CATSKILL GROUP. lOlJ 



are exposed in Chemung, may be exposed in Schoharie and Albany coniilies, or in iho 

 rocks of the easUnii part of llie State. Where fossils are limited to narrow bands, and 

 where their vertical rans^e is small, corresponding strata at two distant ])oints may be con- 

 cealed at one or the other. Tiie kind of distribution nlliulcii to, is liiat which prevails. 

 A stratum from two to twelve inches is loaded with fossils ; but above or below for fifty 

 or one hundred feet, they are either very scarce or do not exist at all. Tliis is the general 

 mode in which they are distributed in thick beds, sandstones and (lags, a mode which 

 docs not seem to prevail in calcareous shales and limestones. In these deposits, it is Jiot 

 unconnnon to find organic bodies distributed throughout the whole mass. 



Localities ichere the sandstones amljlags described above may be examined. Manj- localities 

 have already been mentioned, at which the strata nre well exposed, ;uiil allbrd <ij)])iniu- 

 nities for observation. At Portage, and at points intervening lietween it and Mountniorris, 

 many interesting and important facts are disclosed in the deep gorges. All that relates to 

 the power of moving water in excavating rocks, the nature of the rocks themselves, their 

 stratification, etc., are displayed to great advantage. Few fossils onlj^ are found, and 

 tliose not of the most interesting kind. Bodies called fucoids, and which are referred to a 

 class of marine plants, are common. The same are common at Deruyter, Homer, and in 

 the hills in the same geological range for a wide extent east :\nd west of the points named ; 

 also in Oneonta, Harpcrsficld, Summit, Rensselaerville, Virgil and Ithaca. Most parts of 

 the counties of Tioga, Broome, Allegany and Chautauque, are mainly underlaid by this 

 series of rocks. 



Jlgricultural characters of the shales, flags and sandstones of the Portage and Chemung 

 rocks. This is not the place to state, with any degree of particularity, the relations which 

 these formations bear to the capabilities of the soil derived from them. They have, however, 

 characters of their own ; that is, peculiarities which distinguish them from calcareous and 

 limestone formations. The greatest chemical difference is found in the absence of lime, 

 except where it is derived from strata at a distance. When the soil is first broken up, 

 some lime may be found ; but cultivation, and the exposure which a cultivated surface 

 suffers from percolation of water, soon removes the calcareous matter. The soil is then a 

 silico-aluminous one, and may in some places be a stiff hard soil ; in others, the predomi- 

 nance of sand gives it a character directly opposite. The full consideration of the soils of 

 these rocks will come up in another place, where they can be treated in connection with 

 those of other parts of the State. 



§ 4. Catskill group. 



Mr. Vanuxem describes these rocks as consisting of light-colored greenish gray sand- 

 stone, usually hard ; of fine grained red sandstone, red shale or slate ; of dark-colored 

 slate and shale ; of grindstone grit, and a peculiar concretionary or fragmentary mass 

 composed of shale principally, cemented by lime. The mass referred to in the last place, 

 varies in thickness from a few inches to two feet, and, from its nature, may be regarded as 



[Agricultural Report.] 25 



