490 
GEOLOGY OF THE FOURTH DISTRICT. 
to the duties of the husbandman. When it shall, and when the lands of the valleys enjoy the 
cultivation given to the flats of the Genesee and Mohawk, there are portions of Cattaraugus 
that will present fine farms and yield valuable incomes. 
The beds of clay, marl, tufa, bog-iron and manganese, and the swamps are mostly in the 
depressions of the alluvium. 
The surface soil is a yellowish loam, chiefly composed of disintegrated sandstone and shale. 
It has been washed down from the hill sides and cliff’s, by rains and the melting of snows, and 
emptied into the streams which, in their overflowings, spread it out upon the low lands of the 
valleys. It is the principal soil of the Allegany valley, and of the flats along the Cattaraugus 
creek. 
Clay, in shallow beds, is found more or less in the valleys, but to no extent was it seen 
upon the higher lands. That of the Conewango is by far the largest seen. It is observed at 
Randolph in several places, and probably underlies a great portion of the immense lowlands 
and swamps. It is seen a mile west of Waverly in strata, and alternating with gravel and 
sand in an alluvial hill directly south of Waverly village. It is found about a mile south of 
New-Albion, a hundred yards from the mouth of a tributary to the stream, along which the 
road passes. 
In the towns of Great-Valley and Little-Valley, the “ sags” or depressions in which the 
clay is formed, contain more or less extensive bodies of peat. The largest is upon the land 
of Mr. Sweetland. About ten acres are spread over by the bog; and the depth of peat varies 
from a foot or two near the margin, to more than twelve towards the centre. As a manure, 
and as a substitute for coal and w r ood, this bed in particular, and the smaller ones in propor¬ 
tion to their extent, must become of value. For the improvement of lands, the peat may be 
appropriated immediately and with great profit on most farms. 
The occurrence of peat is generally indicated by the growth of dwarfish evergreens, and 
rank swamp herbage, and by the elasticity of the crust which supports them. 
There is an extensive bed of marl about two miles from Lodi, upon a small branch of the 
Cattaraugus creek. It lies southeast from the village, and about a quarter of a mile from the 
mouth of the branch. A kiln has been in operation a number of years, and several thousand 
bushels are burned annually. 
In the east part of Otto, upon the land of Mr. Sias, a bed of marl covers between three and 
four acres, and is from a few inches to four feet -deep. About one thousand bushels have 
been burned annually. With this marl there are no foreign substances, except now and then 
a little vegetable mould, which all disappears in the process of burning. Estimating the area 
at three and a half acres, and the average depth at one foot, we have 122,500 bushels, a 
quantity that will supply the demand, should it increase to three thousand bushels annually, 
for forty years to come. 
A small bed of tufa furnished a few kilns with lime in Dutch hollow, in the town of Ash¬ 
ford, but is now nearly exhausted. A number of small beds have been found near the resi¬ 
dence of Mr. Sias, and we were informed that a bed of some extent had been discovered in 
