82 THE GRAPES OF NEW YORK. 



deepened by the erosive action of glaciers but it is fairly certain that there 

 were pre-existing valleys which were dammed by glacial deposit. 



The topography is more or less rough and broken. The steep hillsides 

 of the lakes were formed not only liy erosion but by the tilting of the land. 

 Beside these hillsides of the lakes to give character to the topography of 

 the region, there are ranges of hills and the remains of some moraines, so 

 that m general the land is very uneven. This is especially true of the parts 

 of it devoted to grape-growing though in some grape sections there are 

 many stretches of smooth and regular vineyards. 



The soils of this great region vary much, as is always the case when 

 land is made by glacial erosion and deposit of glacial drifts. On a single 

 farm the soil may V)e thick and fertile in one part and thin and poor in 

 another; it may consist largely of clay in one part and of sand and gravel 

 in others. The grape soils in the Central Lakes region are, in particular, 

 of miscellaneous types, embracing, in one place or another, nearly all of 

 the soils in the Dunkirk series described in the discussion of the Chau- 

 taucjua district. Probably the Dunkirk clay loam, often very shaly and 

 stony, is the most common of the several soils of the region. There are 

 also considerable areas of a shaly soil which possibly do not belong to the 

 Dunkirk types, not having been influenced by water action as are true 

 Dunkirk soils. On the slojDes and hillsides the land is sometimes rough 

 and stony with but a thin covering of soil and with out-croppings of bed 

 rock. The influence of the various soils on the grape has not been studied 

 as in the Chautauqua district but, as noted, the soils in the two districts 

 are in many cases similar so that the discussion of the influence of the 

 several types given for the Chautauqua district will apply in large part 

 to the Central Lakes district. 



The Central Lakes have a very perceptible influence on the climate 

 of the region. The lakes are deep and conserve warmth. The water of 

 Seneca Lake is so deep, and consequently warm, that it has been known 

 to freeze over only a few times in the past hundred years. The winter 

 climate in this region is much less severe than in adjacent territories. 

 Not only does the water modify the severity of the winter climate but the 

 enclosing highlands materially assist in keeping in the warmth of the val- 

 leys. Since the lakes run, generally speaking, north and south, the wmds 



