Drainage in New York. 



235 



A. General grouping of land according to agricultural value. 



The land of the State may be divided into three groups, the location and 

 relative extent of which are shown by the map on this page. 



These are : first, the non-agricultural mountainous land ; second, the 

 remaining high, rolling to hilly farm land of the State ; third, the more 

 level portion of the State of low elevation where is found nearly all of 

 the heavy clay and the light sandy soil and in addition, the greater part 

 of the pronounced marshy or swamp land. 



(i) In the first or non-agricultural group is comprised all of the moun- 

 tainous areas of the State where the country in general is too rough and 



The drainage districts into which A'czv York state may be divided. 



(i). Non-agricultural land. 



(2). Highland sections agricultural land. 



(3). Lake plains and river valleys. The most level agricultural land. 



broken and the soil covering too. thin and stony to permit the practice of 

 farming. These areas are occupied by forests. The only cultivable land 

 occurs in ribbon-like areas in the valleys and is of comparatively small 

 extent. 



(2) The second and third groups constitute the farming land of the 

 .State. The third group includes the lozvcst part of the State in point of 

 general elevation and in which the largest extent of heavy clay land and of 

 pronounced swamps are found. The soil is not all clay or swamp by any 

 means, but is of a great diversity of textural condition. They include, be- 

 sides the clay and the muck soil, even larger areas of rolling upland loams. 



