters differ from the preceding, also, in containing iodine and bromine. We regard it
as a remarkable fact that the celebrated Saratoga waters belong chiefly to the Calciferous
sandstone, though at Ballston the same kind of water issues from the Hudson-river slate.

The lower part of the Champlain division furnishes a few sulphur (or, as they are
sometimes called, Harrowgate) springs, of some interest. ‘The most important known to
me, and which I have examined, are in the town of Massena, St. Lawrence county. At
this place, there are three within a few rods of each other. They issue from the Calcife-
rous sandstone, immediately upon the north bank of the Racket river, about three miles
from the St. Lawrence, and just above the Long Sault. The temperature of one was
found to be 46°; another, 48°; and the third 52°, the thermometer standing at 82° in the
shade. These springs are within thirty feet of each other. All these springs possess
nearly the same taste, and deposit a whitish incrustation upon the stones over which the
waters flow. The quantity of sulphuretted hydrogen is considerable, as it may be per-
ceived by its odor a mile from the locality.

The waters whose temperature stands at 46° and 52°, are composed as follows :

WARM SPRING. COLD SPRING.

Chloride of sodium.-------------- 6°988 6 +202
Chloride of magnesium ----------- 0°644 0-846
Chionds of ‘calcium! 2—---=- =< == Say 31-026 0-466
Sulphate of lime .-..-.-.---.----. 2°794 1-960
Carbonate of lime --.....-------.. 1°630 1-200
Hydrosulphuret of soda, magnesium

and vegetable matter.....------- 0-°000 1-870
Solid matter in one pint.__--.--.--- 13-082 125544

The water of the warm spring had lost its gas entirely, as it did not blacken silver ; the other
retained a portion, and both contained vegetable matter, which seemed to be combined in
some way with the sulphuretted hydrogen. Without doubt the gas is produced by the
decomposition of the sulphates, by the vegetable matter of the water. In another place,
I shall offer a few remarks on the origin of the mineral springs of the State.

The sulphuretted hydrogen springs which belong geologically to the Taconic slates, as
well as to the slates of the Hudson river, appear to be less charged with saline matter than
is usual with such springs. I have examined a small spring of this character, issuing from
the slates forming the crest of the ridge on the east bank of the Hudson, about four miles
from Albany, and obtained the following results:

HUDSON AND MOHAWK DISTRICT. 267

One pint gave 8 grs. solid matter, consisting of

@hlonde'of: soditn == 325-3324 =<. s 5 aun 2 1-042
Sulphate of dime*saee 2-222 = Sa ecSe- 225.2. 1-816
Salphate of magnesia = ooo So ee = 4-116
Caxbonatelof lime <2= = se ac se 0-620

7 +594

Hydrosulphuret of magnesium and organic matter, 0-406

8-000

The quantity of gas remains undetermined, and it is assumed that the combination is as I
have here stated. A small quantity of sulphur is deposited upon the stones and other
substances over which the water flows.

The large bodies of water which are collected in reservoirs formed in the rocks belonging
to the Champlain division, are generally soft, and quite free from mineral and organic
matter. We have an illustration of this fact in the water of Lake Champlain. It gives
only a faint cloud with nitrate of silver, and scarcely a perceptible precipitate with chloride
of barium; hence there is almost a total absence of the chlorides and sulphates, bodies
which most usually exist in hard or mineral waters. This is accounted for by the purity of
the waters which supply the lake. Most of the rivers and streams rise either in the Primary
region, or in the hard shales of the Primary and Taconic system of Vermont. The drains
from the Tertiary clay upon its border scarcely affect the great mass of the water forming
the body of the lake.

34*

268

METEOROLOGICAL TABLES.

A SERIES OF TABLES,

SHOWING THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS IN METEOROLOGY, 80 FAR AS THE HUDSON AND MOHAWK DISTRICTS

ARE CONCERNED.

TABLE I, Showing the mean temperature of each month in the year.
° u 35 e Dn
< > = . 2 a) * 2
vocaurriss. | © 5 a) es 4 z ~ 5 e a\|#4 gs 2/3
s z Y = pt o > Ep =] ° 2 Q = Sl|oz sle
5 3 &S & cy fis S a1 3s 6 2] sels sls
al eis) <a) eye | Se | Ol el a) ae cei
Albany ..../26°61)/24°73/39°46/47°30/59° 21/69+51]73°83|74 °0S/61°03 Pig 43*°27|22°67/49°55]97|—11
Gouverneur,} 10°52] 16*10/33*78)}43°07/48*SS8|67*44 73° 33\74°S8]57°19}51° aly. 30}14* 22/43 °87/99|—30
Lowville ..}22°97|23°53|34°63]43° 10/39-67/47*85]50°56/50°S3165-66]46-¢ 30 34° 28]17*02|39* 72}92|—27
Potsdam .. .!19*82!22°02!'35°30]43°30'53-70!65°64 87 eh) 39'56°41'49°47'35*60115*39!44 *52!94|—20

‘ g Ps x
. > ps me ; 3 oO
eee : $/a/2131¢
= % ° = . ro) : & = o 2 a
=| 3 a 5. z = = =| = S 3 3
5 = = < a 4 5 < D fo) Zz A
Albany ...... | NW | NW |S s s Ss NW |S SS Ss Ss Ss
Gouverneur .. | N N N N&Ssis sw /s Ss WwW Ww Ss N
Lowville..... | S Sy Ss SE SW |sXnw!/ S N Ss Ww Ss N
Potsdam ..... NE SW | SW SW SW | SW | SW | SW | SW | SW | SW | SW
TABLE III. Annual Results. (No. of days.)
LOCALITIES N. | NE E. SE. S. SW. | We Nye
Albany ...... | 61 174 | 144 7 | 134 ss | 12 | 1103
Gouverneur .. | 103 164 4 6 89 664 | 53 27
Lowville..... | 673 2h 4 424 | 10 17 40 854
Potsdam ..... | 16 | 54 33| 1s | 363|149 | 38 | 50

TABLE IV. Showing the quantity of rain for ten years, from 1826 to 1835 both inclusive, so far as reported,
with a general mean for those years.

Total fall of rain and snow in each year.

vocauimes. | 1826.| 1827.| 1828.| 1829.| 1830.| 1831.| 1832. | 1833.] 1834. | 1835. | Sener!
Albany Va ees 33°12 | 49°SO | 37°66 | 38°07 | 41°S5 | 39°52 | 44°45 | 41°74 | 32°35 | 40°44 | 39°91
Gouventiegr ssh) Saws | Sie ieclals noah peau eeu eseee | 33°80 | 26°66 | 46°16 | 35°54
Lowville <ics ['ssusc 32°87 | 38°42 | 28°07 | 36°66 | 39°79 | 29°12 | 35°08 | ..... 39°12 | 34°52
Potedent (cana ll teen | see 35°67 | 27°79 | ..... | 30°36 | 22°11 | 39°27 | 25°20 | 29°68 | 30°00

269

General

1843.| 1844.| 1845.

=a5

HUDSON AND MOHAWK DISTRICT.

general mean for the whole number of those years.

aoe AS 1841. 1842.

LOCALITIES.

TABLE V. Comparative view of the quantity of rain for each of the last ten years, so far as reported, with a

30°87
27°05

‘Jaquiaoa(q

39°45 | 41°69
33°48 | 23°85
30°69
31°02

SeaSRR RSS aaasSaarss&

BS AE, oe tice oy aay

*1OQULAAON,

35°00

25°46
31°67

26°47

POO KONQOSKrNBDONMOAANQAEN
GO OMS SH rt GOERS ES rGR C2 US iG CDG ON CNLED E~IN

BOR ORE DE? hein EL) Goyer ole

32°82
28°26

*1240}90,

romnn oo + DAMmnownowoon 2
COLrAAlM™ rs RCAC Da Seat
a relgestar 8 GS) eugene: wo .

DODAOHANHAHHMUHHABMOAAA

48°35
27°16
34°14
20 years, 40°80
ee
ee

15
17

18°94
34°53

28°53

SSRSSRCSC SRS zac asses
ODAPAONONSOMNAANErAHAOMM

AHOKHHEHMAKHAMHHHHHSOAG

45°99

NW
SW
SW

NHHMONr-N DNOAOMVDNNQrooandwnon
1 Sot OOD oD SN SOO mm HO Ht SN OD
. CH CLARA)

cl ce Ch Oh ae)

WOON HHHHHRAGHMAMHOD

“
“
«“

37°85

22°77
28°86

Prevailing winds. | Av. quantity of rain.

20 years, S

16
13
19

SBSGSSASSSAGS me
NO wos WD 0 OD SHO OO tH

General Summary.

32°48 | 20°77

44°38
20:00

43°61
43°66
43°35

© OD DNANDMOrono Hi9 9 Cron
rs SSBZSGRESALSZRATSRE

SHHRNHAADHAMEEAARAAAR

roner ad 10 SSSLACSASSE

19°63

28°40
22°96

38°11

Register, by Prof. Ten Eyck.
The figures indicate the depth in inches and decimals of an inch.

78

Mean temperature.
20 years, 48°26
ce
ee
«“

TABLE VII.

17
13
18

42°03
20°02

26°

> O10 OOrtoOwanoM Oo

ORAAHAKQHAANAOAHHAAR AAC

2h

GR Lease SSeS Sea sSkh Se
D o
*

RSSRAGASSESE
OS M0 GUS ts ~or WOH rt UG ODE

*AreNAGAYT

PLACES.

44°60 | 41°17
Albany ......
Lowville ..
Gouverneur
Potsdam ..

*Arenuesp

Greatest quantity of rain in any one month, for 20 years, May, 1833; smallest ditto, December, 1828.

YEAR
26

327
1828
1829
1830

Gouverneur ..
Lowville.
Potsdam .....

Albany ......
TABLE VI. Amount of rain and melted snow, observed at the Albany Academy, compiled from its Meteorological

270 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

4. WESTERN, OR WHEAT DISTRICT.

It is not without reason that the central and western counties of New-York are called
wheat-bearing counties, by way of preéminence for their adaptation to this crop. Probably
there is not another so good a district for wheat in this country ; and this is true, whether
we take into account the amount which may be raised per acre, or the quality of the grain
itself. It is true too that the average product is far less than many premium crops which
are raised elsewhere ; still, we believe that no country can produce larger, if the growers
of wheat in this district were disposed to work for a heavy crop. The truth is, what is pro-
duced may be regarded rather as the spontaneous growth of the fields, than one which is
produced by high cultivation.

There is another point of excellence possessed by the lands of this district, which has
been too little respected : it is the durability of the lands, or the ability with which they
stand cropping. This does not arise from a deep vegetable mould, an accumulation of
organic matter in the soil, the product of time and of the waste of materials once organized,
and now going back to the inorganic state ; but it is due rather to the energies of the soil
itself, and derived from its inorganic constituents. But even here there is no want of these
semi-organized matters, so important to a grain-producing country.

We have spoken of the high character of the western and middle counties of New-York,
for growing wheat. We are not able, however, to strike out the boundaries of the wheat
region in undeviating lines. We consider that it properly begins near the head waters of
the Mohawk, from which a line drawn to Lake Ontario near Oswego, and then along the
lake to Niagara river, will mark its northern boundary. The southern boundary we have
drawn east and west through the middle of Cayuga and Seneca lakes. So far as the val-
lies are taken into account, the wheat-growing country extends much farther ; but if the
high lands of the Hamilton group of rocks are regarded, it may not extend so far. We
find in this, as in many other cases, that it is difficult to define lines of demarkation ; that
there is no such thing in nature as a straight barrier or limit where this grain ceases to be
a valuable crop, or could not be rendered so under a proper system of cultivation ; that is,
wheat will grow and reproduce itself, at least in a moderate crop, over the whole of the
southern tier of counties. Yet when we examine Onondaga, Orleans and Livingston
counties, we can not overlook the fact that there is something here which favors the growth
of this grain, which does not exist on the Allegany and Chemung hills.

An interesting inquiry may be started here, namely, to what cause or causes is it to be
attributed, that this district is so well adapted to wheat, or what makes it superior to those
lying adjacent to it? Some differences of opinion prevail on this question. There are
some who say that the belt of limestones, which passes through this district, gives it the
wheat-growing property; and it has been attempted to prove, by the statistics of this crop,
that the limestone counties exceed in productiveness those which are not based upon this

WESTERN DISTRICT. 271

rock. There is, it is true, some show of truth in this view of the question ; nevertheless,
the view is fallacious, and has but a small foundation to support it. Calcareous matter is
an important element in a wheat soil ; but this is not all, and even if it were so, the Onon-
daga limestone would fail to furnish the amount required to fertilize this large district.
Now in looking about us for the solution of this question, we find that the true elements
of the wheat soil exist mainly in the shales associated with the limestones, particularly
those of the Onondaga-salt group. In addition to these, the rocks of this group, the gray
and red marl of the Medina sandstone, and the shales and slates of the Ontario division,
exert an important influence on the soil, which bears favorably upon the growth of wheat.
In support of this view, we may observe that the Onondaga and Niagara limsetones are
but slowly converted into soil; they are too hard and compact to be reduced to the condi-
tion required : hence, we regard them as performing an inferior part or office in this matter.
The cause is truly geological ; but the part these comparatively pure limestones perform,
is quite subordinate to that of the shales and marls. This is necessarily true, from the
feeble action of the weather and other decomposing agents on these rocks, as well as the
nature of the product which is produced by these causes. The debris of the pure lime-
stones does not favor the growth of the crop with the same power and permanence as the
debris of the shales, neither mechanically nor by composition.

The rocks which have been just referred to as those which give to this district its dis-
tinctive crops, extend from the base of the Ontario division, the Medina sandstone, to the
Onondaga limestone, the upper rock of the Helderberg division. By reference to what
has been already said of the lower members of this Jast division, it will be seen that they
are largely developed in the district under consideration, but it is known that they do not
extend to the limits of this district on the south. There is no difficulty on this point, so
long as it is plain that the debris of the fragile and easily decomposing masses are found far
south. To the transportation of this debris of the shale, must be attributed the extension
of the wheat district beyond the limits of the rocks which give origin to it. They have
been used abundantly for this purpose, and their nature aids materially this process; while
the hardness of the limestone, and its small depth compared with the shales, disqualify it
to perform the office assigned it. An inspection of the materials proves the position we
have taken. A perceptible quantity of the peculiar debris of the shales can always be
discovered in the wheat soil, and may be known by the peculiar color which it imparts to
the soil.

An inspection of the nature and composition of the soil explains to us the reason why
this district is more productive in wheat than those adjacent to it. Where the soil is thin,
but reposes upon the shales of the Salt group, additional matter is added to the former soil,
by the rapid decomposition of the rocks at or near the surface; and where we detect, by
ocular inspection, the small angular masses of the shaly limestones of the gypseous rocks,
or find a soil of the peculiar drab color of those of Onondaga and Livingston counties, we
may be satisfied that it will produce wheat, and that this is its natural crop.

272 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

The wheat district, as we have bounded it, extends from the south shore of Lake On-
tario, to a line drawn through the middle of Cayuga and Seneca lakes. It is not claimed
that the whole of this district is better adapted for wheat than for any other kind of grain ;
for on the south shore of Cayuga lake, much sandy soil is found, which is not well suited
to wheat, but is better for rye. This soil seems to be derived from the sandy parts of the
Medina sandstone, the strata of which are often well developed, and differ greatly from
the marly part of the rock noticed in the foregoing pages.

The composition of the soil of this district is illustrated by the composition of the rocks
from which it is derived. We shall therefore give several analyses of the most important,
those especially of the softer kinds, which furnish the greatest amount of material. The
first which we shall notice, and which seems to be the most liable to disintegration, is the
red shale, the lowest member of the Onondaga-salt group. Two varieties have been
noticed ; the sandy and the marly, or the soft red shale quite destitute of grittiness, and
which is often spotted green.

SANDY. MARBLY.
Silex. Meee eo ee ee 68°25 68-86
Peroxide of iron and alumina---_-----~ 6°25 14-98
Magmpeia Co ~ Sei SF 100 Bilin 5°75 040
Carbonate of lime ......-.-.------- 10*25 9°89
Phosphate of alumina, and phosphate of
peromwa it srops Sooo ase 0-00 0-14
Winter. 3 a ee 1-00 °
99-50 99.25

The sandy variety was taken from the horizontal rock at Canastota, which is now pene-
trated for a brine spring, and furnishes a tolerable amount of water.

The most important fact brought out in the analysis of the rock, is its calcareous matter.
Magnesia also is a constant element, but probably varies in amount at different places.
The marly variety forms by far the greatest proportion of the rock, and hence may be
considered as the part which gives character to the soil. Observation confirms the view
which we should form of the character of the soil derived from this rock. It is well adapted
to the wheat crop, and is slowly exhausted by cultivation. It is sometimes employed to
renovate soils which are partially worn out.

The rock which succeeds the red shale, is a soft greenish marl, whose composition
continually varies by the presence of bands of gypsum. The red color disappears, while
the soft shaly nature of the rock continues: it therefore forms a soil quite similar to the
preceding. This mass may be known, however, not only by its green color, but by the
presence of cavities in the form of the hollow cubical crystals of salt, or chloride of sodium.

The composition of this rock is as follows:

WESTERN DISTRICT. 273

Water of ,absorption= 522.2 ossceh eds ccs suseus 0°56

Organic matter e< 9 oe ie eee Se Se 5:00

SUG gee eee eee eee 34°56

Warhonute of lin, Sse ae ae a 43 +06

Alumina and protoxide of iron-...------------ 13°36

Sulphate‘of meee a2 se Ses oe nk 1-06

= Magriesit sens 2 eres Arena 2 Sets Pee Se ks Pf WE
99°71

The red and green marly rock, when submitted to the action of cold water, furnishes
a quantity of soluble matter. Thus from 100 grains, we obtained of

RED MARL. GREEN MARL.

Soluble matter‘. 4 2222222 l2saciles 1°25 3°50
Organic matter or acids...-.-.-...--. 0°57 0-87
Saline:or bases: S-5~. <e Seds cut). coc r O268 2°63

The thin beds of green shale are subject to decomposition, and the debris remains on
the dry shelving rocks in the form of gray bitter powders, consisting mostly of the sul-
phates of soda and magnesia, mixed also in varying proportions with the chlorides of
sodium, magnesium and calcium, and the sulphate of lime and sometimes alumina. One
hundred grains of the most earthy powder yielded of

Nolublo matter ssi 5559 Ss = dessa ee a SE 6°53
Qiganie matter --2=2-s=s2s=s2ssssssss5s-2- 5 1-03
Saline matter— oes oecee oe cece. BSE: 23 SS 550

The latter consists of the above enumerated elements. In many instances the saline matter
may be collected in a pure condition, or nearly free from earthy matter. This fact explains
the cause’ of the constant fertility of the soils derived from these rocks: the amount of
saline matter which they furnish is always sufficient to supply the wants of vegetation.
The analysis of the shales gave another important fact, namely, that the organic salts
exist in them ready formed.

Vegetable materials may be recognized always when they are ignited, both by their
blackening, and by the peaty odor which they exhale when subjected to the action of
heat. This organic matter must have been derived from vegetables which belonged to the
period when the rocks were being deposited. It also increases the fertility of the soil ; and
as it is furnished in proportion to the disintegration of the rock, it can rarely happen that
the soil will be exhausted of its organic matter by a judicious course of husbandry.

The condition of the organic matter is much the same as that which exists in ready
formed soils: crenic and apocrenic acids constitute the greater part of it. These are
combined with the alkalies and alkaline earths, which, when they have been ignited, are
decomposed, and pass to the condition of carbonates. Hence it is that we obtain carbonates
in all our analyses, where rocks or soils have been subjected to a red heat. The carbonates

[Acricutturat Report. | 35

274 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

therefore do not exist originally in the organic matter, but are a result brought about by
the processes to which they have been subjected.

The rocks under consideration are usually concealed by a great amount of their own
debris. It is therefore impossible to determine their thickness or their extent; they are,
however, between one hundred and fifty and two hundred feet thick.

We have already stated that the shales contain beds of gypsum. The lowest beds are
merely thin inconsiderable masses, unfit or unprofitable for working ; yet the amount of
plaster is considerable. The rock itself, with its plaster, would form a very valuable
manure in many parts of the State. The decomposing shales, when plaster is wanting,
may be regarded as valuable as gypsum, and perhaps more so; they have nat, however,
been employed, and hence have not received the sanction of experiment or trial.

In addition to the plaster beds, the shales embrace a singular deposit, which was called
by Mr. Eaton vermicular limerock. This deposit, however, is not entitled to a distinct
name, inasmuch as it is subordinate to the shales, and forms but an inconsiderable mass
in the group. The vermicular rock is an impure limestone, and is composed of the fol-
lowing elements :

MN oe Si eee ore ae ee ee Se PR 0-23
Orpanic matter: ~~~ oo oo oe eae eee pele
RE et eee ee ee LD
arponie nell. 28 on eo eee ee ae ee ee eae
J Wit) \ ee aan ewe Pee Sl
Maron ema 2 on on eo one = ae ee ee
Carbonate of ime -* = ee oe 13°76
Protoxide‘of 1toll-= 2 oe oe eee ee a trace.

50-04 in 50 parts.

The main deposit of plaster is above those porous strata, the composition of which
has been furnished in the preceding pages.

The soft green shales pass into thin-bedded limestones, quite compact and hard, and
which, on being struck, emit a sharp ringing sound similar to clinkstone. These thin beds
contain the hydraulic limestones, which have been described.

These parts of the series differ considerably in composition from those below. According
to Dr. Beck, their composition (the water-limes) is as follows:

Carhonwnend | 626 2 ats ent oe . ae 39-80
: Fi eee Se: ee ee eee i
PATO oa ee is ee ea ee
Silten anid suing. Cotes ean e se! eee. Leo
PerGxige Orntan = ane ean a eee 1-25
Moimfaure ahd tose ee se eee 1°41

WESTERN DISTRICT. 275

The above analysis represents the composition of the western hydraulic hmestone. The
same series exist, however, in Ulster county. Their analysis was made by Dr. Jackson,
and gave the following result :

Winter ace ae en ees else) 182
Sili¢icvicid es. Stes Sa a Sok 10-087
Garbonicintidie Sg ea oto See casas 52 41-200
Solphune anda Sao on eae a 0606
Dime e nee ere ee eee eee ee Ob 08%
Alamina ses eee nee ee en ee Spt 3°395
Peroxdeion Wonte ese ee eee eee eee ee. Olen.
Magnesia’ = oS 26 3 2 eck Soe aseeees === +<. 12-890
@xide of manganese === —- == 22 = <= = 3825 0-606
Potash eseee 2 Se Se en ces Sas See 08700
moda Se eee ee ee ee Ce Soe ae ORO

100-000

One hundred grains of the powdered rock give one grain of soluble matter; of which
there remains after ignition, 0°56 of a grain, leaving 0°44 for vegetable matter princi-
pally.*

From the several analyses, it will be observed that magnesia is an important and con-
stant constituent of the shales and hydraulic limestones. The superior rocks contain a
larger proportion than the inferior or gypseous deposits. There is no doubt this element
exerts a beneficial influence on the crops, especially maize and the cereals. The question
has been agitated whether magnesian rocks were favorable to vegetation. It seems to be
set at rest by observation in New- York, where magnesian rocks are so prevalent. No part
of the State is more fertile than those underlaid with the magnesian rocks. The same
view is supported by ebservations in Berkshire (Mass.), where the dolomites prevail.
Here the most fertile lands are underlaid by magnesian deposits. When, however, a
magnesian limestone is burnt and converted into a caustic condition, the magnesia remains
a long time, and if used before it is nearly saturated with carbonic acid and water, it injures
vegetation ; but when slacked, it is equally harmless with the air-slacked lime. Without
doubt it is an advantage to use the two alkaline earths together, if proper precautions are
observed ; for magnesia seems to be as essential to the composition of many grains as lime,
and may undoubtedly replace it when the lime is wanting.

In the western counties, we pass from the Hydraulic or Magnesian limestones to the
Onondaga limestone : the reason of this has been already explained. This limestone is a
hard gray crystalline rock below, but passes upward into a dark shaly cherty rock, which
is usually described under the name of Corniferous limestone. It extends from the Hudson
river to Blackrock on Lake Erie, forming a belt from three to six miles wide.

* Jackson’s analysis of the Ulster county cement stone, in the Proceedings of the American Geologists and Natu-
ralists.
35*

276 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

The influence of this rock upon vegetation is much less than that of the preceding.
There is not only a change in the constitution of the limestone, but it is quite different in
its texture. Magnesia is no longer an essential element, and the rock has become hard
and little subject to disintegration. It is nearly a pure limestone, and the soils upon it are
drier, and perhaps more friable ; but they do not retain so firmly the roots of wheat, and
hence the crop is more liable to injury from late frosts. Many wide fissures exist in this
rock, through which the surface water passes, and hence there is often a deficiency.

The Onondaga limestone may be regarded as a pure calcareous rock, or as pure as
chalk and most limestones which are employed for quicklime.

ANALYSIS OF FIFTY PARTS.

Hyprometric water << 2220. ssn es 25 se aL ONAG
Organic matters 2c sss ss SE SSS es Ss OS
Biloks = S25 Ss Ss os ae Ses a
Alumina and protoxide of iron ..---.---------- 0-09
Phosphate of lime <= 5-44 sence Seeks at entaS 0-03
Garbonate of, ime <5 ee 44°50
Carbonate of magnesia ..-..-=-=.-2-4---<--- 2-00

49 +39

CoMPoSITION OF THE SOILS OF THE WHEAT DISTRICT.

The first analysis given below, is of a soil of the red shale near Canastota, and which
was derived mainly from it. Its composition may be compared with that of the reck from
which it is derived.

ANALYSIS — ONE HUNDRED GRAINS.

Water’/of absarptions. tee coe eee ene aU
Organic matten. 2225 e- See ee ee ee 2 abo
Sileetangs.. See ee St. Ok ee ee SEAR DO
Peroxide of iron and alumina-...-.....------. 8+12
Caxbonate of lime = 5. <-.s da eene tea ae oe ale
i Eta, See SOP eee eee co Be Se 0°12
Phosphate ‘of. alumina-. =< -2-22-=s2ecres ano 0-50

99-9]

There is a loss of lime and magnesia in the process of disintegration.

A practical suggestion of some importance grows out of these analyses, viz. that it
would be profitable to spread the decomposing shales over the soils wherever they are
accessible. The lime and magnesia might be supplied at a cheap rate. The advantage
arising from this procedure consists in supplying lime in a finely divided state. Where
wood is plenty, the condition of the materials would be improved by burning: a larger
amount would become soluble by the process.

We may now stop and consider for one moment the state and condition of the particles

WESTERN DISTRICT. 277

which compose the rocks whose analyses we have just given. From the Niagara lime-
stone, upon which the red shale and marl repose, up to the Oriskany sandstone, the mate-
rials are all extremely fine, excepting a thin sandy band near the top of the red slate.
For seven or eight hundred feet, then, the rocks which form a large body of soil are in
that condition as it regards size, which fits them for the most effectual action of the roots
of plants, and for the solution so necessary to prepare them to be received into the texture
of the plant. The fineness is not such as to pass readily into an impalpable state ; such,
for instance, as is at all liable to pack, and thereby exclude air and moisture. We regard
the condition we have here described as quite desirable for wheat, and all other crops
which admit of high cultivation.

The origin of the materials constituting these shaly rocks can not be determined with
certainty. That they were not the immediate result of abrasion from primary rocks is
certain, inasmuch as their fineness could not have been effected by such an operation,
unless indeed the materials should be regarded as having been transported far from their
parent rock ; and, besides, we are unable to detect, by a common microscope, any grains
of felspar or mica, or the products of any primary rocks, except fine rounded grains of
quartz. A fact which bears upon the question under consideration, is, that no fossils are
known in the red and green shales, those deposits which are so exceedingly fine ; and
this fact seems to favor the view that the deposition actually took place in a deep sea, at a
depth at which organic beings are not known to exist.

The rock, which succeeds the Onondaga limestone, is the Marcellus slate ; and it is so
closely related to the shales below, that its composition may be given in this place. The
rock is of course thin-bedded and liable to disintegration, and is therefore usually con-
cealed at its outcrop. It is calcareous in many places, and at some points it appears that
an unusual quantity of lime was deposited with the slate, as a large quantity of septaria
is inclosed between the layers at such places; at other places, thin bands of limestone
appear.

The shales, in their most common condition, are composed of the following substances :

Wiater'ofabsorpiion = c= 22-32 aoe ane er 00
@rsanic/matter, 6 = = ay a ae oS 2225
Os Oe ee Ce ee ee eee aa ee ae 48-12
Peroxide of iron and alumina -..-.-.--------- 10:00
Garhonate ofrlime® =~ ssc .4oo=sce5-eeosSeeee 36°60
Mannesia a® Soo 2eescseecstsseetacte eo este 1°00

100-07

The vegetable or organic matter is quite as abundant as in the green shales, but it is more
carbonaceous, or charred, and hence the dark color under which the rock usually appears.
Sometimes, however, the dark color is due to the presence of decomposing pyrites.

The passage from the Marcellus shales to the Hamilton group is easy, and is effected
by an increase of siliceous matter in a coarser state ; besides this change, we may often

278 . ANALYSES OF SOILS.

detect mica in the rock. The condition of the Hamilton group enables it to resist the action
of the weather, and hence it is common for it to appear in mural precipices or in well
exposed outcrops. A more important change, however, remains to be noticed ; it is the
disappearance of lime and magnesia, or rather a very perceptible diminution of both. It
is not supposed that any rock is entirely destitute of either of these elements, yet it is not
uncommon that it is diminished so far as to influence the growth of the cereals, as well as
of maize. The consideration of the Hamilton group will be deferred for,the present.
The soil derived from the red shale may be distinguished from the succeeding green
shales by its red color. Where it is unmixed, and consists wholly of the matter of the
rock, it is frequently a heavy tenacious clay ; and usually it has more tenacity, and is
more compact than the soils from the rocks below or above. Its composition indicates the
relation it bears to the wheat culture, and the confidence which may be placed in it as to
returns for many years in succession. It furnishes the phosphates of alumina and iron, and
the carbonates of lime and magnesia. We have already hinted that it may be improved
by employing the broken down rock; a plan, which, if systematically pursued, would
forever prevent its deterioration. ‘This opinion is justified by experience in a few instances.

Som OF THE GREEN SHALES.

We notice this product of the rocks next succeeding in the ascending order, though its
characters, when its components are taken into consideration, are much the same as the
soil of the red shale. Its color, however, is quite different,” and it is less compact ; and
these shales, we believe, never produce a stiff clay, but the soil has a good body, and can
never be ranked among the light soils. The standard specimen of this soil yields, on
analysis,

Water, of absorption. <= ace eee ee 5°16
it eee Aare arse, +S A i eh cn os 35°54
(Garbonate’of lime: a. asa eee ee eee 2°50
Maoneiia <2... cscne sccce ces eneee ee na ae 1+50
Sulphate of lime:: -=22--:22====52,2S eee 0°50
Peroxide of iron and alumina_.---------~----- 4°87
Phosphate of alumina -25222s2<s<sc222s<c22ss 0-06

50°13

Two hundred grains, submitted to the action of cold water for a few days, gave, of

STR rial) oe ee a a nrerepa sees a Ry t
Orgamie Mmalters ot eee eee UD)
Sablne matter. = 38. - 3.02 eee am eee

Another specimen, from the vicinity of the Green lakes near Manlius centre in Onondaga
county, gave

WESTERN DISTRICT. 279

Soluble mattem iss ase cate tee tes coe ser 2500
Organic matier=<3-5—5 52S osu s- 2-5 I OTSE
Saline mattencss 9528 e thse tee SG

The matter which is set down as organic, consists mainly of crenic acid. It is in com-
bination with the alkalies and alkaline earths, potash, lime and magnesia. In the same
products, alumina or phosphate of alumina is invariably present. The clear solution is
always disturbed by caustic ammonia; a light flocculent precipitate appearing soon after
the addition of the ammonia. Chloride of sodium is another substance present in the
solution, and we also obtain sulphate of lime. It may appear to some that the quantity of
these compounds is too small to exert much influence on vegetation. When, however,
the whole quantity contained in an acre, not exceeding the depth of one foot, is estimated,
it will be found that it exceeds, or at least equals the manure which the best farmers ever
use upon their lands. The amount of soluble matter in a good soil is not less than twenty
tons per acre in the depth we have indicated ; but this is only about one-fifth the quantity
which actually exists, and which, in process of time, will be converted into the food of
plants,

The soluble matter which we obtained from two hundred grains taken from a field of

G. Geddes, Esq. of Fairmount, and upon which barn-yard manure has not been spread
for twenty-five years, was

Soluble-matter:-- S524 92) oe) ees eet ede
@rpanice mation 9+ 5s -- bes Fh Se epee aE SU ETS
Ralirie matters ss 28 6 2 2 ee ee anes 8 ot 0-29

In this, as well as in other trials, the organic matter is crenic acid in combination with
lime and magnesia. The condition in which the saline matter is obtained, is that of a
carbonate, which is formed in the process of incineration.

