3 PLAN OF THE WuRK. 



The tirsi subject upon whieb 1 dial] treat 'a the topography of the State, or those natural 

 ns which bear bo strongly upon its agriculture. In this connection, I shall furnish 

 all the important facta relating to temperature. These are both important subjects, and 

 to be t~i 1 1 1 > understood for pursuing understandinglj anj Bystem of farming, or 

 for determining upon the introduction or the aecesnt] of rejecting a particular crop, espe- 

 cially is it essential that all those who had public opinion in matters of fanning and 

 production, as the officers and influential members of Btate and county societies, should 

 know the countrj and its capabilities; and these capabilities can not be properly determined 

 without an acquaintance with the surface of the country, with its exposures, its height 

 above tide water, and its mean annual temperature. 



In the second place, 1 propose to treat of the rocks and their position, both geologically 

 and geographically. The rocks arc the parents of the present soil. It may not be that a 

 single rock h;i- produced an extensive soil of a particular character, but a combination of 

 them h.iN undoubtedly done so; and their debris will be found spreading widely, and 

 giving character to extensive tracts of country: Admitting this view, certain inquiries 

 would naturall] grow out of it. What is the character of the soil, derived as we say from 

 certain parent rocks ? What are its elements '. What changes will it undergo by cultiva- 

 tion? To what crops is it adapted; and when it loses its fertility, will the parent masses 

 furnish the means of regenerating it, or of bringing it back to its original fertility? Many 

 other questions of a similar nature would come up ; but these are sufficient to show that a 

 knowledge of the rocks, the parents of the soil, is import. mi in agriculture. 



There are siill other questions in geology which are full of importance to agriculture, as 

 the following : How do the rocks lie in then: beds; are the] vertical, inclined or horizon- 

 tal I These are important points 111 the art of draining; and in some localities, it is abso- 

 lutely impossible to drain without this knowledge. In this connection, too, I might speak 

 of fractures or dial . and of trap dykes; as a knowledge of their existence is also 



important in the practice of draining. 



having treated of agricultural geology, as it is termed, I shall proceed to the con- 

 sideration of vegetable and animal products, their elements and their origin; and of the 

 process of nutrition and assimilation, subjects usually termed physiological. 



I til my design to state what is known of the soils of New- York, their composi- 



tion, and their adaptat ion to particular kinds of husbandry. Probably few States possess 

 a greater range of soils, or are so well adapted to so great a variety of productions. In 

 taken as a whole, it would he difficult to mark out upon the terrestrial globe a spot 

 as large as New-York, whose capabilities of production come up to her standard ; whose 

 general relations are so important ; where there are so many great centres of business • 

 where there are so many and such large channels of wealth, and all flowing to one me- 

 tropolis ; or, in fine, whose natural resources can come up to the full measure of this 

 commonwealth. 



