1847.] JgricuUure of J\''ew York. 141 



fact has been shown in respect to the last; and it is the peculiar 

 constitution of the rock which makes thera wheat soils, or gives 

 thein a fitness to sustain and perfect the wheat crop for a succes- 

 sion of years. 



3. It has been shown that the soils of the eastern district are 

 closely allied to the southern, or to those which rest upon the 

 shales situated above the Onondaga limestone, particularly in the 

 northern part of the southern district. We find, in this range, 

 soils which contain the phosphates, and which are fitted for the 

 culture of maize. The amount of this crop is greater than upon 

 the wheat soils below; and although wheat was formerly grown 

 in the early settlement of the country, and may have been an im- 

 portant crop upon this higher shelf of land, still experience proves 

 that it is not a durable crop; that it is more liable to shrink; and 

 that now only spring wheat is attempted to be raised upon the 

 lands, after they have been cultivated for a few^ years. 



4. The soil of the southern district is shown, by analysis, to be 

 deficient in lime and magnesia. The lime which exists in it is 

 mostly in combination with the organic acids, and is more abund- 

 ant in the surface soil, than in the subsoil. The valleys, those es- 

 pecially which are watered by the Susquehannah, Allegany and 

 their tributaries, are better supplied with lime than the soils of 

 the hill-sides. 



5. The geological formations wdiich are most favorable to the 

 production of the greatest number of important crops, are those 

 of the western and central part of the state; inasmuch as their 

 peculiar composition, and the speedy disintegration of the rocks 

 upon which they rest, furnish new and fresh matter to supply the 

 loss occasioned by the removal of inorganic matter in the crops 

 themselves. 



6. The supply of phosphates has been shown, by analysis, to 

 be derived in the main from the rocks themselves; parts of the 

 two systems supplying them in about equal proportions, namely, 

 the Taconic slates, and the flamiltonand Chemung groups. The 

 Tully limestone also furnishes the phosphates in about the same 

 proportion; but, this rock being quite limited, its influence is not 

 extensive. 



7. The character of the soils which are now cultivated in New 

 York, has not been materially changed by diluvial action. This 

 assertion will receive essential support, when it is recollected that 

 the rocks upon the east side of the Hudson extend very far north; 

 and that the force or power which transported the soil, moved it 

 in the direction of the strike of the I'ocks themselves. In the 

 middle and western counties, a very large proportion of the un- 

 derlying rock crumbles down into a tillable soil in a short time 

 after exposure. The transportation of the debris of those rocks, 