Another soil, which had never been ploughed, gave

Soluble: matters 0542 32-5 ee ee Od
Oreanic aaliersoa= oe oe ee a oe ee ee OSA
Salme mater = 2-2 a Oe eee ae 1-00

Treated in the usual way of analysis, the cultivated and uncultivated soils gave

CULTIVATED. UNCULTIVATED.

iWater:of absorption... - 2254542 ==. 5-25 4-79
@romirc matter, 8 6°67 5°24
Ru iedtese 2a Sn 77°50 78°25
Peroxide of iron and alumina--------- 7°75 827
Carbonateiof lime---.--..-.--.--.-< 1°25 1-15
Maoneant 2 ered es et 1-10 1-20
Sulphateof lime==-—==.=-* 2-22... 0:22 0-20

98-80 99-16

280 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

The green shales, or rock from which the above soils were derived, is composed as
follows :

Water of absorption... 22" 222 22 cece cen 0°50
Organic matters .5.ccososey Jasan sah cee we 6-00
Silicate? .) .sescse ee neck ese nok sete Pan 34°56
Carbonate’ol lime... <5 o-oo ee oes LO FOB
Carbonate of mapnesia .-— =. = ne nen 2.16
Peroxide of iron and alumina -.-.-.----------. 6°38

99 +66

The inorganic salts, the sulphates of lime and magnesia, and chloride of sodium, exist
also in the rock, but the proportion was not determined.

The composition of the rock is eminently fitted to sustain a soil in constant fertility.
The upper surface of the rock, when near the top of the ground, is easily broken up by
the plow ; and its debris, being mixed with the old soil, becomes speedily a fit material
for sustaining a vigorous growth of the cultivated vegetables.

It is a fact worthy of a passing notice, that although gypsum abounds in the midst of the
shales which underlie Onondaga and Cayuga counties, still it is not only wanting in the
soil as a general rule, but is required in the practice of husbandry, and seems to produce
effects as beneficial as in any other part of the country where it is unknown among the
formations. This may arise partly from its solubility : it may be removed rapidly from
the soil by solution. If this is true, it is evident that there is no danger to be apprehended
from an accumulation of it in the soil by the ordinary use of it. Another reason why
plaster is not found abundantly in the soil, is its change of constitution, or its change from
a sulphate of lime to a carbonate, by means of the carbonate of ammonia contained in the
atmosphere. This change seems to be indicated by a few experiments which have been
made during the last five years.

The debris about the beds of plaster consists mainly of carbonate of lime, largely mixed
with clay in which it would seem that sulphate of lime must have existed originally.
Thus the debris of the plaster beds from Cayuga bridge, I found composed as follows :

MW aterof absorption. 22s 222 see eee eee 4-88
Organic mutferss 22252) abe See Se a 3-00
Silicates occas 2555 ~ eon eS eee ee eee nD
Peroxide of iron and alumina---_---....--..-. 8°88
Garbonate of lime _=-> 22S) Se seece 22°20
Garbonate of Mugnesia =o ae se 19-30

100-01

As the debris about these beds is often rich in magnesia and carbonate of lime in a state of
minute division, there is no doubt but the material will be as useful, applied to land, as
the plaster itself; besides, it is not necessary that it should be transported to a plaster mill,
as it undergoes disintegration, and becomes in a few years sufficiently fine for use.

WESTERN DISTRICT. 281

A soil taken from the forest near the Green lakes in Manlius, gave, on analysis,

DE a ei te Pe Se ee 4-00
OME NEE G oo oo co son acer coseeeece. seer 6°25
Silexroriailienteqweees eee oe asta o ecroc le Sao ee 77-00
Peroxide of iron and alumina......--.-------- 9°74
Warbonrteon ime? oee ces tease son SSS} 3:00
Mat esiaisee nee sen eee eats Sonne ae 0+50

100-49

In this analysis, I obtained a greater percentage of carbonate of lime than usual ; and it
appears highly probable, from this analysis, and from the circumstances of the case, that a
part of the sulphate of lime of the green shales may be converted into a carbonate in the
soil, and perhaps a part is carried away in solution. This latter supposition appears quite
probable in this case, as the water of the Green lakes, which receive the wash of the sur-
rounding hills, contains much gypsum in solution.

A soil taken from the flats near Manlius centre, and which has been long under culti-
vation, gave

Water ofabsorption:..- 2232504 5-52/4-055 4-00
Oreanic matters se24Q. 5 onan athe oe dsm 8°50
SilexJ2 an Sas ae ee Soest ss asccesace 79 +54
Peroxide of iron and alumina--=—...--._--2_-- 6°49
Carbonate’ of lime S525: 3=322-3355 5552-2 0=5 1-41
Carbonate of magnesia = -.-.-----+--------=-- trace

99°94

This soil has been long famous for its wheat crops ; and although it does not afford a very
large return, yet it has been cultivated for this grain for twenty-five or thirty years past.

The most important fact brought out in many of the analyses of the soils of this district,
does not indicate deterioration, much less an approach to barrenness. Even intances
occur, where the cultivated soil seems to be richer than the new and uncultivated ; and
such a view is not very improbable, inasmuch as the soil in many instances is renewed,
or rather has new matter from the rock added to it. This takes place only when the soil is
ploughed ; for the rock beneath is defended by a coat of earth, and its disintegration is
promoted only when its surface is partially exposed by the common operations required in
tilling the soil.

Cayuga county contains large tracts of soil adapted to wheat. Those which are most
esteemed, and upon which this crop rarely fails, are clay bottoms, upon which the surface
never heaves, or the grain very rarely winter-kills. This property of clay, that of holding
the roots when the surface is frozen, is highly important.

The following is an analysis of the clay which appears at many points along the shore
of Cayuga lake, and which may be regarded as the subsoil of the county.

| AcricuLtuRAL Report. | 36

282 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

Organic matter and water --=-.---..---------- 14°36
Silitates,.2ve® Shae 5 es eRe ee ee 48-12
Peroxide of iron and alumina---...-.-.------- 24:00
Garbonnts of ‘Mme= <= <2 eee ee en
ALEVE TEST ip tg aces ee Se ete Ge eee 1-00

99 +48

Three or four hundred feet above Cayuga lake the soil is looser, and though rich and pro-
ductive in all crops, and in wheat if the season is not adverse, is considered, however,
less favorable for the crop, as it is more liable to be heaved out by frost than the clay soil.

The following is an analysis of the soil which forms the ridge at Great Fields, near the
residence of David Thomas:

Water of-absorption - 2-2-2. wean e fece ee EAD
Organic matter 222.22 4s see es Se lO E24
Balicates totu ow Sos ee Fa re oe ee ee a
Peroxide of iron and alumina_.._.....-.-.-.-.. 12°06
Garbonatesoh Lime — 92s et ee 0-40
Ma pniesia soe noe eee ee he eee ee

100°34

A soil, forming the sides of the ravines, and in which the Kalmia latifolia thrives, gave
the following results on analysis :

Water of absorption. = <=.55<--2-2 52222-5255 2°92
Organic imatten 3. ee Son a RD)
HIGHER” Ss coe a oe ee ene ee oe ee:
Peroxide of iron and alumina -....._..-._-.--- 1°22
Warponsle of Lime =. 2h se ae ee eee ee UU
Maonesia’) 2S Senn oot ae ese aon nea eee 0-10

98-28

It has been inferred from the fact that the Kalmia dies in the common soils of this region,
that this effect is due to the presence of lime. This opinion, however, is disproved by the
above analysis, which shows the existence of lime; and this element is obtained in a pro-
portion still greater when the soil is thoroughly decomposed, and analyzed by means of
fusion by carbonate of soda and potash. Thus, 100 grains gave

Oxpanicimatior 2385 = Ee e O
Se he ne ee 83°65
Peroxide of iron and alumina ._--.-.--------. 8°70
Carbonate oftmett <2 22S eet) 2 ee eG
Magnesia... -. -s222 ses 2A eo e. awa, Ore

99 +37

WESTERN DISTRICT. 283

I have analyzed two specimens of soil from the farm of Mr. Young, which lies upon the
east slope of the lake, and is elevated about one hundred feet above it.

ANALYSIS OF THE SURFACE SOIL.

Water dig bsorpuontsose eee ee oad 3°17
Oroanicg Mmatterosaantas oo] nase aet ee cena e eo nn 5:08
MIlICAtes = See eee. See Se ea So cae 82-09
Peroxide of iron and alumina ..-.------------ 8-00
Garhonntosofe limes “eset Sac cae ee ee emesceten T1950
Mapnesiazo en ssecac tate tec econ aactinacs sea 0°15

99 +99

SUBSOIL.

Water ofjabsonpuony oo ons en 3°00
@roaniownattenise sca oe a4 Sea eoe eee Se coe 2°87
Sulicntes see me see Coe ene Me oa ana 82°00
Peroxide of iron and alumina -...-..--------- 8+20
Carbonate’ off inte! 22 20 5b Se ee eee ee 300
Macniesia-.2— So cscncn neato cnn eco acaacae, 0°50

99.37

The subsoil has more clay apparently, though the analysis does not indicate a difference
of much importance.

Analyses of two specimens from the same farm.

SURFACE SOIL.

Wiaterofsahsorption=<2== 255 tee Ie 3°16
(ronnie Matteh= aa sans aceite sao ae eee 7°44
Silicdteset ae apm ae ee Se ts ee 74.00
Peroxide of iron and alumina..__...__..-.--__- 8-30
@arbonate. ofp limes: sees ie ee oe eee 6+48
@arbonate!of magnesia) 2-252 -222=-2- ooen ns 0+50

Sulphate of limes 22s ene saeeec cee eae OTe

100-00
SUBSOIL.

Water ol absomption {45-423 5s522-5-5se-8' 4s 4°15
Orpantic MAageln sess ae cioce ce ote ee Sat 3°75
DUICAES eee te aisee ons ate Sad cole 80-00
Peroxide of iron and alumina --..2.-.-------- 10-00
@arbonateominnossn he sete Leta y ee eee ee 1-50
Carbonate of mapnésias..5.25-2-0------25-2 0°35

99°75

284 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

The Marcellus shales, and shales of the Hamilton group, which lie beneath the soil of

this farm, are composed of the following elements :

‘Water of sabserptiqn.* seas eee eee
Sulicatesee. saee~ 5 =e eee
Alumina and peroxide of iron ._---------
Gaxhonate'-ot limes. 2-.—. ch haceekee
Mon @Sia' Sao osc ss bane sos ee eS

99-90

The shales of this range, which furnish undoubtedly a large proportion of the soil of the
eastern slope of the lake, are more calcareous than those of the Helderberg range; and
hence it is probable that the large percentage of lime which the soils of Aurora yield, is due
to the composition of this range of rocks. It is apparent, too, from these and other analyses,
that a calcareous shale yields a soil richer in carbonate of lime than does a pure limestone.
The soil resting upon the Niagara or Onondaga limestone is usually quite deficient in this
element. This results from the nature of the purer limestones, namely, the slowness of

their disintegration.

A soil which rests on the same shales, three miles east of Manlius, has the following

composition :

Water ofabsorptions 2-2. J.-S... 3552
Vegetablematter .._ <.2...e. Sos esos =
Silicates® 2S s.s-so=coccceeet ee acc uese

A specimen consisting of 200 grains of soil, taken from Mr, Ellis’s cornfield, based upon

the same rock, on being subjected to the action of water, gave

polublematter =. 2 2.5 eee ee ee aes
Mineral ‘saliseto. oceans eee eee
(Orpanic ‘saltess oc so-< soe ek eee ee cee

The mineral salts consisted of

Silicaeet Sl. pi ces. sc eaoosee tees
Chlorides of lime and magnesia ---.-----
Suiphatevof lime 25-25 <<— ee ean
Al pO as see oe toe eee = a ee
@agbonafe of ime... .-.... <-.o05- same

WESTERN DISTRICT. 285

Most soils, if not all, yield soluble silica when thus acted upon by water. Sometimes it
is inappreciable ; at others, susceptible of an accurate determination. This substance,
without doubt, is one of the essential elements of good grass or pasture land. All the
cereals require silica, as much as they do carbon: hence, where there is a deficiency of
soluble silica, we can not hope to obtain good crops of hay or grain. I omit here all
details, except the common statement in regard to silex, reserving a more special notice
of this substance for a future section.

The Marcellus shales, when subjected to the solvent power of water, furnish considerable
soluble matter. Thus, 200 grains, treated as above, gave

Solublemmaten ee see one ee eee 1-98 grs.
Organic mattersoaes. ote os eae ete ac sees 0863
Naline mation ssa se ee ee ee ee See 1°35

OTD) Ge ee ae ae ee eee oe 0°03
Alumina or phosphate of alumina tinged with iron, 0*25
Chlorides of lime and magnesia_-.---..-------- 0-23
pilphatcrotp mej oe se soe ean ee ees ee 0:12
Carbonate of lime = 32.225 8 0°73

1°35

A specimen of soil from the cornfield referred to above, treated in the usual method of
analysis, gave

"Wy ater Gf UbSsOMptON = o— ne oe eae Se women 4+15
roan matenses meets eee ee seen 5°06
RUGS eee eee ee se ee ae ee eB O ONS
Casbonateiofame: acs 52% Ss Seales: 3-00
Mijonenig 2 se Se be oe. Soe 5 0°50
Peroxide of iron and alumina.__...-.--------- 7°00

99 +86

A specimen of soil which has never been cultivated, taken from the same geological
position as the above, gave

Water of absorption. .-.+=2..22..-.2--2-...-.- §°20
Ormanic matters 5 aso se o8 2b aS Sass ot 6°50
Bilicaten ys soe oh oe ae Yee 89-05
Peroxide of iron and alumina ---------------- 7°64
Garhonatevote lime. 222 oes 2 8 2:05
Ma oniesiny 22 e oe se os Lee ta Ss Sos O25

286 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

This soil, treated with water in the usual proportion, gave

Soluble-mattpr’= 2 252 e sn ee e 1-60
Orpantec mation 22) to eee SUSE e i ee
Saline matters. 2.3. See oct cece

This consisted of

Grenate or tine ee eee 0-60
Silex? 22 2a Ss Ae Ok eet ee Oe DEC
Sulphate of linie =. <2cs2Ses 2 oete See 0-40
Aloming 8225 -o ean Ses Sa ee OS
Chlorides of {calcium and magnesium --.----.--- 0-10

1°14

Another specimen of soil, taken from the range of hills between Manlius and Chitte-
nango, but uncultivated, gave

'W ater’of ‘absorption 22 —— = = 7 ee ee, 00
Organic matier,<2-sso so oe ee eee
Sihicntes ©2892 3 ew eal ta eo
Peroxide of iron and alumina -_-....--...-.-.. 13°00
Searponnteor lime 222 3p ees Se to OD
IAD TRCHIA er cee ae on no ee en ES

100*15

This field slopes rapidly, and is more washed than the preceding ; and hence the soluble
matters, as lime and magnesia, seem to exist in proportion less than in the preceding
examples. .

The analysis of these several specimens of soil was undertaken for the purpose of ascer-
taining whether they were composed of mineral matter in about the same or equal pro-
portions, and the result shows that there is certainly a great uniformity in the composition
of the soils reposing upon the Marcellus slates. It is not, however, intended to represent
this slate as a compound whose elements are combined in definite proportions, or that the
soil will be found identical in the same range ; yet it seems that both soil and slate possess
a composition quite similar, though taken from points twenty or twenty-five miles distant
from each other. We deem this result to be one of the peculiarities of the New-York soils,
and that it arises from the regularity of her geological formations. It is for this reason,
too, that I have multiplied analySes. The mineral composition of the most important
formations, when once ascertained, is susceptible of application to a wide extent of country.
In support of this assertion, the reader may revert to the analyses of the soils resting on the
Marcellus slate. The similarity of composition is seen in the quantity of silicates, and of
lime, which each respectively furnishes, while the organic matter must necessarily vary
with the circumstances of the example taken. The same fact is established in respect to

WESTERN DISTRICT. 287

the composition of the green shales of the Salt group, and the soil derived from them. It
is also an interesting fact that this soil contains uniformly less calcareous matter than that
of the Marcellus slate, although the former has twice or thrice as much carbonate of lime
in its composition as the latter. This was a perplexing point at first; but if it is true, as
it seems to be, that more of the organic salts are formed in the green shales in the course
of decomposition, than in the Marcellus slate, the case may be regarded as explained.
These salts, together with the salts of sulphuric acid, are soluble, and wash out or filter
through the soil: hence the bitter waters of so many lakes, and the great abundance of
tufa which accumulates on the slopes and declivities wherever the percolating waters are
brought to the surface.

The soil of the valley of the Genesee possesses essentially the same characters as that of
Onondaga county. This statement is borne out by the following analyses. Thus Mr.
Harmon’s wheat soil, in Wheatland, gave of soluble matter 1°41, containing organic
matter 0-25, and saline matter 1-16, from which I obtained, after ignition, 0°52 of a grain
of carbonate of lime, besides chlorine and sulphuric acid. The subsoil (200 grs.), treated
with water, gave 3°25 grains of soluble matter, of which 1°63 was organic and 1°62
mineral salts. This combination yielded

@arhonate’of lime 5222-22 325222 st Sa 0°75
Sulphaterofimie a2 252 2 a 0-22
Mirnesia-and aluming —2.-- =~ 2-2-2 222-2. 0°46
Chlorides of calcium and magnesium..--------- 0-20

1.63

The subsoil in this case is more tenacious than the surface soil, and illustrates the fact
which is often referred to by agricultural writers, that clay bottoms and an impervious
hardpan hold or retain the soluble parts of the surface soil, especially when under cultiva-
tion. In this instance the subsoil is strictly a stiff clay, and so compact and impervious
that it necessarily retains water and the soluble matters which are carried down by filtration.

It frequently happens, however, that an analysis of a subsoil gives essentially the same
result as the surface soil. This is the case where a soil is deep, and where consequently
the lower materials differ but little mechanically from those of the surface ; and as many
of the western soils consist of deep beds of drift or the debris of shales, it is highly impro-
bable that the soil and subsoil should give results differing essentially from each other :
thus it is no uncommon circumstance for the earth from deep excavations to bear a heavy
burden of corn or wheat the first season succeeding its exposure. The same fact is well
known, too, in respect to the new and fresh soil from the shales of the Salt group.
This is owing in part to the organic matter contained in the rock, and also to the fineness
of its particles. These properties fit the abraded materials for the food of plants, so far as
soils supply the wants of vegetation. The debris of granite, and other primary rocks,
seems to require a long exposure to the air, and to the influences of light, water, carbonic

288 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

acid, and the growth of the lower orders of vegetables, before the domesticated plants can
be cultivated with profit upon the soil formed of it.

The rocks passing through the wheat district are arranged in terraces more or less distinct.
These are formed by the hard limestones and shales: the former are abrupt; the latter
present a gradual ascent or descent. As terraces, therefore, the former are more distinct
than the latter, and present an approach to an elevated plain, while the shale terraces appear
in the form of rounded hills descending on all sides, so that their surfaces admit the rapid
disappearance of the water that falls upon them, by which they are liable to gully as well
as wash ; yet as slate is retentive of water, and its natural seams or joints are close and
almost impervious, its slopes and summits feel a drought less than the soils resting upon
limestone. The latter are traversed by cracks or open joints, which suffer the water to
pass in streams, and thereby drain the surface to an injurious extent. In some instances
limestone hills are insulated, or cut entirely off from the succeeding shales, and, if naked,

or laid bare by denudation, would present on all sides a mural escarpment. It is easy to -

understand that in such cases the water escapes, flows out from the escarpments, and
drains injuriously the whole tract insulated in the mode indicated above.

An analysis of the soil reposing upon limestone gives less lime than that reposing upon
slate. I subjoin a few examples of analysis, which go to prove the truth of the position.

Analyses of the soils resting upon the Pentamerus limestone, at Manlius square.

SUBSOIL EIGHT INCHES BELOW THE SURFACE.

Wateriof aheorption - =~. 2 ==-----2 2-32-52 ~=- 1-48
Orpanic matter. Ss 25 re ee OD
Siltcates: 8 = 22> _ oh See ae eee 85-90
Peroxide of iron and alumina -..--------~-.--- 8°57
Girbenate of lime. 20225. 0 - 2ee ets oe 0-21
Mapnena so] = 32ers 0°05

99-01

This soil forms the first limestone terrace above the village, towards Chittenango.

SURFACE SOIL.

Water of absorpuon’- = S222 — See oe See eee 2°81
Organic msiter 2-222 58 Foe SW SS ee Se eb
Silicatae 24 2a senSs Soesek. 2 eka eees ess 84°64
Peroxide of iron and alumina--.--------------- 7°28
Carbonate of lime =< 22222222. -<<ccce sent) +050
UNG RUT SSS 2 eS Eee SSS 0-16

99-98

+ The soil of this terrace is not supplied with a greater amount of drift than usual, and yet
the quantity of lime is less than upon the Marcellus slate.

WESTERN DISTRICT.

289

The Onondaga limestone forms another terrace above the preceding. The soil is porous,
and bears good corn and wheat, but does not differ essentially from that of the Pentamerus
limestone. It is composed of

The composition of the Onondaga limestone has been given.

‘Water. of, ahsorption’s2= 2 2622 sce chee svs~ SS 0-50
Organic matfors* == ty ese a ac ewe SRS 4°85
SLNGHLRR Coa ees ee a eae es ROO
Perdniieotironges to et ata Be ce SS 4°62
arbonsteof, lime!-co.ces, see ee 0-62
Aili a eee Sa Se ne et oe te Bc eS ee 3°30
Maonesia |< eS sews co enceiccesesacssc= trace,
AUSSI eat cere ae Oe eis ee eee fe eae eae OTOL

100-00

It contains a trace of

phosphate of lime, and two per cent of magnesia; but as it isa hard rock, one which
resists decomposition, it slowly furnishes food for vegetables.

The shales of the Salt group frequently give more magnesia than lime.

taken from the farm of Mr. Geddes, of Fairmount, gave

tere en ee en eee Behe fers wt ee 4°75
Orpanic matters =5 28st soe oseasoesek es 6°20
IiCales See oe eee ee en ee ee OC Or
@arbonatenoi lime ets foe eo es Ses 0-50
Mionesingte 54 ns eh se Peas Saas aes 2°15
(Alo manaiand stron 3 98k ee eS 10°34

99°56

A specimen

This arises from the fact that magnesia exists in all the shales and thin-bedded limestones,
from the red marl up to the pentamerus limestone, varying from two to eighteen per cent ;
and as it is less soluble than carbonate of lime, it is retained in the soil when the lime

would disappear.

An uncultivated soil near Clyde, upon the Salt group, gave, on analysis,

Water of absorption 5-.= 5:52:25 22-==+-22- = 4-00
Vieoetable maltet,<o¢ js -sae oe Ss sects, 6:50
SE See See ay eae ek or ee ae 95-2)
Peroxide of iron and alumina__....-.-.------. 4°69
Sid te AG Mince eee ee eee a 3°71
We Gath) Sect Cee Bee ee 1°75
Phosphate of alumina---..--.--.------------ 0-24

99°71

The two following specimens of soil were taken from the farm of Mr. Ira Hopkins, of
Mentz, Cayuga county. The Salt group lies below, but the surrounding region contains
| AcricuLTuRAt Report. ] 37

290 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

much drift. The first was taken from a dry ridge which has been under cultivation many
years, and has produced forty bushels of spring wheat to the acre.

ANALYSIS,
Water’ ofabsorption~s2222s22: 2.55 222 2e 2S Bes
Organicimatter 2 ssc cose ee co See RAS RS OA
Sillcates sicesccesessnscosacdsacccsqeeewe 77°78
Peroxide of iron and alumina. -...-.---------- 4°98
Carbonatecof lime: 2-2 eos on to So 1-30
Magnesia ~ - ss sssseecs oso stics cvesdess SS

The following soil is a clay loam, resting upon plaster shales :

ANALYSIS.
‘Wiatersot absorption) — = ooo oe nee 5°10
OT PANIC WNaNeY anne ae eo eee ee eee Ee
silicates. 24-2 22 S22 SSE Ss hes. FE 40
Peroxide of iron and alumina_------.--.------- 5-00
Carbonate’of lime’: ssss2etec dots = sees 3 2°36
Magner ee oman aes Sane ean aea eee LOS

99°88

If we compare the analyses of the soils and rocks below and above the bands of lime-
stone which traverse the State from the Hudson river to Blackrock upon Lake Erie, we
can scarcely fail to recognize the fact, that so far as composition is concerned, they are
better adapted to the growth of the cereals than the limestones and their soils. This we
deem an important point — one which must operate in the selection and choice of farms,
and which must also throw some light on the mode by which the limestone soils may be
cultivated to the best advantage.

Analysis of soil from Wheatland, Monroe county.

The first was from Mr. Bean’s farm, and has been under cultivation for wheat many

years.
ANALYSIS. .
Water'of absorption = 22=- 2- == Se eee sO
Organic matter==-4 -s2-ss22 PES: See ee HOR IZ
Silicates $2 =2e2+ <=22sd25052222 2525255. 4. 22 eaS0A18
Carbonate:of lime =2.-=--ss-eee cl 0.40
Carbonate of magnesia..==--==--2--2=- 22252 0-28
Phasphate of dime =235 >=. ee 0-12
Peroxide of iron and alumina-.-...-.----.---- 6:40

WESTERN DISTRICT. 291

A lighter and more siliceous soil is sometimes met with in the Wheat district : thus, in
Lockport, Niagara county, I found a specimen composed as follows :

Welter cree Sere eatin, ek. SVS A ee Y SSG
Organic: matters= <2 2a ees SSeS te Se ec! 5200
SPE aes Na Be, oe ee aE 85°72
Garbanateigl slimpie so sae ete a ee a | ae 1-00
Phosphate of, alumina) .=- +2 4-54. -2.52-- 0-04
Maonesia:< 8 ant ane ee a ee e's (ACE,
AUTRE EY Ea 2a) 0 Ra a a al oat 8T 3)

99-76

Another specimen of soil, from Niagara county, gave, on analysis,

Weitere: 04 fie of kal 9 he et ee bed ole 3:00
Orpanicwmatior. 32532 et b= oF na RE 7°75
Silicates nyse: 2 Ue Sees: Abele ay 8 Se ce GR OD
Peroxide of iron and alumina. _......-..------ 8-82
Warbonate.of lime 3-8. ee eee, 32 SOR
Phosphate of alumma2— 22222 2 ose 2s---s2- 80815
Marmmesiag sagas Cooks eo. ee eke che 0°25

99-72

The following is an analysis of the most common wheat soil of Niagara county, and
was taken from the farm of Mr. Devereaux, of Niagara falls :

Water ofjabsorption ses e552. 50 aoe 3°61
Otmanic matters =< 2222 aan hee oss 9+24
Silivates tame aie oe eee eee ee ae ee 70°88
Peroxide of iron and alumina_.__.._--.---.__- 13+50
@arbonate oftlinie'= 25 =. eas laee se eee eee= Se 0-34
Magnesia = 222 225 2 Sosa SR eA 0-04

97°61

This soil is a clay loam, but deficient in carbonate of lime and magnesia. It has been
cultivated many years, and principally for wheat: its produce is eighteen to twenty
bushels to the acre.

The soils of Livingston county possess in general the same characters as those of Monroe,
Genesee and Onondaga. They are strictly soils well adapted to wheat, which crop they
have borne for many years in succession without a sensible deterioration. The soil is
generally very deep, and seems, from its physical properties, to have been derived mainly
from the limestone shales of the Salt group, which is well developed at the North. The
rock beneath is a slate or shale, belonging to the Hamilton group. The Moscow shale,
which is a rock ready to pass into disintegration, is quickly subdivided by the action of

37*

292 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

water and frost. It is a softer variety of the group, than those which lie farther east. The
rock succeeding the Moscow shale, is the Genesee slate, which is also quite subject to
disintegration, but forms a soil more sandy or siliceous than the rock below. It contains
pyrites, which, in the course of decomposition, give origin to hepatie springs, of which
some account will be given in the sequel. The general qualities of the soil appear in the
exuberance of the vegetation, especially in the greenness and vigor of the forest trees.
Of this, one may be fully satisfied by a survey of the Genesee flats near Mountmorris,
Geneseo and Moscow. A traveller can not fail of observing a material difference in the
vigor of vegetation, between parts of Livingston county, and some parts of Western New-
York farther east, especially if the last are observed while the recollection of the vegetation
of Livingston is still vivid in his memory.

The winters of Livingston are not so severe as in Albany county. The warmth of
spring is earlier ; but while the cold of winter is less, and the spring earlier, the season is
not farther advanced the first of May, than in Albany and Columbia counties. The re-
turning warmth is not sufficient to carry forward vegetation, though winter has passed and
the spring has arrived : it is still spring, and not a summer whose influence is sufficiently
genial to give an impulse to the vegetable kingdom, and carry it forward in its peculiar
developments.

A large part of Livingston county belongs geologically to a group considerably above
the Salt group of Onondaga, and which is regarded as the basis of the western wheat soil ;
still, the group does not attain an elevation equal to that of Otsego, and other more eastern
counties. A depression seems to exist in the valley of the Genesee, by which the outcrop
of the slates and shales is at a lower level; and for reasons which do not appear, the
Hamilton group is not fully developed in the neighborhood of Geneseo and Moscow. The
soil, which is very deep, even upon the high grounds south of Mountmorris, is derived
from the shore of Lake Ontario and intermediate places: even the debris of this northern
formation is found upon the highlands of Allegany. It is, however, only in the lowest
vallies, and intervales along the main water courses, that the debris of the limestone shales
is found in sufficient quantity to increase the wheat crop.

The following analyses have been made of the soils of Moscow, Mountmorris and Avon,
which may be taken as representatives of the constitution of the soils of Livingston county,
so far as the mineral composition is concerned.

A soil reposing upon the thin band of limestone, at the base of the Genesee slate.

ANALYSIS.
Wiaterotlabsorption 2-3 ee Ok
Organicimalter —. << << Ss oe ace sea teees 5°19
Bilicates 2 feecn sn oboe ones Fee eee OOO
Caxbonate'of lime: J2U S70 25850 ys See ae 38 1-62
Magnesia 2 olsun ee Se 0°50
Peroxide of iron and alumina---.-..--.------- 12°38

WESTERN DISTRICT. 293

This soil is regarded as a clay, and forms a soil quite stiff and impervious, but it is a
durable wheat soil. The average production is fifteen bushels per acre. It is the basis of
the soil for this crop through this section of country. Above it a soil is not uncommon,
which is called locally a wheat sand, in contradistinction to a wheat clay. The former,
however, is never a thick deposit, and it is usually sufficiently near the clay to be influenced
by its presence. It is one excellence of the wheat clay and sand, that whatever manure is
put upon them remains until used up by vegetation : a leachy soil, as it is called, is hardly
known in the county.

Surface soil, from the range of elevated land west of Moscow village, resting upon the
Genesee slate.

ANALYSIS
‘Water off. absorption? == 2222-2 =< <2 sce-t 2 __ 4°04
@rganie matter, 222-2. =- =~ noo on eee tos LLG
SS ESTC ECCS See ee oe ee SOE
Peroxide of iron and alumina-_....-.-...-.-..- 7°50
arhonateorlimeta sau ay Sek see Se ee ee ee Ly
Mapniesiais 2222) 5 oo os as ct aca es 0250

97°65

Soil taken from the farm of Mr. Horsford, nine inches below the surface, resting upon the

Moscow shale.
= ANALYSIS,
Waterofabsorption: 5-2 2--- = Ss =- a2 = 5 2-00
Organic: matter 22s lsc. sss acces esse acct ~~ NOTZ
ECHR ee te ne ee See eee ee ee 89°75
Peroxide of iron and alumina-._._...-.-._._._ 4°21
Warponaterol line: S25 oe a es 2°18
Masnesia £ £2222 S222 2c 222. 253-2552 s5-- =52. trace,

99 +26
The soils of Livingston contain less oxide of iron than is usual : hence they are of a light
drab or clay color, which conveys the idea of coldness, and probably the power of absorbing
heat is less than in soils which are red or brown.

