270 ANALYSES OF SOILS. 



4. WESTERN, OR WHEAT DISTRICT. 



It. is not without reason that the central and western counties of New-York are called 

 wheat-bearing counties, by way of preeminence for their adaptation to this crop. Probably 

 there is not another so good a district for wheat in this country ; and this is true, whether 

 we take into account the amount which may be raised per acre, or the quality of the grain 

 itself. It is true too that the average product is far less than many premium crops which 

 are raised elsewhere ; still, we believe that no country can produce larger, if the growers 

 of wheat in this district were disposed to work for a hcavj^ crop. The truth is, what is pro- 

 duced may be regarded rather as the spontaneous growth of the fields, than one which is 

 produced by high cultivation. 



There is another point of excellence possessed by the lands of this district, which has 

 been too little respected : it is the durability of the lands, or the ability with which they 

 stand cropping. This does not arise from a deep vegetable mould, an accumulation of 

 organic matter in the soil, the product of time and of the waste of materials once organized, 

 and now going back to the inorganic state ; but it is due rather to the energies of the soil 

 itself, and derived from its inorganic constituents. But even here there is no want of these 

 semi-organized matters, so important to a grain-producing' country. 



We liave spoken of the high character of the western and middle counties of New- York, 

 for growing wheat. We arc not able, however, to strike out the boundaries of the wheat 

 region in undeviating lines. We consider that it properly begins near the head waters of 

 the Mohawk, from which a line drawn to Lake Ontario near Oswego, and then along the 

 lake to Niagara river, will mark its northern boundary. The southern boundary we have 

 drawn east and west through the middle of Cayuga and Seneca lakes. So far as the val- 

 lies are taken into accotmt, the wheat-growing country extends much farther ; but if the 

 liigh lands of the Hamilton group of rocks are regarded, it may not extend so far. We 

 find in this, as in many other cases, that it is ditficult to define lines of demarkation ; that 

 there is no such thing in nature as a straight barrier or limit where this grain ceases to bo 

 a valuable crop, or could not be rendered so under a proper system of cultivation ; that is, 

 wheat will grow and reproduce itself, at least in a moderate crop, over the whole of the 

 soutliern tier of counties. Yet when we examine Onondaga, Orleans and Livingston 

 counties, we can not overlook the fact that there is something here which favors the growth 

 of this grain, which does not exist on the Allegany and Chemung hills. 



An interesting inquiry may be started here, namely, to what cause or causes is it to be 

 attributed, that this district is so well adapted to wheat, or what makes it superior to those 

 lying adjacent to if? Some differences of opinion prevail on this question. There are 

 some who say that the belt of limestones, which passes through this district, gives it the 

 wheat-growing property ; and it has been attempted to prove, by the statistics of this crop, 

 iliat the limestone counties exceed in productiveness those wliicii are not Iiascd upon this 



