1846. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



177 



roots by capillary attraction, loaded with such 

 minerals and organic elements as are soluble in 

 the soil, is the thing of things, in easy and suc- 

 cessful farming. 



The same imperviousness of subsoil — often too 

 near the sunshine — which prevents the ready 

 descent of rain and roots into the earth, equally 

 forbids the ascent of moisture in dry seasons of 

 the year. If the reader desires a deep, mellow 

 soil, let him plow deep, and deeper, till the object 

 is attained. Let him study faithfully, the whys 

 and wherefores which have made any plowing 

 necessary for the last 3000 years. Let him in- 

 vestigate the action of those elements in the air 

 called oxygen and carbonic acid, on the insolu- 

 ble minerals, wliich the plowshare turns up to 

 the light and heat of the sun. Nor should he 

 overlook the influence of frost, electricity, and 

 other meteoric agents, employed by Providence 

 to fulfil the promise that, "Seed time and har- 

 vest shall never fail." 



Those that may wish to have their surface soil 

 analyzed and not the subsoil, can do so for the 

 small charge of $3, by sending a pound or two 

 of earth in a strong paper, to the office of this 

 paper, or the laboratoi-y of its Editor, in Wheat- 

 land. 



Agricultural Geology, 



Mr. Editor. — In perusing your number for 

 June, my attention was drawn to an extract from 

 the Agricultural Geology of Onondaga County, 

 in which is given a synopsis of its valuable min- 

 eral productions. Now, Mr. Editor, as I am a 

 farmer of Oswego county, on the north shore of 

 Oneida Lake — only six miles across to Onondaga 

 county, where lime is abundant, and also plaster 

 — I shall be much pleased if you will give a sum- 

 mary of what are the formations of Oswego 

 county, from Prof. Emmons' Geology or any 

 other. In this quarter, and I believe in all of 

 Oswego county, there is no formation of lime- 

 stone that I know of The rivers running into 

 Oneida Lake from the north, have no lime stone 

 in their course. But the rivers running north 

 through Jefferson and Lewis counties, both bor- 

 dering on this county, have lime in abundance. 



As lime is the basis of all good agriculture, I 

 pray you to give us what knowledge is in your 

 power, of the formations, and minerals suitable 

 for agricultural purposes in this county. We 

 have all the constituent parts of soil that they 

 have in Wisconsin, only lime which is there, 

 and mixed with the earth. Oswego county lies 

 good for agricultural purposes, having an undu- 

 lating surface, inclined to the south and west ; 

 and at the present appears to have been a deep 

 basin in Ocean times. But whether lime was 

 then formed, and afterwards a deposit of hard 

 pan (part of which is iron ore,) from Mount 

 Marcy in Essex county, time and Geology must 

 develop. I am a small farmer, with small means, 



and to have to go from 25 to 40 miles after lime, 

 is rather tough. It might be boated in some pla- 

 ces, but that does not seem to do, as it makes it 

 very high in price. 



Yours respectfully, John Dickie. 

 Constantia, Osioego Co., June, 1846. 



Remarks. — Constantia, and most of the other 

 towns in Oswego county repose on the Medina 

 Sand Stone. This stratum of rocks lies geologi- 

 cally below the Onondaga Salt Group, having 

 both the Clinton and Niagara groups intermedi- 

 ate between them. It is well developed at the 

 Falls in Oak Orchard Creek at Medina. Orleans 

 county, and hence, it is called " Medina Sand 

 Stone." Being lower, topographically, than the 

 lime and salt groups, (the Clinton, Niagara, and 

 Onondaga groups, south of the Medina Sand 

 Stone,) the soluble minerals of these groups, 

 between the Niagara and Oswego rivers, are 

 made to flow more or less over, and through the 

 soil resting on the Medina Sand Stone, which is 

 contiguous to Lake Ontario. Hence it is that 

 the sandy soils in the north towns of Monroe, 

 Orleans, and Niagara counties are generally 

 good for wheat, by getting the wash of the lime, 

 magnesia, and soda strata in the central and 

 southern portion of said counties. Constantia 

 lies north of Oneida lake, and so hi^fh that its 

 water flows southerly into it. Hence,'the soil in 

 that town can gain nothing from the wash of wa- 

 ter that falls south of the lake on the Niagara 

 and Onondaga lime and salt rocks. There may, 

 however, be local deposits from " drift,'''' or an- 

 cient currents, of lime and other minerals, in 

 some portions of Oswego county that lie on the 

 Medina Sand Stone. 



Instead of hauling lime in large quantities 25 

 miles, for agj-icultural purposes, we should use 

 but little of that alkaline earth, and more leached 

 ashes, gypsum, and particularly, the bitterns, or 

 refuse from salt works. Indeed, we have all 

 confidence in the value of a fertilizer made by 

 evaporating to dryness the whole of the mineral 

 elements found in the saline springs in Onondaga 

 and Cayuga counties. Without any purification 

 the salt obtained would be much better to apply to 

 land than that now used for curing meat, &c. 



Of course it could be manufactured considera- 

 bly cheaper per bushel, in a large way, than 

 culinary salt. This should be done, and we in- 

 tend to discuss the subject at length, showing the 

 great advantages to accrue to the farming inter- 

 est of this State by the use of the concentrated 

 minerals that exist in the strata of rocks known 

 as the Onondaga Salt Group. — Ed. 



Wool Growimg. — The town of Richmond, 

 Ontario county, is one of the most extensive 

 wool growing towns in the United States. The 

 Repository says that it numbered last year 36,- 

 714 sheep, producing 83,416 lbs. of wool. One 

 farmer, Robert L. Rose, shears over 3,000 sheep. 



