HTJEON COtrNTY- 293 



The ridge ifi here largely ■composed of the debris of the Huron shale, 

 which is often foiund in bed, a few feet beji«ath its base. The soil on each 

 side is «lay, mingled with a peaty, black mold, indicatiag a wide extent 

 of shallow water resting upon the shales and their clay debris, whick 

 gradually passed into the oonditi'On of a swamp, ultimately filled witfe 

 the swamp vegetation, and slowly drained by the subsidence of the lake, 

 The most abundant forest trees on this soil, are yellow and ewampoaks. 



West of MonroeviUe, at " Four Corners," the ridge becomes iess con- 

 spicuous, but maintains the same elevation, the marginal swamp of the 

 sold lake having been" here quite shallow. Beyond this, to the limit of 

 the county, the ridge has an elevation of only from ten to fifteen feet 

 above the level plain, which stretches away to the north of it. At a 

 point near where the Bellevue road crosses the county line, the lime- 

 atone rock, in bed, imay be seen cropping out of the sand ridge, indicating 

 a low rock bluff, formerly the shore of the lake, which the waves have 

 buried beneath the sand. Where the ridge does not rest upon the bed- 

 •rock, the materials below it are here fifteen to twenty feet c^ silicious, 

 5Dlue day, with afeuaadanoe of granite boulders and pebbles, and fragments 

 ■of shaie, with quicksand below, restiag Jipoa the rocks, and in which a 

 supply of water is reached foy w«lle. 



While the great body of this level land, redaimed froaa the old swamps. 

 Is exceedingly fertile, there is a remarkable exception in a large tract 

 snorth of Monroeville, and extending into Erie county, to which my at- 

 tention wascalled some years before the survey was authorized. The soil 

 as a fine, black, peaty mold, presenting nothing to the eye to distinguish 

 it from the productive corn lands surrounding it. It was cleared and put 

 qinder cultivation, upon the supposition that it was of equal value with 

 the adjacent lands ; but it refsised to tolerate grass, or corn, or any valua- 

 We crop. Here and there an apple tree sprang up, spontaneously seeded, 

 and grew vigorously ; but the principal crop was a small one — a light 

 growth «f weeds. The effort was made to ameliorate a part of it by more 

 thorough drainage, and ditches were opened through it at considerable 

 ■expense; yet the iand wae nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. 

 The soil is comparatively thin, the bed rock coming near the surface ; 

 l)ut equally thin soils, in other places in the neighborhood, are produc- 

 tive, and I am confident this is not the i>eal cause of its infertility. A 

 washing of the soil showed, with litmus-paper test, a decided acid reac- 

 tion, and selected specimens gave the taste of acid when touched by the 

 tongue. The vegetation, also, indicates the presence of acid. The soil 

 lias every element of fertility, and there can be little doubt that this 

 deleterious substance is the sole cause of its steriUtj. If this is so, ii 