Analysis of a specimen of soil from Castile, Wyoming county.
Its characters resemble those of Livingston, and it rests upon the same geological for-
mation.

iWiaterol absorpuom, -= = 22> -sa—< enna s 5 2-50
Wronnicmattere === 22-225. saci oss asens, 8425
Shen ele \ ee ee ae eee 81°50
Peroxide of iron and alumina -._.-.....__-.__- 591
Carbonate of linia ses 35 ae ee ae eo O50
Miaomieai ern tn ee ee ee 0°05

294 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

Wheat soil of Niagara county.

ANALYSIS,
‘Water of absorption e325... Jo. Ss Sept ete ee 3:00
Oneanig mations. 0 cot et Ae oe 7°75
Silleates: See sop ae ee eh ee 76°93
Garhonate (or wim = aes aos 3 enn cone, eo
Phosphate of-alumina’s..-2-5--<-o- scene sa aac 0°15
WANNeSIR oon sen coe eee te ee ete eee eae Sao
Peroxide of iron and alumina ....------------ 8-82

99°72

Soil from North-Cambria, Niagara county, situated upon a ridge.

ANALYSIS.
‘Water: of-absorption-\- 7s Se eso ae oe 1°75
Orpanictmatter 22:3 ee eee SS 2°25
Mdlicntes: 34s oye a ee eS 88-53

Peroxide of iron and alumina .......-..--.-.. 4°80
@arbonate of hme. s2..222cc22 223 oe ee 3 F070
IVR nee el er en ae ee trace,

Washed sand of Niagara county.

ANALYSIS.

Water, of absorption <2. = ee 1-00
Organic matter’ 22-2263 3 2 os cs asec 1-00
Silicatessand sand). =) 2< 2 a= 5 ie ee ee 84°75
Peroxide of iron and alumina ---------------- 3232
Carbonate ol limbs. <5. s-2ss-eesn ss seeeeeas 8-04
Marne: 2. 22S ccnt foes scene ee eee ay

99°58

Analysis of soil from Kempville.

Water of absorption. ©." -—=2o- tesco cee 200
Orpaie mater So aso a see ae io 2°50
DILCALES he aaa Soa cree eee eee 87°75
Peroxide of iron and alumina-_-_-..__--------. 4+32
Carbonate;of Lime =n. =e eee ea ee 0°25
Ma enine oeten ee Oe ee oa eee aia ae ee 0-01

WESTERN DISTRICT. 295

Analysis of a sandy soil from Albion, Orleans county.

Water Gipabcan plone eee sn mene 1-50
Oroanic mater: 22 anne ae 1-70
Silicatesand' sande t=) = en 92-82
Carbonsteabimes 2 oo ee hme ana 2-10
Phosphate of alominas=-.-—---—~-——=---— === 0°17
Peroxide of iron and alumina ..-.------------ 1°49

99°78

The soil of Orleans county contains usually more sand than that of Genesee, Livingston
or Onondaga.

A question which I have attempted to solve in the analyses which have been recently
made, is the constitution of the soils of the west, which are well known wheat soils ; and
how they differ from those of the Taconic system, which are well known producers of maize.
I consider the question a difficult one to solve, and I deem it quite doubtful whether the
facts which have been obtained will justify me in the adoption of an opinion. There are
facts which may be still brought out, which will bear upon the question, and serve to
elucidate it more fully.

The following results have been obtained in relation to the two classes of soils, which
seem to be important, especially when taken in connexion with elements which enter into
the composition of wheat on the one hand, and those which constitute maize on the other.
Thus wheat is by no means rich in the phosphates, while corn or maize is; and hence the
former will come to maturity in soils poorer in phosphates than the latter. Both grains,
however, require silica, which must necessarily be in a soluble state. The straw, in one
case, must be supplied with silex, or it will be weak and imperfect. Corn stalks require
silex also, but a less amount than wheat. If then we search for the phosphates, and for
soluble silica, I had hopes that some light would gleam upon the question. For illustra-
tion of this point, I took 400 grains of Harmon’s wheat soil, and tested it for the phosphates ;
but not a trace of them appeared. The soil from Mr. Geddes’s farm gave scarcely a trace
of any in 100 grains. The same was observed in a good wheat soil, though not the best,
on Manlius hills. The subsoil, or clay on Cayuga lake, near Aurora, gave no evidence
of phosphoric acid in one hundred grains.

It is not designed to convey the impression that the phosphates are entirely wanting,
but that they are contained in a proportion less than in soils, which, in New-York and
New-England, bear good crops of maize, but are not so productive in wheat.

The following analysis of the soil of the Genesee flats is instructive, and bears upon the
subject. It was taken fiom near Mountmorris, and may be considered as illustrating the
composition of a large tract of country, that particularly which is of an alluvial kind.

Sr Dy

296 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

ANALYSIS OF ONE HUNDRED GRAINS.

Water and vegetable matter -.-...------------ 12°25
Silicates ees Re 3 Oe ee ee 74°65
Carbonate for limes! — 4-3 <n. eee 2°43
Peroxide of iron and alumina_....------------ 8°75
Wi Era Co nh 3. el ape Beate ee ees soe ed 1-00

99-08

The 8°75 grs. of oxide of iron and alumina were redissolved in weak muriatic acid, and
found to contain 4°16 of soluble silica.
The silicates were fused with carbonate of soda, and were found to contain

Pure silica & == secs ane eee ee ee 68°64
Peroxide of iron and alumina...._...--------. 4°93
Carbonatevof. limes 2b ee Se as ee ee 0-88
Magnesia =<. <2 cbc ssseno staneaet a large trace.

In this rich soil a trace of phosphoric acid seemed to exist, but it was not certainly detected,
though sought for in both precipitates by caustic ammonia. The soluble silica, and car-
bonate of lime and magnesia, are present in very large proportions, and probably also the
organic acids.

Some of the eastern soils, those of Hoosic in Rensselaer county, from the farm of Mr.
Ball, were submitted to a careful examination for phosphates, with the following results :

Waters eee te ee eee eee ee 4°60
Oroanic oneness eee 6°72
Siler. sae one eee ee eee ee een enor
Carbonate of lime==2-- aps -cerre area a ee 0-15
Mroniesia eee eee ae nee ee ee 0-12
LEV apa ONS ee ety (10740)

86°66

The alumina and iron contained 0°05 of soluble silica.

A still larger proportion of the phosphates has been obtained from the soils of the Ta-
conic range, from Peekskill to Bridport in Vermont. Asa general result, it may be stated
that the phosphates are more abundant in the latter section, in the maize growing district,
than in the wheat district, and the soluble silica is in greater proportion in the latter than
imthe former. The Harmon wheat soil, though it gave, in 400 grains, not a trace of the
phosphates in the surface soil or subsoil, yet it gave a large amount of soluble silica. The
matters soluble in water, however, the crenates particularly, abounded in the Wheatland
soil ; and to the presence of soluble silica, and the soluble organic matters, its excellence
as a wheat soil may be attributed.

WESTERN DISTRICT. 297

Or THE NATURAL MANURES OF THE. WHEAT DISTRICT.

Without doubt gypsum is the most important of those substances which are sometimes
called mineral manures. I shall not, however, notice it in this place. It is confined to the
Wheat district: not a ton could be gathered elsewhere in the whole State.

Next in importance to gypsum, is the shale of the Salt group, especially where it is
accessible. There are several kinds, and they all contain carbonate of lime and magnesia,
and organic matter, and, besides, are exceedingly decomposable under the ordinary atmo-
spheric influences. Some of them furnish a large amount of sulphate of soda, and the
deeper seated ones, the chloride of sodium in a free state, in addition to other chlorides
with which this substance is mixed, and which will be spoken of in the sequel.

It can not be supposed that any of the mineral manures, except gypsum, are of suffi-
cient importance to be exported out of the district. They admit only of use when accessible
upon the estate, or the neighboring estates, where they are found: they are, however,
very important and valuable.

The manures next in importance to the decomposing gypseous shales, are peat and
fresh water marl, or carbonate of lime which is found at the bottom of lakes and marshes in
a pulverulent form. Marl, however, is not always entirely pulverulent in this district : in
many places, it is assuming the condition of tufa; but it may notwithstanding be regarded
as a valuable substance, suitable in itself as an enriching material, and also as a fertilizer
in virtue of its absorbent and retentive power for moisture. In this respect it ranks among
the first in value, taking place in absorbent qualities next to peat.

There is a great supply of marl in all the central and western counties. It is impossible
to enumerate the localities. Most of the smaller lakes and ponds, and the bottoms of
marshes, throughout the whole district, contain it.

The composition of tufa differs in no respect from that of marl ; in many tracts of land,
it may be more useful, when coarsely pulverized and spread over the soil, than marl,
inasmuch as it would both loosen a compact light soil, and furnish calcareous matter by
solution. It is equally rich in organic salts. Asa source for supplying quicklime, it is
superior to any other form, and makes a beautiful white lime suitable for the finest works
required in building.

Marl and tufa are composed mainly of calcareous matter, and, in composition, are much
the same from whatever source, or from whatever place it may be obtained.

The following analysis of marl, from Christian hollow in Onondaga county, gives a fair

result, and shows how it is generally constituted : it differs but little from chalk in chemical
constitution.

= Water Gp = Setters 8 a Re 22 +2400
Wrramicnmuven sone as ae oe ea eS a 0+5246
Carbonate OMe p ee nose eae oes 75°4554
Peroxide of iron and alumina_-..-.-.------- 0-6172
Silicapetas < 22s be eee) Ce ee ee OES
Maonesias see oas 25 6555 588. noe. silos 0°6172

| AcRicuLTURAL Report. | 38

298 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

Two hundred grains, being boiled in a large quantity of pure rain water, gave of

Soluble*matter? Si2e. Ss [hacer Seat eee 1°310
Matter rendered insoluble by ignition. - - ------- 0-118
Soluble lica® a5 Sees ft eeinle Sop oe ee 0-020
Carbanate.of sume 5 oi cesst= eee eee 0-466
Alumina tinged with iron......------------- 0232
Magnesia (4 Sad sone eon nae Benen ORO)

Chlorides not determined.

A clay, which belongs strictly to the marls, and which is found extensively in Niagara
county, has the following composition :

ANALYSIS OF ONE HUNDRED GRAINS.

Water and organic matter... --:..-s-.f-225. 324
Silicatea® 2 south sete. ees Sees 58-20
Peroxide of iron and alumina___.-.-.....-.-.- 20°76
G@arbonateof lime = see eee ee 14-62
Potash’ t 3 jo Se ee Se eee ee ee eee 0-44
Soda and magnesia, 3- ~~ =... 35. ---22 24 ac 2°42

99-72
Salubleisilicas: xi4=teese- soca: eee = eee 0°69

Quantity of phosphates in 100 grains inappreciable.

This marl is the product of a soft portion of the Medina sandstone. It appears to be a
rich material. It is of an ash gray color, not very tenacious, and hence is adapted to clay
as well as sandy lands. It may be looked for near the outcrop of the softer portions of the
Medina sandstone. It can not fail of effecting a decided amelioration of all light soils,
deficient in lime, alumina, and the alkalies.

-

WATERS OF THE WHEAT DISTRICT.

The slates and shales which cover so large a portion of the Wheat district, contain
much soluble matter ; for this reason, the water contains also an unusual quantity of salts
of various kinds. In some of the formations, the chlorides are far the most abundant ; in
others, the sulphates.

Limited sections of the district are deficient in surface water, in consequence of the open
state of the natural joints of the rocks beneath ; but as a whole, the district is well supplied
with water: it is, however, always hard, when obtained from springs or wells. The
rivers which rise in the sandstone districts furnish soft water, or water comparatively soft.
As an example of the hard waters of the district, I may refer to that furnished by the
Hydrant Company of Syracuse. This water contains 40 grains of saline matter to the
gallon, consisting of the sulphate of lime, alumina, and the chlorides of lime, magnesium
and sodium. It is clear and transparent, but is disliked as a beverage by strangers.

The well waters contain generally from ten to thirty grains of saline matter. The well

WESTERN DISTRICT. 299

of Mr. Geddes of Fairmount, which is excavated in the green plaster shales, contains from
22 to 25 grains of saline matter to the gallon, which consists of the chlorides of lime and
magnesia, together with the sulphate of lime, silica and alumina. Alumina and silica seem
to be present in most spring, well, and even river waters. ‘The silica is, no doubt, often
in the form of infusorial shields and cases, as this class of animals are often abundant in
fresh waters.

The water of the Genesee river contains 10-40 grains of saline matter in a gallon, con-
sisting of the sulphate of lime, silica, alumina, and lime in combination with an organic
acid. The quantity of saline matter is so small that the water washes, and may be
regarded as tolerably soft. It must be remembered that the river rises in a sandstone
district, which furnishes but a small amount of saline matter. The lakes, those especially
which are excavated in the shales of the plaster and salt rocks, are more remarkable for
the amount of saline matter which they contain. As an example of this kind of water,
I may refer to the Green lakes of Manlius. These represent a large number of lakes
whose basins have been formed in this remarkable formation, either by subsidence or
by a peculiar kind of excavation. The basins bear a resemblance to a large crater; the
sides being steep, and sometimes precipitous. The annexed sections illustrate the shape
and appearance they present: they were furnished by my friend Dr. Linklaen, of Ca-
zenovia, in the neighborhood of which place lakes in this formation are not uncom-
mon. :

In fig. 34, 6 represents a steep sloping bank, from one hundred and thirty to one hundred
and fifty feet high. The rock forming the bank is a shale of the Onondaga-salt group.
In the same series is the gypsum, which is quarried at a. The vermicular rock appears at c.
The depth is 156 feet at d. Whole diameter, 80 rods; mean depth, 150 feet. The entire
depression, therefore, is 300 feet.

Fig. 34.

In fig. 35, the banks are perpendicular. In this case, the rim or brim of the lake is
formed by the Onondaga limestone.

38*

300 ANALYSES OF WATERS.

Fig. 35.

a. Onondaga limestone. b. Manlius waterlime. ce. Talus. d. Depth 45 feet.

In regard to the mode in which these basin-shaped cavities were formed, it is Dr. Link-
laen’s opinion that it was by subsidence. An interesting paper, maintaining this view,
was read by Dr. L. before the American Association of Geologists and Naturalists, at its
meeting in 1846. This view is sustained by the form of the above banks; by the per-
pendicular, but circular walls; by the nature of the superior rocks, or those which form
the lower parts of the basin; by the fact that subsidences on a smaller scale occur occa-
sionally ; and lastly, by the still undisturbed position of the surrounding rocks, or the rock
which forms the sides.

The Manlius Green lakes, which are small but beautiful sheets of water, furnish about
100 grains of saline matter to the gallon, a large proportion of which consists of the
sulphate of lime; a sufficient quantity, however, of the crenate of lime is dissolved, to
impart a bitter taste. The vegetable matters which happen to get immersed in the waters
of these lakes soon become incrusted with a calcareous deposit, a part of which is an
apocrenate of lime. Another pond of the same character as the Manlius Green pond,
and whose basin is excavated in the same shales, contains a little more than one half the
proportion of saline matter.

The water of the Onondaga lake, which is also situated upon the salt and gypseous
rocks, contains 51°68 grains of saline matter per gallon.

Skeneateles lake is quite free from saline matter. It contains, however, lime in solution.
As an evidence of its comparative purity, it abounds in trout of a fine quality, some of
which have been known to weigh twenty pounds. This lake is situated above the shales
of the gypseous rocks. It is surrounded by the Marcellus shales and the Hamilton group ;
the latter rocks are quite siliceous, but the former contain a soluble salt of lime.

A class of waters which abound in this district, are the hydrosulphuretted waters, of
which there are two orders: the first, and most common, are those whose principal salts
are sulphates; the second, those whose salts are chlorides. Organic matter, in each
order, seems to form the base with which the sulphur is combined. As an example of the
first order, the Sharon springs are now the most eminent. ‘They issue from the upper part
of the Salt group, or rather from the shales just below the Manlius waterlimes. Springs
similar to the Sharon are common in the same formation, from Schoharie county to Buffalo.

WESTERN DISTRICT. 301

The facts brought to light by the phenomena of this range of waters, demonstrate that their

characters depend upon the rock from which they issue. Where, for instance, hepatic

springs issue from the rocks above or below, essential differences are known to exist.
According to Dr. Chilton, the water of the Sharon spring contains, in one pint,

Sulphate’ off magnesia S2 / 222022 eee so PU 2°65
Sulphatelefilinie 29_o52022e Svatel Kuss 2228 6-98
Chloride ofisodinmesho-tS- 2 sheed sre t2o5c- 0-14
Chloride of magnesium --------------------- 0-15
Hydrosulphuret of sodium and magnesium ---.-- - 0-14

Sulphuretted hydrogen gas, one cubic inch.

An example of the second order of sulphur springs, is found upon the shore of Onondaga
lake, near Syracuse. It contains, in a pint of water, 35°732 grains of saline matter, the
major part of which is chloride of sodium. It gave, on analysis,

@hioride.of Sodnim 22) ee se ee eee Be e420
ChisrideoPlimess #. 22 228 th eee be 4-822
Chloride’ of magnesium=- == --=- 222-5 2= =. 0-490

The sulphuretted hydrogen is in combination with organic matter.

Another class of springs, of which only a few are known, are the sulphuric acid springs,
or those springs which contain an excess of sulphuric acid. These springs are indicated
by the charred vegetable matter through which the water issues. They are, I believe,
peculiar to the Salt group, or issue only therefrom in this State. They may appear,
however, as high in the geological series as the rocks which give origin to the Sharon
springs.

The common sulphur springs are very abundant, and are known throughout the whole
wheat region. In Moscow, and its neighborhood, sulphur springs issue from the Genesee
slate, which are often highly bituminous.

A fact of considerable interest was reported to me, in regard to the efficacy of the milder
sulphur waters in incipient phthisis. It was stated by Dr. Dwight of Moscow, that con-
sumption rarely occurs in that neighborhood ; and that persons who have already a cough,
attended with irritable lungs, are benefited, and generally cured by the waters of this region,
many of which are impregnated with sulphur and sulphuretted hydrogen. Strangers, with
affections of the kind referred to above, after drinking the waters five or six weeks, are
attacked with an eruption of the skin, which appears in the form of a fine rash. Soon
after the appearance of this rash, the lungs are relieved.

A spring, containing less sulphuretted hydrogen than the Sharon spring, but more saline
matter, has been discovered in Alden, Erie county, near Buffalo. One pint of the water
contains 88°36 grains of solid matter, principally the chlorides of soda, lime and magnesia,
and no sulphuric acid. A little iron falls to the bottom of a vessel in which the water
stands, being an organic salt of iron: it contains more organic matter than suffices for the
neutralization of the iron. The presence of organic matter in all the mineral waters of

302 ANALYSES OF WATERS.

the State, is a fact of considerable interest, and which especially throws light upon their
origin.

Sulphur springs are known from observation to issue from every geological formation in
the State; indeed, almost every rock furnishes this kind of water. The Primary system
gives origin to fewer springs of this description, than the superior ones. The production
of the acid waters which have been briefly referred to, is probably due to the decomposi-
tion of waters which contain the sulphates. The decomposition may be brought about by
organic matter ; thus, near Cherryvalley, two acid springs, issuing from a marshy place
in which there was a large deposit of peaty matter, had charred a thick mass over twenty-
five feet in diameter. This black material was decidedly sour; and it seemed highly
probable that the same waters beneath, and before they came in contact with the organic
matter, were merely the common mineral waters which abound in sulphates. The acid
springs of New-York belong, I believe, exclusively to the rocks near the Salt group. De-
composing pyrites, in contact with organic matter, as wood, in the Tertiary and Cretaceous
formations, produce the acid sulphate of iron, by which the wood is not only blackened,
but completely carbonized.

Another class of mineral springs abound in Central New-York, and constitute the well
known salines, which consist principally of the chloride of sodium. These springs or
wells have been fully described in Dr. Beck’s Report on the Mineralogy of the State, and
hence require here only a brief notice. For the purpose of giving instances of all the
waters known, I deem it proper to give one or two examples of the analysis of these
waters. Dr. Beck’s analysis of the Salina and Syracuse wells of brine are therefore
subjoined.

SALINA. SYRACUSE.

Sp. gr. 1-110. Sp. gr. 1°104.
Saline matter in 1000 grs. -..--.------------ 146-50 139-53
Carbonate ofilime 22 -- .=5=-2 ee ee 0-17 0-14
Sulphate ‘of, lime; = 3a. -- S SE 4:72 5-69
@hionde of calciam)-—..---=25 5 oe eee 1-04 0°83
Chloride of magnesium --.---.-----...----. 0°51 0-46
Whionidetof sodium=== <= 22> S322 se PS es ae 14002 132-39
Oxide of iron and silica, and carbonate of lime-. 0-04 0-02
Garbonic acid'22 Sasa ee eRe 0-07
Water, with a trace of organic matter and bromine, 853+41 860-40

The Salina water contains 1130 grains of pure and perfectly dry chloride of sodium in a
wine pint, and 9045 grains or 1°29 pounds avoirdupois in a gallon: it therefore requires
forty-three and a half gallons to yield a bushel of salt weighing fifty-six pounds. In the
Syracuse well there are 1063 grains of dry chloride of sodium in a wine pint of brine, and
8506 grains or 1°21 pounds avoirdupois in a gallon; and hence it requires forty-six and
a quarter gallons for a bushel of perfectly dry salt.*

*L. C. Beck’s Report, pp. 105, 106.

WESTERN DISTRICT. 303

A SERIES OF TABLES,

CONTAINING THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTS IN REGARD TO THE POSITION, CLIMATE, ETC. OF PLACES SITUATED
WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE WHEAT DISTRICT.

TABLE I. Position of the several places.

PLACES. North Latitude. | West Longitude | Elev. above tide. Topographical remarks.

Auburn.... 42°30’ 650 feet. | In the valley of the outlet of Owasco lake, Cayuga county.
Cayuga .... 42 43 5 447 « Sixty feet above Cayuga lake.

Lewiston .. 43 09 SHO) 86 Eastern bank of Niagara river.

Rochester .. 43 07 506“ On the Genesee river.

Onondaga.. | 42 59 |

Millville... 43 08

TABLE Il. Mean temperature of each month.

January.
July.
August,
September.
November.
December.
Highest

Greatest
monthy
range.

Cayuga ...|27°38)28-

Hamilton. . |26°08|26°13 :

Lewist on. , |29°19}29°93)37-59|50- b
Millville . . |28°38|29°71|39°38]45°90|53°
Rochester . 128° 05128-10138 *41146-42153°

ESSERE

oi
ee

TABLE III. Prevailing winds in each month.

February
September,
October,

sXsw| S
Ss

Auburn......
Cayuga .....¢ N
‘ 4 NW

Hamilton ....
Lewiston..... SW
Millville..... NW
Rochester .... |w&NW; W | NW | NW | NW

304 METEOROLOGICAL TABLES.

TABLE IV. Rain gage for each month.

November.
December

“
s 3
= &
= a}
a =
2 2
= rn

October.

3
e
S

Auburn .....
Cayuga ...se.
Hamilton ....
Millville .....
Rochester ....

.
.
D

.

ry
wo
>
ao

D's BOD

SHR es

roar

omnm

Ct

Cetin att)

oh ad a1 Cnt

BansS
oe

.
.
.
.
won

tm be CO
:
ww
eae

no ND Co

Oe kOW

-Onre
°

wm CO

TABLE V. Mean temperature for ten years from 1826 to 1835, both inclusive.

PLACES.

Auburn ..cc00

Cayuga ...00.
Hamilton ....

Lewiston.....
Onondaga ....
Rochester ....

TABLE VI. Comparative view of the quantity of rain for ten years, from 1826 to 1835, both inclusive, so far as
reported.

PLACES. 1826. | 1827. 1835. | Average.

Auburn...... | ..... | ----- | 34°91 | 30°54 | 37°88 | ..... | 30°S7 | 34°00 | 24°70 | 34°33 | 34°46
Cay Sesmee hh aqnee | BI OO [teeces fi cave Gl Ge kr | 00°10.) 20508] S55 [tao Pe | oon. e i) oesee

Hamilton .... | ..... | 43°44 | 34°18 | 33°26 | 42°71 | 35°79 | 35-38 | 43°20 | 32°50] ..... | 37°55
pe eee a Pee 2-2 See Lae eeeee | 25°35 | 21°45 | 20°73 | 22°55 | 25°68 | 23°15
Onondaga .... | 26°67 | 38°09 | 35°79 | 27°10} ..... 28°20 | 26°79 | ..... | 35°43 | 30°72

Rochester 9.55] .2.2.,. > A he 17°S4 | 28°60 | 27°16

WESTERN DISTRICT,

305

TABLE VII. Comparative view of the average temperature, for each of the last ten years, so far as reported to

the Regents.

PLACES.

Auburn......
Cayuga ......
Hamilton ....
Lewiston ....
Millville.....
Onondaga ....
Rochester ....

1836.) 1837. | 1838. | 1839.| 1840.} 1841.) 1842.) 1843. | 1844. | 1845. | average.
44°75 | 46°17 | 45-11 | 47°25 | 47-55 | 46°56 | 44-62 | 45-52 | 48-32 | 45-13 | 46-00
ee wees | 43°05 | ..... | 49°67 | 50°51 | 51°62 | 48°51 | 47°52 | 48-93 | 48-53
40°45 | ..... wee | 44°05 | o0... J seoee | 44°51 | 44°36 | 44°71 | 45°73 } 43°97
43°54 | 44°50 | ..... | 46°91 | 48-94 | 48-85 | 47°87 | 46-77 | 47-76 | 47°67 | 46-98
Bocce waces | ceeee | sees | 44°81 | 45°02 | 45°94 | 45-04 | 46-69 | 48-38 | 45-98
45°16 | 45°24 | 46-06 | 46-96 | 47-63 | 46-S9 | 45-19 | 44-00 | 45°17 | ..... | 45°81
44-01 | 43-71 | 45-04 | 47°57 | 46-74 | 45-40 | 46-79 | 45-20 | 47-29 | 47-44 | 45-92

TABLE VIII. Comparative view of the quantity of rain for the last ten years, which has fallen in the wheat

PLACES.

Auburn . ...
Cayuga ......

Hamilton ....
Lewiston.....
Millville.....
Onondaga ....
Rochester ....

| AcricuLTurat Report. |

district, so far as reported to the Regents.

1839. | 1840.| 1841.

33°42 | 37°48 | 28°18 | 40°83
37°18 |
18°58
30°86
34°60
33°19

28558
30°09

35°05

25°46 29°34 | 30°53

TABLE IX. General Summary.
PLACES. « | Mean temperature.

17
16
14

Auburn ...... | 18 years, 46°78 | 18 years, NW&S
Onondaga .... es > wy.
16 NW
SW

W
seleses Ss

Hamilton ....
Lewiston.....
Rochester ....

13
Cayuga

50°06 | 39°78

26°72

34°42
32°87

23°74
26°82
26°17

26.54 26°27
34:41

36°21

34°44

Prevailing winds. | Av. quantity of rain.

years, 33°73
sc 31°40
sed gh

<< 39°95

SOUTHERN DISTRICT.

Forest vegetation of the Southern district, as exhibited by a view in Gilboa, Schoharie county.

SOUTHERN DISTRICT. 307

5. SOUTHERN DISTRICT.

A difference in the natural productions of the higher grounds of the southern tier of
counties, or those bordering Pennsylvania, has not escaped the notice of agriculturists ; and
a hasty reference to my geological observations on this part of the State, is all that will
be necessary to convince an unprejudiced person that many of the differences which have
been observed in the natural as well as the cultivated productions, are due to the peculiar
formations of this portion of the commonwealth. Height undoubtedly exercises conside-
rable influence upon the vegetation of this district, but it is not probable that to height
alone can be attributed the differences which have been observed in respect to the pro-
ducts of the soil.

For the purpose of a general reference, the northern limits of the Southern district
extend to the middle of Seneca and Cayuga lakes. This boundary line, prolonged east
and west as far as to the spurs of the Catskills, or the head waters of the Mohawk and
Lake Erie, completes the northern boundary of the district. Otsego, Schoharie, Greene and
Albany counties, intercept this line eastwardly. The vallies of these counties, however,
contain much valuable wheat soil; but it is not continuous to a great extent: it does not
produce the perfect grain in its seasons. The straw is weak, and the grain more liable to
shrink. It is not full and plump as the wheat of the Genesee valley and the adjacent
districts.

This district is hilly, and the vallies which traverse it are narrow. From this district,
too, the waters flow both to the north and south. Without being precipitous, as in the
Highland district, it is still quite steep in the ascents and descents; and a very large
proportion of the farming operations are conducted on the slopes of ridges and hills, all of
which were originally covered with a heavy growth of timber. Upon the higher grounds,
the hemlock, spruce and fir are the most common. In many places, a mixture of beech,
birch, maple, ash, hemlock, pine and spruce, is the form which the vegetation assumes.
Its growth is heavy and dense, the character of which is well exhibited in the cut on the
preceding page.

The soil is usually deep, sometimes in consequence of the accumulations which probably
were made during the Drift period, and partly from the friable nature of the rocks beneath.
These rocks, for moderate distances, appear horizontal. Uplifts have rarely deranged the
original position of the strata. Immense sections of the rocks, however, have been re-
moved ; and hence the sides of the vallies have their corresponding strata upon the same
level. The debris*of the rocks so far modify the accumulations of drift, that it gives the
soil a peculiar character, and fits it for certain kinds of husbandry. Butter, cheese, wool,
and the rearing of cattle, become objects of prime importance.

We may now inquire more particularly what peculiarity in the composition of the soil
controls the husbandry of this district? We have no doubt it is principally the composition

39*

308 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

of the soil that creates the differences we have just alluded to. More ammonia, if we may
credit the opinions of foreign agricultural chemists, must necessarily be showered upon the
hills and vallies as more snow and rain fall; and yet there is less fertility, or it may
perhaps be said more properly, that the fertility runs in channels differing from those of
the other districts.

The first analyses which we propose to state, are those of soils within the territorial
limits of the Wheat district. They were selected from Mount Toppin, and near Lafayette
square in Onondaga county, at an elevation of six or seven hundred feet above the level
of the canal at Manlius centre. Both soils are uncultivated, and that from Mount Toppin
was taken from the forest.

Soil of Mount Toppin.

ANALYSIS,
‘Water. of abserption= 22-52-52 2t-sS2c 22 os ee 68
Olganieimatien -_~ 22 SSA SSC e ees Sees
Silieatag <p aS ole cere Peete tes Soe ee SA 8S
Peroxide of iron and alumina -.----.----~----- 7°62
Garbonate of, mes 5 =: Soo a eee eeese otee)| OS eo
Carbonate of magnesia ...---..-.------.----- 0°15

99-86

It contains also a trace of the phosphate of alumina and peroxide of iron. The color of
this soil is brown, and it contains a few fragments of primary rocks, some from the Medina
sandstone, and many belong to the strata of the Hamilton group upon which the soil
reposes.

Soil of Lafayette square.

ANALYSIS.
Water of*absorption’-. 2-2 2- Se 5s se sce 4°68
Oygantematteres case oem eae ee Ce
Pilicates:s =. £0. SS SUS Ce se ees 82°32
Peroxide of iron and alumina -..--.--.----.--- 6°62
Carbonate) of lime’. ~ 1.2. 2es-co5~45- sudeesnsse 0°25
[Gira be Re eee ep pe ee 0-12

99°24

The color of this soil is yellowish brown, and it contains but few pebbles: it belongs also
to the Hamilton group. The composition of both is nearly, and indeed really, the same.
In the summary which I propose to give, a more thorough analysis of both soils will be
exhibited, which will show the capabilities of the soil from the hills and slopes adjacent to
the wheat-growing vallies.

Notwithstanding these soils were taken from the extreme northern part of the Southern

SOUTHERN DISTRICT. 309

district, they represent very perfectly the composition of the soil of the whole district.
We at once observe a great diminution of the quantity of lime and magnesia, and it is
highly probable that potash and soda are also proportionally reduced in amount. Vege-
table or organic matter may abound, and yet the oxygenized products are deprived of
their bases ; for the soil is deficient in the bases for which these products have an affinity.

The next soil of which an analysis was made, was taken eight inches beneath the sur-
face, upon the slope near the inclined plane at the village of Ithaca.

