178 Agricultural Geology of Onondaga County. [April, 



which exist in these rocks, were not sought for in the specimen 

 analyzed. 



The limestone soil which has usually been considered the most 

 productive, and the one which has been supposed to give to the 

 soil of this region its ability to grow wheat, is, in many respects, 

 as valuable as that of the gypseous rocks; yet, the opinion, that 

 it is the best for wheat and other cereals is not, in our opinion, 

 founded in fact. We believe that the presence of lime in a soil 

 is essential for the growth of wheat, though this view is not sup- 

 ported by all who have spoken and written on the subject. The 

 diversity of opinion probably depends upon the state of the lime 

 and the state of the soil. A small per centage of lime is sufficient, 

 provided it is in the state in which it can be assimilated by the 

 wheat plant, and a large quantity may not exhibit an increased 

 fertility-, if it is not in this condition. We believe that lime, in 

 order to be taken up and assimilated by the plant, must be com- 

 bined with the organic acids, the crenic or apocrenic, or, if some 

 prefer another name, the hmnic acid. If lime, in the state of a 

 carbonate, is spread over the soil and there is a deficiency of 

 vegetable matter, or for some reason or other it still remains in 

 the condition of a carbonate, we doubt much whether its special 

 effects appear in the crop. On the contrary, if there is a quan- 

 tity, though small, of the organic salts of lime in the soil, other 

 cx)nditions being favorable, wheat may be grown in perfection. The 

 value of composts with lime and spent ashes, depend, we believe, 

 upon the formation of the organic salts. The old and worn out 

 soils are invariably renovated by composts, the new soils do not 

 require them, neither are the effects of composts so decidedly seen 

 in such soils as are derived from the gypseous rocks, in conse- 

 quence of the presence of the organic salts in the rocks them- 

 selves. Hence they do not wear out or become exhausted, like 

 the soils of primary formations. 



The composition of the soil upon the limestones, and in this 

 word we include all the limestones from the top of the water limes 

 to the Marcellus shales, is as follows: 



