Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/369

 NEW YORK (STATE) 357 Onondaga salt group. In western New York the sandstones are bituminous, and in several of the counties petroleum issues with the wa- ter of springs ; and carburetted hydrogen rises from fissures in the rocks, or through standing or running water. The rock formations from the Potsdam sandstone up, which have been named, with their various subdivisions, con- stitute what is called the New York system, and with the carboniferous group complete the Appalachian system. Though the whole series is found in Pennsylvania, the formations below the carboniferous are more fully devel- oped in New York, and are especially richer in fossils. In this state therefore they have been studied to the best advantage, and when recog- nized in other parts of the country are gen- erally known by the names given to them by the New York geologists. (See GEOLOGY, and PALEONTOLOGY.) Many of the groups are in great part made up of limestones, and even among the shales and slates of the others calcareous strata are of frequent occurrence. The effect of this wide distribution of calca- reous matter has been to insure a general fer- tility of soil, and to give to New York a high position among the agricultural states of the Union. Somewhat more than half of the total area of the state is under cultivation. In the northern counties and the highland regions along the S. border and on the Hudson, stock and sheep raising and dairy farming are the almost exclusive agricultural pursuits; while the low lands that form the greater part of the surface of the W. portion of the state are best adapted to grain growing. Broom corn has long been the staple crop of the Mohawk val- ley intervales ; tobacco is extensively raised in the Ohemung valley, and parts of Onondaga and Wayne cos. ; hops are a leading product of Madison, Oneida, Otsego, and Schoharie cos. ; grapes are successfully cultivated in the valley of the Hudson below the Highlands, on the N. shore of Long island, and in all the lake val- leys in the central part of the state. Maple sugar is an important product of the northern and central portions; and fruits, particularly apples, peaches, pears, and strawberries, are grown in the western counties N. of the watershed. Large tracts in the vicinity of New York city are devoted to market gardens and to furnishing the city with milk. The climate possesses a wider range than that of any other state in the Union. Those portions affected by the winds from the ocean, sound, and lakes are more even in temperature and suffer less severely from late and early frosts than more inland districts in the same latitude. The mean temperature of the state, as deter- mined from observations made at 58 meteoro- logical stations, for periods ranging from 1 to 25 years, is 46'49. The mean length of the season of vegetation, from the first blooming of apples to the first killing frost, is 174 days ; while on Long island it is 12 days longer, and in St. Lawrence co. 22 days shorter. The mean annual fall of rain and snow is about 40-93 inches. The most noted waterfalls in the state are Niagara falls in Niagara river, 2,900 ft. wide and 164 ft. high; the falls of Genesee river (see GENESEE RIVEE) ; Trenton falls, in West Canada creek, Herkimer co., con- sisting of five cascades with a total fall of 200 ft. in f m. ; Taghanic falls, Tompkins co., 230 ft. ; Chittenango falls in Ohittenango creek, Madison co., 136 ft.; Lyon's falls, in Black river, Lewis co., flowing down an inclined plane 63 ft. at an angle of 60 ; Kaaterskill falls, Greene co., consisting of two falls, 180 and 80 ft. ; Bash-bish falls, Columbia co. (partly in Mas- sachusetts), a succession of falls in a deep ra- vine, the total fall in 1 m. being about TOO ft.; Baker's falls, Washington co., a succes- sion of falls and rapids, having a total de- scent of 76 ft. in 60 rods ; Cohoes fall in the Mohawk, near its mouth, with a total fall in- cluding rapids of 103 ft. ; Glen's falls, Warren co., 50 ft. ; High falls, in the Hudson, Warren co., 60 ft. ; High falls, Ulster co., 50 ft. ; the Au Sable falls, in Wilmington, Essex co., 100 ft. ; Enfield falls, Tompkins co., consisting of a series of cascades with a total fall of 230 ft. ; Buttermilk falls, Genesee co., 90 ft. ; and the falls in Fall creek, Tompkins co., consisting of five cascades with a total descent of over 500 ft. in 1 m. Watkins glen, near the head of Seneca lake, is a deep and narrow ravine about 3 m. long, having perpendicular walls in some places 200 ft. high. Its annual visitors number more than 50,000. Havana glen, 3| m. distant, is similar to it. Within a radius of 10 m. from Ithaca are numerous picturesque ravines and waterfalls. Upon Stone Bridge creek, Warren co., is a natural bridge 40 ft. high, 80 ft. broad, and 247 ft. long. The principal mineral and medicinal springs are the salt springs of Onon- daga co. ; Saratoga Springs; New Lebanon and Stockport, Columbia co. ; Massena, St. Law- rence co. ; Richfield, Otsego co. ; Avon, Living- ston co. ; Clifton, Ontario co. ; Sharon, Scho- harie co. ; Chittenango, Madison co. ; and Ala- bama, Genesee co. The "Lake ridge," the shore line of the ancient lake, is a beach-like ridge from 4 to 8 m. S. of Lake Ontario and rising from 5 to 20 ft. above the general sur- face, extending from near the Niagara river to Sodus, Wayne co. ; thence with many interrup- tions its line may be traced to the St. Lawrence near its point of egress from the lake. In many respects New York is the leading agri- cultural state of the Union. According to the census of 1870, the area of farm lands was greater than in any other state except Illinois ; they were valued at upward of $118,000,000 more than those of any other state, and yielded during the year nearly $43,000,000 more. In several of the western and southern states the yield of wheat and Indian corn was greater, but New York produced more than a fifth of all the hay raised in the United States, more than a third of the buckwheat, and 17,558,681 Ibs. of the entire growth (25,456,669 Ibs.) of