GEOLOGY OF THE FOURTH DISTRICT. 
Marshes and Swamps. 
The Cayuga marshes occupy a part of the town of Savannah, surrounding both sides of 
Crusoe island, and extend beyond Crusoe lake into the south part of Butler. These marshes 
contain a deposit of calcareous marl, apparently equal in extent to that of the marshes. The 
Erie canal is cut through them for several miles, and penetrates the marl to the depth of five 
or six feet. This marl contains abundance of freshwater shells. 
One mile west of Newark, a bed of shell marl appears in the banks of the Erie canal. It 
is whitish, and contains shells similar to the preceding. The depth of this bed is unknown, 
but it is probably small. It extends about one mile along the course of the canal. 
In the south part of the town of Williamson, at Cooper’s swamp, is a thin bed of whitish 
marl, containing shells similar to the preceding. 
The calcareous marl above mentioned consists principally of carbonate of lime, with a lit¬ 
tle vegetable matter, and is in an earthy or friable state, perfectly adapted to employment as a 
manure. We are not aware, however, that it is at present applied to any useful purpose ; but 
we conceive that it is equal in value to our western plaster, and may be a better application 
to some lands. We would suggest to the intelligent farmers in the vicinity of the Cayuga 
marshes, who may penetrate this marl in the course of ditching, to make a comparative trial 
of this article with the neighboring plaster. 
A cranberry swamp was noticed at the head of Port bay, about three miles in length and 
one and a half in breadth ; it shakes, is movable, and at times an acre or more has become 
detached and floated into the water. 
Boulders . 
Primitive boulders are noticed in abundance in Wayne county, but they do not occur of a 
large size ; they seldom exceed half a ton in weight. Some of them could be distinguished 
as of similar character to rocks in the northern counties of the State ; and among all the er¬ 
ratic masses which I have noticed, none were considered to be of southern origin. A great 
variety of primitive boulders occur in and about the village of Clyde; also in the town of 
Butler. 
Soil. 
South of the ridge the soil consists of a sandy loam, lightest, as the farmers say, on the 
west side of hills, and strongest and best on the eastern sides. This may be owing partly to 
exposure, and to the circumstance that the western sides of hills are frequently bared of snow 
by the westerly winds of winter. Beach, maple and bass-wood generally prevail on the east 
sides of hills, and hemlock on the west. North of the ridge, the surface is decidedly more 
sandy ; yet in Wolcott and other towns in the south part of the county, the soil is generally 
productive, and the crops are good: it is a grain-growing country. 
