• [Assembly 
ply of the calcareous earth, and without doubt the use of lime and 
gypsum would render the soil capable of producing wheat crops 
equal to any in the State* We speak only of those portions of ths 
formation which we have cursorily examined, there may be places 
where the superficial stratum is more calcareous and the soil of 
better quality, but the rocks where we had an opportunity to ob^ 
tain specimens, did not effervesce with acids, except in one or two 
localities, and then very slightly. 
This slight sketch is intended to give a general view of the dif- 
ferent subdivisions of one vast group, all deposited at different geo- 
l(»gical epochs, and varying from each other in organic contents 
and mineral character* All of them appear at the surface in some 
portion of their range, and thus from their various compositions, a 
diversity of soils has resulted favorable to a variety of crops. A 
farmer need only ascertain the constituent materials of his soils, in 
which he will often be assisted by an examination of the neighbor- 
ing rocks, to ascertain what crops will be most likely to repay his 
labor, and what manures will be most suitable to melioriate or en- 
rich his soil. A knowledge of the range of these subdivisions, will 
often enable us to ascertain where certain rocks of great value for 
architectural purposes m?,y be quarried at certain depths beneath 
the superficial deposite of clay, sand or gravel, and will also save 
us the useless labor of searching for them where geology teaches 
us they cannot be found. Thus we would in vain expect to find the 
gray limestone of Onondaga and Auburn beneath the gypsum beds 
or the blue limestone of Trenton Falls, or the iron stratum of 
Wolcott, so valuable in many distant localities, above the gypsum 
or below the dark slates of the Mohawk valley. In all doubtful 
cases of superposition, where one rock cannot be traced in connex- 
ion with others of the series, and such, in localities where the stra- 
tification is much disturbed, continually occur, we have recourse, 
if there be any, to organic remains which have been carefully 
studied and compared where the rocks are horizontal and the or^ 
der of superposition obvious. 
Gneiss. 
In the Mohawk valley, we first meet with this rock, travelling 
westward, near the hills called the Noses, in the town of Root, 
Montgomery county, and again at Little-Falls in Herkimer county, 
at which latter place it forms the most prominent part of Fall MIL 
These ridges of gneiss are a prolongation of the northern primary 