ANALYSIS.
Water of absorption, 25 a ee oe 1-94
Oreanicnmater soos cence a Seon etce= nina OrOe
STINE Ce eee eee ee eee sere my
Peroxide of iron and alumina._-------.------- 6°28
Garhonatelof lime 4 | -. 28 ee ee 2 8 O60
Mapnesiay ss 2scncne'= ao asioe Steen east oeees<, O12

99-68

This analysis gave a larger amount of lime than is usually obtained from the soils of the
district. It is, however, still too small in quantity to support a yearly cropping without a
sensible loss of fertility.

The Hamilton group furnishes a soil which is nearly identical throughout the State. In
confirmation of this statement, we subjoin the analyses of a few additional soils, which
were evidently derived from this series of rocks.

Soil from Gainsville.

ANALYSIS.
Water and vegetable matter ...-.------------- 7-60
Dibcates eee ie oe nat ke a Ae See ae a ae 81°26
Carhonatorotelimes =) 32 oe es = OS
Mapvesiaras <o o-oo ee ee Steen eae kok aCe,
Peroxide of iron and'alumma-----.52-.-=--.-~ 10-30

99-28

This soil contains the greater part of its available lime in combination with a soluble
organic acid. Color of the soil dark brown ; and it is easily pulverized, and, in drying,
does not become lumpy, or adhesive when wet.

Soil from Greene county, near Mr. Stewart’s, Greenville.

Color light yellow or drab: it is full of rounded pebbles and fragments of thin sandstone,
accompanied with the fossils of the Hamilton group.

310 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

ANALYSIS.
Water and vegetable matter.....-------------- 6-00
Silicates -- cnst Seen Re a in ete ogg ee 85-00
(Carbonate Ohelime saree ee a ee ee OE
Maontsia’ = <2 seen net coc an te cates meneame 0°25
Peroxide of iron and alumina...........--.-_- 8-12

100+12
The silex is nearly in the form of rounded grains of quartz.

Soil from near Loon lake, in Chemung county : uncultivated.

ANALYSIS,
Water and vegetable matter (water principally)... 8+50
Silicateg Sas see Ont ee See Oe nee mene nee 81-00
Peroxide of iron and alumina --.2.-.2...-..-. 10-00
@arbonate’of lime? = 4222 ses e ees s ee eee 0°15
Maoneslaen. = face n oo see ee eet semen ee eee race

99°65

This soil is rather a stiff loam, and occupies one of the high vallies in Chemung county 5
it forms a favorable compound for pasturage. It is deficient in lime and magnesia, and
also in organic matter. Color yellow, and texture rather hard.

Soil from Howard, Steuben county.

ANALYSIS.
Water and organic matter._.-.-_-._------.-~- 9+50
Silicates-<- oo5e 325 eee eee eee 80-50
Peroxide of iron and alumina -..-.....---.-.. ~9°25
Carbonateiof lime 2+- es? eee 0+25
Ni hfe tee eed J eon aa oeinb ig hocoias trace,

99-50

The color of the soil is drab ; it is easily reduced to a powder, and is not lumpy after being
wet. It is dry and granular in its natural state,and is a tolerable grass soil.

Soil from the eastern slope of the Schoharie range.
Decomposed cauda-galli grit.

ANALYSIS.
Waters s2206 2 ot =P We ae ee a eee eee aU
SUC SS See ee 5 Se ee er 88°50
Peroxide’ 1r0n=2 22 oe ee ea ee 3°25
Alonmiinat co 5.2% 2s) ee a ole 5°28
Carbonate:of limes. 8222 022 eet ae eS 0-06
Mapniesia-<s= so so= sesicn cat aes an coke onmal= me ULACe,

SOUTHERN DISTRICT. 37 U1 |

Soil of the Old Red Sandstone, taken from the northern slope of the Catskill range, in
Windham, Greene county.

ANALYSIS.

@roanic mattenise- eosue sees en sce so tee se. S500
Wiateriofvabsonntion' Seeees 2 sees. 34 eee 7-00
Silicates= seats = oe eer Se ak 80-00
Peroxide of iron and alumina -..------------- 5-50
Carbonate ofshime i. yt 25S See Se 8 od ere 0°25
Alluring cee asen ste na ea Saat en antes. votDO

100+25

Another, but a forest soil, from near the top of the Catskill mountain, gave

Water and vegetable matter - =-./---2-..------ 24-00
ilicates et sae ee eee a ee See ee 5691200
Peroxideof irons. =e setae se ee 2°17
Carbonate. ollmey = ea a ge 5 0°75
PAU nae eee ee ee ee Lhe See oe 3°67

99°59

By this analysis we obtain the full amount of lime, which the soil of the Old Red Sand-
stone contains. Under cultivation, this is speedily reduced ; and hence, in order to grow
crops which require lime, the farmer must add it to his manures.

The soil formed by the debris of the red rocks of the Catskill mountain range is generally
alight, but quick soil. It is warm and early, but does not stand a diought as well as
many soils, when cultivated for corn, or any of the hoed crops. It furnishes the finest
feed for grazing ; and the butter which is made from cows feeding upon the rather steep
slopes of the Catskill range, either of Greene or Delaware counties, is probably superior to
any in the State. There is a richness and freshness inthe dairy productions of the Catskill
ranges, which makes them in greater demand in the city of New-York, than those from
other parts of the State. ‘The superiority of the Orange county butter arises from the
excellent condition in which it is packed for market, not from its superiority in quality
and sweetness. :
Another analysis of soil from the Hamilton group gave

Waterantkoreaniesmatters==-= = = os 7:00
Silicates= 2s aareeery es 2 ER tr Le 85 +25
Peroxide of iron and alumina_.__..._--_.--__- 6-62
@arborateto tele pene Saks eae tee ttt = 0°50
Maontsine 25 ese tase ss Sse oe sees 2110850

312 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

A watery solution gave organic acid in combination with lime, and also a trace of sulphate
of lime. This analysis gives as much lime as the best of the soils above the Marcellus
shales, except in a few cases, where, from the operation of local causes, the lime is in-
creased. Such is the fact in parts of Onondaga and Cortland counties, where a drift soil
contains a large percentage of calcareous matter, which seems to be derived from de-
composing calcareous shales.

Soil taken from Fultonham, Schoharie county, from the Hamilton group.

ANALYSIS,
Water-of absorption 2-225. Sao eae 5-00
Organic matter... 5 <= 55. sn2 cee ee es 4°50
Silicates i. eee oe ee ners ee 82°51
Peroxide of iron and alumina.......-.-.---.-- 8-00

Very little lime or magnesia appeared in this soil. A watery solution gave the former in
combination with an organic acid. Probably, however, the silicate of lime would be
found by the process of fusion with soda or potash.

The soil of Schoharie flats, which must be a mixture of materials from many rocks,
gives a better analysis than any of the preceding.

Water, ofvabsorption =< 2+ s2- 23-2 See ee me 2°00
Vegetable.matter,. 220 2 2204 ose 2 a es oe 6-00
BLiCaler aes ehae ae eee Soar eg ge a 83-00
Peroxide of iron and alumina ---.--.--------- 6°50
Carbonate of imei =s222-2 =. eS eee 1-00
Maonesia? = A)”. Sais aie. SP eee eee 0+50
Phosphate of alumina. ----.--.-..-2-..----<- 0°12
Sulphatejof (lime: «2 s2ed2 2422 Sh cece sisi Ss 0-14

99 +26

The watery solution gave organic matter and sulphate of lime. This is a rich corn land.
The soil is dark brown, and is never lumpy after being wet, but dries and becomes readily
pulverulent. We have given the analysis in connection, as it forms a contrast with the
poorer soils of the upper rocks of the adjacent hills.

In the preceding analyses, it is assumed that the soils of the rocks above the Hamilton
group do not differ essentially ; hence it is not attempted to make a distinction between
the former and the latter. The soil of the Old Red Sandstone is red, and contains more
iron in a state of peroxide: it forms a very excellent quick soil, and is admirably adapted
to grazing.

PLATE XI.

Sadestana salt

Ley FSEPO CURT FeO SPT

E—. EMMONS J* DEL Qk W. ENDICOTT'S LITH, N YORK

SOUTHERN DISTRICT. 313

LiMEsTONE, MARL AND PEAT, AND MEANS FOR SUPPLYING MANURES.

The Southern district is deficient in limestone. The only calcareous rock which extends
south of the Wheat district proper, is the Tully limestone: it lies between the Hamilton
group and the Genesee slate. It appears about two miles northwest of Deruyter village,
at Tinker’s falls, Tully four-corners, and at Otisco, where it caps Ross’s hill. The shales
above and below are fragile, but wanting in calcareous matter; yet they are useful toa
certain extent in renovating the soil, when conveniently situated.

The Tully limestone appears also on the east side of Skaneateles lake, where it is only
about fourteen feet thick ; hence its influence on the soil, even along its outcrop, must be
inconsiderable. It is, however, important as a means of furnishing lime for agricultural
purposes. Analyses of the soils from a large part of the Southern district, show, in the
most satisfactory manner, a want of this material, and experience proves its great utility.

South of the outcrop of the Tully limestone, the only deposit which can be employed
for lime is the lake or freshwater marl. In several parts of this district, marl is quite
abundant ; and, in a few instances, it is burnt for lime. Its condition is extremely favo-
rable for manufacturing lime. It is shovelled directly from its bed, into a mould of twice
the length of a brick. On drying, the marl hardens, and may then be laid up into a kiln
and burned. The lime is fine and white, and excellent for many purposes. There is,
however, too much indifference on the subject, and hence not a hundredth part of the lime
is used which ought to be. The mar] ponds occupy many circular basins or depressions
in the Hamilton group, and even in the superior formation. Many exist in Preble and
Cortland.

Some of the marl beds are overlaid with peat, but it is less common in the Southern
than in the Wheat district. Of course, where these two formations, marl and peat exist,
farmers ought never to complain of the scarcity of the means for improving their soil.

The difference in the value of peat arises, in a great degree, from a difference in the
quantity of soluble silex which it may contain. Some indication of its value may be
obtained by a careful inspection of the matters, or of the class of plants, from which it is
derived. If stems of the grasses are detected in the moss or peat, it will contain soluble
silica, the presence of which fits the peat especially for a manure adapted to the cultiva-
tion of wheat, oats and corn, or the cereals generally. If it is found to consist mainly
of moss or swamp sphagnum, less soluble silex may be expected ; still it will be found
extremely valuable.

Peat should be dug or cut and pressed, if designed for burning. If it is intended for
manure, it should be composted while yet moist, and mixed with other matters. The
silex, by this course, is maintained in a soluble state.

It is proper that the agriculturist should know, that by silex contained in peat, we do
not mean sand, or dirt, which may be mixed with it. The silex which is spoken of
here, is that which has been received into the composition of stems of grasses, and it
remains in a soluble condition so long as it is moist. When thoroughly dried, and espe-

| AcricutturaL Report. ] 40

3i4 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

cially when burnt, the silex becomes insoluble, and is not fit to be assimilated immediately
by the organs of plants.

We have often spoken of the importance of using peat before it is dried, or baked in the
sun. When used ina dry state, or mixed in lumps in a soil, it will certainly disappoint
the farmer ; but when mixed into a compost with ashes, lime and other refuse matter, it
will always be found useful. When used in a proper quantity on wheat lands, the berry
will rarely if ever shrink ; and could farmers in all parts of the State secure a supply of
marl, peat, lime and ash compost, wheat of the finest quality might be raised equally well
in all the districts.

The composition of the marls of this district is quite uniform. The analysis of one was
given while upon the soils of the Wheat district, and which belongs as much to the
Southern as it does to the Wheat district. Peat contains from 85 to 92 per cent of organic
matter, all of which is capable of being converted into an organic acid, which dissolves
the alkaline and earthy bases; and unless these bases are dissolved, they are useless to
plants and animals. It is believed that even silica will yield to the action of the organic
acids, a substance which, under ordinary circumstances, is among the most insoluble of
bodies.

WATERS OF THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT.

In no part of the State are waters generally purer than those which form the mountain
and valley streams of this district. ‘They possess the same characters, in general, as those
which belong to the Highland or Primary district. Local exceptions may be not unfrequent.
Even the Genesee river water, at Rochester, contains only 10°40 grains of foreign matter
to the gallon. The principal exception which ought to be made to the above statement,
is in respect to those waters which rise out of the Genesee slate. Springs originating here
are often ferruginous, and contain organic matter in combination with various bases, and
indeed it is quite common for them to contain much sulphuretted hydrogen in combination
with organic matter. Taking the whole district, however, into account, the waters may
be said to be pure, and fitted for domestic uses. They may be used in steam boilers,
without fear of forming incrustations.

From this fact, namely, the general purity of the waters of the district, we did not deem
it necessary to institute a series of analyses as in the preceding districts. We shall now
bring our remarks to a close, after giving, in a series of tables, the most important meteoro-
logical facts which we have compiled from the Regents’ reports.

SOUTHERN DISTRICT. 315

A SERIES OF TABLES,

SHOWING THE PRINCIPAL FACTS IN METEOROLOGY, SO FAR AS THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT IS CONCERNED.

TABLE I. MWames of places, latitude, height, etc.

PLACES. North Latitude. | West Longitude. Elevation. Topographical remarks.
Franklin... 42034" 77°20’
Fredonia... 42 26 79 24 144 feet above Lake Erie.} 23 miles from the lake.
Hartwick .. 42 38 75 O1 1100 feet above tide. On a tributary of the Susquehannah.
Ithaca ..... 42 27 76 00 417 feet above tide. Head of Cayuga lake, and 30 feet above it.
Oxford .... 42 28 | 75 32 961 feet above tide. Valley of the Chenango.
Pompey.... 42 56 76 05 1300 feet above tide 900 feet above Salina or Syracuse.

TABLE II. Mean temperature for each month, 1845.

s, 3 a| § 3
ao yillexs te | este oe aie say [Eee
a 5 s = : Z a 2 FE FI gs 2 S Sleze
Peso elie [oe b/s ty Sale Slee hee Bl UB |g we SB | gEe
Sf pee Pept (a eh ate | aa (ON cr wal es al cal be opie a eta
Cortland, ... log-70 26°44 36-41/45-53 53 .05|62°93/65*06165*69|52 33}45°37/95|— 9} 104] 72
Franklin ..../29°71;29°41 38-S1l46-96 53°26'!63°21 67°20!68-59): 83'46°95|98|— 6] 104) 70
Fredonia... .|34°62/34°21/43°63/51 *62/56°07|67°11/70°61/71° 71/61 *20/51°22/96/— 4] 92) 58
Ithaca ....../30°33)29°98|39°S5/48 - 93|57*04|62°98}71°03|70: 99/60 *56}49°18/97/— 4] 101) 56
Oxford))=..<< 25° 50/24 *45/35- 40) 44° 00/51 °47/62° 93/68 * 38/67 * 84/55 * 63/46 * 36/36 *0S|18°65)44°67|/93|—16]} 109] 67
Cherryvalley, 24°87|23°32/34°85]}42°69153°59/62°92169°S2167°85157° 65/51 °63140745/18°41145°67/85!—17] 102] 65
Hartwick ... [31 *75|31*11]42°46/50 +2458 *S89}68°S1,71°78 72° 55,61 *53|54*28}43 *09)26°31 51°06)94 — 7 101} 65

TABLE III. Prevailing winds in each month, 1845.

a al te Sh a ea ea

5 s a =- z 5 2 =| g

a fas = la FSP Pes ed CS am? aad =e

PLACES. a a = E > 2 5 bp eB 2 2 3

s & 2 < = 5 4 < D } Z a
Cortland ..... NW | NW | NW | NW | NW | SW NW | SW SW SW SW NW
Franklin ..... NW |S NW | NW |S NW | NW | NW / NWS W Ss
Fredonia..... | W Ss Ss SW Ss W WwW wks |S WwW Ww n&w
Ithaca ....... | NW | NW | NW | NW | NW | NW | NW |, NW | NW | sw& | NW | NW

NW

Oxford ...... | NW | NW | NW | NW | NW |<SW | NW | NW | NW | SW | SW | SW
Cherryvalley . | SW | W Ww NW | NW | NW |NWS NW | sw& | SW | SW

Hartwick ....

40*

316

METEOROLOGICAL TABLES.

TABLE IV. Rain gage for each month.

PLACES.

Franklin ....
Fredonia ....
Ithaca .
Oxford..... a
Cherryvalley .
Hartwick .....

wNonwnnnw

ae
S s = = P

tam ana | A =

S fos = < =

°35 | 2°85 11-75 | 3-00 | 2:75
“51 | 1°38 | 2°37 | 3:07 | 2°08
*13 | 2°65 | 2-91 | 3°42 | 2°26
57 | 1°22 | 2°87 | 2°77 | 2-44
98 ]/2271.4035021/'S:099| 2" 75
92 | 1°95 | 3°40 | 2°79 | 3°57

5 Po s
2 : = 2
g1/2/8 | 818
ie ee ie apn
s ® > ° 2 °
< an fo) Z =) eB
1°60 | 3°50 | 5:22 | 1-65 | 1-30 | 28-52
2°24 | 6°50 | 2°10 | 3°08 | 0°97 | 32°10
2°30 | 3°40 | 3°85 | 3°35 | 0°82 | 31°90
1°61 | 4°34 |] 3°90 | 2°20 | 1°28 | 33-32
2°44 | 4°36 | 3°62 | 4°46 | 1-35 | 35°42
1-94 | 4°68 | 5°S2 | 4°57 | 1°59 | 41°75

TABLE V.

Average quantity of rain for the district, 33°80.

-Mean temperature for ten years from 1826 to 1835, both inclusive.

PLACES,

Cherryvalley .

Cortland .....
Fredonia.....
Franklin .....
Hartwick ....
Ithaca ever cnc
Oxford < oc.<

PLACES,

1835. Average.

1827.] 1828. | 1829.
44-01 | 47-08 | 44°33
Ay (ee OOS) VTEC)
15°40 | 46°94 | 45-49
50°00 | 51°35 | .....
Bi | ee 2d 44-99
43°50 | 47°33 | 43-38

49°67
46°55
44°68

45°59

43-40

43°12

43°44 | 44°83

43°17 | 44°81
47°21 | 48°85
«see | 40°49
45°39 | 45°79
46°31 | 49°12
44°32 | 45°34
42°16 | 44°06

1845. Average.

Cortland .....
Cherryvalley .
Fredonia.....
Franklin .....
Ithaca
Oxford’ i= e.'-
Pompey ..-.

42°04
41°25
44°54
44°96
44°28
42°80
40°18

42°70 | 43°30 | 44:00
ceces | cocce 42°36
46°02 ; 45°63 | 46°75
coeen | evens 35°81
43°65 | ...-. | 45°19
49°33 | 44°96 | 45°71
43°77 | 43°45 | 45°79

40°02 | 40°27 | 42°41

“65

42°13

42°29

45°67

TABLE VII. Quantity of rain for each of the last ten years.

45°57 | 44°17
45°67 | 43°28
51°22 | 47°98
46°95 | 43°82
51°06 | 46°20
49°18 | 47°41
44°67 | 44°37
=asei 41°45

PLACES.

Cherryvalley .
Fredonia ....

Ithaca

1836.
45

36°

1837.| 1838.| 1839.

31°85

ea

5 | 33°82
36°55 | 33-22
| 30°30 | 23-21

38°84

36°46

32°79 | 25°28

39°95
45°30
29°84

1844.
34°24 | 35-42 | 39°38
39°14 | 32°10 | 34°81
29°04 | 28°52 | 33°50
eee | 41°75 | 31°46
26°19 | 31-90 | 31-78
34°87 | 33°32 | 37°98
ceeee YU weeee 31°93

SOUTHERN DISTRICT. 317

TABLE VIII. General Summary.

PLACES. Mean temperature. | Prevailing winds. | Av. quantity of rain.

-

Pompey years, 42°54
Cherryvalley . eae

5 44°
48°
48-0

17 years, NW 15 years, 29°46
EHP Ea WV 14 ss 40°83
Ww 17 36°05
W 14 36
NW
Cortland NW
Hartwick .... Ss
Franklin i NW

wOnmnwattu

12 37°52

The foregoing tables express the average temperatures and the average quantity of rain
with great accuracy, as the records were generally made by good observers. Many of the
differences in temperature which appear in the tables, are due to differences in height.
Many of the places are situated in vallies, and are surrounded by elevated land : some near
large bodies of water, which temper the atmosphere both winter and summer ; and hence,
in either case, they can not be compared with other places whose position is relatively
different. The same place exhibits some anomalies in temperature. Pompey, for example,
gives an average temperature of 44°-06 for ten successive years, beginning with 1826 and
ending in 1835; for the next ten years, beginning with 1836 and ending with 1845, it is
only 41°°45, a difference which is rather remarkable, considering the time during which
the observations were made. Differences equal to this are rarely found to prevail in other
places: for example, at Cherryvalley the average temperature for the same periods re-
spectively are found to have been, for the first, 44°°83; for the second, 43°°28. If we
compare the several years with each other, we shall discover that at Pompey there is less
constancy or evenness of temperature than in most places. In 1826, the average was
45°-97; in 1836, 40°°18; in 1827, 43°°50; in 1837, 40°-02; in 1828, 479-33; and in
1838, only 40°°27. Something of the same fitfulness may be observed as it regards the
quantity of rain. The average for 1836 was 23°84 inches; in 1837, 30°30 inches; in
1838, 23°21 inches; in 1840, 33°79 inches. The variation, according to these tables,
amounts to about ten inches of rain. The temperature of a large extent of inhabited ter-
ritory, however, is not represented. The high grounds of Allegany, and the country
situated upon the ridge dividing the waters of the Genesee and the Susquehannah and
Allegany rivers, must be considerably colder than Pompey. If the supposition is true, it
would reduce the temperature of the district. i

The vegetation of the high grounds consists of pine and hemlock, and hard wood inter-
mixed, as represented in the woodcut on page 306. In the vallies, the hard timbers,
maple, beech, oak, ash, hickory, etc. abound. The vallies are narrow, but pleasant, and
furnish some fine scenery. Jn the cultivated vallies, the spreading branches and depressed
heads of the trees indicate a greater tendency to a lateral extension; and long branches,

318 ATLANTIC DISTRICT.

sometimes nearly the size of the main trunk, shoot forth luxuriantly, and afford shelter to
beasts during the summer when the sun’s heat is oppressive. The same species of tree
can scarcely be recognized under these different circumstances. Even the hemlock, which
shoots upward so magnificently in the forest, is low and depressed in the open fields. It
is the finest of trees for shade ; and it is quite singular that it should not be universally
admired, inasmuch as its form and color are so stately and beautiful, and it becomes a
most picturesque decoration for the winter landscape, when its boughs are loaded with
snow, and bend but do not break under the weight of their glittering burthen. -
Plate XII. represents the sylvan vegetation of the vallies : it is a view of the scenery on

the Schoharie creek, at Gilboa, at the entrance into the village from the north. The rock
is the Old Red Sandstone.

6. ATLANTIC DISTRICT.

The district we have proposed under this name, is the smallest, and is surrounded by
the Atlantic ocean. Its situation, its proximity to water, and the character of a part of its
soil, remove this district a wide distance from the preceding ones.

Long Island, if we except the drift upon its northern slope, or that which faces the
Sound, has been reclaimed from the ocean: it is based undoubtedly upon a reef of rocks,
which first formed a bed whereon the waves washed up the sand, and this has continued to
accumulate until the present time. The nature of the great mass of the soil, from bottom
to top, is porous; and being composed of so large an amount of washed sand, the farmer
is compelled to adopt a mode of cultivation more burthensome and expensive than that of
any other portion of the State. The soluble manures sink into the soil, beyond the reach
of the roots, in a very short period, and hence require frequent renewals.

That portion of the soil of Long Island which is largely made up of Connecticut drift,
is more retentive and durable. The Hempstead plains, which occupy a high position upon
the island, confirm this statement. The soil here, when washed, is merely a white beach
sand, or, perhaps, in this position, a yellow sand. It is covered with a coating of black
raw vegetable mould, which, when first ploughed, appears like a rich soil ; but it is quite
destitute of the elements essential to fertility. It bears light crops, and produces mode-
rately well for a season, yet soon fails without special nursing. Situated, however, as the
Atlantic district is, in the immediate vicinity of a great city, the commercial metropolis of
North America, it repays the labor and expense of high cultivation better than any other
part of the State. It has other advantages, besides those which arise from being situated
near a great city: its climate is mild, and its summer long; hence agricultural produc-
tions may be profitably cultivated here, which, in other parts of the State, are out of the
question.

The soil of a large portion of Hempstead plains, forming the ridge of the island, is mostly
marine sand. The surface is mixed with black mould, in which there is a small per-

ATLANTIC DISTRICT. 319

centage of lime in combination with an organic acid. The sand, when washed free of
vegetable matter, furnishes only a trace at most of lime or magnesia. Beneath the drift
on the northern slope and sides of Long Island, beds of green sand, of unknown extent,
are found to exist. Members of this formation crop out on the farm of Hon. Mr. Young,
of Oysterbay. They consist of a yellow clay, and the peculiar ferruginous conglomerate so
common in Monmouth county, New-Jersey. The green sand so useful as a fertilizer, and
which is below the ferruginous band, has not been observed.

A large proportion of the soil of Kings county is of a superior kind. Some of the largest
crops of maize and wheat have been raised here. It would seem that the land is too
valuable to be devoted extensively to the raising of maize and wheat. The products of
the garden and orchard must necessarily, and they probably do, engage the attention of the
proprietors of the soil. The best parts of the whole island will, ere long, be appropriated
as country residences of the wealthy.

It is scarcely necessary to say, that in no instance is the soil of Long Island derived
from rocks in place: the entire mass, therefore, is either drift or marine sand. ‘The exa-
mination of the soils, however, has been only imperfectly performed ; but enough has
been observed, to prove that there is a great deficiency of the alkalies and alkaline earths.
Lime and magnesia are only sparingly present in the soil of any part of the island, except
that which lies along the Sound, where these materials are somewhat more abundant.
The inference which follows from this fact, can not be forgotten. The means for increasing
the fertility of the land are very scarce ; hence nearly all the manures are brought from a
distance. The stables and streets of New-York and Brooklyn contribute largely to this
object.

The composition of the soils of Long Island depends upon the direction from which
they came. If derived from the rocks in the valley of the Hudson river, or from the pri-
mary region bordering the Sound in the State of Connecticut, it will not differ essentially
from the soil of the Taconic district, or that of the Southern Highland district. If it be the
washed sand, it will belong to the highly porous and open soils, in which quartz sand is
the principal constituent, and which will give, on analysis, ninety per cent of silex.

The composition of the drift, which constitutes the soil of the northern face of the island,
is as follows :

Wrater!and/organic matter..25-= 25. -=2-_ === 6:00
Silicdies¥sescaaseeee coe Sos ale eee esee toe Ore 8
Peroxide of iron and alumina---.------------- 6°25
G@arbonaterotr limes ss5 52-523 222905.-6-455- 0°25
Mapnesia.-o ose o sas ooo coo S aos aes ede ete: * trace:

99 +50

This soil is what is called a sandy loam. The mass below is gravel, or fragments of
gneiss, quartz, and mica slate. It was taken two and a half miles west of Oysterbay.

320 ANALYSES OF SOILS.

Another analysis of soil, taken in the vicinity of the preceding, gave

Water of absorption —<° co cen eee
Organic matter.2=-G2 "= 22 SSS es ee ee
Bilicates S242 Js So ees Se eco so
Peroxide of iron and alumina....-.----------- 5°75
Carbonate of lime and magnesia --.--..------- trace

100-11

Another specimen, obtained one and a half miles west from Hicksville, gave

Water and organic matter-_.-.-_--.---------- 5-00
Silicatey 4 U4 Fo eee Se eee oy uo
Peroxideiofiimoni 5: 3232 St eet See 2°75
Garbonate of lime: 2-2 222 =3-- ee Se 0:37
Magnesiae 24222 Secon been cae oes eee eee 0-13
Alomina] S2=2)..- Seis oe oe LS es 4-00

99-01

The silicates are principally in fine angular quariz grains.

It is said that plaster is useless here. This opinion, however, is not supported by sound
theoretical views, but rests upon defective observation. It is undoubtedly true that its in-
fluence is not uniformly the same upon soil at a distance from the seaboard ; but here
it is said to be unaffected by plaster. Itis very probable that plaster is less useful than
leached ashes. The ash is constituted quite differently from plaster. In addition to the
bases, potash and lime, in combination with silex, it contains soluble silex ; besides, the
relation of ashes to moisture is more favorable to vegetation than plaster. Ashes absorb
water in greater quantity, and preserve the moisture of a soil naturally disposed to part
with this essential element. Vegetable composts with lime and ashes, or muck and turf,
provided the expense of procuring the materials is not too great, are the most important
fertilizers which can be employed in this district. It is in this form that manure will im-
part to the soil the greatest amount of food for plants, and will remain the longest in the
surface soil.

ATLANTIC DISTRICT. 321

A SERIES OF TABLES,

SHOWING THE MOST IMPORTANT METEOROLOGICAL FACTS RESPECTING THE ATLANTIC DISTRICT.

TABLE I. Names of places, etc.

PLACES North Latitade | West Longitude. Topographical remarks.
Flatbush ... 40°37’ 73°58’ Near the western extremity of Long Island, and situated on an inclined
plane descending to the ocean. 40 feet above tide.
Jamaica... . | 40 41 73 50 About 100 feet above tide.
Clinton... 41 00 79 19 Eastern part of Long Island. 16 feet above tide,

TABLE II. Mean temperature for each month in 1845.

PLACES.

January
February.
March.
September
November.
December
Annual
Highest
and lowest
Greatest
monthly

Flatbush ....
Jamaica ....

PLACES. =. = > 5
| 2 Pid ipecoiun be ea (a=
SS ee EEE
Flatbush ..... NW | NW | SW |nE&| SW SW SW SE NW | SW SW wt&
Nw Nw

Jamaica ..... | NW | NW | NW | SW | SW | SW |nw&| SW | NW | NW | NW | NW
l

I | sw | I

TABLE IV. Rain gage for each month.

: S z PP
> , 2 AS = 2 : :
oe ee ae Sree: tesla ag wi| #4
& ° = o = — = ) rs) = DE +a
PLACES. 2/4 5 Be l| tee) ashe ees) ene eer a 2 2 $ |-2 g 3 g
Slat rls] epee | S| al a} oftapale fa =
Flatbush. | 3°84] 4°45) 2°50) 1.04) 1°55) 3-36] 1°67) 3°27] 2°65) 1-92] 3-08) 2°81] 32°14] April | February.
Jamaica.. | 2°19] 3°52] 1°85] 1°28] 1°20] 4°41] 3°56] 3-46] 2°98] 2°72] 3°42} 3°21] 33°71] May. | June.

| AcricutturaL Reporr. | 41

322 METEOROLOGICAL TABLES.

TABLE V. Comparative view of the average temperature for ten years, from 1826 to 1835, both inclusive.

PLACES. 1826. | 1827.| 1828.| 1829.| 1830. 1831.| 1832. 1833. 1834. | 1835. | Average.

Flatbush ,.... | 53°96 | 51°63 | 53°68 | 50°50 | 52°53 | 51°28 | 51°54 | 51°83 | 51°36 | 49°49 | 51°78
Jamaica ..... 52°19 | 50°95 | 52°05 | 48°51 | 51°05 | 49°51 | 49°20 | 51°84 | 50°10 | 46°84 | 50°22
Oysterbay seed) ane nase ABR SS Sn ASRS WASASNE Wadaas Saese 11 OL CoM conan) sioueoe
Clink. not dhinen: 49-31 | 51-29 | 48-14 | 49°52

| 48-78 | 48-00 | 49-09 | 49-38 | 46-60 | 49-06

TABLE VI. Mean temperature for the last ten years.

ruaces. | 1836.|1837.|1838.| 1839.| 1840.| 1841.| 1842.| 1843./ 1844.| 1845. | average.

Flatbush 47°73 | 49-39 | 50-49 | 51-33 | 51-34 | 51-11 | 52°05 | 51°15 | 51-81 | 53-09 | 50-95
Jamaica ..... | 46°52 | 47-23 | 45-32 | 49°31 | 44-91 | 48-51 | 48-37] 48-07 | 49-02 | 49-71 | 48-50
Clinton ...... | 46-92 | 46-20 | 46-99 | 49-25 | 49-46 | 49-65 | 50-90 | 48-30 | 2.22. | 0... 48-52
Ovsterbay .... | ..... | 49°97 | ..e08 RE ai big Geaneh delete 188 08 se ee bee tece 49°77

TABLE VII. Quantity of rain for the last ten years.

PLACES. 1836. | 1837.| 1838. | 1839.

