CATSKILL GROUP. UK} 



are exposed in Chemung, maj be exposed in Sohoharie and Albany counties, or in the 

 rocks of the eastern pari of the State. Where fossils arc Limited (<> narrow bands, and 

 where their vertical range is small, corresponding strata at two distant points may lie con- 

 cealed at one or (In- other. Tlic kind of distribution alluded to, is thai which prevails. 

 .V stratum from two to twelve indies is loaded with fossils; bul above or below for fifty 

 or one hundred feet, 1 1 n ■ \ are either very scarce or tlo not exist at all. This is the general 

 mode in which they are distributed in thick beds, sandstones and flags, a mode which 

 doe-, nut seem io prevail in calcareous shales and limestones. In these deposits, it is not 

 uncommon to find organic bodies distributed throughout the whole mass. 



Localities wkere the sandstones and flags described above may be examined. Many localities 

 have already been mentioned, at which the strata are well exposed, and afford opportu- 

 nities for observation. At Portage, ami at points intervening between it and MoUntmorris, 

 man] interesting and important facts are disclosed in the deep gorges. All that relates to 

 the power of moving water in excavating rocks, the nature of the rocks themselves, their 

 stratification, etc., are displayed to great advantage. Few fossils only are found, and 

 those not of the most interesting kind. Bodies called fucoids, and which are referred to a 

 class of marine plants, are common. The same are common at Deruyter, Homer, and in 

 the hills in the same geological range for a wide extent east and west of the points named ; 

 also in Oneonta, Harperstield, Summit, Rensselaerville, Virgil and Ithaca. Most parts of 

 the counties of Tioga, Broome, Allegany and Chautauque, are mainly underlaid by this 

 scries of rocks. 



Agricultural characters of the shales, flags and sandstones of the Portage and Chemung 

 rocks. This is not the place to state, with any degree of particularity, the relations which 

 these formations bear to the capabilities of the soil derived from them. They have, however, 

 characters of their own ; that is, peculiarities which distinguish them from calcareous and 

 limestone formations. The greatest chemical difference is found in the absence of lime, 

 except where it is derived from strata at a distance. When the soil is first broken up, 

 some lime may be found ; but cultivation, and the exposure which a cultivated surface 

 suffers from percolation of water, soon removes the calcareous matter. The soil is then a 

 silico-aluminous one, ami may in some places be a stiff hard soil ; in others, the predomi- 

 nance of sand gives it a character directly opposite. The full consideration of the soils of 

 these rocks will come up in another place, where they can be treated in connection with 

 those of other parts of the State. 



§ 4. Catskill group. 



Mr. Vanuxem describes these rocks as consisting of light-colored greenish gray sand- 

 stone, usually hard ; of fine grained red sandstone, red shale or slate ; of dark-colored 

 slate and shale ; of grindstone grit, and a peculiar concretionary or fragmentary mass 

 composed of shale principal!] , cemented by lime. The mass referred to in the last place, 

 varies in thickness from a few inches to two feel, and, from its nature, ma] be regarded as 



[Agricultural Report.] 25 



