272 Geology of Lewis Counly, [May, 



same extent. Owing to the want of good roads and bridges, 

 this ore has not been used to any considerable extent, but a lur- 

 nace is being erected in its vicinity which is intended to work 

 this ore, From the trial that has been made of it at the Louis- 

 burg furnace, it was found to be of a good quality, and the cheap- 

 ness of fuel in this section will enable the manufacturer to derive 

 a profitable return from his investment. One drawback to the 

 manufacture of iron in this section of the state exists, and must 

 continue to exist until a more direct means of communication is 

 opened; and that is, the remoteness from market, and the expense 

 of transportation. Whenever this check shall be removed the 

 iron manufacture will assume an importance second to none in 

 northern New York, as our resources are unbounded and the de- 

 mand must continue forever unlimited. 



The geological situation of this, like every other bed of specu- 

 lar oxide of iron in this portion ot the state, is between the primi- 

 tive and the Potsdam sandstone; so constant is this association 

 that wherever the two rocks occur we may reasonably expect to 

 find more or less of specular ore between them. Numerous locali- 

 ties occur where the two formations come in actual contact with 

 nothing intervening, but in no case has the writer ever observed 

 a bed of specular oxyde of iron, without the Potsdam sandstone 

 being either immediately over or in the immediate vicinity of the 

 ore. The whole association is sometimes found inclined at a high 

 angle, as at the Keene ore bed in the town of Antwerp. 



The agricultural character of the primitive region is uninviting, 

 and it requires the most diligent cultivation to yield even tolera- 

 ble crops. The soil is generally light and sandy, producing the 

 crops usually cultivated in diminished quantities, and affording 

 but a thin and scanty growth of grass; it is however peculiarly 

 well adapted for the growth of melons. 



Extensive districts in this region were formerly covered by pine 

 timber, much of which has been removed for lumber, while im- 

 mense quantities remain, but too remote from the settlements to 

 be brought into market before means of communication are open- 

 ed. The soil occupied by the pine timber is less valuable than 

 that of other kinds of wood, and it must necessarily be a long pe- 

 riod before the whole or indeed any considerable part of this dis- 

 tiict is brought under cultivation. 



The narrow strip of land underlaid by the primitive rocks west 

 of the river, does not differ materially from the limestone lands 

 above it, being in some places liable to inundations from the riv- 

 er, which in high water contains a great amount of sediment, and 

 receiving the alluvion brought down by the smaller streams from 

 the transition rocks above it. The sandy region of the primitive 

 is very liable to frosts, which often cut down the tender grain in 



