4 RURAL NEW YORK 



country on arbitrary lines having only an historical 

 significance. 



GENERAL SURFACE FEATURES 



The surface features of New York State are very 

 diverse, both in general and in detailed form. In 

 their variety and form they make up some of the most 

 beautiful scenery in the country. It does not reach 

 the extreme of boldness found in the mountains of the 

 West or of some other continental areas, but in pic- 

 turesque outline, in variety of detail, and in cultural 

 development, it charms the observer at many points. 

 Mountain domes, broad valleys, undulating hills, 

 lakes, waterfalls, fields, forest and stream, contribute 

 to those elements that make up beauty and grandeur 

 in the different parts of the State. This results from 

 the long and complex geological history of the region 

 which has developed a wide variety of rock strata and 

 subjected these to severe denudation with unequal 

 wearing and filling. 



A three-armed system of main valleys centering at 

 Albany and Troy divides the State into three main 

 upland areas, a northern, a southern, and an eastern 

 or southeastern area. 



These main valleys are the Hudson-Champlain 

 across the eastern side of the State and the Mohawk- 

 Great Lakes valley through the middle of the State 

 east and west. These, with Long Island, form seven 

 rather distinct physiographic regions. Beginning 

 with the lowlands they are: (1) The Hudson-Cham- 



