it 1 SOILS FROM THE 



ilie object to be attained i> surrounded with difficulties, and where every ray of light is 

 wanted to illuminate dark and obscure points. I pon agriculture all the lern sciences 



1 their lights, some more and some less; all, however, impart something, and lend 



their aid to its promotion. In tins office geologj is behind none other, unless it be che- 



rtry, whose range is not only great, but minute, affecting every and all departments. 



real manj tacts strict!] geological have an important bearing upon the subject before 

 i.- : >u. li as the nature of die rock, us structure and position, its composition, its relations 

 to moisture, and liability to solution. The position of the io<ks of a district, as has been 

 already remarked in the fust chapter, is always an important point, and in some cases all 

 thai • - ball] requisite; for they often add value to their possession, even when they 



can not he turned to account directly m the cultivation of the soil. 



Under tie- influence of these considerations, and others of minor importance which it is 

 unnecessary to state, I propose 1" give first of all a recapitulation of the geology of New- 

 York, with a \ iew of applying all the facts which hear upon agriculture to its illustration. 

 For the convenience of description, I shall pursue the plan adopted in the geological re- 

 ports, namely, that of describing the rocks in the ascending order; and this will lead me 



-,ieak of them in the order of the districts which I have already briefly described, ;""! 



which the State has been divided. 

 The m\ diMncis coinciding nearly with si\ groups of rocks, each of these groups respec- 

 tively impart to the overlying soil some of it* Hiwtingniatiing characters, or in a good mea- 

 sure make it what it is. Modifying influences, however, independent of the geological 

 formation, have done something as diluvial or transporting agents, by which soils origi- 

 nating and formed at a distance have been brought lo and distributed over adjacent dis- 

 tricts. Still it will he found on examination that the underlying rocks have given a 

 stronger character to the soft materials than has usually been supposed, leaving out of 

 some areas in every district where drift has lodged in deep beds. 

 In . stim >' "i r the amount of soil furnished by groups of rocks, we an- necessarily obliged 

 to observe the nature of the masses. Many of the shales and -. nd tiny ■■cur in 



almost everj group, disintegrate rapidly, the action being favored Loth by water and frost: 

 the ti:-:. penetrating between the laminae, partially separates them; and in some : nstances 

 ie other agent is required t" effect an entire destruction of a stratum, especially where 

 tting and drying alternately occur. In other cases, the assistance of frost is required 



omplete reduction of the strata to sod. 



Limestones are liable to a constant Inss of material by solvent properties of rain-water, 



which holds carbonic acid in solution; and this operation is favored by a rough or uneven 



surface, where the water stands for a time. On a polished surface, the action of water 



and other agents is very slow and inconsiderable even after the lapse of several years, as 



proved by the durability of the marbles used in the construction of monuments, and by 



of other rocks when carefully smoothed : whereas upon the exposed sin faces ofquar- 



ihe slop i are often deeply grooved by the water which slowly trickles over 



