194 
[Assembly 
and these are the situations where vegetatimi is luxuriant , and would 
favor, to a great extent, the accumulation of vegetable matter. There 
are other facts which favor this view, which will be stated hereafter. 
The farther prosecution of the agricultural character of the county^ 
must be deferred until more perfect analyses are made of the soils al- 
ready collected, or until the collections for this object are complete. 
This may be facilitated much, if agriculturists could be induced to for- 
ward specimens of soil, collected and put up as directed in the circu- 
lar of last spring. 
Having stated some of the leading facts in relation to the nature of 
the soil of St. Lawrence, I pass now to the consideration of that part 
of the service which belongs to geology proper, or in other words, to 
the description of the rocks. The general formations to which they 
belong are three; primitive, transition and tertiary. The consideration 
of the last will be omitted in this report. Of the two former, it may 
be said, that they occupy about equal areas in the county. The first 
or primary, is the surface rock, of all the southeastern townships. The 
division line between the primary and transition passes through Ham- 
mond, Gouverneur, De Kalb, Canton, Potsdam, Parishville and Hopkin- 
ton. The townships bordering the river, together with portions of the 
adjacent, are transition. At Hammond Landing, the primary and tran- 
sition may be seen in clo^ proximity, and probably are in contact; 
from this point, the line of division, as just stated, stretches away in a 
zig-zag direction, to Hopkinton. Of the different members of the pri- 
mary rocks, gneiss is the principal. Associated, and interlamenated 
with it, to some extent, is hornblende. Other rocks intertrude irregu- 
larly in the form of beds and veins, as serpentine, soapstone, rensse- 
laerite, granite and primitive limestone. 
The gneiss district extends eastward to the intersection of the old 
State road and the Oswegatchie, a point about ten miles below Cran- 
berry lake. From this point of intersection, a line being drawn to 
Duane, in FrankHn county, will mark the eastern limit of the gneiss 
district. To the eastward of this, lies an extensive formation, impor- 
tant as well as interesting, but will not be described until I take up the 
Geology of Essex; remarking here only, that it is a member of the 
granitic family, and will be described as the Hypersthene rock. It is 
the supporter of the great beds of magnetic iron ore in the county of 
Essex, and also those of Chaumont. 
It will be perceived, that the lines of division which I have drawn 
as the boundaries of the great geological formation of the country, run 
