116 RURAL NEW YORK 



This has been done only to a very slight extent. 

 Such land is saline and usually bears a dense growth 

 of grass. However, a few seasons of protection from 

 the tide, coupled with leaching by the rains would 

 make the tillable land suitable for crop production. 



The inland fresh water swamps, native and re- 

 claimed, have an aggregate area of about 2000 square 

 miles. A number of tliese, including one of the 

 largest, are situated in the Hudson Valley. There 

 are a number of important areas in the Champlain 

 and St. Lawrence valleys and in the southern 

 plateau region, but the greater part in number and 

 area are in the Great Lakes plain. From Oneida and 

 Oswego counties west to Buffalo and south into the 

 Finger Lakes region, large and small areas of swamp 

 and marsh land dot the surface. The intervals be- 

 tween the drumlins are a common position. The 

 small areas are usually deep and are kept quite wet 

 by springs on the border. The large areas are shal- 

 low sheets wbere border springs are not so well able 

 to maintain the water level. 



The larger areas of muck soil are in the Wallkill 

 marshes in southern Orange County; the Cicero and 

 Eome areas near Oneida Lake ; the Montezuma 

 marshes on Seneca River; the Oak Orchard area on 

 the north line of Genesee County and the Pope Mills 

 area east of Black Lake in St. Lawrence County. 

 A large number of small areas lie among the drumlins 

 ■" in Wayne ounty and in the hollows in the surface 

 of Oswego County. 



A large part of this land is still undeveloped, ex- 



