SOILS OF NEW YORK 95 



by the contrast in soil character and general agri- 

 cultural development between the glaciated region and 

 the unglaciated part. The contrast is especially im- 

 pressive a little way southwest of Randolph where 

 excellent glacial soils have been pushed up into close 

 contact with the rough, infertile and undeveloped 

 unglaciated soils of the DeKalb series that lie to the 

 south. The general effect of the ice has been to 

 deepen the soil, smooth the surface outline and to im- 

 prove both the physical and chemical composition of 

 the soil. The DeKalb soils are light colored, stony, 

 and in texture border on a clay loam. Most of the 

 "area is in timber. Further south in Pennsylvania, 

 the DeKalb series occupies a large area and includes 

 types of soil less steep and stony and better suited 

 to agricultural development than those in New York. 



From the crest of the Catskill Mountains, westward 

 throughout most of the southern two tiers of coun- 

 ties in New York and reaching westward into Ohio 

 and Pennsylvania, the hill regions are occupied by 

 glacial soils of a uniform character. These soils are 

 generally thinnest, most acid and least fertile on 

 the steep slopes and over the top of the higher hills, 

 and are deepest and most productive in the val- 

 leys and protected coves, especially those valleys hav- 

 ing an east-west direction. The soils are. also rela- 

 tively thickest and best on the northern boundary of 

 the plateau where it joins the Lakes Plains region. 



Five main series of soils are developed in the 

 plateau region, and may be divided into two sub- 

 groups — one characterized by yellow-brown and the 



