12 RURAL NEW YORK 



ous domes, culminating near the center of the area in 

 Mount Marcy. Most of the area is timbered. The 

 soils are thin and very stony. Small areas are cleared 

 and tilled in the interior valley. Around the base of 

 the mountain area is a narrow fringe of agricultural 

 land that includes some prosperous farming districts, 

 such as that in northern Oneida and central Herki- 

 mer counties. 



The eastern highland takes in the western foothills 

 of the Berkshire hills that begin on the eastern edge 

 of the State and spread over into New England. 

 It also includes the mountainous hills lying across 

 the lower part of the State above New York City 

 and the Palisades district of the Hudson Eiver. The 

 maximum elevation is not over 1500 feet but by con- 

 trast with the adjacent lowlands, it appears high and 

 rugged and is distinctly mountainous and pictur- 

 esque in outline. All the southern part of this area has 

 been appropriated as a high-grade residence district. 



The southern plateau is the most extensive of the 

 three, as well as the most important agriculturally. 

 As has been stated, it rises gradually to the south and 

 east and in the latter direction culminates in the 

 Catskill range. Near its middle part there is a sag 

 of several hundred feet in maximum elevation, the 

 western part being higher than the middle. 



This vast plateau which is the northern margin of 

 the Cumberland plateau, that reaches southward into 

 Alabama, has been deeply eroded and now appears as 

 a system of bold hills rising by gentle or steep slopes 



