104 RURAL NEW YORK 



wash from the adjacent land and has accumulated 

 enough organic matter from the remains of plants to 

 have a very dark or black color to the depth of at 

 least a foot. It differs from muck and peat soil in 

 that it is not predominately organic. Sandy loam, 

 loam and clay loam predomiiiate and make first-class 

 soil for grain, hay, and vegetables. The Clyde soils 

 are most extensively develo})ed on the western part 

 of the Ontario plain in Niagara County. 



THE ST. LAWRENCE AND CHAMPLAIN VALLEYS 



This region is made up of a relatively narrow rim 

 of tillable land that reaches around the base of the 

 Adirondack Mountains. Its width along Lake 

 Champlain is narrow and ranges from less than two 

 or three miles to ten or twelve miles in the northern 

 part. The tillable land in the lower valley is ex- 

 ceedingly narrow or entirely absent. In the St. Law- 

 rence Valley the width ranges from ten to about 

 thirty miles, and the inner or mountain border is 

 irregular. 



The topography and soils naturally subdivide into 

 two divisions: the undulating to flat portion at the 

 lower levels that have been covered by glacial lakes ; 

 the higher, rolling to hilly portions covered by glacial 

 till soils. The lake soils are generally quite free from 

 stone and range from heavy clay to light colored 

 sand and gravel. The glacial till soils are moder- 

 ately to prevailingly stony. 



The till soils are subdivided into three main series, 

 based on the predominant character of the rock mate- 



