122 



PROPER DEPTH TO SOW WIIKAT. 



toga couuties, and west of Champlain, have proved 

 that their soils, evidently the result of the decompo- 

 sition of granite or felspathic rocks, require nothing 

 but the liming and manuring spoken of by Morton, 

 to render them most fertile; and the high 'state of 

 cultivation in some of the river counties is proof of 

 what such soils are capable in the hands of skilful 

 farnitrs. Soils of this class in all countries have 

 been found very durable, a fact which Liedio explains 

 from the abundance of potash contained in the fel- 

 spar, and which is given out by decomposition. 

 Soils from the gneiss rocks are usually of an inferior 

 quality to the granitic ones, from the felspar being 

 frequently in a less proportion, and consequently the 

 clay and potash of that mineral being wanting. 

 Where the gneiss contains abundance of felspar, the 

 soil has no perceptible difference from the best gran- 

 .ite ones, and when treated in the same manner will 

 be equally productive. Some of the best root soils 

 in the world are from this rock, for instance the cele- 

 brated carrot and parsnip soils of Guernsey and 

 Alderney; where the latter root is produced in 

 greater perfection than any where else. 



The great transition formation of western New 

 York furnishes e.xamples of all the soils which such 

 rocks can produce, from the coarsest pebbles to the 

 most compact clay; soils in which comminuted lime- 

 stone forms a large proportion, and that \fhich is 

 destitute of this element; soils varying from the 

 lightest sands to the heaviest clays. On these the 

 agriculturist finds soils adapted to every product, and 

 capable of every modification and course of culture. 

 There can be no question bnt that a natural difler- 

 ence exists in the soils of this formation, and the line 

 is vei7 distinctly marked in many respects by the 

 water shed that separates the streams of the lakes 

 from those of the Susquehannah and Ohio. It will 

 be found that the soils on the northern or lake slope 

 are much better adapted to the production of corn, 

 wheat, clover, &c., than those on the southern one, or 

 rather on that part watered by the streams that flow 

 southwardly; and there can be no doubt that this 

 difference is caused by the geological structure of 

 the two sections. On the northern slope, in the 

 cour.<!e of thirty miles, no less than three distinct 

 deposits of lime rock are found, two of them of great 

 thickness, besides several minor deposits. Indeed, 

 the whole mas.s sandstones and shales, contain so 

 much lime as to effervesce freely with acids. The 

 first of these is tlie deposite which forms the falls of 

 Niagara, in which the quarries of Lockport are 

 found, which causes the falls of the Genesee at Roch- 

 ester, and crosses in its coiir^e eastward the Oswego 

 River at Fulton. 'I'he secoml dfposite is the one 

 which may be traced iVom liiack Rock through the 

 counties of Genesee, Livingston, Ontario, Seneca, 

 Cayuga, Onondaga, Madison, &c. This mass is of 

 great thickness, and has proiiuced the greatest effects 

 on the agricultural character of the soils in those 

 counties. The Oriskany sandstone strata, which lies 

 between this deposite and the gypseous ones is made 

 of coarse sand cemented by lime, and when mixed 

 with the marly or gypseous clays from the shales 

 lower in the series, or to the north, gives an excellent 

 sod, wherever its influence is felt, from Oneida to Onta- 

 rio. The upper deposite of limestone ia the one 



called the Tully limestone, and is of limited extei 

 and thickness, compared with the others. Th 

 deposite extends from the vicinity of Cazenovi 

 westward across the counties of Onondaga, Cayug; 

 and part of Tompkins and Seneca. The mass calle 

 by the State Geologists, Marcellus Shales, some seve 

 or eight hundred feet in thickness, lies between tt 

 Tully limestone and the Onondaga or crinoidal limi 

 stones. From the Tully limestone deposite there 

 not another till the carboniferous deposits of Pen 

 sylvania are reached, leaving a district of some for 

 miles in width destitute of this rock. The roc 

 strata of this transition district of New York fu 

 nishes in the red shale that lies between the gypseo 

 formation and the Rochester series of lime rock, ai 

 in which the lead of the Onondaga and Oneida lak. 

 are mostly excavated, a curious instance of the ms; 

 ner in which a deposit will run out, allowing the stra 

 above and below to come in contact, while at anoth 

 they are widely separated. Thus this red sh: 

 deposit, which, from Oneida to Onondaga or Cayuj 

 is not less than three or four hundred feet in thi( 

 ness, disappears to the west, and at the Genes 

 River and the Niagara, allows the gypseous sha 

 to rest immediately upon the Lockport or Roches 

 limestones. The result is, that the beds of redd 

 clay, which are so common in the counties east 

 Ontario, and which have been produced from i 

 decomposition of the red shale strata, are not kno 

 at the west, where the strata has disa|;peared. 



No one who is acquainted with the character 

 the soil, and their agricultural capabilities, in tb 

 two sections of western New York, that is, 

 northern and southern, will hesitate to ascribe 

 difference to their difierent geological origin. ' 

 influence of the lime deposits on the lake slope is 

 obvious to be mistaken ; and the consequence ot 

 absence on the part watered by the streams flow 

 south is equally certain. The vegetation is in sc 

 respects dissimilar, and the agricultural products 

 to a considerable extent, distinct. In short, tl 

 are few districts in any country where the influt 

 of geological strata on the soil and its agricultui 

 more marked, or can be studied to better advaut 

 than in western New York. — Willis Gaylord. 



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9(14 



ON THE PEOPEE DEPTH TO SOW WHEAT, :i 



In order to elucidate the manner of the grov' 

 of wheat from the grain till it branches considers 

 I have enclosed a delineation with its explanal 

 on which it is necessary to make some remarks, 

 If a grain of wheat is placed six inches beneath 

 surface, it will vegetate and throw out two lea 

 whicli are generally called seminal leaves, and co 

 ponding roots, (see the delineation. A, cc, and 

 then a thread is thrown out, which, as soon i 

 reaches near enough to the surface so as to com 

 contact with atmospheric air, it there forms a 1- 

 or enlarged point, which is the part from when' 

 new set of branches and roots arc thrown out, wl 

 in the autumn, is about an inch and a half or 

 inches beneath the surface (as in the delinee 

 marked D). After this period, the seminal lei 

 root, and the thread, denominated caudex, dies 

 becomes useless to the plant; above which it h 



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