PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS IN NEW YORK 



493 



ence between the southern upland and the lake shore belt in both 



soils and climate is very marked, depending both on elevation 

 and the presence or absence of the moderating influence of the 

 lake. 



The belt under consideration is wholly occupied by the shales 

 of the Portage and Chemung groups of which countless outcrops 

 appear in the valleys and gorges of the region. 



The Portage beds occupy the immediate shore of the lake from 

 Cattaraugus creek, which is the eastern boundary of the county, 

 to the northeastern corner of Ripley township, where they descend 

 to the level of the lake and are succeeded to the westward by the 

 lighter colored but scarcely distinguishable shales of the Che- 

 mung group. Dark bands are frequent in the Chemung series 

 also, but they are not as black as those found in the Portage. 

 The most persistent element, according to Dr J. M. Clarke of the 

 New York survey, is a sandstone bed, the place of which is near 

 the top of the Portage. This bed is well shown in the quarries 

 of Canadaway creek at Laona, three miles above Fredonia, and in 

 the bed and banks of Chautauqua creek near Westfield and in 

 many adjacent ravines. It can be distinctly traced for many 

 miles as it affords the only building stone found in that part of 

 the county and is accordingly opened, at least in a rough way, 

 for neighborhood use, wherever its outcrops occur. The stone is, 

 however, very hard, and has a great number of what the quarry- 

 men call " dry seams," which give rise to frequent and irregular 

 fractures. 



The principal roadways through this belt follow in the main 

 the old lake-ridges or beaches already referred to. The materials 

 of these ridges are almost ideal materials for road making, and 

 the roads of the region consequently have a high degree of excel- 

 lence. There are few finer natural roads in the country than the 

 main road from Buffalo to Cleveland and the Chautauqua section 

 of it shows it to the best advantage. 



The views across the fruitful plain here described from the 

 summits of the uplands which constitute its southern boundary, 

 800 feet above the lake, are of unsurpassed loveliness. They are 

 worth going many miles to see. The one to be obtained from the 

 summit back of Westfield, to the west of Chautauqua creek, may 

 be instanced as among the best. 



