28 
THE CULTIVATOR 
(Ics Lois,” a writer, the most philosophical and liberal 
of his time, “ that it is not those countries which possess 
the greatest fertility, which are the best cultivated, but 
those which have secured the most liberty.” I find this 
suggestion so flattering to our hopes, eloquently com¬ 
mented upon by a late distinguished agriculturist of our 
country, in an address which he delivered before the 
Agricultural Society of Pennsylvania, and I gladly avail 
myself of this opportunity to pay to his memory a tribute 
of respect,which is due, in a more eminent degree, to but 
one other name in the history of American farmers and 
patriots. With many other improvements in agriculture. 
Judge Peters was emphatically the author of the plaster 
and clover culture. The time which your patience will 
allow me to occupy on this occasion, will not permit me 
to recount the many experiments, at once ingenious and 
philosophical, with which he demonstrated the wonder¬ 
ful efficacy of plaster,nor the efforts, equally persevering 
and philanthropic,with which he labored to introduce in¬ 
to general practice, this great fertilizer. He succeeded. 
None but those well acquainted with the course of hus¬ 
bandry in our wheat growing districts, can estimate how 
much of the eighty-four millions annually produced in 
our country, is owing to the introduction of plaster and 
clover. The benefits of this improvement are to be 
counted by annual millions; and I call it up to your at¬ 
tention, not only to pay the debt of gratitude due to its 
distinguished author, but as an incentive to those who, 
with the better instruments of a more advanced science, 
have the same field of practical improvement before 
them. It is happily the nature of human knowledge 
that the more it achieves, the larger is the field of 
achievement. As the outer circle of invention and dis¬ 
covery is pushed farther and farther from the center, the 
more numerous and of a higher order are the objects 
which present themselves to the investigation of those 
whose lofty ambition it is to add something to the mass 
of human attainment. 
The Society has endeavored to contribute something to 
this onward movement by offering prizes for essays upon 
the application of science to agriculture. I trust that the 
result will vindicate the wisdom of this policy, and lead 
to its continuance. 
In this country, with just laws, justly administered, 
where the popular voice can promptly correct every op¬ 
pressive enactment, where, with common schools and an 
untrammeled press, knowledge circulates as freely al¬ 
most, as the air we breathe, it would be surprising, and 
not less discreditable than surprising, if agricultural im¬ 
provement did not keep pace with the progress of the 
country in every other respect. For one, I have no 
fears on this point; I believe that our progress, with or 
without Agricultural Societies—though always greatly 
accelerated by them—is to be decided and rapid. I am not 
however, unaware, nor should we ever lose sight of the 
fact, that agriculture, like learning, has had its dark 
ages. It has risen to great perfection, receded, and 
rested for centuries without any apparent improvement. 
The history of the world abounds with evidence that the 
cultivation of the earth was at an early day carried to a 
high point. 
In China, it is well known that for uncounted centu¬ 
ries a degree of skill has been exhibited in the prepara¬ 
tion and application of chemical and vegetable manures 
that is not, even now, equaled in any part of Christen¬ 
dom. A recent popular writer counts it as not the least 
valuable result which may flow from the opium war, as 
it is properly designated, and which it is to be hoped for 
the honor of humanity, is now terminated, that by open¬ 
ing a more general communication with that extraordi¬ 
nary people, we may learn something of their agricultu¬ 
ral skill. The Chinese are not the only people beyond 
the pale of Christianity and modern civilization, who 
have attained a remarkable degree of skill in certain 
branches of husbandry. The aborigines of South Ame¬ 
rica and Mexico practiced irrigation upon a scale, and 
with a perfection of detail, not surpassed in any modern 
improvements. The Spaniards, superior to them in the 
art of war, overcame them in battle, but have not equal¬ 
ed them in skillful anti industrious tillage. 
Throughout all those immense regions of British In¬ 
dia, where the indomitable perseverance and courage of 
the Anglo-Saxons have subjected millions to the control 
of thousands, the conqueror has learned more than he 
has been able to impart of practical wisdom directed to 
the cultivation of the soil. A high cultivation, accom¬ 
panied by the use of irrigation and mineral and vegeta¬ 
ble applications, has there carried the productive powers 
of the earth to a point never yet attained in those parts 
of the globe claiming to be more enlightened. 