Flatbush..... | 43°89 | 34-66 | 41-11 | 42-90 47-58 | 50°19 | 39°07 | 32°14 | 41-96
Jamaica...... | 36°48 | 32°13 | 33-70 | 33-44 | 35-47 41°59 | 33-56 | 43-72 | 33-71 | 36°85
43°32 | be SUES

TABLE VIII. General Summary.

PLACES. Mean temperature. | Prevailing winds. | Av. quantity of rain.

Flatbush ..... | 20 years, 51°36 | 20 years, NW 20 years, 43°52

Jamaica ...... | 20 ‘* 49°36 ]/20 < NW 20%“. 39°44
Clinton a7 * Sr 48° FAT. + NW 16“ 38°59

COMPARISON OF SOILS. 323

VII. A COMPARISON OF THE SOILS OF THE AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS,
UPON THE BASIS OF PRODUCTIVENESS, AND THE QUALITY OF THE
CROPS.

The comparative view which we design now to present to the public, rests, as will be
perceived, upon a basis which will furnish data whereby we shall be enabled to judge of
the relative value of the different districts for the kinds of husbandry commonly pursued
in the latitude of New-York. This basis we may regard as entirely independent of the
results of analysis. It ought, however, to bring us to the same result. The two methods
should agree, and no doubt will do so, provided our data are sufficiént. It is not supposed
that a few isolated comparisons will be sufficient for our purpose: the data must be
derived from entire districts. It is like those calculations which regard the duration of
life, the proportions of the sexes, etc., where communities or nations are concerned. It is
trne, that in an extent of country no larger than the State of New-York, local causes may
_ give one place a preponderance for certain productions over some other part of the State,
which by nature is better adapted to their growth. Thus, in the vicinity of the city of New-
York, some of the necessaries of life may be cultivated with profit, though the actual
expense there may be greater than at the distance of one hundred miles. We are to bear
in mind, therefore, that the great cities, or, in other words, the markets, must control to a
certain extent many kinds of husbandry. But after all the deductions proper from consi-
derations of this nature, it will be found that staple productions are not controlled by any
one market: the general wants of the species control their cultivation and growth.

It will be necessary to ascertain the average production of the different crops for the
whole State, and then the average of the same crops for the different districts. In con-
nexion with this comparison, it will be interesting to state the premium crops, by which
we shall know the present capabilities of lands in the different parts of the State; and
could we ascertain the amount of the crops raised from the early settlement of the country,
down to the present time, we should be able to calculate the loss which the soil has sus-
tained under cultivation, as well as the progress which the husbandry of the State has
made since its first settlement.

The first product which we propose to consider, is wheat, a product which must ever
constitute one of the greatest and most important necessaries of life. The whole quantity
of wheat raised in New-York, in 1844-5, was 13,391,770 bushels. This amount was
harvested from 958,233 acres; the average product, therefore, for the whole State, was
nearly 14 bushels per acre. We may now compare the product of the districts. In this
comparison we propose to leave out the Highland district, or rather to merge it in the
Taconic or Eastern district.

Commencing then with the lowest geological system, which is geographically the most
eastern, we find that the several counties taken separately yielded as follows : Westchester
an average of 9 bushels per acre, Dutchess 5, Columbia 6, Rensselaer 8, and Washington

41*

$24 COMPARISON OF THE SOILS

12. The average for the whole district, therefore, is only 8 bushels per acre. It is proper
to state, that this low average may not be independent of causes connected with the capa-
city of the soil to produce wheat. It is well known that the wheat fly has committed more
extensive ravages in this than in the western part of the State ; still, it is not to be supposed
that to the fly alone is to be attributed the small average. The crop is more liable to other
accidents, to rust, and shrinkage, than in the western counties ; accidents depending in a
great measure on the adaptedness of this soil to this crop.

The territory forming the Taconic district lies upon the eastern side of the Hudson river.
If we now extend our observations to the district which has been called the Hudson and
Mohawk district, we shall embrace a large extent of country differing but little from the
preceding.

Albany county raised 44,149 bushels upon 6112 acres, which gives an average of 71 bushels per acre.
Fulton county raised 17,118 bushels upon 1618 acres, thus giving an average of 111 bushels per acre.
Rockland county raised 1705 bushels upon 194 acres, the average of which is 9 bushels per acre.
Saratoga county raised 104,660 bushels upon 9745 acres, the average of which is 10 bushels.
Schenectady county raised 19,754 bushels upon 1918 acres, whose average is 10} bushels.

The average of these counties, mostly embraced in the Hudson and Mohawk district, is
a little over 92 bushels. Albany county raises only a small crop of wheat; the lands
within 10 or 12 miles of Albany city being cultivated for the more marketable crops, such
as hay, corn, oats, and garden vegetables.

If Oneida and Herkimer counties were added to the foreging calculations, the average
for the wheat crop would be increased, as the average for these two counties together is
1314 bushels per acre. The reason why these counties are not added, is that their territories
extend into the Wheat district proper, being underlaid by the shales of the Clinton group,
and our data do not permit us to determine upon what parts of these counties the greatest
number of acres of wheat were raised.

The wheat crop of the western and central counties may now pass under our exami-
nation.

Cayuga county, in which was raised, in 1845, 652,896 bushels. The number of acres upon which
this amount of wheat was harvested was 41,783, which gives an average of 16 bushels per acre.

Erie county raised 251,784 bushels upon 20,433 acres, which is an average of only 12 bushels per acre.

Genesee county raised 695,107 bushels upon 42,960 acres, which is an average of 161 bushels per acre.

Livingston county raised 821,702 bushels upon 52,047 acres, averaging 16 bushels.

Madison county raised 190,361 bushels upon 13,477 acres, the average of 14 bushels per acre.

Monroe county raised 1,338,585 upon 68,382 acres, making an average of 191 bushels per acre.

Niagara county raised 713,318 bushels upon 39,521 acres, equalling 18 bushels per acre.

Onondaga county raised 918,616 bushels upon 57,924 acres, giving 16 bushels per acre.

Orleans county raised 692,127 bushels upon 38,731 acres, which gives an average of 18 bushels.

Seneca county raised 483,773 upon 32,698 acres, the average of which is 15 bushels per acre.

Wayne county raised 587,817 bushels upon 41,041 acres, giving an average of 141 bushels.

Wyoming county raised 331,111 upon 22,564 acres, giving an average of 15 bushels per acre.

OF THE AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS. 325

The average of the foregoing twelve counties amounts to 15} bushels per acre. In
several of these counties, the average is reduced considerably, by the crop being raised
upon a soil derived from the rocks above the Marcellus shales, or underlaid by the lower
and more sandy soil of the Medina sandstone.

In the Southern district, the results by the census returns are as follows :

Allegany county raised 260,190 bushels upon 23,600 acres, thus giving an average of 111 bushels.
Broome county raised 81,388 bushels upon 7204 acres, whose average is 111 bushels per acre.
Cattaraugus county raised 177,927 bushels upon 15,331 acres; the average is 12 bushels.
Chemung county raised 180,095 bushels upon 15,365 acres, an average of 12 bushels per acre.
Chenango county raised 104,562 upon 8313 acres, giving an average of 13 bushels per acre.
Cortland county raised 96,852 upon 8111 acres, the average being 12 bushels per acre.

Otsego county raised 109,551 bushels upon 8733 acres, giving an average of 13 bushels per acre.
Sullivan county raised 3252 bushels upon 310 acres, giving an average of 10 bushels per acre.
Yates county raised 403,069 bushels upon 20,447 acres, giving an average of 14 bushels per acre.

The average of the nine foregoing counties is 12 and a fraction bushels per acre.

The Atlantic district gives the following result :

Kings county raised 26,992 bushels upon 1411 acres, giving the average of 19 bushels per acre.
Queens county raised 99,374 upon 8702 acres, giving an average of 12 bushels per acre.
Suffolk county raised 77,423 bushels upon 6611 acres, giving an average of 12 bushels per acre.

The average of the three counties is 14 bushels per acre.

The average of the Taconic district is __--_-----------+----- 8 bushels per acre.
Hudson and Mohawk district _.......----- 13
Western and Central district _._....-._--- 5s
Noubhermamstrict@ey = <a 2 2 ee SS ee
PA Clantic \ISHEVGl =. 2 Atak ees nee se

The average derived from the above estimates is less than that of the State. The loss
is to be set down to the Hudson and Mohawk district.

The maize crop gives a result somewhat different. Pursuing a plan of estimates similar
to that respecting the wheat crop, we shall find thatsthe Taconic district, which is so poor
in wheat, is quite as productive in maize as the Central and Western districts. This
deficient return in wheat is therefore not due to poverty of the soil, but to its peculiar
adaptedness for maize.

326 CROPS OF MAIZE AND OATS.

TABLE SHOWING THE QUANTITY OF MAIZE AND OATS HARVESTED IN THE SEVERAL DISTRICTS,

IN THE YEAR 1845.

————_—e—eeeeerrrre ee ee

I. Maize. II. Oars.

COUNTIES. Acres sowed.

Acres planted. | Bushels ried | Average.

COUNTIES.

Bushels raise Average.

1. Taconic district 1. Taconic district.

Westchester, 15,593 498,019 32 bushels.|| Westchester, 11,963 316,156 26 bushels.
Washington, 19,766 471,756 Gy is Rensselaer . 26,942 763,844 20) eee
Rensselaer . 17,942 403,548 Baeuss Columbia... 42,379 1,093,850 21% <6
Dutchess... 32,391 814,153 25 =“ Dutchess... 40,531 1,283,718 30 *
Columbia. . . 28,350 526,629 18% “ Washington, 25,525 593,423 Fs
Orange* .... 18,442 603,167 32) KS Orange 445 14,646 417,388 28% “«

heey 2. Mohawk and Hudson district.
2. Mohawk and Hudson district. Albany ee 28.92 4 624,038 hele!
2 ee BUY a\cse 28,921 24, 22 bus e

Albany..... 10,251 208,254 20 bushels. Rinne 14,249 987,221 90
Fulton ..... 5,813 105,124 | 20 Herkimer .. 27,012 690,413 | 25 «
Herkimer .. 8.078 180,340. | 22,“ Jefferson ...| 26,462 709,232 | 27 «
Jeffersonf .. 17,432 oA be Montgomery 34,187 717,212 | a1 «
LAwis)<..56 2,291 53,180 mores Saratoga fe 27,373 620,395 03 «
Saratoga= <= 5,279 103,729 Schenectady 14,640 254,455 183 «<
Schenectady 4,786 85,173 Ulster ....- 17,607 429,713 | 25 «
Montgomery 9,455 187,700 Clinton .... 9,969 268,258 | 27 «

3. Central and Western district. 3. Central and Western district.

Cayuga..... 16,765 479,151 24 bushels. Cayuga..... 21,382 652,281 303 bush.
Dit ieenaee 10,530 238,295 | 22% ¢ Erie ...... 27,313 637,513 | 28%-<¢
Genesee ... 8,298 925,615 | 25. < Genesee ... 12,308 406,594 ae
Livingston. . 9,922 257,346 | 25 « Livingston. . 11,616 351,233 | 30 *
Madison ... 9,279 230,781 25 « Madison ... 18,510 517,789 BLAS
Monroe .... 15,270 453,463 30,66 Monroe ... ‘| 16,332 938,063 | 32 <
Niagara .... 6,824 188,166 | 29 « Niagara .... 10,098 292,099 | 29 «
Onondaga .. 19,688 516,496 | 27 « Onondaga .. 26,506 §29,002 | 31 “

| Ontario .... 12,936 357,747 99 « Ontario .... 16,461 533,062 32 > *¢
Orleans .... 7,783 213,702 | 30 « Orleans .... 8,186 236,743 | 294.5
Seneca .... 12,341 304,403 | 25 « Seneca..... 8,224 292,397 | 35% “

Wayne .... 17,522 476,422 Pass
| 4. Southern district. 4. Southern district.
Allegany... 4,845 101,140 21 bushels. Allegany .. 22,274 503,134 224 bush.
Broome .... 6,611 172,713 26 Broome .... 13,945 331,425 a4 ««
Chautauque. 12,247 313,121 Bien Cattaraugus, 19,095 459,770 Q1 «
Chemung... 6,461 177,965 | 27 “ Chemung... 11,604 287,146 | 26 «
Chenango .. 8,807 241,205 IRS Chenango .. 21,430 597,508 ag <<
Cortland ... 5,632 123,186 ah SE Cortland ... 15,134 400,342 26% <
Delaware... 3,732 85,128 Qawee Delaware .. 28,950 648,982 22) «
Otsego ..... 9,981 201,031 20 “ Otsego ..... 46,145 | 1,004,541 29) 5
Steuben... 8,976 194,063 ae Steuben... 24,356 635,304 2c
Sullivan.... 4,587 62,362 15 2S Sullivan ... 6,457 150,300 25 «
Tioga ...-0- 6,307 163,160 CIOS Piogal sito. 10,535 265,922 OB s
Yates .....- 6,122 | 135,999 | 22 || Tompkins... 20,385 528,763 26ie's
Matesii-- ns 8,108 224,673 28 *“<
5. Atlantic district. iy
: : 5. Atlantic district.
panei Se eae, it cot | Rings <M cao 64,786 | 36 bushels.
Queens .... 17,221 438,661 25 3 ; aa
Suffollc 15.878 | 501.938 34. « Queens .... 12,160 324,218 PN be So
—— — — Richmond .. 1,009 27,704 PY fie
: 58° 8,82 “
Average crops of maize, for the Moh Neg SONDIE > +2 NI OARS AL ee ee
Ut Sey eee ee
Baden oot Mekawk district... ae : Cpa ce Average crops of oats, for the year 1845.
ke pe Taconic district .........- Sains neey bushels per acre.
| Central and Western district .... 26 Hud Rack dist
Southern district ..... Saietatelarets Pan ae ae udson and Mohawk district ++ 23
Atlantic district ....:+....2.+.- cS) ac ee aay Nee et epee : 3
I | Pe pee a ee
t The geological formations in Clinton and Jefferson are identical. Atlantic district...... on sitar SOR on =

OESERVATIONS. 327

IX. OBSERVATIONS ON THE PRECEDING ANALYSES.

Having stated the foregoing results respecting the soils of New-York, which we have
obtained by analysis, we deem this the proper place for introducing a few explanatory
remarks upon the subject which has so long occupied our attention.

The objects which we have had in view, were to obtain a general expression respecting
the composition of the soils in the districts which we have referred to so often; and to
arrive at data by which not only the capabilities of the soils might be ascertained, but the
reason why the soils of one district were so well adapted to the cultivation of wheat, and
another to that of maize. Other objects of importance are still before us. What are the
deficiencies in the soil of a given district, and how may these deficiencies be supplied ?
Observation had taught the most discerning agriculturists that their soils had undergone
some remarkable change, in consequence of which important crops, which had once been
successfully and profitably grown, had ceased to be so. The reason why such a change
had taken place, became an important problem to solve.

Wheat was once the great staple production of the Mohawk and Hudson valley ; but
this crop has ceased to be profitable, unless it be for family consumption: it is not an
article which goes extensively into market. What is the cause of the change? It can not
be due to atmospheric influences: the seasons succeed each as in the days when the
Dutch first lighted their fires, and slept safely under the guns of Fort Orange. The snows
and rains bring down ammonia and carbonic acid as formerly, and thus furnish to the soil
the same elements. Without doubt we may say, then, that the altered conditions which
influence the wheat crop are to be sought for in the soil. This view of the question,
however, could not be determined directly. If the exact constitution of the soil of this
part of the State had been determined at the period alluded to, we have no doubt of the
truth of the position that a full analysis of the same soil, at the present time, would
detect the essential losses it has sustained in the successive croppings to which it has been
subjected. But we have no analyses made thus early, and hence are constrained to pursue
an indirect route. We may determine the constituents essential to a wheat soil, or the
constitution of a soil when this crop is not only productive, but free from such accidents as
rust and shrinkage. With these objects before us, we engaged in the foregoing analyses.
They have been conducted with care, and, so far as they go, may be relied upon. The
foregoing analyses, however, give in general the mineral constituents, or those which are
comparatively free and soluble : they do not determine the actual capabilities of the soils,
nor the exact proportion in which the elements exist. Considering that it was an object
of sufficient importance to determine the amount of the elements as -they exist, both ina
free and combined state, we have engaged in a more determinate and exact method,
which it is proper we should state in detail in this place.

328 ANALYSIS OF SOILS.

The analyses were conducted through two operations. The first was precisely that by
which we obtained the results already stated. The silicates, alumina and iron, lime and
magnesia, were severally obtained by the usual methods. To secure exactness, the double
filters were always well washed, dried, burnt and weighed. We then tested for phosphates,
by redissolving the alumina and iron in chlorohydric acid: the soluble silex was separated
by filters, and, if in a decidedly appreciable quantity, it was weighed. The solution being
freed from silica, was exactly neutralized by caustic ammonia, and the phosphates, if any
existed, were thrown down by a solution of acetate of potash. Sometimes the phosphate
of alumina and phosphate of the peroxide of iron did not immediately appear, but, in the
course of five or six hours, it would become perceptible, and in twenty-four hours it
subsided. In some cases its presence would be sensible, but its quantity so small that it
did not appear of sufficient importance to filter and weigh. The iron and alumina were
not separated.

Having subjected the alumina and iron to the above test for phosphates, we then took
up the farther examination of the silicates obtained in the first operation. This was, in
the first place, fused in a platina crucible, with three times its weight of carbonate of soda.
The fused mass was then dissolved out by boiling water acidulated with hydrochloric acid,
evaporated to dryness, and then redissolved ; when it was subjected to the same course of
treatment, for alumina, iron, lime, magnesia, potash and soda.

By this treatment, we supposed the capability of the soil would be determined. The
advantages of this double process consist in obtaining first the elements which are more
immediately available to the crops; and, in the second process, we learn the amount of
the elements which are more securely locked up by the silica for future use. Both ope-
rations give the capabilities of the soil. In the second operation, phosphates are never
obtained, but lime, alumina, iron and some magnesia usually ; and in a few instances,
where the soil contained much matter from the primary rocks, a greater amount of lime
was obtained than by the first operation: the amount of magnesia is much less also. The
phosphates of the soil which have been derived in the last place from animal or vegetable
origin, may be expected to be easily dissolved ; and it is quite doubtful whether any exists
in any soil, which may not be dissolved and obtained by the first operation. ‘They pro-
bably exist in fine particles in the soil as phosphate of lime and alumina, and, if so, are
almost as soluble as the phosphates contained in bones. The phosphates, then, so far
as they exist, are always soluble, and never locked up in combination with an acid, such
as will not yield to the action of the weak organic acids, which are formed in the soils by
peculiar changes that take place in woody fibre and other vegetable products.

The process by which soluble silica was obtained, we deem highly important. We
believe we do not err when we state that silica is an element equally important in vegeta-
tion with the phosphates, or the potash and alkaline earths. It is a mistaken notion, if it
exists, that fertility is due to any one element; that a good crop of corn can be raised,
provided the phosphates, or any other one of the necessary elements, are in sufficient

ANALYSIS OF SOILS. 329

quantity. If any thing, silica plays a more important part in vegetation than any other
element, notwithstanding it is so inert to our senses. It exists, it is true, in greater pro-
portion in those parts of grain which are rarely consumed by man, as the straw of the
cereals ; yet the seed, the part used by us as food, is perfected only when the silica of the
straw is in due proportion. Hence it may be, that, in many soils, the very want of soluble
silica is the only reason why the cereals are not raised and cultivated successfully. If so,
it is at once suggested that here is a case to which Liebig’s manures would be specially
adapted.

Silica is rendered soluble by the action of potash and the alkalies: if it is fused with
them, it becomes perfectly soluble in water. We may suppose, however, that the mere
addition of ashes to a soil wanting in soluble silica, would secure the attainment of the
object sought: they would dissolve, or, in other words, enter into combination with the
silica of the soil, and thus supply the great desideratum.

If we look carefully over the many analyses of grains and other vegetable products, we
can scarcely fail to be convinced that none of the elements which appear in the foregoing
analyses are unimportant : they are wanted by different vegetables in different proportions ;
but all are wanted, and all are consumed. It may be that the quantity in which some of
them appear is inconsiderable, and, to a superficial observer, such an element may not
appear to be essential ; but this opinion is inadmissible, and we are obliged to accede to the
view which maintains that a minute proportion of one element is as essential to the com-
position of a grain in its perfect state, as the more ample abundance of another.

In making our analyses, the amount of potash and soda should have been determined
more frequently, had time permitted. It is true, many of the analyses might have been
omitted, and the process in the remaining instances carried to its ultimatum. In expla-
nation of our course of proceeding, it seemed quite desirable to increase the number even
of partial analyses. We had very clearly six districts, the character of whose soils were
to be determined ; and this required many analyses, carried at least so far as to determine
the amount of lime and magnesia, two great elements in the constitution of soils. Another
reason for the omission in regard to soda and potash, is that we were not fully convinced
of the utility of the analyses we were engaged in. A variety of opinions prevailed, and do
still prevail, in regard to this part of the work; and hence in consequence of the doubt
which brooded over us, we did not commence in earnest at a period sufficiently early to
enable us to execute what we now wish ; and even now we shall not be disappointed if a
contrariety of opinion exists as to the usefulness of our work. Some valuable facts have
been elicited by the questionings we have put to the soils of the several districts ; and we
believe we have prepared the way for more, or for an advance in this mode of procedure.

We lay more stress, however, upon the matter, when applied to the soils of this State,
than when applied to those of New-England. The soils of this State are far more uniform
in their composition ; and hence a single analysis is worth more, for the purpose of de-
termining what the soil is for a wide extent of territory, than elsewhere. This is quite

| AcricuLTuraL Report. | 42

330 SOIL OF THE TACONIC DISTRICT.

manifest in our analysis of the soils of the Wheat and Taconic districts: they differ, and
those differences can not be accounted for by supposing that they are due to local accidents.
Then again there is a similarity in the soils of the same geological regions, and this
similarity is not due to accident, but to those general influences which have prevailed and
operated over a widely extended territory.

It is this uniformity in the composition of the New-York soils, which has led us on from
step to step, and kept us at work in this part of the survey ; and as this fact could not be
known at the outset, but must develop itself only in the progress of the work, it will
appear as a reason why some things have been omitted and others performed.

We may now proceed to state in detail those more thorough analyses, by which those
interested will be able to compare the composition of the soils of the several districts with
each other, and perceive the foundation upon which the pursuits in husbandry receive their
special impulses ; for the husbandry of a country can go only in certain channels with
much profit. Especially is this the case with the direct products of the soil ; and the im-
pulse which starts it, and impels it forward in this channel, is derived mainly from the
composition of the soil. The local influence®f small markets affects merely the minor
products, or those which are derived from high garden culture.

We shall first lay before our readers the constitution of the soil of the Taconic district.
By reference to the map, the extent of this district will be seen; but for a more perfect
understanding of its character, we must refer to the geological structure, and the peculiar
influence which diluvial action has exerted on this territory.

Our attention has been directed to the soils of Rensselaer and Washington counties.
The first analysis is of a soil remarkable for the production of maize, and which has been
cultivated thirty or forty years. It is in the south part of Hoosic, on high ground, and
underlaid by the taconic slate. The analysis was made upon a dry soil, which lost on
drying at 300°, 4°40, which is set down as water, but not reckoned as an element.

ANALYSIS,
First process. | Second process.

Or patio matter 222 eee ee eee es 9-31 00-00
Silicates‘and siléx 2 f2sesc8 ous beeen eet 77-00 70°87
Peroxide of iron and alumina. -._....--..------ 11°58 4°50
BNC Si as Bt oh i oe eee 1:31 1-63
WagNesa <a a= a as ae 0°25 0-00
99 +45 77+00

Solnble'suex cp oss ae fe SS

Phosphates oe oie i a ate ine coe el ee

3°37

This soil is remarkable for its amount of vegetable matter, of soluble silex and the phos-
phates, especially when taken in connexion with the fact that it has been cultivated so

ANALYSISDF OILS. 331

many years for maize, having been distinguished for its steady and abundant yield of this
exhausting crop. The element which seems to have been removed by cultivation, is
magnesia.

Soil near Hoosic corners.

This soil was not fused with soda.

ANALYSIS.
VUES ine es Se See ee See See mm 1
Organic wmatteniees oe Sees ans an nn 12°69
INCHES eee ee a eo oo eae anes ae see OOO KS
Peromdeion tron se ee ee ee oe eae aa SOO
AlOMmMare see eee ae ee oe cee Orde
Phosphate of alumina----------------------- 1°15
Garzbonate) offlimez2 a. 222 )2 et se ghee Shoe 6
Mronesiae sateen ona ne ne pb oN)

100-00
The succeeding analysis was made of a soil which has never been manured, and has
been in grass thirty years: it has, however, received the wash of a higher piece of ground.
It is npon the same formation as the preceding. The land is owned and cultivated by
Mr. L. C. Ball, of Hoosic falls, three miles north from Hoosic corners.

Fig. 36.

SS ee

1. Position of the soil. 6. Soil in which there is much disintegrating slate. 2. Slate beneath, with a southeasterly
dip, which is the uniform dip of all the underlying rocks through this range of country: it varies in amount,
passing through a range from 35° to 65°. The slates, in consequence of their close packing, and which has been
increased by compression, never permit the water to percolate through them.

ANALYSIS.
First process. | Second process.
AVV citer ee eres Bane ed oh ee are MOGI 0-00
Oraanicimatterye sere sees a ae ee eek. Ube, 0-00
Silicatesiand silex’ss= = 2) = 322s 2 SRS _ 389-07) 32°75
Peroxide of iron and alumina_-._.--.---------- 16°93 6-00
Silplate, Oielimeweee es oes essen aee assoc, b50 0-00
Warbonate: obsbinie= oe ee a eee ee ee ee ee ee OTS 0-00
Lime in combination with silica _...-----.-.... 0°00 1-25
Magnesia =. =. meme eae a he eee arn (530 0-00

99°75 40-00
We have usually found sulphate of lime in the soils of the Taconic district.
42*

332 ANALYSIS OF SOILS

ANALYSIS BY WATER.

Soluble silica in the above -.-._-------.------- 0°75
Phosphates\ 5-25. 2. wacec a. eaorme cae IU eeO
Sulphatetofi limecs Se pe eae ese lien)
Magnesia! os Sues a soe SOSA se OL
iMnminavand drone: = ees. a eee ee ee

4°82

It is probable that a portion of the percentage set down as alumina and iron, is phosphoric
acid, though not tested.

The two following analyses were conducted by acid alone. The first is of a soil obtained
from a slaty hill-side with a western exposure, which has been cleared forty years, and
manured occasionally, but by no means highly : owned by Mr. L. C. Ball, Hoosic falls.
The second analysis is of a more slaty specimen of soil, procured three miles east from
the former locality, near the Bennington line.

FIRST ANALYSIS.

Analysis of soil taken from the farm of Mr. E. Long of Cambridge, Washington county.
This farm belongs to the Checkered House (so called).

Water on sole = ee ee ee ee Oe
Organic Maver ose oe see coe ee ee, ONO
Silicates!)_ VU 4. 25 2 2 AAI Sade ea SURE TI7 eg!
Peroxide of iron and alumina -_._.-.-.--.--.. 3°65
C@arbonateiol dime. -= = ee ee ese
Magnesia 2 22.22) 2s - =e ee ee oS et es Oeeh
Phosphateseersa— 2. oS ie eee ee ae (OF05

100°05

SECOND ANALYSIS.

Wistert = a er eee ee 4-60
Organic matter’: 35- -22. 22 ea een 6°72
Silent eee eee ee ee 74°87
Peroxide of iron and alumina -._-.....----.-- 12°37
Carbonate: of ligtes2e!- as sabes o ft Ue ts 0-18
Magnesia = S206 S83 2) ee Se eee 0-12
Phosphates- 22 s22scsnceceeaeaensees een 0-20
Solubleisilex.22..t so. cee 005

99°11

Soil treated by acid and alkali.

First process. | Second process.

ater: See wees Bs bite ee ee eee eee
Orxoanic mation an nes 2 nee oe eee
Bilicates andi silica: 302+ ee eee eee eee ae tO, 55
Peroxide of iron and alumina. _.....-.-.------- 10°31
Wane! 22.3 Ae ee oe ee aa eaa ea ROO
Magnesia 22022 202 ie ahas ee Ee ae ae et Oe

100-00

0-00
0.00
66°65
1°25
0-00
0-00

67-90

FROM THE TACONIC DISTRICT. 333

In this specimen, the lime was in a soluble state, or rather it was all in the state of a car-
bonate, and not in combination with silica, as in some of the preceding instances. The
same remark holds good in respect to the alumina and iron, as only 1°25 grains was
obtained by thorough decomposition of the silicates by soda; whereas the first process
yielded 10°31 grains. This soil contained soluble silex 0°26 grains, and a trace of the
phosphates. The farm has been cultivated probably ever since the settlement of Washing-
ton county. The Checkered House, as a place of entertainment, was well known to the
oldest inhabitants on the western slope of the Green mountains.

Soil from Salem, Washington county.

ANALYSIs. .
First process. | Second process.
Organic matter) tees 295 cos Se eee 10-60 0-00
Silies-andisalientes. 3-2 et 2 tt ee oe 67 +24 66°12
Peroxide of iron and alumina --_--..-.----.--- 20-00 0.75
Carhonateonsnmes sss see ee 1-06 0-00
Lime in combination with silica _._.._.-..-+.--.< 0-00 0-25
Winonesiay = een oe So ve ent Se 0°63 0°12
Magnesia in combination with silica.._.--------- 0-00 0-00
99 +53 67°24
Phosphates! 2. "22252255255 24525085222 2-825 0:05

This sample of soil is remarkable for the large quantity of peroxide of alumina and iron.
It is an excellent soil for maize, and is owned by the Hon. Mr. Blair of Salem.

Jl soil from the eastern part of Salem.

ANALYSIS.
First process. | Second process.

Organie'wnatier. sce cece ceecsscs checleece eee. 5°86 0-00
Silica anid’ silicates:2-22225522 sssSscesssee=s= 82°10 74°35
Peroxide of iron and alumina (free)-_----------- 9°21 0-00
do (combined) -------- 0:00 6-50
Carbonate of lime (free)----------.---.=-.---- 1-06 0-00
do (combined)...-=...=--=---=-=. 7000 1°25
Carbonate of magnesia (free).-.---.----------- 0°81 0-00
do (combined)! 22 2s2-=2 >, 0:00 trace.
99-58 82-10

Phosphates: 32 wean so 28-8 Sed ote ee a trace:

Noluble Silex = soe sot Sooo one nsae een a OC DU

The above soil contains a very large quantity of the silicates of alumina and iron. The
trace of phosphates was large, but not weighed. The soils of the eastern range of hills
in Salem, and onwards north or south, are all good lands, and the elements seem to be
combined in their proper proportion for grass and the cereals.

334 ANALYSIS OF SOILS

Analysis of soil from Glensfalls, Warren county.

This soil is sandy, and consists of an extension of the lands passing through Albany,

Schenectady and Saratoga counties.
First process, | Second process.

Wrganie matter =o een eee oo cea ke Soho TOROU 0-60
Sillcatand siicatesssee naan ce koe e eee eee COLES 69°44
Peroxide of iron and alumina (free) --.--------- 4°25 0-00
do (combined)-.------ 0:00 15-00
Carbonate ‘of lime:€ve=uss seus sete Sees 8 0-00
Limeicombined === een ene as ee ee ae eRe 2°50
Marnesia (free) 2 Stce te ee ee soe? \trace: 0-00
do (combined) S228 = tee ee eee FOP OD trace,
99°35 86°94
Phosphates o: 2-22 -92- -s 26-0 so sete acen Usa
Soluble:silica- -..__--.-£-.---.---=-.- a large trace.

This soil is still more remarkable for the great amount of combined alumina, iron and
lime ; and its analysis explains in part the fact why this sandy range of country is pro-
ductive and durable, yielding at least moderate or respectable crops of maize for many
years in succession. It contains more mineral food for plants than an inspection of the
soil would lead us to suspect.

Analysis of peat from Hoosic falls.
From a farm owned and cultivated by Mr. E. Ball.

Organic matter =.= 5. Ss = ee ee 56°00
Silica Saas Eee ee ee 26 +00
Alhiminasands irons! sear tee ee ne 8-00
@arbonsteyoli lime S42 ss a Ses ee 9-00
Mapneésiaye. 22225). - 225 - a ee 1-00
100-00
Amount soluble in water.

