358 
SUMMARY. 
XIV. SUMMARY OF THE LEADING FACTS WHICH HAVE BEEN ASCERTAINED 
RESPECTING THE SOILS OF NEW-YORK. 
1. The soils of New-York are often modified by the rock upon which they rest. Their 
composition, however, always differs from the rock, even when it is apparent that they 
were derived directly from the strata upon which they repose, or are in immediate con¬ 
tact. The differences are found to consist principally in the presence of those matters 
which are soluble by water when aided by carbonic acid, as carbonate of lime and 
magnesia. The soluble organic matters exist in a proportion greater in the soils than in 
the rocks ; though all sedimentary rocks contain soluble organic matters, especially the 
decomposable shales and slates. The hard limestones exert but little effect or influence 
upon the composition of the soils : the most important office which they perform is me¬ 
chanical, and the soil upon them is usually drier than upon the compact sandstones and 
shales. 
2. The composition of the soils of the Eastern or Taconic district differs from that of 
Central and Western New^-York, or those which belong to the Wheat district. The first 
contain a greater amount of the phosphates of lime, alumina, iron and magnesia ; the last, 
a greater amount of nitrogenous matters. The derivation of the first may be traced to the 
rock upon which they rest: the same fact has been shown in respect to the last; and it is 
the peculiar constitution of the rock which makes them wheat soils, or gives them a fitness 
to sustain and perfect the wheat crop for a succession of years. 
3. It has been shown that the soils of the Eastern district are closely allied to the 
Southern, or to those which rest upon the shales situated above the Onondaga limestone, 
particularly in the northern part of the Southern district. We find, in this range, soils 
which contain the phosphates, and which are fitted for the culture of maize. The amount 
of this crop is greater than upon the wheat soils below; and although wheat was for¬ 
merly grown in the early settlement of the country, and may have been an important 
crop upon this higher shelf of land, still experience proves that it is not a durable crop ; 
that it is more liable to shrink ; and that now only spring wheat is attempted to be raised 
upon the lands, after they have been cultivated for a few years. 
4. The soil of the Southern district is shown, by analysis, to be deficient in lime and 
magnesia. The lime which exists in it is mostly in combination with the organic acids, 
and is more abundant in the surface soil than in the subsoil. The vallies, those especially 
which are watered by the Susquehannah, Allegany and their tributaries, are better supplied 
with lime than the soils of the hill-sides. 
5. The geological formations which are most favorable to the production of the greatest 
number of important crops, are those of the western and central part of the State ; inas¬ 
much as their peculiar composition, and the speedy disintegration of the rocks upon which 