In ancient Egypt, the results were, if possible, more 
extraordinary. There, not only agricultural produc¬ 
tions, but the imperishable monuments of art, surpass 
even the comprehension of modern science. 
Coming down to the early days of the Christian era, 
we find the Roman writers abounding in sound precepts 
and suggestions, which even now might be adopted 
with advantage. Nearly the whole of Varro might be 
read with profit by our modern farmers. True, it is 
often tinged with a superstition now happily discarded, 
and relates to a state of society and government, widely 
differing from our free institutions. 
But in all that relates to tillage, to the preparation and 
application of manures, his suggestions accord with the 
views of our best modern practical farmers. In the 
classification of mineral and vegetable manures, such as 
lime, marl, and many varieties of compost, he gives to 
each the relative value which has been affixed by the 
most profound chemical analysis. 
If it is somewhat discouraging to look back and find 
ourselves but little in advance of the remotest times, in 
many departments of our profession, we may at least 
congratulate ourselves that we live in an age when agri¬ 
culture is in the ascendant. It is no longer given up to 
serfs and slaves, as the fitting occupation of the most 
ignorant portions of the community. It now takes its 
rank among the honorable and elevating pursuits of in¬ 
dustry. To follow the plow and tend the flock is no 
longer, here at least, the mark of ignorance and servi¬ 
tude, as under a false and despotic system it was, and in 
some parts of the globe still is. In this, we stand upon 
ground which the ancients never attained. It is the 
great achievement of modern times. The rights of man 
and the dignity of labor are vindicated; the one follows 
from the other. Agricultural improvement then rests 
upon a foundation on which it never stood before. It is 
sustained by free institutions; it is the result of laws, 
wise, because liberal. The enfranchisement of the many, 
the elevation of the masses, must go hand in hand with 
the intelligent, industrious and prosperous cultivation of 
the earth. If agriculture owes much to the benign influ¬ 
ence of our institutions, liberty owes not less to agricul¬ 
ture. 
Where do we look for the calm discretion, the disin¬ 
terested patriotism, which must sustain a representative 
government, but to the great community of cultivators of 
the earth? Even those most skeptical as to the fitness of 
man for self-government, admit that if the experiment 
ever succeeds, it will be in a nation of farmers. The 
experiment, thank Heaven, has succeeded; it has suc¬ 
ceeded in a nation of farmers; and while we must not be 
guilty of the illiberality of doubting that the great ma¬ 
nufacturing nations of other continents may be fitted to 
administer the high duties of freemen, it becomes us to 
cherish a profession which, more than any other, pre¬ 
pares man to receive the highest blessing of his race in 
this world—a free government. We must cherish it by 
industry, by virtue, by intellectual cultivation; by con¬ 
necting it with science and the arts, and with everything 
which can elevate and adorn it. If we do our duty by 
ourselves and our children, agriculture will never again, 
it is to be hoped, know the dark ages in which for so 
many centuries it slept with liberty and learning. Let 
us do our duty in the responsible station and happy era 
in which Providence has cast our destiny, and I trust the 
day is far, far distant, when we shall cease to be a nation 
of farmers and a nation of freemen. 
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW-YORK— Part III. 
In our last, we briefly noticed the reception of Parts 
II. and III. of the great work now in progress under the 
patronage of the State; Part HI. embracing Mr. Vanux- 
EM’s Report of the 3d Geological District. We have 
had time to examine it with attention, and shall give a 
brief notice of the system pursued by the Professor, and 
its results, as shown in the volume before us. The Re¬ 
port includes the survey of the counties of Montgomery, 
Fulton, Herkimer, Otsego, Oneida, Lewis, Oswego, Ma¬ 
dison, Onondaga, Cayuga, Cortland, Chenango, Broome, 
Tioga, and the eastern half of Tompkins, these compos¬ 
ing the 3d Geological district, and constituting, as will 
be seen at a glance, one of the most interesting portions 
of the state. 