Carbonate (crenste) jaa — == a= ae ee 1°82
I EVEREST 20S See ae oie oe ae ee 0°34
2°16

The above specimen of peat is probably one of the most valuable manures which the
farmers of the neighborhood can employ, containing a large quantity of the silicates (not
sand ), in a state ready to be used by plants.

It seems, from the several analyses which we have made of the peats from different parts
of the country, that a great difference of composition exists; some consisting of organic
matter, with a very small amount of inorganic; while others, as in the instance above,
contain a large amount of inorganic matter, a considerable proportion of which is in
combination with organic acids. The latter kind is by far the most valuable: hence it is

FROM THE TACONIC DISTRICT. 335

well to examine the peats by chemical tests. If these peats are burned, they are less
valuable as manures: there is a loss of organic matter, and the silica becomes insoluble in
consequence of its having been ignited.

Analysis of a slaty limestone intercalated with the taconic slate.
From the farm of Mr. E. Ball.

Silex eo een ee ee ees ES ee 11°50
Peroxide of iron and alumina -__-..-....----- 6:36
Ganbonathiohilime==<< == 2 Sees See 82°14

100-00

/lnalysis of a hard blue limestone from Hoosic (Sparry limestone) .

STO ee ee a oe ee er ee ees 7:40
Mlamipa andnitONnese =n ees eee ae ae. 1-60
Warhonate olilime= <-> Sea ee eee 91-00

100-00

These limestones are sufficiently pure for agricultural uses. Their examination was
undertaken for the purpose of ascertaining whether they were magnesian, and suitable for
hydraulic lime; but neither of them contain any magnesia.

From the foregoing examples of analysis of the soils of the Taconic district, taken in
connection with those previously given (page 243 — 249), we may learn the general
composition of its soils. The later analyses were of soils which have been for many years
under cultivation. In these examples, it will be observed that magnesia is diminished ;
inasmuch as in all instances where we have analyzed uncultivated soils, it exists in much
greater quantity. These soils have been subjected to rigorous treatment, in consequence of
the kind of crops which have been taken from them, particularly in being planted with
indian corn or maize, which, as is well known, consumes a large proportion of the phos-
phate of magnesia. These lands, as analysis has abundantly shown, are well fitted to this
crop ; inasmuch as in every analysis where the phosphates have been sought for, they have
been found. The same opinion would be formed, too, by an inspection of the crop itself
in autumn, when the exhibition of the well-formed and well-filled ears shows the inherent
adaptedness of the soil to the crop. It is for these reasons that we have laid some stress
upon the name we have given to this formation, namely, the Maize district. We must
observe, however, that this is not the only region which produces maize of a superior
excellence in consequence of the composition of its soil. My earliest examinations of the
soils of the different districts led me to adopt the opinion that the Taconic district was, as
a whole, the best adapted to the growth of maize ; but I have since found a soil in Western
New-York, at a certain height above the Wheat region, which is quite as well adapted to
the growth of this grain, having about the same proportion of phosphates as the soils of
the Taconic district. I shall speak of this region in its proper place.

336 ANALYSIS OF SUiLS

We shall now proceed to give a statement of the analysis of several soils taken from
Christian-hollow* and its vicinity, which has been, and still is, noted for its wheat-growing
capacity. ‘The first specimen was selected from the farm of Mr. Palmer, in the southeast
part of the town of Lafayette, on the west side of Christian-hollow. It was taken from
the third terrace (fig. 37, d).

Fig. 37.

a. South end of Christian-hollow, and first terrace. 6. Second terrace. d. Third terrace. Below a is the Marcellus
slate and Hamilton slate or shale ; and above d, from which the soil was taken, is the Tully limestone. The
rocks of this section are, for short distances, horizontal.

It was cleared in 1830, and has never been manured. It was cropped for ten years,” and
has steadily yielded forty bushels of wheat to the acre.

ANALYSIS.

First process. Second process.
Watert® $254): 2) Wet pHi Ds er 11°2212 0-0000
Organic matter_ _-__ megavoavel eke Jt en 7 +8490 0-0000
Silicasandysthtcates 24451 dott oat ae 72 °8296 66-6796
Peroxide of iron and alumina__.......--_-- 6+7483 0-0000
Combined alumina, etc. ........------.-.-- 0+0000 5*2148
Warbonate of lime; 2- <= soe 5 a 1+7436 0-0000
Aen DIEU Bae oe os a ea ee 0-0000 0-7500
Wa Teal ere a en mee re ee 0 +3086 0-0000

100+7003 72-6344

Solnblessiicas == ot. - Se ete eee eee ee 0°1852

Phosphates not appreciable in one hundred grains.

* Christian-hollow is a north and south valley in Onondaga county, nearly surrounded by hills from two hundred to
six hundred feet high. It was originally settled by a thievish population; and hence the name Christian-hollow,
given on the principle of contrast.

FROM THE WESTERN DISTRICT. 337

ANALYSIS OF THE SUBSOIL.

First process. Second process.
Witen cee ee te eer rey eee es 13°5151 0-0000
Orpariic mater, oS en toe eee Seen 8 +3680 0-0000
Sihea’ and siicatey? + So es eee oi ere et 62°41915 57°8715
Peroxide of iron and alumina. ....--------- 14°41117 0-0000
Thesame’combined.. 42" et Sen 2 0-0000 4+0600
@arbonateiok limes st a eee ce 0-7715 00000
Lime combined <4 _ 2525 25 Ss 22 eee 0-0000 0+5000
Magnesia (free)! 25> =o ae nes + ea 0°2315 0-0000
do (combined) == 2-2 a Soa Se 0-0000 0-0600
99-8818 62°4315

Soluble'sthca=42s¢s2t.0 Sots s ete eee 0-0925

The examination of the surface soil for soluble silica and soluble matter, without ignition,
gave 20°1207 of soluble matter, and soluble silica 0°1852. About double the quantity is
obtained when the soil is not raised to a red heat: this we have found to be a constant
result. These soils he upon the upper part of the Marcellus slate; and upon the surface
there are a good many boulders or fragments of rock derived from the Chemung group,
and also some large boulders of blue limestone scattered over the farm.

The following is an analysis of soil from another piece of land of the same farm, which
was cleared in 1816, and has been cropped most of the time since. Wheat has been
grown on the land for five years in succession: average crop, thirty bushels per acre. It
is now down (1846) to grass. The crops have never been poor.

ANALYSIS,

iWiatera cee: 2 hoo Che ee 10-0967
Organicimatter — 22 *=* 252k bog 14-4271
Silivates 2 ee 8 eo eee a Bee Be 71-1632
Peroxide of iron and alumina___.__--__-.__- 3 +2712
@arbonatesof limetoa-2 ane re ot 0:9721
Mannesia = sees sees salar sen ees enc) 00308
Soluble silicaseocs - - s=4= gene e= 525%, 00308

99-9919

ANALYSIS OF THE SUBSOIL.

(Water see ee ets See SE ee Ss 2089
Orpanicmattersa = << sc eo ca naan co 4 72483
Silicate eee eae Soe oe ee eer een OO SOO,
Peroxide of iron and alumina -____...-.-.--.- 4°9942
Carbonate of lime = 2-2 se” 03066
Wa pnesiatss fo ee as a eee es ewe USOGLT.
Solubletenicat omens so tert he eee es trace.

98°5790

Phosphates not appreciable in 100 grains.
[AcricuLTuRaL Report.] 43

338 ANALYSIS OF SOILS

The quantity of organic matter is much less in the subsoil ; and the result of this analysis,
as it respects the lime and magnesia, is precisely as has occurred in many instances before :
there is more at the surface than below, contrary to what we had supposed before we
engaged in the analysis. It appears from the analysis of the surface soil, that it has felt
the effects of constant cropping, and this is what we should expect. The deep soils, in
reality, are much the same two feet below the surface, as at the surface, except in the
amount of organic matter and water.

Analysis of soil in Christian-hollow.
Situated below a deposit of tufa: uncultivated or new land. Soil dried at 212° Fahr.

First process. Second process.

NW EB sae Se cs rare ee 11°34 0-00
Organic matter. 23-5 2 censceGescc ates =e te 6°71 0-00
Silica antl silicates \iso. S55. 2202S: 38286 eee 72°85 69-07
Peroxide of iron and alumina (free) ---------.---- 7-50 0-00
do (combined) - - - - - --- 0-00 3°58
Carbonate of lime (free) ........-.-...-------- 0-40 0:00
do (combined) epee ees ee oe 0-00 0°55
Maonesia (Wee) ps eos no ne eee nen eres Sop 0-24 0-00
doe? (combined) 22 ---< 2-6. sen oes See 0-00 0-29
AGINDIG Silica tn eae ee aaa See ae 0-30 0-00
9907 73°49
ANALYSIS OF SUBSOIL.

Water... $. ous co nc cee ea eee oe 12°75

Organic matter. +=* 2c sesvenet 22 sates cess 6°94

Silicates..<22sosc2scsstceeee ee ee 65°06

Peroxide of iron and alumina --..-..--------- 11-94

@arbonateof' lime. <= 2: = etecer sess aat 1-12

Magnesia: 2:2 2eees-s SSeS Sa eS none

Soluble'silica: s2=2-2s-2+.2eeece eee 0-02

97-83

Surface soil from the farm of D. Spaulding.
Receives the wash from a hill situated to the west. The farm is east, and directly be-
low Mr. Palmer’s. The wheat of this farm occasionally shrinks and blights, while that

of Mr. Palmer’s never does, but is always plump.

A FA OV 2 DY ia ae EE ts pees Pb, pee Ping iE 9°88
SUCH ES chs => ee eee eee ree, ee eee 79-00
Peroxide of iron and alumina _....-....------ 7°84
Carbonate of limes. =... few sees oe eee 0°50
Maonesia =~ -< 2-0-2 eb pe ee eee 0°26
Solyble‘silica .<- +o 3-asteataceseess of Sc eee 0-06

FROM THE WESTERN DISTRICT.

339

The phosphates are not appreciable in 100 grains, but in 1000 grains they become

appreciable. The soluble silex of this quantity = 2°50 grains.

Another specimen of surface soil gave

VS CUTS Se 5 hl aie 9 See eS ae 9-88
Oroanicwmatter nom lee a anos cess ae cle 79-92
Peroxide of iron and alumina ___..-_-.-------- 8-50
Garpondte Ok. UME tesa oe soe cis aa eee ata 0-42
Maonesias 4. icanjss--5escsennessscs sae cece 0-20

98-92

Color of the soil dark brown.

Soil from a hill west of Christian-hollow.

Situated on the south side of Fall creek, where it cuts through Bear mountain, southeast
corner of the town of Lafayette. It gives a good wheat crop.

ANALYSIS.
Wiater of absorption’ =. ---- = nota nen +2200
The well dried soil gave
Organicimatten acess - ote een eo saa eee ee LOND
Silitates=eeeas stew Ss Ue se ea LS
Peroxide of iron and alumina ---------------. 7°45
Cathonate of plime> 242222 5-528 24. 323-225, 12505
Masnesiaso2) 22208 22 cose oe ol suse 1260
Solublejsiea= <2 pas etn ee yy O09
Phosphates) =. oo = sa es oe oo eo oa 8 tae.

102°05

Surface soil from the farm of T. & W. Spence, Christian-hollow.

ANALYSIS.
Watch ert 8 52 ee ot et ee ee ee OO)
Oreanic-matter. === 9-4 a-) <a aseeeeneeeace = | Oe
Dilicdtes Sone eee en ee ee ee RE eS Od
Peroxide of iron and alumina .__-___-.__---_- 5-00
Carbonate oftimens 22 nea soe eee eS eG
Magnesia $2222 22s: oS Lat See Se 04
Solublejsilicase sees Noe eS eccle trace!

99 -96
Phosphates not appreciable in 100 grains.

Good wheat soil, and has been under the plow for the last thirty years, and manured four

times.

It is a mixture of reddish clay and debris from the neighboring rocks.

43*

340 ANALYSIS OF SOILS

Analysis of a red clay from Christian-hollow.

Compact, fine grained, and nearly without grittiness between the teeth,

Walter Ss ee et ee et a cee ee 13°64
Orvahic matter! 25~. sn a- ane ee ee 2°72
Peroxide of iron and alumina....-.---...-.-.. 27:40
@arhonate of. limes So ee ee eee 8 +29
U BY) FT | WW ae SS EF ae Rg iS 1710)
MS ONO R mae aoa nine oe en a ee eee
Solubleislica®’= 2. 2c See eee eae Poe.
Silica 2 ao .S- hot oe onset oat eee ee 44-84

100-00

This clay furnishes, what might have been expected, a respectable quantity of potash ; and
the composition of the material shows that it may be used to ameliorate the exhausted
soils, in those places where the expense of the work will not exceed that of other modes.
It is evidently adapted to soils which are light and deficient in lime. The potash was
obtained without fusion with an alkali.

The result which has been obtained from the preceding analyses, is one which was quite
unexpected. It appears that those soils which are so well adapted to the cultivation of
wheat, are comparatively destitute of the phosphates, only a few analyses having given
an appreciable quantity in one hundred grains. Four hundred grains of the wheat soil of
Monroe county were tried for the phosphates, but without obtaining a trace. In 1000
grains they became appreciable, but did not amount to more than 0°20 of a grain.

In this result, we find a remarkable difference in the maize and wheat soils; the former
requiring the phosphates, while the latter does not require them in a quantity so decisive.
But other qualities are essential to the growth of wheat, which are not requisite for maize.
The former, for instance, must be supplied with organic matter in combination with the
alkalies and alkaline earth. When a wheat soil is treated with water, it dissolves twice
the quantity of the organic salts that we have obtained from the maize soils of the Taconic
district. A fact which supports this view of the subject, is found in the crops of maize
grown upon some of the western wheat soils: they are smaller, and inferior to those raised
upon the taconic hills.

In Christian-hollow, the farm of Mr. Palmer produces wheat which is always plump in
the grain, and in quantity equalling the premium crops; yet the maize crop, upon the
same soil, yields only about forty bushels per acre, and sixty bushels would be considered
a remarkable crop.

We have already given our views of the origin of the wheat soils of Central New-York,
namely, that they originate from the shales below the Manlius waterlimes, those soft and
decomposable deposits which form the salt rocks. In the lowest member of this deposit, we
obtained a trace of phosphate of alumina; but the method, though one recommended and
followed by chemists, is certainly exceptionable. The shales above the red marl appear

FROM THE WESTERN DISTRICT. 341

to be destitute of phosphates, but the whole series contain a notable quantity of organic
matter; and, hence, by the constant decomposition, they furnish a fresh quantity of food
for plants.

We are now prepared to give additional results in regard to the class of soils holding a
position above the wheat soil. This class belongs to the same formation as that which
composes a large portion of the Southern district. In one respect, the soils of this class
resemble those of Rensselaer and Washington counties, or in general those of the Second
district. The phosphates are invariably present, and the lands are superior for indian corn.

Surface soil from the farm of Mr. N. Salisbury, of Scott, Cortland county.

The growth of timber is thrifty, consisting of beech, maple, ash, bass, oak, walnut and
chestnut : hemlock grows upon the colder sides of the hills. The rock beneath belongs to
the Ithaca group. The farm is situated on a slope of 3°, and the soil has been under
cultivation twenty-seven years ; five years in meadow, and the remainder of the time under
the plough. In 1845, maize, which was manured in the hill, yielded seventy bushels per
acre, of the large 12-rowed ears. The seed was soaked in a solution of sulphate of iron ;
and before the plant appeared above ground, a mixture of four bushels of ashes, three of
lime, and two and a half of salt, were sowed over the field. This soil formerly bore good
wheat, but latterly this grain is liable to shrink, although the practice of sowing with lime
increases the value of the crop.

ANALYSIS.

100 grains, dried thoroughly, lost 3°80 grs.
First process. Second process.

Oreanicimintiers ae eae ee ee 1G APB 0-00
Sulica-and- silieatess 9-3 ee, TOD 73°52
Peroxide of iron and alumina-__-._._._.-.-.--. 5:96 0-00
‘The samescombmed = A a 0-00 2°35
Warbonatevor. tone sso ee ee a eee ee ee eae 0-00
‘The sume combined so oe es fee oe 0°00 0:27
Macnesias 22S eh aes Se eae oe 0:18 0-00
Soluble siica t= ee ee eee ne 0°50 0-00
Phosphate of the peroxide of iron and alumina---- 0°50 0-00
99-56 75-94

It should have been observed, that in some of the soils which have been analyzed, the
water appears in excess. They were collected about one month prior to their examination.
They were put up in papers, and packed and sent in boxes, and hence could not be con-
sidered as wet, inasmuch as the papers were entire and sound. Their feel was dry ; and
as the water was not imbibed by the wrappers so much as to break them, they could not
contain a quantity much exceeding the ordinary water of absorption.

342 ANALYSIS OF SOILS

Soil from Homer flats, Cortland county.

Surface soil, color dark brown, and very deep ; receives the wash of a neighboring hill.
Bore maize in 1846 : 420 bushels were harvested from four acres ; variety 8-rowed, yellow,
and middle size. The land was brought under cultivation forty years ago, and has been
under the plough most of the time since. The field has borne, during this time, ten crops
of maize ; average yield, sixty bushels per acre. It formerly bore good winter wheat, and
now bears very good spring wheat; but the winter wheat is uncertain, and is liable to
shrink and fail. The formation is above the Hamilton shales, and the rock is equivalent
to the Ithaca group.

ANALYSIS.

Being dried thoroughly, it lost 8-40 grs. The dried soil gave, by the

” First process. | Second process.

Organic matteres sess Meee ee eee OO 0-00
Sica and Silicates<— oes oe see eee oe en ORO 67-02
Peroxide of iron and alumina -__-.-.-.-.-.---- 14°02 0-00
The same'combined.=2 2 22.28 BSS Boe 0:00 518
Potash sean ttee Se es Se Eee a SG 0:00
Wiis) tissu Sot A oda’ Sabie dot oe eee 4 0825 0-00
Soluble gili¢dur tac hee So owes Lee 1-20 0-00
Wirt: a te See 8 Seen ssa et 0-00
100+99 72-20

Phosphates appreciable.

Soil from the farm of Mr. N. Salisbury.

This is a good indian corn soil, and yields also good crops of potatoes, oats, barley and
grass. It formerly bore good winter wheat, and now produces good spring wheat by liming.
Maize this year (1846), seventy-five bushels per acre. The seed, before planting, was
soaked in sulphate of iron, which seemed to give it an early start. The land received also
a compost of three bushels of lime, four bushels of ashes, and one bushel and a half of
salt, per acre. The hills were manured from the hog sty. The land has been under
cultivation twenty-nine years ; during this time, it has been down to grass eight years, and
the remaining twenty-one years under the plough. In 1844, twelve bushels of lime per
acre were sowed upon the field, and maize was then planted : the field contained five acres.
A part yielded eighty bushels per acre, and the rest seventy-five. Spring wheat, in 1845,
yielded thirty bushels per acre, using no manure. Farm situated on a slope of 4°: rests
on the Ithaca group.

FROM THE WESTERN DISTRICT. 343

ANALYSIS.

100 grains, in drying, lost 6-16 grs. 100 grs. of the dried soil gave

OrpanictmattertS =-= 2230 SS Fat oe 15+92
Silica ich Sa ate ee ha ee 72°76
Peroxide of iron and alumima ._~-.-.--------- 7°76
POTASH Sanaa pean eacae cro cscs see ce 1°26
Garbonatevof lime#@ 2 = Sass ae, Ses anne 0-86
WEY GT i Sn Be pe OS eee eee 0°28
Sotubleten lier = ee 6 nese es a 0°35

Phosphate of alumina, and phosphate of the per-
OkIdG Of TOM cat = ee oe etek asnacase ee 0°43
99 +62

The formations which succeed the Marcellus slate are much coarser ; and we often, or
perhaps generally, are able to detect mica in the strata, and distinct grains of quartz. The
soil also contains occasionally primary rocks ; and it is possible to recognize, by the aid of
the microscope, comminuted hornblende ; but this is by no means a common ingredient, in
a form which can be distinguished, as in those soils which are derived more immediately
from the primary ranges.

We believe the phosphates are derived from the formation upon which the soil reposes,
inasmuch as they appear to be composed of materials similar to those of the formation itself.
That the phosphates, as has been maintained, are generally distributed, there can be no
doubt ; but some formations are richer than others. We believe that those wheat soils
which give but a moderate crop of maize, require only the addition of those manures that
furnish the phosphates, particularly ground bones, and the ashes of vegetables. The same
fact, we believe, holds good also in relation to the cultivation of wheat in the slate district
upon the western slope of the Green mountains. This opinion is supported by the frequent
occurrence of good crops in this district, when the soil is properly prepared. Even a part
of the range furnishes a true wheat soil, and quite similar to that of Western New-York.
We refer to the Albany and Champlain tertiary clay, which is a homogeneous formation,
extending through the vallies of Lake Champlain and Hudson river, and even onward
northerly through the St. Lawrence basin.

A few soils only upon this formation have been critically examined. A single example
of a soil upon this clay, and largely mixed with it, we annex, for the purpose of adding
something to the few examinations we have as yet made of this particular formation. The
soil was selected from the farm of the Rev. David Lamb, of Bridport, Addison county,
Vermont. The slope was gently to the west. Soil rather light-colored, and a portion of
taconic slate is mixed with it, undergoing disintegration.

The yield of this piece of ground was at the rate of 531 bushels of winter wheat to the acre. The
soil gave, on analysis, soluble silica, and the phosphates were distinctly appreciable in 100 grains.

344 SOILS TESTED FOR SOLUBLE SILICA AND THE PHOSPHATES.

We subjoin to the foregoing analyses a statement of the several tests, made for the
purpose of ascertaining the presence of soluble silica and the phosphates.

1. Marcellus slate soil, Manlius. 100 grs. gave
Soluble'silica 2225-2 32 Se cee ae 0-15
Ehosphates- 2S svascl oe ekes oe tee a trace.

2. Soil of Mr. Geddes’s farm, Fairmount. 100 grs. gave
S10 ES eee ces eee ees ee at 0°19
Phosphates appreciable. This is one instance in which the phosphates have been
detected in this peculiar soil.

3. Mountmorris, or soil of the Genesee flats. 100 grs. gave
Soluble silicas2 2-225 3. eee ene oe 4-167
Phosphates not appreciable in 100 grs. It is possible, however, that 100 grains,
freéd of water and organic matter, would give indication of the presence of
phosphates.

4. Cayuga clay, cropping out on Cayuga lake, and used for brick.
Soluble silica, a trace.
Phosphates not appreciable.

5. Harmon’s wheat soil, Wheatland.
Soluble silica evident in 100 grs.
The phosphates not appreciable in 400 grs.

6. Soil from the farm of Mr. E. Ball, Hoosic falls.
Soluble silica, a trace.
Phosphates, a trace.

7. Soil in which the Kalmia latifolia grows well: situated upon the ravines underlaid by the
Marcellus slate.
Polnbletsilica 2 a1ete Ses Oe a ee ee 0-05
Phosphates inappreciable.

8. Soil from the farm of Mr. Levi Hopkins.
Solobletsilica (22328 tse eee ae ee 0-05
Phosphates. 22<W< 2-- aaa aera e anes ae oe a trace.
9. Albany clay.
Soluble silica, a trace.
Phosphates quite evident.

10. Niagara clay.
Soluble silica, a trace. .

Phosphates not appreciable.

11. Peat, from Hoosic falls.
Soluble'stlica: =" ===: 322252 = so Sesce aes 0 +32.
Phosphates not appreciable.

SOURCES OF THE PHOSPHATES. 345

X. SOURCES OF THE PHOSPHATES WHICH ARE FOUND IN THE CORN AND
GRAZING SOILS OF NEW-YORK.

Tt has been supposed that the phosphates were derived from the comminuted primary
rocks contained in soils. Professor Fownes, author of a well known prize essay, has given,
in an appendix to his work, several analyses which he had made for the purpose of settling
the point whether the phosphates were contained in the ordinary granites. His results
confirmed his suspicions, namely, that the phosphates were generally appreciable in the
granites, when a thousand grains were operated upon. In the New-England soils, the
disintegrated gneiss, mica slate, and granite which composes in the main those soils, con-
tain the phosphates of the alkalies and alkaline earths. In two of the districts which we
have closely examined, the phosphates are quite abundantly locked up in the rocks, and
may be obtained when the analysis is conducted with ordinary care. Suspecting that the
taconic slates might contain these important elements, several analyses were undertaken for
the purpose of ascertaining the truth of my conjectures. It was not, however, the principal
object to test the question merely for the local fact, but for the purpose of ascertaining a
more general result, one which should have an important bearing upon a widely extended
formation. I therefore selected a specimen of the taconic slate from Waterville, Maine,
and several from Washington county, New-York. Prof. Jackson, in his survey of Maine,
had found phosphates of magnesia in those soils; and as the slates of Waterville are
identical with the New-York slates which belong to the same system, it appeared highly
probable that this formation would be found to contain the phosphates which had been
detected so frequently in the soils which rest upon those slates. I give the following
results, as the analyses show other elements of importance besides the phosphates. No. 1
is the Hoosic roofing slate, which contains the beautiful fucoid that I have already referred
to, when treating of the Taconic system; No. 2 is the Waterville slate, Me.; and No. 3
is the crystallized taconic slate, near and just west of the village of Salem, Washington
county.

ANALYSIS.

No. 1. No. 2. No. 3.
Winte ial tee trae re ee oes WO a 3°79 3°42 2°62
SO UCHA ts ee eee ee Om ene SO eet ree 70°55 71-62 84°65
Alumina and peroxide of iron.---2-.-2=..-=-2-2-._-- 20°35 23°25 11-53
Gaxhonate:of. men —2 oe ete es oe ee 0-99 0:10 0-60
[Potash sos a = ee eae ee eee ce aoe oe 3°52 1°52 0-00
Carbonate of maonesialse oss See ost Secs ee ns 0-40 0°05 0-60
Solublepiiene hs Oe see eeewee. Se ieee. Se trace. trace. trace.
Phosphates... =< -252 o3 Sasa Soon an ea BUSES trace. 0-90 trace.

The potash obtained was merely a trace ; and the phosphates did not appear, until the
solution had been standing twenty-four hours in No. 3.
[AcRicuLTURAL Report.] 44

346 SOURCES OF THE PHOSPHATES.

The specimen of taconic slates belonging to New-York, not proving so rich in phosphates
as that from Maine, I made an examination of another specimen, which was softer, as No.
3 had proved more siliceous than was anticipated. Hence I selected a soft variety, which
occurs in a compact slate at Salem, and which is extensively used for the foundation of
buildings. As my object principally was to ascertain the constancy of the phosphates in
these slates, I proceeded no farther than was necessary to test, in a satisfactory manner,
this question. A solution, therefore, of 100 grains was made, after thorough boiling in
chlorohydric acid; the solution was freed from silica, and the alumina, iron, etc. with the
phosphates precipitated. The last precipitate was again dissolved, and exactly neutralized
by caustic ammonia; when acetate of potash threw down, in a short time, a large quantity
of the phosphates. From this examination, it appears that the phosphates are commonly
present in these slates, and greater in amount in the softer than in the harder and more
siliceous ones.

It will be observed that the roofing slate of Hoosic contains quite a large percentage of
potash. This potash may be ina larger quantity in the fucoidal slate, than in those which
are destitute of the marine productions.

From the foregoing observations, we are furnished with a clue to the source of the im-
portant elements, potash, and the phosphate of alumina, iron and lime, which are so
frequently contained in the soils of the Eastern or Taconic district.

We may now proceed to state the results which we have obtained by a special examina-
tion of the softer shales and slates situated geologically above the Tully limestone. I
selected, for this examination, a specimen of slate from a quarry south of Cortlandville.
It was greenish, and contained the fossils which characterize the Ithaca group, or the lower
part of the Chemung group.

ANALYSIS.
Wraterns fotos? £5 eae eee e838
Silicates =~! <2 2 ee oe ce Se Bae
Peroxide of iron and alumina.--_-.-----.-.-.- 12°56
Carbonate ‘of lime-2°32-- =~ 2-32 2 ee (OSGI
Mapnesia.¢ 4. 2 2s 2 Soe ne tee SOESB

100-00

Phosphates appreciable in 100 grs. Potash was not obtained. The presence of
phosphates was clear and distinct.

From this examination, we find an explanation of the fact why indian corn is a better
crop upon those lands situated above the Onondaga-salt group, than it is below or imme-
diately upon this series, inasmuch as it has been shown that the Onondaga-salt group is
comparatively destitute of the phosphates.

Where fossil remains are abundant, we may always expect to find phosphates. In the
above analysis, we selected a piece which was destitute of organic bodies ; and it seems

SOURCES OF THE PHOSPHATES. 347

therefore highly probable that the rock, independent of fossils, contains them very gene-
rally, especially the softer kinds.

The Tully limestone was also analyzed, and found to contain a large amount of phos-
phates.

In conclusion, we are quite satisfied with the results which have been obtained by these
examinations ; and as they lead to practical results, and explain some facts which were at
first obscure, we think the labor and time bestowed upon them will not be lost or useless.

In the vicinity of Christian-hollow, and indeed through a wide region of country, there
are many marl ponds, some of which are situated in a manner similar to the small green
lakes of which something has been said already. In connexion with the foregoing analyses,
I deem it proper to give the composition of the marl which has been obtained from one of
these ponds in the town of Preble. The annexed cut, fig. 38, will convey an idea of the
mode in which they are distributed over the country.

ANALYSIS
Orvanie; matter 2 Ss oses a5 {deh se ad 3:01
Waters (dried ati 212°) 5: 24. 55928 Sete 52S suo 568
The composition of 100 grains, deprived of water and organic
matter, is
Silex se Ree ee 11-68
Alumina and peroxide of iron --_-----------.. 0°43
GarboniatetePiinie S242 eas see esse 86-84
Maoriesig 222522 re Se SS SAL 0°64
Potash.and soda’ 252-==<2--22-2s-=<2---=--5. 0°48

A north and south section, running in the range of five or six marl ponds or small lakes, and extending between five
and seven miles, or from the south end of Christian-hollow, to a point near Cortlandville. The lakes are above
the Green lakes of Manlius, being mostly in a position superior to the Tully limestone. The slopes 1, 2, 3, consist
of a succession of terraces, which form the offset into Christian-hollow.

44*

348 PREMIUM CROPS.

XI. PREMIUM CROPS IN THE STATE OF NEW-YORK.

The general character and productiveness of the soils of New-York may be farther
shown, by a statement of the amount of the premium crops which have been reported in
the journals of the day. It is proper first to observe, however, that it is the practice, in all
parts of the State, to take one or two crops of wheat from the newly cleared lands, and
these crops are usually much above the average of the State.

PREMIUM CROPS OF WHEAT.

Commencing with those crops for which premiums have been awarded, we find, that in 1841, Mr.
George Schaffer, of Wheatland, Monroe county, received the State Society’s premium for that year, for
having harvested 300 bushels of wheat from 7} acres: this gives an average of forty bushels per acre.

The Society’s first premium, in 1845, was taken by Edward Rivington, of Vernon, Oneida county,
for having raised 110 bushels and 20 pounds of wheat upon two acres. The yield per acre, according
to this statement, was 5512 bushels.

The Society’s second premium was awarded, the same year, to Stephen B. Dudley, of Ontario county,
for having harvested 1121 bushels of wheat from two acres, giving an average of over 50 bushels per
acre.

The third premium was taken by Abraham Fairchilds, of Arcadia, Wayne county. He raised upon
one acre, which was sown to Soule’s variety, 51 bushels; and upon an acre sown to white flint, 391s
bushels. :

Mr. Wright, of Vernon, Oneida county, made application for a premium, for having raised 79 bushels
of wheat upon two acres. Daniel Gates, of Madison, made application also for a premium, for having
raised 44 bushels per acre,

The Agricultural Society of Cayuga county report that Sarah Warner raised 420 bushels of wheat
upon 11 acres; thus averaging 3811 bushels per acre.

Thomas Ogden, of the same county, it is also reported, raised 381 bushels per acre.

Mr. Gaylord, of Onondaga county, whose farm is based upon the Onondaga limestone, raised, in
1841, 400 bushels of wheat upon 18 acres, making an average of 22 bushels per acre.

The foregoing statement respecting the amount of premium crops, embraces only those
which were raised in the Wheat district proper. That these crops have been equalled,
and perhaps occasionally exceeded in amount, is probably true. The essential difference,
however, which it is proper to note, is that in the Wheat district large crops may be raised
for years in succession upon the same Jand ; while in the other districts, the soil is exhausted
by two crops, or three at most.

