260 KNOWLEDGE OF NEW YORK FARMERS. 



I shall have occasionj hereafter, to speak of the 

 prospects of agriculture, and of the progress of rural 

 improvement in general, in the State of New York. I 

 will here only add, in justice to the New York farmers, 

 that, in my jonrney to Buffalo, I was struck with the 

 very general familiarity whicli seemed to prevail among 

 practical men as to the geological character of their 

 country, and the relation which the geological details 

 had to the agricultural qualities of their farms. The 

 efforts of the State Government, in distributing numerous 

 volumes of their Natural History Survey, has no doubt 

 aided much in diffusing this knowledge, so rare in an 

 agricultural community, and yet so creditable to their 

 intellectual position. In the county of Surrey only, 

 and along the borders of the chalk and green-sand 

 country of England — where geological differences affect 

 the soils in so marked a manner, and within such short 

 distances — have I met among practical farmers, with so 

 clear an idea of local geological relations, and of their 

 connection with rural labours and profits. 



As the boat paddled out into the lake, the water 

 roughened a little, and many of the passengers became 

 indisposed. I had a comfortable state-room ; but the 

 meals, which were included in the fare, were uncomfortable 

 and crowded. It was little else than a rush and a scramble, 

 where the slowest and weakest got neither place nor 

 pudding. At 11 P. M. we reached Rochester, a distance 

 of 80 miles, and after a short delay steamed on to 

 Oswego, 65 miles farther, where we arrived at 6 in the 

 morning, and were at first allowed time only for a short 

 stroll, but finally were detained till half-past 10, in 

 waiting the arrival of the train from Syracuse. 



The flower-mills of Oswego are, I believe, the staple 

 source of its prosperity. It is a thriving town, and, being 

 at the termination of the canal and of the railroad — both 

 of which connect it directly with the Atlantic, while the 