‘Mn this Report, the term Mw-York System will be 
used, and will include all from the Potsdam sandstone, 
inclusive, to the coal formation.” The following, gives 
a tabular view of the N. Y. System in the ascending or¬ 
der, embracing the general divisions, which are purely 
geographic, and the several groups or classes of rocks in 
rising from the Potsdam, or in other words, the primi¬ 
tive rocks of this district, to the Catskill or old red sand¬ 
stone group, being the one the highest in the N. Y. Sys¬ 
tem, and lying immediately below the coal formation of 
Pennsylvania: 
>. 
cc 
a> 
a 
r nv, ( Potsdam sandstone, Calciferons group, 
Black River limestone, Trenton limestone, 
( Utica slate, Hudson River group. 
( Gray sandstone, Medina sandstone, Onei- 
J da conglomerate, Clinton group, Niagara 
( group. 
\ Onondaga salt group, Waterlime group, 
TT„i Pentamerus limestone, Catskill shaly lime- 
neiueroeig ^ gtong, Oriskany sandstone, Canda-galla 
division. I Scoharie grit, Onondaga limestone, 
i. Corniferous limestone. 
Marcellus shales, Hamilton group, Tully 
limestone, Genesee slate. Portage group, 
_ Ithaca group, Chemung group. 
. Catskill group. 
Champlain ' 
Division. 
Ontario 
Division. 
Erie 
Division. 
With the above important and convenient arrangement, 
the whole of the rocks and other geological products of 
the 3d district will be reduced to a few simple heads, 
namely four systems and seven divisions, as in the fol¬ 
lowing table: 
“ 1 . Primary System, requires no further illustration. 
f Embraces the products between the pri- 
2. Taconie System, Lnary and the Potsdam sandstone, 
( which are very partial in this district. 
(■]. Champlain division, 
j 2. Ontario division. 
3. New-York System, j 3. Helderberg division. 
I 4. Erie division. 
1,6. Catskill division. 
, „ , „ ^ O. Transported materials. 
4. Quaternary System, ] „ t.ocr I materials.” 
It is to be presumed that the arrangement and classifi¬ 
cation here adopted, will be that of the other parts of 
the survey, so far as they are applicable; and thus the 
Geology of the several districts be wrought into a beau¬ 
tiful and harmonious whole. It may well be questioned 
whether there is another country on the globe so well 
situated for an investigation of all the rocks between the 
primitive and the coal, as New-York. Nearly the whole 
of the Mississippi valley, large portions of Tennessee, 
Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, &c. are of the same 
formations, and when the New-York systems are fully 
elucidated, those of the other states will also be ex¬ 
plained. 
The Primary rocks have comparatively little influence 
in the 3d district. They appear in the north parts of 
Montgomery and Herkimer, and the east part of Lewis, 
and in the valley of the Mohawk in the shape of uplifts, 
as at the Noses, and the Little Falls. They constitute 
parts of the great central nucleus of the 2d District, of 
which Mt. Marcy is the most elevated point. 
With the Transition rocks which overlie or rather 
lean upon the primary, a new era commences. “ As 
the primary class is distinguished for its crystaline pro¬ 
ducts, being pre-eminently the domain of crystalization, 
showing that solution reigned universally, a new ele¬ 
ment is here introduced, that of life, giving rise to an 
important class of characters, whose full development, 
as in man, forms no part of any of the past known ge¬ 
ological eras.” We shall briefly notice each group in 
the ascending order adopted by Prof. Vanuxem. 
Potsdam Sandstone_ ^This rook, in the second dis¬ 
trict, is an important one for thickness, extent, and eco¬ 
nomical purposes. In New Jersey and Pennsylvania, it 
is found occupying the same position as in this state. In 
the 3d district, this rock is limited to a few points chief¬ 
ly in the N. E. part of Lewis co., and at the uplifts of 
the Noses, and the Little Falls on the Mohawk. No or¬ 
ganic remains have been found in this rock, with the ex¬ 
ception of the Lingula at Keeseville; thus showing that 
this fossil is one of the oldest yet known, and as the ge¬ 
nus is also recent, it proves that it has existed through all 
the ages of known organic existence. 
