158 
[Assembly 
New-York. Prof. Cassels reports that oxide of manganese occurs half 
a mile east of Mr. Joseph GoodselPs; it is inferior in quality.* 
It is probable that 50,000 tons of wadd could be procured in Colum- 
bia and Dutchess counties, without any great expense, and if carefully 
prepared would be a valuable article of trade. At $20 per ton it would 
be worth $1,000,000. 
This ore is extensively employed in the manufacture of glass, and of 
the chloride of lime, or bleaching powder. Large quantities are con- 
sumed in chemical factories in New- York and other places. Their sup- 
plies are chiefly derived from Vermont and Germany. 
Tertiary Clays ^ Loams ^ and Marls. 
Clay is very abundant and extensively diffused in Columbia and 
Dutchess counties. It forms the sub-soil, or exists at a greater depth 
below the gravel and sand beds which form the extensive plains along 
the elevated banks of the Hudson river, and in the valleys of its tribu- 
tary streams. There are two kinds, viz. the blue and the gray clay. 
They are almost uniformly associated with each other, the blue lying 
below the other. Their line of junction is generally very distinctly 
marked. They are horizontally stratified, except where slides or some 
local disturbance has recently taken place. These clays are very fine 
and free from grit. The gray is striped with numerous thin layers, 
which vary in color. Mr. Finch notices the occurrences of pyrites and 
fossil wood in these clays,t but I have not yet observed them. 
Both the gray and blue clays are calcareous, effervescing when moist- 
ened by an acid, and have been mistaken for marl. They are, in fact, 
a kind of marl, and marly clay would be a proper name for them. They 
may be used with great advantage on sandy or light loamy soils. The 
clay would be a permanent benefit to those soils, while the calcareous 
ingredient would afford a lime which is considered a necessary element in 
soils on which wheat is cultivated. 
It is believed that the marly clays and clayey marls of the Hudson 
valley, would be a valuable fertihzer of the soils of Long Island, but 
experience must determine whether most benefit can be derived, at the 
same expense, by using clay and lime, or these marls, to dress the soil. 
Both the gray and blue clays are extensively used in the manufacture 
of bricks on the banks of the Hudson river. It is unnecessary to spe- 
« Oxide of manganese is said to occur near Ancram lead mine. Cleveland's Min. Robin- 
son's Catalogue of Minerals, p. 114. 
t American Journal of Science. X. p. 229. 
