12 



Relations of Geology to Agriculture 



region. Salt is largely manufactured from the water of these 

 springs, especially at Syracuse, where the annual produce amounts 

 to 125,000 tons, about a fourth of the whole annual con- 

 sumption of the United States. 



This group of rocks consists in descending order of, — 

 a. Green calcareous shales and shaly limestone, rich in 

 magnesia. 



h. Calcareous shales and impure limestones, containing de- 

 posits of gypsum. 



c. Green marls and shales, and shaly limestones. 



d. Green marls, with bands of red marls. 



The formation as a whole is crumbling, friable, and rich in 

 calcareous matter. The soils it produces are consequently rich, 

 free, and easily worked. It has an average thickness of about 

 1200 feet, and forms a belt of generally level but undulating 

 land, with a gentle inclination towards the lake. It runs east for 

 upwards of 100 miles beyond the line of section N S in the map, 

 and westward across the Niagara river, round Lake Ontario, and 

 far into Western Canada. An inspection of the map will show 

 that this belt occupies a large proportion of the whole area of the 

 district. Its average breadth is 10 or 12 miles, the latter being 

 its breadth on the Niagara river. In the line of section N S, its 

 breadth suddenly expands to between 20 and 30 miles. Towards 

 the east it narrows off, and disappears as we approach Schnectady 

 and the Hudson river, while in Western Canada it expands to a 

 maximum breadth of about 80 miles.* In this western region, 

 therefore, the Onondaga salt group forms a large area of rich 

 land, profitable in Indian corn, but especially in wheat. 



During a stay of a few days at Syracuse, I visited the farm of 

 the Hon. Mr. Geddes, a member of the State senate, and, under 

 his guidance, had the satisfaction of surveying a considerable 

 extent of this formation, so very interesting in its geological, 

 agricultural, and economical relations. This gentleman is the 

 owner of 300 acres of the best quality of land which occurs on this 

 formation, and, like nearly all the owners in this country, lives 

 upon and farms his land himself. The soil I found to be a light- 

 coloured calcareous clay, which crumbles readily and never bakes. 

 It is generally shallow, and rests on one of the green shaly 

 rocks above mentioned. This shale crumbles readily in the air, 

 and, by exposure, becomes paler in colour, forming the light- 

 coloured soil of which the farm consists. 



This neighbourhood, in its general aspect, appeared to me 

 more like a part of Old England than of a newly cleared or 

 settled country. Of Mr. Geddes's 300 acres, 270 were in arable 



* See some additional remarks on this point in the concluding paragraphs of the 

 present paper. 



