OSWEGO COUNTY. 
271 
east end, and broader at the west end, which is occupied by the Clinton group, the latter 
forming the last and the most southern mass of the county. 
Besides the large area covered by the Red sandstone, it appears as an outlier or insulated 
mass to the northeast of Redfield village, on the east side of Mad river. 
The Red sandstone is the lowest rock of that section of the State, which contains brine 
springs. They are found from place to place, from the east to the west end of its range in 
the State. By boring, salt water no doubt could be obtained below many parts of its surface. 
The localities where it makes its appearance in the county, are in the town of Palermo, on 
the land of George G. Grizzle; and in the town of Hastings, at Mr. Kenyon’s. The red 
sandstone is, in many parts of this county, a good building stone, and valuable as a lining for 
furnaces. 
Clinton group. Very little of this group is seen in the county, being thickly covered in 
most places by alluvion, concealing the group; its position is determined by its range in 
Oneida and Cayuga counties, and its shale appears on the south side of the outlet of Oneida 
lake, and at a few other points near its river. 
In no part of the county, was the Oneida conglomerate seen as a solid rock or mass ; but 
that it had existence in the county, appears obvious from the great number of blocks of this 
rock to the east of Cleveland, along the shore, and to the left of the road towards Rome. 
The surface of the county is free from high hills, and generally level. The most elevated 
portions lie towards the northeast, with the surface inclining south and east, and the drains 
mostly emptying into Salmon river, whose course is nearly east and west in the county, being 
north of the long water shed that ranges through it. 
From Oneida county to Oswego river near Fulton, the surface of the county inclines in 
opposite directions: about one half sloping to the north, with its waters flowing into Lake 
Ontario; and the other half to the south, its waters passing into Oneida lake and its river. 
The difference of level between the two lakes being 141^ feet, gives a greater declivity to the 
northern slope. 
Like all the counties to the south of Lake Ontario, and north of the Helderberg range, its 
surface is more or less covered with alluvion, consisting of clay, loam, sand and gravel, either 
diffused over its surface, or disposed in hills and ridges. From the profusion of these mate¬ 
rials, very little soil is to be seen which is the result of its rocks in place, the greater part 
being transported matter. Where soil from the decomposition of the rock in place appears, 
it is in limited areas or patches; appearing to be more abundant in that part of the county 
covered with the sandstone shale of Pulaski, than any other portion of it. 
7. Madison County. 
The northern part of this county is low and flat, forming a part of the Great level, which 
enters from Oneida with the same rocks, and to which a large proportion of the red shale is 
added, thereby increasing the breadth of the level, and the group to which it belongs. The 