The County Societies’ premium crops of the Hudson and Mohawk district, for 1845,
were as follows :

To Rufus Stephens, of Lewis county, a premium was awarded for having raised 433 bushels of white
canada flint wheat upon one acre.

The second premium for wheat, in the same county, was awarded to Israel Knight, of Lowville, for
having raised 34 bushels and 13 quarts upon one acre.

PREMIUM CROPS. 349

In the Taconic district, the reported crops are as follows :

James T. Green, of Jackson, Washington county, raised 44 bushels and 3 pecks of wheat upon one
acre. The land had been cleared five years, but no crop had ever been taken from it. The seed sown
was 11 bushel per acre. ;

James Stephenson, of Argyle, Washington county. The field contained 4 acres, and had lain to
pasture 3 years: the 4 acres yielded 442% bushels.

In 1841, Washington County Society awarded their first premium to John A. M‘Neal, for having
raised 29 bushels of wheat per acre; and the second premium to Alanson Cherry, for having raised
214 bushels per acre.

In the Southern district, the following crops are reported :

Artemas Bigelow, of Benton, Yates county, raised 87 bushels of wheat upon two acres, equalling
432 bushels per acre. Over the two acres from which this crop was taken, 30 bushels of the ashes of
burnt wheat straw were spread. In addition to this, the field received 30 wagon loads of compost,
made of barnyard manure, ashes, and lime well slacked, upon which plaster was sprinkled in successive
layers: this was spread and ploughed in.

Tn Cortland county, Oliver Shedd raised, from 219 square rods, 421 bushels of wheat.

Reports of premium crops might be still farther multiplied, but we deem it unnecessary,
inasmuch as they all amount to about the same average ; some exceeding a few bushels,
and others falling short in about the same ratio, the favorableness or unfavorableness of
the season increasing or diminishing the crop in the same district.

PREMIUM CROPS OF MAIZE.

The New-York State Society awarded, in 1841, a premium to William Ingalls, of Oswego county,
for raising 142 bushels of maize on one acre of land; and another or second premium to I. F. Osborn,
for raising 144 bushels on an acre: the measurement, however, was not wholly satisfactory.

The Tompkins County Society report, that 113 bushels of the Dutton corn was raised per acre;
105-51 bushels of Brown corn per acre, and 99-363 of the China-tree corn per acre, each bushel
weighing 56 pounds, From another statement, we learn that 92} bushels of maize per acre were raised
by Elias I. Ayers.

The Orleans Agricultural Society report a premium for 112 bushels and 30 quarts per acre.

The Niagara County Society gave a premium for 106 bushels and 44 Ibs. of maize per acre; also
71 bushels per acre were raised by Mr. Newhall.

The Washington County Society gave a premium to Job Eldreds for having raised 122 baskets upon
an acre, each basket holding 113 bushels of maize.

Mr. Woodward, of Onondaga, raised 1460 bushels of maize on 20 acres, making an average of 73
bushels per acre. Mr. Hiram Church, of the same county, raised 200 on 4 acres, giving an average of
50 bushels.

The State premium for 1845, for the best crop of indian corn, was awarded to George Vail, esquire,
of Rensselaer county. The field upon which it grew lies two miles east of Troy, and the soil is derived
from the Taconic slate. The crop was 1821 bushels, the largest, or one of the largest, ever raised in
the State. This great yield, however, was the result of full and free manuring.

Mr. Geddes, of Onondaga county, raised, in 1844, 701 bushels of maize to the acre: the land had

350 PREMIUM CROPS.

received 50 loads of half-rotted barnyard manure. In 1845, the same land yielded 67 bushels per acre,
without an addition of manure. In another experiment, 60} bushels per acre were obtained in 1844,
without manure; in 1845, it yielded 65 bushels. In two other experiments, when the land was ma-
nured in the furrow by 150 loads of unfermented manure to the acre, the products were 70 bushels in
1844, and 71} in 1845. The yield was carried up to 80 bushels per acre, by giving a top dressing of
25 loads of manure to the acre, in addition to that which it received in the furrow.

The premium crop of maize, for Lewis county, in 1845, was 93 bushels and a fraction per acre.
This county belongs to the Champlain division mainly.

The premium crop for Oneida county, was 89 bushels and a fraction. It was grown in Kirkland.

Charles W. Eells, of Oneida county, received the County Society premium for raising 89 bushels
and 5 lbs. of maize per acre; and G. L. Sherwood, of Oswego county, raised 133 bushels per acre
(the land, however, was not measured).

Elias I. Ayers received the premium of the Tompkins County Society, for having raised 98 bushels
and 24 quarts of maize per acre.

Calvin Skinner, of Cambridge, Washington county, raised 1312 bushels of maize per acre.

John M‘Naughton, of Salem, Washington county, raised 128 bushels and 18 quarts of maize per acre.

It will be observed, from the foregoing statement, that maize is a crop which succeeds
well in the Taconic district ; and that its yield is, upon the whole, superior to that in the
Wheat district.

PREMIUMS AWARDED BY THE STATE SOCIETY FOR CROPS OF OATS, IN 1841.

The first premium was given to D. W. Week, of Watertown, Jefferson county, for raising 1131
bushels of oats per acre.

The second premium was awarded to John S. Jones, of East-Bloomfield, Ontario county, for raising
1021 bushels of oats per acre.

A premium was awarded to Amos A. Eggleston, of Washington county, for the peculiar excellence
of his oats; a bushel weighing 42 Ibs., and the crop also being large. This crop amounted to 482
bushels, as reported by the County Society.

Mr. Gaylord, of Onondaga county, raised 200 bushels of oats on 5 acres.

Mr. Woodward, of the same county, raised 360 bushels of oats upon 6 acres, averaging 60 bushels
per acre.

PREMIUMS AWARDED BY THE STATE AND COUNTY SOCIETIES FOR CROPS OF OATS, IN 1845.

The State Society's premium was awarded to Elias I. Ayers, of Tompkins county, for having raised
183 bushels and 3 pecks of oats on 2 acres, equal to 91 bushels and 28 quarts per acre.

The Cayuga County Society gave a premium on a crop of oats, averaging 641 bushels per acre; and
another to Lewis county, equal to 90.3, bushels per acre.

Mr. Nicholas I. Bort, of Oswego county, raised 1061 bushels of oats on one acre, measured when first
cut or gathered The bushel weighed 33 pounds and 4 ounces.

Mr. Helim Sutton, of Seneca county, raised 83,4, bushels of oats per acre.

Mr. A. Thompson, of Washington county, raised 861 bushels of oats upon 150 roods of land.

The reports of the County Societies, respecting the premium crops, are far from being
full. It would be advantageous to make the return perfect from all the counties. We

PREMIUM CROPS. 35L

should then be able to determine the relative power of the soils in the State, and practi-
cally their value or adaptedness to the different kinds of husbandry, Observation ought
also to be directed to the capacity, as well as adaptedness of position to the different crops
in the same district; inasmuch as there is but little probability that an entire district is
fitted exclusively to one or two kinds of grain. Oats seem to possess an aptitude to ac-
commodate themselves to a wide range of latitude. We are not yet in possession of a
sufficient number of facts to be able to judge of the quantity which our lands ought, under
proper cultivation, to yield.

TABLE OF STATE AND COUNTY PREMIUM CROPS FOR 1846;

EMBRACING ALSO OTHER LARGE CROPS NOT ENTERED FOR PREMIUMS, WITH THE EXPENSE OF CULTIVATION,
AND VALUE OF LANDS PER ACRE.

COUNTIES. WHEAT. Maize. Oats. Cost of cultivation. Value of land.
: Per ecre Per acre. Per acre. Per acre
Oneida..... . | 55& 39jbushels.| 88 &89bushels.| .. $52°61 for 2 acres. $40°50
Ontario ..... 563
Wayne....... 395 . «< $18°35 for 1 acre. $30-°00
Madison ..... 44
Cayuga ...... 38 nis 64 bushels. $207 for 11 acres.| $100°50
RRQIES. eece 41Z
Onondaga .... | .. 60, 65, 71, 80
Rensselaer ... | .. 1825 sa $79°79 for 2 acres.'! $100°00
Washington .. | 11, 44, 29 & 215] 131, 128 50 a $70°00
TeEWS a cnmais se | ae 93 90, 1063 as $50°50
GSWez0 “<.5.~7 | << 142, 93 106
. 113, 105
Tompkins.... | .. ; 133, ~ a: } 91
Seneca .... oe = 6, 86
Niagara ...... 106 |
Orleans ..... 112

TABLE SHOWING THE TIMES OF SOWING AND REAPING IN MONROE COUNTY.

YEARS. MAIZE, WHEAT. BARLEY. OATS.

Planted Harvested Growth. Harvested Sowed Harvested Sowed Harvested
1840 May 19] Sept. 17 | 121 days.|! July 18 |! April17 | July 28 |} April 10
1841 sc 23 se 6 OLAS «e320 Scem2aRt - £20 Sse 26 Aug. 4
1842 SF 6 So 20, Mey Pe Se Se eh ce, 14 Aug. 2 ss 1 Sey
1843 ces oe See 13ky ss Sse 2G Seeley sé 2 rove eo = a
1844 $1 1G eS? 914. Incl ose « 15 « 4) July 12 * 1s] July 25
1845 3: 6 | Aug. 20 | 106 <“ «© 15 || March 28 Cea) |

XIL THE POWER WHICH SOILS POSSESS OF ABSORBING AND RETAINING
WATER.

Our account of the New-York soils would be incomplete, if we passed over in silence
these important qualities, which all soils possess in a greater or less degree. The de-
termination of this power can be satisfactorily ascertained only by an extensive series of

352 ABSURPTIVE AND RETENTIVE

experiments carefully conducted, during the summer months, or during that period of the
year when vegetation is affected by atmospheric changes. At any rate, experiments per-"
formed during the winter, the early spring, or late in autumn, would not be so satisfactory
as during some portion of the period when vegetation is active and energetic. Experiments
were commenced and pursued for a week or more, but they were suspended partly for
want of time at command, and partly from the fact, that all the experiments and obser-
vations appeared to lead to and establish the result, that the powers in question were in
the direct ratio to the quantity of organic matter in the soil, though modified by its state of
subdivision ; for it appeared, that when the subdivision was excessive, the soil absorbed and
retained water in its maximum degree ; and when coarse, or but imperfectly divided, its
power of absorption and retention were proportionally diminished : still it was evident,
that even when the organic matter was coarse, those powers were much greater than when
the soil was deprived of matter from the vegetable kingdom. The facts being established,
that the power of absorption and retention are in the ratio of the quantity of organic matter,
modified by its state or condition, it shows that soils may differ in those powers, even when
by analysis the amount of organic matter is nearly the same. It becomes important, then,
in a practical point of view, to secure a proper degree of fineness in the vegetable and
animal matters which are added to soils, inasmuch as they will be much more effective
as fertilizers in a given period than if they were coarse ; for it is during the dry season, that
vegetables require a soil which is both absorptive and retentive. That soil which is ca-
pable of seizing atmospheric water, and holding it when the atmosphere is heated, is one
of the best constituted soils.

The preceding observations, we believe, may be easily confirmed by other observers, if
they will but turn their attention to the varieties of loam, or any of the mixtures of sand
and organic matter, or organic matter and clay.

Another fact, which is equally important with the foregoing, and which was determined
while engaged in these experiments, is the order in which the different materials composing
the soils stand to each other, or the relations which they severally hold to each other in
their separate capacity. For example, it was observed that marls, or the finely divided
calcareous compounds, are quite powerful absorbers and retainers of water, being even
superior to clay and the argillaceous compounds, or to alumina in a state of great purity.
This result was quite unexpected ; as the common and prevailing opinion is, and has been,
that clays are the most active and energetic in their powers of absorbing and retaining
moisture.

In accordance, then, with these observations, we found that the materials which are
most influential in soils, may be arranged in the following order, when their relations to
water or moisture are considered: 1. Peat, or pure organic matter; 2. Marl, or, to be
explicit and definite, freshwater or shell marl; 3. Clay, and argillaceous compounds in
which this element is in excess; 4. Loam, or the common soils as they usually occur ; 5.
Sandy loam; 6. Sand. Each of these kinds of earth is influenced, in its power of ab-

SS deni ~ ——s

POWERS OF SOILS. 333

sorbing and retaining water, by the amount of peaty matter which it contains, subject to
modification by its fineness.

That it is the vegetable or organic matter contained and intimately combined in soils
which give them in the main their powers, is supported by the fact, that when it is
destroyed or removed by ignition, very little difference exists among them as it regards the
powers in question. This statement is confirmed when experiments are made upon marl
and clay first in their natural state, and afterwards when ignited. In the condition to
which they are brought by this process, they differ but a trifle from each other, as it re-
gards the amount of moisture they will absorb in equal times and under similar conditions.
It seems, that after burning, the different kinds of soils are brought down to the same
standard. Thus, in fifteen samples of soils selected from different districts, some of which
were clay and sand, together with peat and marl, on being ignited, they absorbed nearly
equal quantities of moisture in equal times: they at most differed only between one and
two grains in the amount of water which they absorbed. Two hundred grains of soil were
selected for these experiments: they were first moistened with water, till perfectly imbued
with it, and, in four hours, they were weighed. This operation was repeated at equal
intervals, for many times in succession, and always with the same results ; the peat, or
nearly pure vegetable matter, scarcely losing any water in the course of a few hours,
while sand would lose almost all its water, and become nearly dry. After they were
ignited, however, they dried sensibly at the same rate ; or when left to absorb moisture
after undergoing this process, the sand absorbed nearly as much water as the marl or clay,
or the common soils which had been burnt.

From the foregoing statements, it is evident that soils ought not to be subjected to the
process of paring and burning, without special reasons. If there is no objection to burning,
on the score of the loss of organic matter, together with a loss in its power of absorbing
moisture, then the process will be followed with advantageous results; for it is unques-
tionably true that the mineral or organic matter is more soluble in consequence of having
been ignited. Sandy soils, and all the varieties of loams, are rarely improved by burning.
When all the vegetable matter is burned off, they must necessarily be injured. So, on
the other hand, the addition of finely divided vegetable matters, if it served no other pur-
pose in soils than to aid and assist in the absorption and retention of moisture, this purpose
itself would be quite an important one, and worthy of being secured. Water, in due
proportion, must always be regarded as one of the essential elements of a good soil : it is,
as it were, the moving power. In this light it would be regarded, if it was merely the
medium for transmitting nutriment through the body of the vegetable ; but it is important
in other respects, and hence growing plants must have a supply, or else they will suffer
or die, according to the degree in which they are deprived of this element.

| AGRICULTURAL Report. | 45

304 COMPOSITION OF LIMESTONES,

XIIL A SERIES OF TABLES, SHOWING THE COMPOSITION OF THE LIME:
STONES, SHALES, SLATES AND MARLS OF NEW-YORK;

TOGETHER WITH REMARKS WHICH ARE DESIGNED TO SHOW THEIR PROBABLE INFLUENCE UPON THE
COMPOSITION OF THE SOILS IN CONNEXION WITH THEM.

LIMESTONES OF NEW-YORK.

The geological formations embraced in the limits of the State, contain deposits of this
rock. The superior part of the Silurian system, and the Old Red or Devonian of recent
authors, are quite deficient in limestones, as has been already stated in the foregoing pages.
The Primary system, however, is rich in limestone ; but its qualities are usually defective,
in consequence of its containing insoluble matter, as silica or quartz, mica, pyroxene,
hornblende, etc. In the specimen of which I have given an analysis, which was taken
from the beds in gneiss at the Natural bridge, Jefferson county, scarcely a trace of magnesia
was found. This was an unexpected result, inasmuch as it is often associated with ser-
pentine and other magnesian minerals. It may have happened that wherever magnesia
and the other necessary elements were contained in the rock, they have been converted
into serpentine, and the serpentine itself has been separated from the mass of limestone
by segregation. ‘The beds of primary limestone require no farther notice, as they have
been fully described already.

The Taconic limestones are frequently magnesian, or dolomitic, as they have been
called ; and from my own examinations, I believe that all the beds which contain tremolite
are magnesian. It appears, however, from the lamented OLmsreEp’s analyses for the Ver-
mont survey, that many of the friable limestones of this system are nearly pure carbonates
of lime, and are destitute of magnesia. /

The Sparry limestone was also found to be destitute of magnesia, at least so far as the
specimen examined was concerned.

The limestones at the base of the Silurian system are quite magnesian, especially the
Calciferous sandstone, and parts at least of the Trenton limestone. The Birdseye, and the
Isle Lamotte marble, appear to be destitute again of magnesia, the latter containing only
3 or 4 per cent.

The Niagara limestone of the Ontario division can scarcely be called magnesian. The
shales below contain some magnesia and soda; the latter, as it appears from the decom-
posing materials which are located in favorable spots, exists in large proportion.

The limestones become magnesian again in the lower part of the Helderberg division,
especially the water limes. Magnesia is contained in the slaty thin-bedded, as well as in
the thick-bedded limestones.

The Onondaga limestone is a pure limestone, or, in other words, is not magnesian.

The limestone of the Marcellus slate, as it occurs at Schoharie, Cherryvalley and Man-
lius, is probably magnesian: it has not been examined for this substance.

SHALES AND SLATES. 355

The Tully limestone is also destitute of magnesia, but is an impure limestone, and, in
many respects, is well adapted to the formation of lime for agricultural purposes. This is
the last and highest limestone in New-York.

The freshwater marls show some variation in composition, and they contain very little
magnesia. Animal and vegetable matter, a trace of alumina and iron, form the principal
impurities of the marls. Many are extremely valuable for lime, and may be as cheaply
burned as the solid limestones. The lime is pure and snow white, and is excellent for
whitewashing.

TABLE SHOWING THE COMPOSITION OF SEVERAL LIMESTONES IN NEW-YORK.

ws -
3| BS Q 6 Awe estes 2 |=
ecti#s (set 2188)”. Soe | hls
Bes|eea/ Ss") se |} e318 | « | & | 52/3
NAMES OF LIMESTONES. | ‘5 £5 E ge BS op os 7 Ss 5 TE) |=
s 4 13) = ay a P = = Ti
Calciferous sandstone... 620} 4°50) 58-86 27-20! ~¥ 36 35 30 | 1°62)) 3.
Chazy limestone ....... 27°62] 18°03} 49-00} 3°60) .. 35 WES cs
Trenton limestone*..... | 15°60] 4°18} 52°76} 24°87; .. : 1°19
Niagara limestone..... ( 0°68} 4°24) 93°40 ae 4 4°68
Septariafiicce) cise. stele 15°24] 11°50] 73-24] trace.| .. :
Onondaga limestone .... 3°74] 0°18] 89°00] 4-00) 0°03) .. = ere 3°02] 2.
Tully limestone........ 27°61] 10°34) 54°10) 0-34) O°S88] 1°80) trace.| .. 4°93) trace.
Sparry limestone....... 7°40] 1°60) 91°00' .. ye ae :
Stockbridge limestone} . 0:29). .. 99°51) trace.}| .. ste a6 0°20
DOLOMILE Ws «at s\e\0\sisi010\6 we 7°70} 60°20) 33-04) ..
Primary limestone||..... O-S8} OSS); 98-24] .. a0 BC
Black marble (Lamotte)f{ | 4°80] 2°60] 87°94] 4°56) .. trace.
Swanton marble}....... | 2°39] 1:09] 94-66] 0°23] ..

* Plattsburgh; slaty. {From the Marcellus slate. + Statuary marble by Olmsted, of Brandon, Vt. || Natural bridge, Jefferson county-

SLATES AND SHALES OF NEW-YORK.

As the slates and shales may be employed, under faverable circumstances, as fertilizers,
and as they decompose by the action of the weather, rains and frosts, it seemed proper to
ascertain their composition. Some of them have a wide distribution, and maintain a
uniformity of lithological character, and probably of composition also.

The slates which are widely distributed, are the taconic and roofing slates. These pass
through New-York from north to south, or in a direction nearly parallel with the Hudson
river, which they cross obliquely above the Highlands. They continue through Orange
county, and then pursuing nearly the same direction, traverse several of the States, in the
range of their strikes.

The slates and shales of the Salt group are comparatively local, but they have an im-
portant influence on the soils of Central and Western New-York.

The Marcellus slate is often highly calcareous, and may then be employed as a fertilizer,

The Cortlandville shale probably represents the composition of a large mass of the rocks
above the Tully limestone.

How far, and with what success, the rocks, particularly the slates which contain alkalies,
may be used with ultimate benefit as fertilizers, may be judged of, when it is stated that

45*

336 COMPOSITION OF SHALES,

the decomposed mica slates have been already thus employed. Dr. Jackson, in his New-
Hampshire Report, gives the analysis of one which experience has proved valuable in this
way by mixing its debris in a compost of peat, lime, etc.

ANALYSIS BY DR. JACKSON.

Whateet = Gist dj oe. 2 eet ho yh gree ei 3°6
Vegetable. matiers*. 52 -J22-scbe: sae Se eh]
Silled a= ne ee ee 792
Peroxide of iron and alumina ....--...-.--.--- 5°6
Potash = 22 os ee eee 22
BodRs sors 2 ts Be eee ee eee 2°5
Lathe: So teach Se eee odor 3°2
Magnesia ~ e222 - 2 Sa en 1°2

99°3

The composition of this primary slate may be compared with the taconic slates. We do
not, however, mean to convey the impression that slates and shales are definite chemical
compounds ; and yet there is little doubt but that analysis gives their general constitution,
and that they will not be found to vary excessively from the composition which we have
found them to possess.

COMPOSITION OF THE SLATES AND SHALES OF NEW-YORK AND OTHER PLACES.

D
= Es 20 s oO >
ses a |wae| ot = = z Rai
NAMES. =sEe| = ges = aa Sp 3 Ss ee
2 B it S ie) | es CRs lie
Hoosic roofing slate.......... ene 3°79] 70°55) 20°35] 0°99) O°40/trace.}| 3°32) ..
Slate from Salem...... Sainteieiwatayos 2°62) 84°65] 11°53) 0°60) 0-60] trace.| .. ae
Waterville, Me. ..... eeevee cones 3°42) 71°62) 23°25; 0-10} 0°05] 0:90} 1°52) ..
Fairhaven ....se..sees i ateleia tein 2°70| 80°72] 12°76] 1°761 O-40}) .. - i
Welch roofing slate.........+..-- | 2°64] 78°76] 16-64! 0-36] 0°52) .. - bd
Shale from Cortlandville 3°03} 83°50) 12°56] 0°61) 0°30) trace re tc
Cauda galli grit ....... --. 6°00} 81°54; 7°00) 1°76) trace.| .. = es
Marcellus slate ........0.scseeee 4°25] 48°12) 10°00} 36°60) 1°00) . 2 ee
Red slate or-shale of the salt group, | 6°48} 68°86] 14°98] 9°89} 0:40} O-14] .. ya
Green shale of the salt group..... 5°56; 34°56] 13°36] 43°06; 2°17] .. | -- 1-06

} * Loss may be set down as potash and the phosphates probably.

CLAYS OF NEW-YORK.

Clays are highly important materials in the constitution of soils. They are also im-
portant fertilizers, especially when they contain lime, magnesia and potash ; but they are
more valuable in pottery and brick. making. Some kinds of clay, as is well known, enter
into the composition of the finest works of art—the porcelain ware. The expense of
moving clay may be considered as the great bar to its use as a fertilizer, and yet its effects
are most decided upon all lands which are denominated light.

The Albany or Tertiary clay extends through the vallies of the Champlain and the

CLAYS AND MARLS. 357

Hudson, and exerts an important influence upon the agriculture of these vallies. It is an
excellent base for agricultural work, and makes a desirable foundation for tillage.

A reddish brick clay appears on Cayuga lake, and is probably the same clay which
exists in Christian-hollow.

The Adirondack clay is local, and is formed by the decomposition of the hypersthene

rock.

COMPOSITION OF THE CLAYS OF NEW-YORK.

g q
i /26 2 2

Hl bo |} Bu| 81 & | B | sed

PLACES AND KINDS OF CLAY. 3 BEES =p 8 & | 228

Ay {isn WO = es Says

Tertiary or Albany clay.......... | 52°44! 32-28] 8-OOltrace.*| trace. | trace.| 5°28

Niagara clay..... 58-24] 20-76] 14-62| 2-42) .. | O-44| 3-24

Cayuga clay ..... - | 44°20] 28°72] 16°48} 0-16) trace. | trace.| 8-44

Adirondack clay one 84°63] .. 0°94) 0°60] trace.| 0-11} 6°52

Brick clay near Caldwell......... 65°60) 17°52| 8-92] 0-39) . ae 6°68

Reddish clay of Christian hollow,t | 44°84] 27°40; 8°29] 1°36; .. 2°60; 16°36

* A preceding analysis gave 1-62. ~Common in the Wheat district.

COMPOSITION OF THE NEW-YORK MARLS.

Carbonate
of lime.

Oxide of iron

and alumina.

Insoluble

Organic

Saratoga county ............-
Fairmount: near Mr. Geddes’,
Salem: Mr. Crary’s farm.....
Christian-hollow .........-.
Cayuga bridge*.....see.eeees

358 SUMMARY.

A
XIV. SUMMARY OF THE LEADING FACTS WHICH HAVE BEEN ASCERTAINED

RESPECTING THE SOILS OF NEW-YORK.

1. The soils of New-York are often modified by the rock upon which they rest. Their
composition, however, always differs from the rock, even when it is apparent that they
were derived directly from the strata upon which they repose, or are in immediate con-
tact. The differences are found to consist principally in the presence of those matters
which are soluble by water when aided by carbonic acid, as carbonate of lime and
magnesia. The soluble organic matters exist in a proportion greater in the soils than in
the rocks; though all sedimentary rocks contain soluble organic matters, especially the
decomposable shales and slates. The hard limestones exert but little effect or influence
upon the composition of the soils: the most important office which they perform is me-
chanical, and the soil upon them is usually drier than upon the compact sandstones and
shales.

2. The composition of the soils of the Eastern or Taconic district differs from that of
Central and Western New-York, or those which belong to the Wheat district. The first
contain a greater amount of the phosphates of lime, alumina, iron and magnesia ; the last,
a greater amount of nitrogenous matters. The derivation of the first may be traced to the
rock upon which they rest: the same fact has been shown in respect to the last ; and it is
the peculiar constitution of the rock which makes them wheat soils, or gives them a fitness
to sustain and perfect the wheat crop for a succession of years.

3. It has been shown that the soils of the Eastern district are closely allied to the
Southern, or to those which rest upon the shales situated above the Onondaga limestone,
particularly in the northern part of the Southern district. We find, in this range, soils
which contain the phosphates, and which are fitted for the culture of maize. The amount
of this crop is greater than upon the wheat soils below; and although wheat was for-
merly grown in the early settlement of the country, and may have been an important
crop upon this higher shelf of land, still experience proves that it is not a durable crop ;
that it is more liable to shrink ; and that now only spring wheat is attempted to be raised
upon the lands, after they have been cultivated for a few years.

4. The soil of the Southern district is shown, by analysis, to be deficient in lime and
magnesia. The lime which exists in it is mostly in combination with the organic acids,
and is more abundant in the surface soil than in the subsoil. The vallies, those especially
which are watered by the Susquehannah, Allegany and their tributaries, are better supplied
with lime than the soils of the hill-sides.

5. The geological formations which are most favorable to the production of the greatest
number of important crops, are those of the western and central part of the State ; inas-
much as their peculiar composition, and the speedy disintegration of the rocks upon which

SUMMARY. 359

they rest, furnish new and fresh matter to supply the loss occasioned by the removal of
inorganic matter in the crops themselves.

6. The supply of phosphates has been shown, by analysis, to be derived in the main
from the rocks themselves; parts of the two systems supplying them in about equal pro-
portions, namely, the Taconic slates, and the Hamilton and Chemung groups. The Tully
limestone also furnishes the phosphates in about the same proportion ; but, this rock being
quite limited, its influence is not extensive.

7. The character of the soils which are now cultivated in New-York, has not been ma-
terially changed by diluvial action. This assertion will receive essential support, when it
is recollected that the rocks upon the east side of the Hudson extend very far north ; and
that the force or power which transported the soil, moved it in the direction of the strike
of the rocks themselves. In the middle and western counties, a very large proportion of
the underlying rock crumbles down into a tillable soil in a short time after exposure. The
transportation of the debris of those rocks, however, has extended the wheat-growing soil
as far as the outcropping of the Hamilton and Chemung rocks in many places. The
higher grounds, or the elevated parts of the district, covered by the Hamilton aad Chemung
groups, have not received the debris of the Onondaga-salt group: they are furnished with
soil which is derived principally from the groups themselves. It is always deficient in the
alkalies and alkaline earths.

8. The iron in the wheat soils, and in the green shales, is in the state of a protoxide :
indeed this statement holds good when applied to the Taconic slates. The soils, too, of
the Wheat district, contain the protoxide principally ; while in the maize-growing district,
it is usually in the state of a peroxide. It is improbable that iron enters into the organs of
vegetables, without first becoming a peroxide.

9. There are no soils in New-York, which are entitléd to the appellation of calcareous
soils. In the common language of the journalists of the day, they are either sandy or
argillaceous loams. The peaty soils belong mostly to swamps or marshes, or which were
so before they were reclaimed.

10. The means which are usually at hand for maintaining an uninterrupted fertility,
are plaster, limestone, marl, tufa, peat, and decomposable shales. The distribution of the
limestones is well delineated on the Geological Map. The peat and marl beds are gene-
rally distributed over the entire State, but they occupy only small basins in each of the
geological formations. Lime is used too seldom; though its influences and effects are
invariably decided, where there is a sufficiency of vegetable or organic matter. Hence
one of the most important desiderata for the agriculturist, will be hereafter to secure a
sufficient amount of organic matter, which may be used most efficaciously in the form of
compost with marl and lime. Sulphate of lime is quite a constant ingredient in the soils
of the eastern, central and western counties; and less common in the Southern, Northern,
Highland and Atlantic districts.

11. The means for increasing the fertility of soil are much greater in all places than

360 SUMMARY.

maybe supposed ; for example, all manufacturing establishments have various kinds of
wastes, such as hair, wool, bones and animal matter, wood and horn shavings, coal dust
and cinders, ashes, waste lime, coal ashes, apple pumice, in which, during decomposition,
much ammonia and the phosphates exist; carcases of dead animals, weeds of the yards
of houses and barns, all of which ought to go into the compost heap; turf by the road-
side, and the wash of roads, which ought always to be turned upon meadows or pastures.

12. It is evident from the composition of the numerous beds of slate and shale which
exist in all the sedimentary formations, that heaps of the fragments of these rocks might
be turned to good account as fertilizers, provided a disintegration could be effected. In
many instances, there is not the slightest difficulty in bringing them to a pulverulent mass.
Where they resist decomposition, piles of the debris, if heated, would crumble more
speedily to powder. If they were coarsely pulverized, the mechanical effects in many cases
would be important, especially on the argillaceous soils ; and they would slowly yield up
their potash and phosphates, magnesia and lime, to supply the annual waste to which the
soil is subjected by cropping. Rocks which contain sulphuret of iron undergo a rapid
disintegration, and afterwards a thorough decomposition. In these rocks are contained,
in all cases, valuable fertilizers, which are available by the aid of quicklime. From them
a large amount of gypsum may be obtained by means of the lime, in addition to the other
soluble matters which the rock may contain.

13. In conclusion, I feel justified in saying that the available means within the reach of
the farmers of New-York are much greater than has been supposed. The gypsum, marls,
limestones, peat, and broken down shales, either gypseous or calcareous, and magnesian
or pyritous, may all be turned to account, and may be employed at a reasonable expense,
not only to sustain the soil in its present state of fertility, but to increase considerably its
productiveness.

DESCRIPTION OF THE GEOLOGICAL MAP.

This map is a reprint, in the main, of the map which accompanies the first reports. Important
additions, however, have been made to it. Parts of Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut are now
included. In addition to these, the range of the Taconic system is colored, and made a distinct part of
the map. It occupies a belt extending from the Canada line to New-Jersey and Tappan bay on the
North river, below the Ilighlands. This system, it will be observed, is divided or split by the primary
of the Highlands; the older part passing on the east side intersects the Hudson at Peekskill, and the
superior portion passes on the west side and leads off into New-Jersey, passing through the county of
Orange. The primary rocks of Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connecticut, which lie in a position
nearly parallel to the Taconic system, are colored with lake, and the Taconic systema drab. By this
addition, the relative positions of the New-York, Taconic and Primary systems of New-England are
indicated. We may see the great primary nucleus of New-England as it disappears beneath the oldest
sedimentary rock now known, composing the Taconic system; and the disappearance of the latter
beneath the New-York system. The New-York system continues the superior system until we reach
Green bay and the sources of the Menomone river, where the Taconic system once more appears,
supporting the lower members of the New-York system, and reposing on and supported by the Primary,
as in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont.

