CATSKILL GROUP. 
193 
are exposed in Chemung, may be exposed in Schoharie and Albany counties, or in the 
rocks of the eastern part of the State. Where fossils are limited to narrow bands, and 
where their vertical range is small, corresponding strata at two distant points may be con¬ 
cealed at one or the other. The kind of distribution alluded to, is that which prevails. 
A stratum from two to twelve inches is loaded with fossils ; but above or below for fifty 
or one hundred feet, they are either very scarce or do not exist at all. This is the general 
mode in which they are distributed in thick beds, sandstones and flags, a mode which 
does not seem to prevail in calcareous shales and limestones. In these deposits, it is not 
uncommon to find organic bodies distributed throughout the whole mass. 
Localities where the sandstones and flags described above may be examined. Many localities 
have already been mentioned, at which the strata are well exposed, and afford opportu¬ 
nities for observation. At Portage, and at points intervening between it and Mountmorris, 
many interesting and important facts are disclosed in the deep gorges. All that relates to 
the power of moving water 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. Bodies called fucoids, and which are referred to a 
class of marine plants, are common. The same are common at Deruyter, Homer, and in 
the hills in the same geological range for a wide extent east and west of the points named ; 
also in Oneonta, Harpersfield, 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 formations 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 where 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 percolation 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 predomi¬ 
nance of sand gives it a character directly opposite. The full consideration of the soils of 
these rocks will come up in another place, where they can be treated in connection with 
those of other parts of the State. 
§ 4. Catskill group. 
Mr. Vanuxem describes these rocks as consisting of light-colored greenish gray sand¬ 
stone, usually hard ; of fine grained red sandstone, red shale or slate ; of dark-colored 
slate and shale ; of grindstone grit, and a peculiar concretionary or fragmentary mass 
composed of shale principally, cemented by lime. The mass referred to in the last place, 
varies in thickness from a few inches to two feet, and, from its nature, may be regarded as 
[Agricultural Report.] 
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