SOUTHERN DISTRICT. 
307 
5. SOUTHERN DISTRICT. 
A difference in the natural productions of the higher grounds of the southern tier of 
counties, or those bordering Pennsylvania, has not escaped the notice of agriculturists ; and 
a hasty reference to my geological observations on this part of the State, is all that will 
be necessary to convince an unprejudiced person that many of the differences which have 
been observed in the natural as well as the cultivated productions, are due to the peculiar 
formations of this portion of the commonwealth. Height undoubtedly exercises conside¬ 
rable influence upon the vegetation of this district, but it is not probable that to height 
alone can be attributed the differences which have been observed in respect to the pro¬ 
ducts of the soil. 
For the purpose of a general reference, the northern limits of the Southern district 
extend to the middle of Seneca and Cayuga lakes. This boundary line, prolonged east 
and west as far as to the spurs of the Catskills, or the head waters of the Mohawk and 
Lake Erie, completes the northern boundary of the district. Otsego, Schoharie, Greene and 
Albany counties, intercept this line eastwardly. The vallies of these counties, however, 
contain much valuable wheat soil; but it is not continuous to a great extent: it does not 
produce the perfect grain in its seasons. The straw is weak, and the grain more liable to 
shrink. It is not full and plump as the wheat of the Genesee valley and the adjacent 
districts. 
This district is hilly, and the vallies which traverse it are narrow. From this district, 
too, the waters flow both to the north and south. Without being precipitous, as in the 
Highland district, it is still quite steep in the ascents and descents ; and a very large 
proportion of the farming operations are conducted on the slopes of ridges and hills, all of 
which were originally covered with a heavy growth of timber. Upon the higher grounds, 
the hemlock, spruce and fir are the most common. In many places, a mixture of beech, 
birch, maple, ash, hemlock, pine and spruce, is the form which the vegetation assumes. 
Its growth is heavy and dense, the character of which is well exhibited in the cut on the 
preceding page. 
The soil is usually deep, sometimes in consequence of the accumulations which probably 
were made during the Drift period, and partly from the friable nature of the rocks beneath. 
These rocks, for moderate distances, appear horizontal. Uplifts have rarely deranged the 
original position of the strata. Immense sections of the rocks, however, have been re¬ 
moved ; and hence the sides of the vallies have their corresponding strata upon the same 
level. The debris"of the rocks so far modify the accumulations of drift, that it gives the 
soil a peculiar character, and fits it for certain kinds of husbandry. Butter, cheese, wool, 
and the rearing of cattle, become objects of prime importance. 
We may now inquire more particularly what peculiarity in the composition of the soil 
controls the husbandry of this district ? We have no doubt it is principally the composition 
39* 