The narrow belt of the Taconic system isa remarkable feature in the geology of this country; it
being an immensely thick series, which seems to have been deposited in long and remarkably deep seas
that resembled profound clefts in the crust of the earth.

The different members are not distinguished by colors: the difficulty of locating them with that de-
gree of precision which is required in a map, was considered a sufficient reason for the omission. The
oldest or inferior member, the gray sandstone or granular quartz, lies upon the primary in the range of
Williamstown and Dalton, Massachusetts, and Arlington, Vermont. The Stockbridge limestone forms
a belt immediately west; and then there is a belt of silvery talcose slate, or magnesian slate; beyond
which the sparry limestone appears in a distinct range, which may be located with some degree of pre-
cision, when it is stated that the tunnel of the Great Western Railroad passes through it, which is not far
from the line bounding New-York and Massachusetts. The members are regarded as the inferior rocks
of the Taconic system. Still west of them there is a wide belt of taconic slates, which contains many
subordinate beds of limestone and siliceous slate, and which frequently supports the outliers of the lower
members of the New-York system. The Taconic system, as a whole, may be regarded lithologically
as an immense slate system, with subordinate beds of sandstone and limestone, both of which are more
largely developed upon its eastern border adjacent to the Primary system.

The New-York system is colored like the former map, which accompanies the volumes already
distributed.

EXPLANATION OF THE AGRICULTURAL MAP.

The map extends into Massachusetts and Connecticut. The greater part of the area belongs to the
Primary system, and is colored lake. The State is divided into six districts, and is numbered accordingly.
[AcricuLTuRAL Report.] 46

362 EXPLANATION OF THE AGRICULTURAL MAP.

The first is the Highland district, and is colored lake: it occupies two distant parts of the State; the
Southern is much the smallest, and is comparatively unimportant: it is much modified by the soils of the
Eastern and Fludson river districts, which separate it from the Northern. This latter portion is under-
luid by primary rocks,consisting of gneiss and hypersthene rock; the former is principally upon the
outside,“ while the latter occupies the interior, and forms a remarkable nucleus, which is mountainous,
and furnishes but little arable soil. It will be observed that many of the principal rivers rise in the
northern highlands. The primary region is surrounded by sedimentary rocks which belong to the lower
Silurian or New-York system.

The second district is the Eastern or Taconic, and forms a long narrow belt running nearly north and
south. The rocks of this system divide at the highlands of the Hudson; the upper or superior rocks
cross above, and the inferior below the Highlands: the former are slates, the latter slates and white and
gray limestones. The district iscolored drab. The hills run nearly north and south in the direction of
the strike of the rocks; hence the transported materials, which often compose the soil, belong almost
exclusively to the same rocks upon which they rest.

The Hudson and Mohawk district is the third, and occupies, in part, those vallies. It is colored blue.
The rocks belong wholly to the lower part of the New-York system; the slates, however, seem to
impart to it its characteristic features. The valley of the Mohawk is modified by the Northern High-
land district. A belt of northern boulders crosses the district at Amsterdam. Primary soil: is freely
distributed through this part of the district. Lewis, Jefferson, and a part of the western part of St.
Lawrence counties are embraced also in this district. The soils of this part of the district have been
examined less than those in the Mohawk and Hudson vallies.

The Wheat district is numbered four. It extends from Herkimer to Oswego, and then westward
along the south shore of Lake Ontario: its southern boundary runs through the middle of the smaller
lakes, Cayuga and Seneca, to Lake Erie. A very large proportion of the soil of this district is derived
directly from the red and green shales: the northern part, that which lies along the shores of Lake
Ontario, is derived from the softer portion of the Medina sandstone. The soil is often drab colored,
especially when derived from the red slate. The green shales furnish a light colored soil, but it is
essentially the same as that derived from the red rocks.

The Southern district lies south of the former: it embraces the southern tier of counties. The vallies
run north and south. The slates, shales and sandstones are deficient in calcareous matter: the soil also,
especially in the higher places, is deficient in the alkaline earths generally. The vallies which have
received the northern drift, which is largely mixed with the debris of the red and green shales, bear
good crops of wheat. The pebbles which indicate this variety of soil are derived from the Niagara
and Onondaga limestones.

The fifth is eminently a grazing district. The grass upon the slopes, which are watered with pure
water, is sweet, and is relished by all kinds of stock. The butter which is produced from this district
is not excelled by any in the State, especially that of Delaware county: I mean to say that it is equally
good as the Orange and Herkimer county butter. The Orange county butter, however, is preferred in
market, but probably in consequence of the superior mode in which it is packed.

Long Island, in consequence of its maritime position, is made a separate district. It is, however,
probable that the soil of the northern side is derived from the Primary and Taconic districts: it is even
here more sandy than either. The middle and southern sides are more sandy, and in fact consist of sea
sand in many places.

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.

PLATE IL

It is designed to represent the valley of the Hudson at Albany, and the Helderberg range as it appears
from the high grounds in the rear of Greenbush. The valley is colored yellow, and is a narrow
alluvial formation reposing upon the tertiary or Albany clay. The immediate rock, and which
appears at the Norman’s kill, is the thick-bedded gray sandstone of the superior part of the Hudson
Tiver group; it extends nearly eight miles west, before it disappears beneath the calcareous shales
of the waterlimes at the base of the Helderberg hills. The group which forms the Helderberg
division appears in succession, and makes by itself a full and complete series, which ends with the
Onondaga limestone at New-Scotland. The superior part of the Helderberg range, as represented in
the panoramic view, is the Erie division. Upon the extreme left is the Catskill or Devonian division,
which is colored red. The Pentamerus and Delthyris shale crop out at the main terrace on the
right, and dip to the southwest. Still farther upon the right the Hudson river group, the thick-
bedded sandstone, interlaminated with a black slate, forms the slope as it extends itself towards the
Mohawk valley. The view is north and south. The lowest rocks belong to the Champlain
division, the upper to the Catskill. The Ontario division is wanting in the series.

PLATE IL.
The view is designed to exhibit some of the features of the Mohawk valley, particularly its vegetation.
The elm, with its pendulous branches and small and numerous ones upon the trunk, has the com-
mon shape and condition of the red elm of this valley.

PLATE III.

The country about Rochester is richly exhibited from Mount Hope. The view looks toward the north-
west. It isin Central New-York, and upon the argillaceous or wheat soils, that the splendid
American elms flourish and attain a great height. They often appear without branches or limbs,
until the trunk spreads as it were at once intoa noble head. They form characteristic points in the
landscape.

PLATE IV.

The Catskill creek, for four or five miles, forces its way through a region excessively disturbed: it is
in fact a part of the great north and south fracture, in which insulated hills often appear, but still
formed of rocks which seem have been forced upward and broken from the adjacent strata. This
mass of Pentamerus rock forms a part of a segment of a great curve, the edges of which dip towards
the centre. The inferior, the Hudson river group, is the lowest mass, and dips rapidly beneath the
limestones.

PLATE V.

The panoramic view was taken from the northwest extremity of the Helderberg range, the observer
looking east. The valley of the Hudson occupies the extreme of the middle grounds, the river
itself appearing only at intervals. The foreground is occupied by the limestones of the Helderberg.
The long narrow hills, with their narrow intervening vallies, appear in the back ground ; but the
distance is too great to exhibit their characteristics,

46*

264 EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.

PLATE VI.

The view in Plate 6, represents a very common feature in the slate and thin-bedded sandstone hills,
where the Erie division of the New-York rocks prevails. Onestagra is upon the left, and isa
steep escarpment of the Hamilton group. The Catskill division appears in the distance. The hills
are usually steep, and furnish a scanty pasturage. It is a view in Fultonham, Schoharie county.

PLATE VIL .

This is a view of the Catskill range, as it appears upon the high ground opposite the landing at Catskill.
The foreground is occupied by the taconic slate; the middle by the Hudson river series, which are
much disturbed, but which finally pass beneath the thin-bedded calcareous shale of the waterlimes.
The back ground is occupied by the Catskill division, which exhibits many red and green strata,
with their slates intervening, but rarely contains fossils. 'The New-York system is here crowded
into a very narrow space, and dips rapidly beneath the Catskill mountains. The base of the
mountains is gained by passing over a succession of narrow terraces. The mountains themselves
are deeply cleft by the northern diluvial current, which must have pressed with great force and
power upon the most advanced of the outlying hills of the Catskill. It is at this point that this
great current, with its burthen of stones, is deflected to the east.

PLATE VIII

Is designed to give a semi-panoramic view of the valley and hills of the Schoharie. The middle of the
back ground is formed of the Helderberg division, mainly: at the junction of the valley with the
hills the Hudson river group ceases, and the Helderberg division begins. The Ontario division is
also unknown here, or may, perhaps, be feebly represented by a series of thin-bedded dark colored
shales. Atthe west, beyond the main bluff, the Cobleskill enters into the valley of Schoharie.
The Erie division appears upon the left, and the Champlain upon the right. The vallies and hill-
sides are valuable and productive lands.

PLATE IX.

The Genesee river, at and below Rochester falls, has excavated a deep channel in the soft shales for a
considerable distance below the city. As usual, however, the hard bands of rock resist the process
of excavation until they are undermined, when they fall of their own weight, or yield to the pressure
of circumstances. These hard bands, however, create cascades and water-falls more or less im-
posing. Two falls are thus created at or near Rochester, and are usually known as the Upper
and Lower falls) The view is that of the Upper falls. The hard band in this instance is the
Niagara limestone, and the thin band calcareous layers immediately below it. The view was
taken on the east side, at the turn in the pathway about eighty rods below the falls.

PLATE X.
The American falls are seen to the best advantage upon the Canada side. We look down upon the
deep gulf, occupied by forest trees of many kinds, beyond which the cataract appears. The geolo-
gical formations belong to the Ontario division.

PLATE XI.
On the west side of the creek at Schoharie the Catskill range rises in the distance, and at the south.
The meadows and flats appear immediately beneath the foreground, and the creek bathing the base
of the western hills.

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 365

PLATE XII.

Exhibits a view of the Schoharie valley and creek at Gilboa, twenty-five miles above Schoharie court-

house. The rocks belong to the Catskill division, and contain many fossils, but of vegetables and
mollusca, the latter belonging mainly to the genus Cypricardia. The peculiar vegetation of the
vallies is well exhibited; the pendulous elm, and the spreading butternut. The rocks dip only
moderately to the southwest. The hills are quite steep, and are only thinly covered with grass.

PLATE XIIL

Is designed to illustrate some of the topographical features of the Taconic system. For this end I

selected Graylock, the highest ground in Massachusetts. Short abrupt ranges seem to have
been forced upward, and even appear as if they had been subsequently broken down. In the
middle ground the first range is broke down so as to expose the steep slope from Graylock in the
distance, into what is called the Hopper. One of the branches of the Hoosic river rises in these
narrow gorges. Graylock commands an extended view over the eastern part of New-York,
including a part of the Hudson valley and the Catskill ranges.

PLATE XIV.

Fie. 1. Nemapodia tenuissima. E. This remarkable impression upon the slate of Washington county,

has been shown, I think very satisfactorily, by my friend Dr. Fitch, to be formed by some living
unknown animal.

Fic. 2. Gordia marina. E. Body linear, smooth, compressed ; convolutions or folds like the Nereites.

Fic.

Fie.
Fig.

Fic

The animal seemed to be destitute of knots or ganglia. It occurs in the quarries of flagging stone
in Jackson, Washington county.

3. This is a fragment merely of a crustacean of a doubtful character, or it may be a part of a
nereite, It was the first fossil which was found in Washington county, which belonged to the
animal kingdom.

PLATE XV.

1. Nereites jacksoni. EE. Feet large and orbicular: Waterville, Me.

2. N. pugnus. E. Feet large, rather long and ovate. It terminates in an enlargement which
resembles the fist. See fig. 4, Plate 16. Waterville, Me.

. 3. N. loomisi. E. Feet numerous, small, lanceolate: Waterville, Me.

PLATE XVL

. 1. Myrianites murchisoni. E. Long, linear or threadform, and slightly knotted; folds numerous.

Fic. 2. Nereites deweyi. Feet oval, numerous.

Fic

Fic

Fic.

. 3. N. gracilis. E. Feet narrow, thickly implanted; long, ovate.

. 4. N. pugnus. Showing the termination.

.5. M. sillimani. E. The body is larger than the M. murchisoni, but the knots are quite similar
to it.

Fie. 6. N. lanceolata, Feet lanceolate.

PLATE XVII.

Exhibits the pelagic fucoids of the roofing and taconic slates of Rensselaer and Washington counties.

366 EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES.

PLATE XVIII (TACONIC SYSTEM).

Section 1. The valley of the Hudson is formed at Fort-Edward by the Hudson river series. The hills
bordering the valley are often crowned, as represented in the plate, by the calciferous sandstone,
beneath which we invariably find the taconie slate. The calciferous sandstone is usually an outlier,
and is really an insulated mass. Proceeding eastwardly, the slate is known to contain beds of
grit and sometimes calcareous strata, which are usually, if not always, thin-bedded and without
fossils, The thick and heavy beds of limestone are found only towards the base of the Green
mountain range.- The granular quartz, or brown sandstone, is the most eastwardly rock of this
system, and rests, in this section, on gneiss. The drift obscures the relations of these rocks towards
Sunderland, but there is no doubt respecting the superposition of the granular quartz. This section
may be regarded as one of the best for exhibiting and proving the entire independence of the Taconic
system from the Primary below and the New-York system above.

Section 2. This section furnishes some facts of an interesting kind. The bordering ridge of the Hud-
son valley is crowned, east of Greenbush, with a mass of calciferous sandstone, which abounds in
its peculiar fossils; but the superior part of the limestone is the Trenton, which finally passes into
a black slate, which also contains fossiliferous layers of limestone; so that we are furnished at this
point with slate above identical with the Trenton slate, and also slate below identical with the
Taconic slate. None but prejudiced geologists will have the hardihood to maintain that the slate
beneath the calciferous sandstone is equivalent to the Trenton or Utica slates, or the slates of the
Hudson river group; or that the series has been reversed or overturned. Upon this section the
Hudson river group recurs, beneath which lie the taconic slates, At Chatham four-corners, the
taconic, or perhaps more properly the magnesian slates emerge from beneath the Hudson river
group which appears about a mile west, the intervening space being filled with drift.

Section 3. The west end, at Whiteliall, exhibits the lower rocks of the Champlain division resting
upon gneiss. The former are deeply cleft by diluvial action. The taconic slates appear for the
first time about three miles to the east, and in many places in this region they support the outlying
masses of the calciferous sandstone. The section extends between five and six miles east of
Whitehall.

Section 4. This section exhibits nearly the same phenomena and geological relations as the preceding.

Section 5. This short section is designed to exhibit the relations of the superior mass of the Hudson
river group to the taconic slates. The thick bed, however, is succeeded by a thin-bedded slate.
The thin-bedded limestones occur a few miles from Bath on this section.

Section 6. At Poughkeepsie taconic slates appear in the steep bluffs which line the banks of the river.
At Milton, about one mile west of the landing, the Hudson river group appears, and contains the
common fossils of the series. The dip is changed in this case to the east. The layers are closely
packed, and the fossils consequently are obscure.

PLATE XIX.

PrLaTerskILt Crove. It is a deep cut in the Catskill mountains, through which there is merely space
for aroad. The view is eastwardly, and looks out upon the Hudson valley, in which the river may
be seen threading its silver way to the Highlands. Beyond, the Taconic ranges rise and meet the
horizon in elevated panoramas. The rocks which appear in the notch or clove, belong to the
Devonian series, and lie in horizontal position. They have been cut down nearly a thousand feet
by diluvial action. Numerous primary and foreign boulders are lodged in this narrow passage, and
show conclusively the transporting agents which have been at work in ancient times.

EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 367

PLATE XX.

The middle section, or section 1 of Plate 20 and 21, is an east and west section, and extends from the
Hudson to Lewiston. Although not drawn in a direction perpendicular to the strike of the rocks,
yet it shows very satisfactorily the thinning out of the strata as they extend westward from the
Helderberg range. The Ontario division here is absent, while the Helderberg is supposed to be
fully represented. Westward, and near Little falls, the Ontario division again appears. At the
eastern extremity of the section the Helderberg and Erie divisions are prominently exhibited. In
the central counties, the Salt group forms the superior mass; while at the extreme west, the Ontario
division occupies the surface.

Section 2, Plate 20, exhibits the position and succession of rocks at Schoharie. This section is de-
signed also to illustrate the fact that the valley was formed by denudation.

Section 3. The High falls of Rondout, in Ulster county, show a singular derangement of the strata,
which resulted in fracturing them at least three times in a very short distance. The river falls
over a rock which seems to be equivalent to the pentamerus limestone, or a mixture of this with
the delthyris shaly limestone.

Section 4. The Limestone creek, at Manlius, passes through a gorge and over a ledge of limestone.
The superior rock, or that which forms the hills on the east and west side of the village, is the
Marcellus slate.

Sections 5 & 6. Exhibit remarkable flexures of the strata. Arches, curves and fractures are constantly
recurring between Catskill and Leeds. West of Leeds, the rocks are only slightly disturbed.
The best route for observing the numerous changes of dip, etc., is the old railroad between the
above named places.

PLATE XXI.

Secrion 1. Isa continuation of section 1 upon Plate 20.

Section 2. The uninterrupted succession of the lower sedimentary rocks of the New-York system, on
a north and south line beginning at Theresa and terminating at Auburn, is a very satisfactory
exhibition of stratigraphical succession. It exhibits the relative position of the Ontario division.

Section 3, The turnpike route from Catskill to Gilboa exhibits the great scale upon which the Catskill
division is developed in New-York. The superior mass of the Catskill mountains is undoubtedly
the conglomerate of the Carboniferous series or system: it is colored purple.

Section 4. This section follows up a creek which falls into the Cayuga lake at Auburn; the eralse
succession only is intended to be indicated.

Section 5. This section runs north and south, and is intended to exhibit the succession of rocks upon
Cayuga lake.

EXPLANATION OF THE ENGRAVINGS.

Pace 33. View of the Adirondack Pass. This view is designed to give an idea of the immense mural
precipice about five miles from the Adirondack iron-works in Newcomb, Essex county. It rises
one thousand feet above the observer at its base, and is a grand exhibition of an uplift in this Primary
region. The rock is the hypersthene rock. he fragments, which have fallen at different times,
are thirty feet high, and support living and growing trees as high as themselves. The Ausable,
which flows into the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, rises on one side; and the Hudson, which flows
into the Atlantic at New-York, on the other.

Pace 75. This cut exhibits a portion of the Taconic range upon its eastern side. It forms a continuous
range, but made up of a succession of rounded eminences. These hills may be cultivated to their
tops; but they are devoted to pasturage. The view is from the south end of Stone hill in Williams-
town (Mass.), looking southwest.

Pace 171. The view shows the thin and imperfectly bedded Cauda-galli grit in its horizontal position,
as it is cut through by a creek at New-Scotland.

The cut on page 172 shows the effect upon the same rock, when it has been subjected to pressure, and
slightly elevated and weathered. It appears to have been raised to a vertical position, and would
be thus regarded, perhaps, were it not that fossils have been found upon the layers, which dip very
slightly. The locality is the gorge near Leeds.

Pace 187. Exhibits one of the many waterfalls which occur in the New-York system. The rock
belongs to the upper part of the Hamilton group, and the fall is formed by a small rapid stream
near Summit in Schoharie county. The rock is thin-bedded, and it has made a remarkably fine
exposure of this group, which is quite interesting for the abundance of its fossils.

Pace 192. The view looks up the Schoharie creek at Gilboa. The valley is narrow, and bounded by
ranges of hills and mountains which project into it. ‘The rocks are horizontal, and have been cut
out by diluvial action, and thus opened the valley for the present creek, This is evident, from the
fact that the rocks are scored in the direction of the valley at different heights above the present
stream.

Pacr 306. The natural vegetation of the hills of the Southern district is represented in this cut. The
trees are thickly planted: tall and intermixed maples, pines, hemlocks and beeches, are the most
conspicuous, It is a view in Gilboa, but resembles a hundred others in the same range of hills.

Absorbing power of soils, page 353.

Adirondack clay, comp. of, 240.

Agricultural geology, 33.

— relations of the Champlain
division, 129.

— characters of the Medina sand-
stone, 143.

— capacity of the Ontario division

of rocks, 149.

— — Onondaga limestone, 176.

— — Marcellus slate, 183.

— — Hamilton shales, 184.

— — Catskill series, 196.

Alumine, 227.

Ammonia, 223.

Analysis of the Albany clay, 260.

— water from Albany clay, 264.

— — from wells in ditto, 265.

— — of Massena springs, 266.

— Hboosic roofing slate, 246.

— Welch slate, 246.

— Marcellus slate, 183.

— Hamilton shale, 184.

— Onondaga limestone, 276.

— Cayuga clay, 282.

— soil of Canastota, 276.

— — Marcellus slate, 277.

— — Green shales, 278.

— — from Mr. Geddes, 279.

— — _ near Green lakes, 281.

— — from Manlius centre, 251.

— — from D. Thomas, 282.

— — from Mr. Young, 283.

— — Hamilton shales, 284.

— — from Mr. Ellis, 284.

— — Pentamerus rock, 288.

— — Onondaga limestone, 289.

— — Salt group, 289.

— — near Clyde, 259.

— — upon plaster shales, 290.

— — of Wheatland, 290.

| AcrictLTURAL Report. |

INDEX.

Analysis of soil of Lockport, 291.

— — from Mr. Harmon, 290.

— — from Mr. Devereaux, 291.

— — of Moscow, 292.

— — from Mr. Horsford, 293.

— — of Castile, 293.

— — from Niagara county, 294.

— — of Albion, 295.

— — Genesee slate, 296.

— — from Hoosic-falls, 334.

— — of Hoosic, 296, 331 - 2.

— — from Washington co. 333.

— — from Fitch’s point, 247.

— — of Salem, 333.

— — Petersburgh mount. 256.

— — of Christian-hollow, 297,

336 - 339,

— — Atlantic district, 319, 320.

— — _ from Warren county, 334.

— — limestone, 335.

— — of Scott, 341.

— — red clay, 340.

Atlantic district, 318.

Atmosphere, 224.

Beck’s analysis of waterlimes, 274.

— analysis of salines, 302.

Birdseye limestone, 122.

Black slate, 63.

— fossils of, 65.

Brewster’s formula for mean tem-
perature, 16.

Brown sandstone, 83.

Calciferous sandstone, 118.

— mineral contents, 120.

— range and eXtent, 121.

Carbon, 223.

Carbonic acid, 227.

Catskill division, 187.

Catskill group, 188.

— dip and stratification of, 194.

— at Gilboa, 195.

47

Catskill group, termination of the
strata, 195.

— at Jefferson, 196.

Cauda-galli grit, 171.

— change of structure in, 171-2.

— extent of, 173.

— agricultural characters, 173.

Causes of diluvial action, 214.

Champlain division, 115 - 117.

Chatham, soils of, 243.

Chazy limestone, 122.

Chilton’s analysis of the water of
Sharon springs, 301.

Classification of rocks, 35.

— of the New-York rocks, 114.

Classification of soils, 229.

Clays of New-York, comp. of, 357.

Climate of the State, 11.

— Long island, 20.

— valley of the Hudson, 21.

— valley of the Mohawk, 23.

— northwest of the Mohawk, 26.

— southwest of the Mohawk, 28.

— western part of the State, 30.

Clinton group, 144.

— distribution of members, 147.

— — of soils of, 209, 213.

— relations of, 148.

— in Herkimer county, 143.

Comparison of soils, 323.

Composition of simple minerals, 39.

— abbite, 39.

— basalt, 42.

— greenstone, 42.

— felspar, 39.

— hornblende, 40.

— hypersthene, 41.

— mica, 40.

— pyroxene, 40.

— serpentine, 41.

— soils of New-York, 235.

370

Composition of soils of the High-
land district, 237.

— granitic soil, 239.

— soil of Peekskill, 240.

— — Chatham, 243.

Compounds of oxygen, etc. 223.

Concretions, analysis of, 261.

Delthyris shaly limestone, 167.

Derangements of the Taconic sys-
tem, 102.

Devonian system, 187.

Diluvial action, 214.

Division of the State into agricul-
tural districts, 4.

— according to temperature, 19.

Drifted soils, 43.

Eastern district, 6.

Effect of elevation on temperature,
14.

Elements of soils, 220.

Equivalency of the Upper New-
York rocks, 198.

— of the Medina sandstone, 142.

Era of diluvial action, 217.

Erie division, 116, 180.

Extracts from Professor Rogers’s
address, 47.

Final cause of diluvial action, 217.

Forest vegetation of the Southern
district, 306.

Forwardness of the seasons, 18.

Fossils of the Taconic.slate, 68.

Fractures of the Champlain divi-
sion, 133.

— at Montmorenci, 138.

=— in Essex, 137.

— at Becraft’s mountain, 136.

— in Saratoga, 134.

Genesee slate, 189.

Granitic soils, 42.

— extent of, 38.

Granular quartz, 83.

— mineral contents, 85.

— range and extent, 85.

Green shale, 155.

Hamilton shale or slate, 183.

— mineral contents, 184.

— relations of, 184.

Helderberg division, 116, 153.

Highland district, 4-7, 236.

Hydrogen, 222.

Isle Lamotte marble, 123.

Jackson’s analysis of the hydraulic
limestone, 275.

INDEX.

Kirwan’s formula for mean tempe-
rature, 16.

Lakes containing marl, 297.

Letter from D. Thomas, 8.

— from J. H. Coffin, 11.

— from B. F. Johnson, 258.

Lime, 228.

Limestone stratum of the Marcellus
slate, 182.

Limestone, marl, etc. as manures,
313.

Limestones of New-York, composi-
tion of, 354.

Lithological characters of the rocks
of the Taconic system, 61.

Magnesia, 228.

Magnesian slate, 75.

— mineral contents, 76.

— range and extent, 77.

Manures of the Wheat district, 297.

Marble, 107.

Marcellus slate, 181.

— relations of, 181.

Marl and peat, 204.

— of New-York, comp. of, 357.

Medina sandstone, 142.

— thickness of, 143.

Metamorphic rocks, 105.

Metamorphism, observations on, 81.

Meteorological tables of the Atlantic
district, 321 — 2.

— of the Hudson district, 268-9.

— of the Southern district, 315.

— of the Wheat district, 303.

Mica slate, Jackson’s analysis, 356.

Mineral products of the Taconic
system, 105.

New Red sandstone, 200.

— how distinguished, 201.

— footmarks in, 201.

New-York system, 113.

Niagara group, 150.

Niagara limestone, 151.

Niagara shale, 151.

Nitrogen, 222.

Observations on metamorphism, 81.

— on the rocks which rest upon
the Taconic system, 87.

— on analysis, 327.

Old Red sandstone, 187.

Oneida conglomerate, 123.

Ontario division, 115, 141.

Onondaga limestone, 174.

— extent and thickness, 175.

Onondaga limestone, relations of,
176.

— natural joints, 176.

— agricultural characters, 176.

Onondaga-salt group, 153.

Origin of New-York soils, 206.

Oriskany sandstone, 168.

— character and thickness, 169,

170.

— peculiarities of, 176.

— relations of, 176.

Oxide of iron, 229.

Oxide of manganese, 106, 229.

Oxygen, 220.

Peat, 204.

Peekskill soil, 241.

Pentamerus limestone, 158.

Petersburgh soil, 243.

Physical characters of the surface,
124.

Phenomena of diluvial action, 209.

Porous limestone, 158.

Portage group, 188.

— thickness of, 189.

— Ithaca and Chemung groups in
the Hudson district, 192.

— places of examination, 193.

Potash, 225.

Potsdam sandstone, 117.

— how distinguished, 118.

Primary explained, 35.

Premium crops, 349.

— of wheat, 349.

— of maize, 349.

— of oats, 350.

Premium crops for 1846, 351.

Properties and functions of the
elements of soils, 220.

Relations of the Hudson river rocks,
49.

— of rocks older than the Taconic
system, 52.

— of the Champlain division, 140.

— of the Clinton group, 148.

Retentiveness of soils, 350.

Roofing slate, 71.

Schoharie grit, 174.

Scored surfaces, 211.

Secondary explained, 35.

Septaria, 182.

Series of rocks at the falls of the
Genesee, 146 - 7.

Silex, 227.

Slates, analysis of, 345 - 6.

Slates and shales of New-York,
their composition, 355 - 6.
Soils derived from decomposition of

rocks, 33.
— distribution of, 209.
— of the Onondaga-salt group,
162,
— of Chatham, 243.
— of Hoosic, 244.
— of Hoosic-falls, 245.
— of East-Salem, 245.
— of Schodack, 248.
— of Amsterdam, 257.
— of Littlefalls, 257.
— of Rome, 253.
— of the Hudson valley, 260.
— of the Wheat district, 272.
— of the red shale, 272.
— of Tribes-hill, 257.
— of Peekskill, 240.
— of Petersburgh, 243.
— of the green slate, 273. :
— of Vermicular limestone, 274.
— of water limestone, 274 - 5.
— of the Southern district, 308.
— of Mount Toppin, 308.
— of Lafayette square, 308.
— of Ithaca, 309.
— of Gainesville, 309.
— of Stewart’s farm, 309.
— of Greenville, 309.
— of Fultonham, 312.
— of Schoharie flats, 312.
— tested for phosphates, 344.
Sources of the phosphates, 345.

INDEX.
Southern district, 5 -— 9, 307.
Sparry limestone, 72.
— mineral contents, 74.
— range and extent, 74.
Springs of the Champlain division,
130.
— of Onondaga-salt group, 162.
— of the Portage group, 191.
Stockbridge limestone, 78.
— mineral contents, SO.
— range and extent, 80.
Summary of the Upper New-York
rocks, 199.
— of the Helderberg division, 179.
— of leading facts with respect to
soils, 358.
Systems how divided, 37.

Tables of mean temperature, 14-17.
— meteorological, of the Atlantic
district, 321.

— — Hudson district, 268.

— — Southern district, 315.

— — Wheat district, 303.

Tables showing the composition of
limestones, shales, marls, 354.

Taconic district, 242.

— soils of, 243.

Taconic rocks at Belfast, Me. 97,

— in Camden, 98.

— on Fox islands, 100.

Taconic slate, 64.

Taconic system, 45.

— general views of, 45.

— preliminary remarks on, 45.

— opinions of geologists, 46.

371

Taconic system, position and rela-
tions of, 54.

— sections of, 56.

— individual members, 61.

— lithological characters, 61.

— in Rhode-Island, 90.

— in Maine, 94.

— in Michigan, 101.

— Dr. Houghton’s views of, 101.

— derangements of, 102.

Temperature of soils, 231.

Tertiary clay, 202.

— fossils of, 202.

— disturbances of, 203.

Thickness of the Helderberg divi-
sion, 185.

— of the Ontario division, 152.

— of the Medina sandstone, 143.

— of the Marcellus slate, 183.

— of the Hamilton shales, 185.

— of the Catskill division, 197.

Thinbedded limestone, 159.

Topographical sketch of the State,
3

Transportation of boulders, 210.
Trenton limestone, 123.
Tribes-hill, soil of, 257.

Tully limestone, 186

— analysis of, 347.

Utica slate, 123.

Waters of the Wheat district, 298.
— of the Southern district, 314.
Western or Wheat district, 8, 270.
Waterfalls of Ontario division, 149.
Winters of Livingston county, 292.

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Marcellus Shales
Onondaga Limestone

Pentamerus Limestone
Water Lune

Rail Road Section.

WARCELLUS. “ONONDAGA. MADISON. SPRINGFIELO. ae T c DUANESBURON,

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SECTION AT LEEDS. EXTENDING WEST TO THE HAMILTON SHALES. “SECTION ACROSS THE SCOHARIE VALLEY. Jetian £.

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GILOOA COMESVILLE | - OURHAM. A 4 ——
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————

VICTOR | MANCHESTER F JUNIUS:

LOCKPOPRT. ALABAMA, : ; BYRON. WHEATLAND

SECTION OF GAYOGA LAKE. N & S.

Section 4

SECTION FROM AURORA 4,MILES EAST. = JSution 3.
we is
Eyer. Parl Moseow Shales “Maveellos Shales.
Marcellus Shales Baton wera SS = ee Timestone, _ Plaster Beil ——
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