No. 161,] 
171 
lapidated state of the aqueduct at Rochester, constructed of red 
sandstone, whilst the limestone masonry of locks and aqueducts 
preserves its integrity in every instance, through all vicissitudes 
of climate. As Mr. Hitchcock has remarked of the red sandstone 
of Massachusetts, the reddest varieties of the rock in question are 
most subject to disintegration. The sandstone near the top of the 
series, alternates with red shale, both containing Fucoides allegha- 
niensis, the shale seeming to be a mass of them cemented by argil- 
laceous and ferruginous earths. 
West of the primary range and north of the Erie canal, a denu- 
dation of superior strata has greatly reduced the original level of 
the country, and bared the sandstone rocks, which every where in 
this region have given a character to the soils, corresponding to 
the proportion of the varying constituents of the strata. In some 
places the predominance of argillaceous earth in the shales, which 
occupy a position at and near the surface, has caused a reddish clay 
loam to prevail; in others, the soil is decidedly sandy, and every 
where there is a deficiency of carbonate of lime. East of Oswego 
river, there is a sandy zone or ridge, marked by the predominance 
of pine among its forest trees, which some observers have suppos- 
ed to be a continuation of the celebrated ridge road; but it has no 
claims to the well defined and uniform character of that curious 
highway. It might, however, originally have existed, and been 
subsequently modified or partially destroyed by inundations, which, 
since the partial drainage of Lake Ontario, have certainly, in many 
places, obliterated all traces of its ancient shore. 
This formation comprises the only series of strata in the district 
which is entirely deficient in limestone layers or calcareous shales, 
and the entire thickness is probably not more than 200 feet. 
On the use of Lime as a Manure. 
In consequence of the general absence of calcareous earth in all 
the soil of this region, or the little they may contain being derived 
from the few pebbles and limestone gravel on the surface, the ag- 
riculture of this portion of the State needs the fertilizing agency 
of lime to render it equal in productiveness to the more favored 
districts. This inestimable material may be brought at little ex- 
pense from some of the ports on the lake, where it abounds, or 
from the Erie canal district, by the way of the Oswego canal. In 
the latter case, it would be cheaper to erect kilns on the banks of 
the Oswego river or canal, where the neighboring forests furnish 
