Apple Orchard Survey of Niagara County. 



287 



Physiography.'^ — Niagara County measures about 18 by 29 miles, and 

 embraces an area of 522 square miles. It includes parts of two rather 

 distinct topographical regions. The northern part is the old lake bed, 

 often called the Ontario plain, which extends from the lake to the base 

 of the escarpment; and the ridge region, embracing the Niagara escarp- 

 ment and a part of the Erie plain, extending as far south as North 

 Tonawanda, and east through Lockport, and even farther. 



The county is rather flat, aside from the ridge and its immediate 

 vicinity. There is a slight, but rather general slope in the northern 



Fig. 30. — A Baldwin orchard on the Lake Road showing a good cover-crop of 



mammoth clover 



part toward the lake, and in the southern part toward Buffalo and 

 the south. There are only a few hills and a minimum of swamp area, 

 but considerable mountain territory composed of a very durable stratum 

 of Niagara limestone. There are no important rivers, ponds or valleys 

 in the county. Much of the land on plains and on the plateau is too 

 flat to allow of good natural drainage. 



The Ontario plain is made up largely of Dunkirk soils, such as sand and 

 clay loams. Such soils lend themselves easily to all methods of tillage, 

 and here cultivation is the general practice. On the other hand, the moun- 

 tain territory is, much of it, too rough and stony for thorough cultivation. 



* For fuller description see report of field operations, Bureau of Soils, 1906. 



