Steaming Food for Stock. 37 
which the strata are well exposed, and afford opportunities for ob- 
servation. At Portage, and at points intervening between it and 
Mount Morris, many interesting and important facts are disclosed 
in the deep gorges. All that relates to the power of moving wa- 
ter in excavating rocks, the nature of the rocks themselves, their 
stratification, etc., are displayed to great advantage. Few fossils 
only are found, and those not of the most interesting kind. Bo- 
dies called fucoids, and which are referred to a class of marine 
plants, are common. The same are common at De Ruyter, Ho- 
mer, and in the hills in the same geological range for a wide 
extent east and west of the points named; also, in Oneonta, Har- 
persfield. Summit, Rensselaerville, Virgil and Ithaca. Most parts 
of the counties of Tioga, Broome, Allegany and Chautauque, are 
mainly underlaid by this series of rocks. 
Agricultural characters of the shales, flags and sandstones of 
the Portage and Chemung rocks. This is not the place to state, 
with any degree of particularity, the relations which these forma- 
tions bear to the capabilities of the soil derived from them. They 
have, however, characters of their own ; that is, peculiarities 
which distinguish them from calcareous and limestone formations. 
The greatest chemical difference is found in the absence of lime, 
except when it is derived from strata at a distance. When the 
soil is first broken up, some lime may be found; but cultivation, 
and the exposure which a cultivated surface suffers from percola- 
tion of water, soon removes the calcareous matter. The soil is 
then a silico-aluminous one, and may in some places be a stiff, 
hard soil; in others, the predominance of sand gives it a charac- 
ter directly opposite. — Mat. Hist. Mew York. 
STEAMING FOOD FOR STOCK. 
At the annual meeting of the Ross Agricultural Society, T. 
Batson, Esq., said — " There are two matters of a practical nature 
which, with your permission, I should like to introduce to your 
notice. The first is the system of steaming food. I believe that 
this year it will be impossible to calculate the great advantages 
that will be gained by the use of the steaming apparatus. I have 
myself been able to steam hay perfectly white with mould, which 
afterwards cattle and sheep would eat in preference to the best 
hay that could be cut from the middle of a rick. At this moment 
I am using steamed turnips for pigs; and I have pigs on my farm 
which, for the last month, have been increasing at the rate of 20 
pounds a week. This, perhaps, is not very extraordinary, but I 
think you will not find many instances of pigs increasing in 
weight to such an extent, and it shows what the system of steam- 
ing is calculated to effect." — Mark Lane Express, 
