AGRICULTURAL GEOLOGY. 181 



paring the ground. But then again there is another question to be 

 considered, namely, that though the producer cannot compete in 

 market with an article superior to his own, yet will it not be pro- 

 fitable to cultivate it for consumption at home, or in the family ; or 

 will it be better to pay in labor at the rate of one dollar for a bushel 

 of wheat, than eighty-seven and a half cents in cash to a neighbor ? 

 There is still another view of the subject, and it is one which re- 

 lutes to the adaptations of certain sections of country. It is this : 

 As Mr. A.'s farm produces excellent corn, and Mr. B.'s produces 

 oxccilent wheat, may they not effect a mutual exchange of their 

 products ; or, if they choose, each of ihem turn their grain into 

 cash, and thus supply their wants at a cash price ? These are ques- 

 lions which are continually arising, or at least ought to be considered 

 and taken into the account before a farmer determines upon a par- 

 ticular crop or a particular kind of husbandry. The bare fact that 

 a particular kind of grain will ripen, is not sufficient cause why we 

 should engage in its culture. The questions are, will it be profitable 

 in market ; will it be more profitable to consume it at home, than 

 to furnish my family with it by means of cash in hand ? The ex- 

 pense of taking to market, and of going to market to buy, will 

 often decide these questions. A farmer, for instance, can afford to 

 Itake cheese or butter to market, but not wheat or oats. 



With these remarks, we proceed to the subject before us, the 

 character and adaptations of the soil of the counties we have named 

 at the head of this article. These counties, taken as a whole, possess 

 great uniformity of soil, as well in the composition as in position 

 and exposure. This uniformity is due to geological causes : causes, 

 which, on the one hand, originated the soil, and, on the other, dis- 

 tributed or spread it over this particular territory ; and we may as 

 well speak of these causes now, as at any other time or in any other 

 1 place. In the first place, we need only say, that the soils were de- 

 ' rived from the same rocks upon which they now repose. This is 

 not often so distinctly the case as in this instance. The result here 

 is due to two causes : first, the strike of this system of rocks ; that 

 is, they extend nearly north and south several hundred miles, pass- 

 ing beyond the Provincial line on the north, where they still continue 

 in this same direction through the eastern counties of Canada. The 

 second reason why the soil is the same as that which the rock would 

 produce, is, that the special agent, whatever it may have been, 



