THE GRAPES OF NEW YORK. 73 



THE CHAUTAUQUA DISTRICT. 



Of the four grape regions of New York the Chautauqua district is by 

 far the most important though, excepting the Niagara, the most recent 

 in development. The Chautatiqua grape belt lies along the southeastern 

 shore of Lake Erie. It averages about three miles in width and is about 

 fifty miles long. Its northeastern boundary is in Erie County but not far 

 from the line dividing Erie and Chautauqua Counties; its western 

 boundary, in New York, is the Pennsylvania line, an arbitrary division, 

 for the district passes into Pennsylvania. This narrow belt passes 

 through the towns of Hanover, Sheridan, Dunkirk, Pomfret, Portland, 

 Westfield and Ripley in Chautauqua County. Not all, but much, of 

 the land is suital)le for grape-growing. 



The topography, geology, and soils of this grape-belt have been care- 

 full v mapped and studied.' - 



The grape land is, as we have seen, a narrow strip of comparatively 

 low land which borders the shore of Lake Erie. On the southern boundary 

 of this low plain is a high hill or escarpment parallel to the lake and sur- 

 mounting the grape belt throughout its entire length. This escarpment, 

 the " Hill ", ranges from 500 to 700 feet above the plain and from 500 to 

 1000 feet above the lake. The plain is gently rolling and ascends from 

 the bluff of the lake to the escarpment with a grade of from one to two 

 hundred feet to the mile, forming in some places well-marked foot-hills 

 to the escarpment proper. 



The bed rock, according to Tarr' is upper Devonian shales and sand 

 stones in both plain and escarpment. On the face of the escarpment and 

 on the table lands of some of the foot-hills the soil is so thin that the plough 

 frequently touches bed rock. This seldom comes to the surface on the plain 

 except in stream beds and in shale ridges, but is to be found in fragments 

 of greater or less size and in more or less abundance throughout the soils 

 of the entire district. Everywhere on the plain may be seen ancient beach 

 lines. These rise usually in two well-detined terraces but not infrequently 



' Tarr. R. S., CorncU (.V. Y.) Exp. Sta. Bid., log. 1S96. 



■ Burke, R. T. Avon, and Marean, Herbert, Field Operations, Bureau of Soils, U. S. Dept. of 

 Agriculture, igoi. 