CALCiEERotrs Group. (Transition sandrock of Eaton.) 
—This group is entirely confined in this district, to the 
counties of Montgomery, Herkimer, Oneida, and Lewis. 
Fossils are rare in this rock, but there are some fucoidal 
layers peculiar to this rock. One of its most remarkable 
products is its beautiful quartz crystals, which are most 
abundant at the Noses, Little Falls, and Middleville. 
Anthracite is often found in connection with these crys¬ 
tals, and sometimes within them. The fossils found, 
were an ophileta and an orthocera, remarkable as being 
the oldest fITssils found in the 3d district. 
Black River Limestone. (Mohawk limestone, Tran¬ 
sition limerock of Eaton.) —This rock forms the remarka¬ 
ble cliff of limestone which extends along the Black Ri¬ 
ver from Boonsville through Lewis, into Jefferson co. 
It is found in a variety of places on the Mohawk, as at 
the quarries near Amsterdam, and it also forms the base 
of the Trenton limestone. It is an important rock, exer¬ 
cising a decided influence on agriculture, particularly in 
the counties of Lewis and Jefferson. The difference be¬ 
tween the influence of the primary and transition rocks 
on soils, is strikingly seen in the Black River valley, 
below Boonville; on the left, the successive ranges of 
uplands are settled to their summits, while on the right, 
the primitive rocks approach the river, and are still co¬ 
vered with their dense and primeval forests. This rock 
is one of the most valuable for building purposes, and for 
lime, found in the Mohawk valley, and numerous quar¬ 
ries are extensively worked. 
Trenton Limestone. (Metalliferous limerock of Ea¬ 
ton.)—The best exposition of this rock, is at the Falls on 
West Canada Creek, near Trenton. This rock is well 
characterized, both by its fossils and otherwise. Some 
of the fossils, such as the Strophema deltoidea, are not 
found out of this rock, and as they are abundant in this, 
give it great value as a point of comparison for distant 
localities. The Favodtes hjcopoclites, so called from its 
resemblance to the puff ball fungus; and the trilobite, Iso- 
telas gigas, are also characteristic of this rock. This 
rock is entirely confined to the counties of Montgomery, 
Herkimer, Oneida, and Lewis. Towards the northern 
part of Lewis, its thickness is not less than 300 feet. The 
cliff at Frankfort, Kentucky, and the bluff at Nashville, 
Tennessee, are of Trenton limestone. The Trenton 
limestone extends without interruption, from the East 
Canada creek to the St. Lawrence, and is important for 
its geological character, and its agricultural and econo- 
lical uses. 
Utica Slate. (Metalliferous Greywacke of Eaton .)— 
: The Utica slate contains no fragments whatever of oth- 
r rocks. It is the same material mineralogically, which 
Bparates the dark colored layers of the Trenton lime- 
tone.” With this rock, the greater part of the fossils 
0 abundant in the Trenton limestones, ceased; although 
few are common to both, and some exist only in the 
3 wer part of the slate. Two fossils here make their 
ppearance, not found in any lower position. 
riarthus, and the Eentated graptolite. The city of Utica 
3 built on this slate, and the creeks near the city tur- 
ish the best places for its examination. Sulphurets ot 
Bad, iron and zinc, have been found in this rock. 
Hudson River Group. (Frankfort slate of the Re- 
orts.)—This rock or group, embraces the Fran^kfort 
lates and sandstones, and the sandstone shales ol Hu- 
aski. It rests upon the Utica slate throughout the dis- 
rict.' In Schoharie co. this group is undisturbed, and its 
hickness not less than 700 feet. This is an important 
ock in all parts of the world; is the source of the springs 
if Saratoga and Ballston, the springs produced by bor- 
ng, as at Albany and Hampton; and is the lowest rock 
fom which salt has been manufactured from brine, in 
he state, or in which brine springs are found. In this 
listrict, this group only shows itself in the counties o 
Montgomery, Herkimer, Oneida, and Lewis, ihe up- 
ler part of this group consists of the Pulaski slates and 
hales in Oswego co., and is the only rock to be seen at 
