TACONIC DISTRICT. 251 



those of a sandy district are soft, while those which issue from the slate rocks are charged 

 moderately with iron. 



The water of a spring at Hoosic falls contained 1-48 grains of earthy and vegetable mat- 

 ter in solution. It gave 



Organic matter 1*00 



Carbonate of lime 0*36 



Magnesia 0-48 



In addition to these substances, there may be added a small amount of chlorine and sul- 

 phuric acid. 



Nature of the surface of the taconic district. 



The condition of the surface of a country exerts a modifying influence upon its agricul- 

 tural productions : some being developed only in high situations, and others only in low 

 ones ; some in rocky localities, and others in the rich level alluvions and plains. Steep 

 and stony or rocky lands are devoted to pasturage, while the farmer seeks out the level 

 tracts for his meadows and his grain-fields. Oats and peas, as well as grass, may be cul- 

 tivated in regions more elevated than those adapted for corn. 



The direction in which mountains and hills range is not a matter of indifference to the 

 agriculturist. A ridge running east and west has one cold side, while hills running north 

 and south receive the light and heat of the sun more equally, and yet the western slope is 

 not so well esteemed as the eastern. The dawn of the morning sun quickens the fluids of 

 vegetables : their vitality is awakened at an early hour in the day, and the impulse pro- 

 longs its effects to the setting sun ; hence, to the vegetation on the eastern slope, the day 

 is longer. 



The mountains and hills of the Taconic district pursue a northerly direction. The Ta- 

 conic range forms the dividing ridge between New- York and Massachusetts. Its height is 

 from twelve to sixteen hundred feet in the bounds of New-York. It is a slate ridge, with 

 a granular limestone at the eastern base and a sparry limestone at the western base. All 

 the ridges, whether high or low, have a direction parallel to the main ridge dividing the 

 two States. These minor ridges are also composed of slate, and the limestones usually 

 occupy the vallies, as well as the sides of the mountains farther east and adjacent to the 

 Primary system. 



Proceeding westward from the main range of the Taconic mountains, their height and 

 steepness diminish to the Hudson river, and there are no elevated plains. The principal 

 plains border the valley of the Hudson, and are rather sandy, with an underlay of clay. 



The arrangement of the hills of this district is such as to favor vegetation, and to admit 

 and even invite useful improvements in draining and irrigation. Generally the slopes are 

 gentle, but steeper upon the western than the opposite side. The hills are susceptible of 

 cultivation to their very tops, and are not broken by the rugged outcropping of rocks (See 

 the woodcut on page 79, which illustrates the contour of the Taconic hills, their arrange- 



32* 



