HISTORY: Chapter 7, History of Cayuga Co., NY 1879; Cayuga co., NY

submitted by W. David Samuelsen
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1789 - History of Cayuga County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical
Sketches of some of Its Prominent Men and Pioneers, by Elliot G. Storke,
assisted by Jas. H. Smith. Pub. by D. Mason & Co., Syracuse, N.Y. 1879

CHAPTER VII.

GEOLOGY, SOIL, CLIMATE AND PRODUCTIONS.

GEOLOGICAL FORMATION OF THE SEVERAL
TOWNS - SOIL OF THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN TOWNS - FORMATION OF OUR BEST WHEAT
LANDS - SOILS OF THE SOUTHERN TOWNS THE DAIRY REGION - THE GRAIN GROWING
REGION - EFFECT OF LAKE ONTARIO ON THE SNOW FALL - COMPARATIVE STATISTICS IN
DIFFERENT TOWNS - AGRICULTURAL RANK OF CAYUGA COUNTY IN THE STATE.

GEOLOGY. (1) The lowest rocks of the County are the Medina sandstone,
outcropping on the Shore of Lake Ontario in the town of Sterling; and the
highest are the Portage and Ithaca groups, crowning the tops of the hills in
the south part of the county. Between them successively appear, in an
ascending order, the Oneida conglomerate, and Clinton groups in the south part
of Sterling; in Victory is the Lockport group; in Cato, Brutus, Conquest and
Mentz, the red shales of the Onondaga salt group; in Auburn, Aurelius and
Springport, and along the Cayuga Lake and its outlet, are gypsum beds of the
same group; in Owasco, Auburn, Fleming and Springport, the water-lime and
Oriskany sandstone; and above them successively appear the Onondaga and
corniferous limestone, the Marcellus and Hamilton shales, Tully limestone,
Genesee slate, and the Portage and Ithaca groups.

In Sterling, the Medina sandstone and the Oneida conglomerate are quarried for
building purposes. In Victory, the blue limestone and red shale are covered by
deep drift. Ira is underlaid by the Medina sandstone, and Conquest and

In Mentz, the underlying rocks are red shale, gypsum and limestone of the
Onondaga salt group. In Brutus, plaster beds exist and have been worked to
some extent. In Sennett, limestone has been quarried for building purposes,
and burned into lime. In Auburn, the Onondaga limestone has been extensively
quarried for the construction of its public and private buildings. It
underlies the whole region, and its outcrop appears in various places covered
with thin layers of earth and easily accessible. The same is true of Aurelius
and Springport. Water-lime also abounds in Auburn. and has been considerably
used as cement In Springport are found and worked the most extensive plaster
beds in the county, and there too are extensively quarried the best varieties
of limestone both for building purposes and for quick-lime. This is the
southern boundary of the limestone region of the county.

SOIL. - The soil of the different parts of the County is exceedingly various.
From the alluvial lands, and extensive flats that border the Seneca River, to
the lofty bill ranges in the south and south-eastern parts of the county,
there is found nearly every variety of productive soil, yielding a varied and
rich return to the cultivators. The central and northern towns abound in
drift-hills, the soil of which is mainly formed from the decomposition of the
shales that underlie them, and are composed of very similar materials. They
are, generally, of gradual and moderate elevation and all are highly
productive. The soil of these hills, generally, is a fine quality of sandy and
gravelly loam, (2) with a due admixture of clay. Their texture is such as to
permit the free admission of air and percolation of water.

Our best wheat lands are those over which the materials worn off in the
geologic ages from our limestone formation have been most largely deposited  
Aurelius and Springport furnish, perhaps, the most complete illustration of
this statement of any of the towns of the County; although the composition of
most of the drift hills in the northern and central towns, is such as to
produce large crops and a fine quality of wheat, the same being true of
Ledyard, Venice and Genoa.

In Springport and Ledyard there are but little waste lands and their natural
drainage is good. Ledyard has a general north-westerly aspect, inclining to
and bordering upon Cayuga Lake. The lake is here about three miles wide, the
water deep, seldom freezing in winter, thus modifying the climate and
affecting the productions of the lands that border upon it. The soil of
Ledyard is a sandy and clayey loam and very fertile. The soil of Genoa along
the lake is clayey, but elsewhere consists of a rich sandy and gravelly loam
which is very productive. The soil of Venice is of a fine quality of clayey
and gravelly loam; in that of Summer Hill the clay predominates. In Sempronius
we find a good quality of clayey, sandy and gravelly loam, with a mixture of
disintegrated slate and limestone. In Niles, the soil is a gravelly and clayey
loam, producing fine crops of grain and grass. In Locke and Moravia, the soil
among the hills consists of a gravelly loam, mixed with clay; in the valleys,
it is a deep rich loam formed of gravel and disintegrated slate and limestone.

The soil of the County, from its great variety, is, consequently, adapted to
the various products which are successfully cultivated in Central New York.
The four south-eastern towns, Moravia, Locke, Summer Hill and Sempronius, and
a part of Niles, are better adapted to pasturage and dairy products than to
the production of grain. All the towns of the County north of, and including
Owasco, Fleming and Aurelius, excepting the Seneca River basin, are largely
composed of drift hills, having a generally northerly and southerly range;
nearly have a deep soil and were originally covered with a heavy growth of
forest trees. Some of them have now been under cultivation for three-fourths
of a century, and with undiminished productiveness. They give rise to springs
of pure water and produce rich and sweet grasses, and grains of the finest
quality. Those who dwell upon them are above the "fogs of the valleys,"
breathe a pure and wholesome atmosphere, and are thus physically invigorated,
while their minds are elevated and enlivened by varied and beautiful
landscapes.

This is the great grain producing section of the County. The dairy region is
mainly in the towns of Moravia, Locke, Summer Hill and Sempronius. The fruit
producing section, in its greatest excellence., is found on the borders of the
lakes, although fine fruits are grown in nearly all the towns. All the grains,
grasses and fruits of the region, excepting the peach and winter wheat, are
successfully grown, the latter failing in a few localities only.

CLIMATE. - The great difference in elevation of the different parts of the
County, and their proximity to, or distance from the lakes, make quite a
variation in climate. The difference is especially manifest in the greater
depth and longer continuance of snow in winter, and the later maturity of
crops in the more elevated towns. In the entire south-eastern section of the
County, including the towns of Scipio, Niles, and a part of Owasco and
Moravia, Locke, Summer Hill, and Sempronius, the snows of winter fall earlier,
are deeper and longer continued, than in the central towns, while in the towns
of Sterling, Ira, and Victory, and to a less extent in Conquest and Cato, a
greater fall of snow also occurs, than in the central towns; but, in this
case, from a different cause than increased elevation. Lake Ontario is always
open in winter, and its waters, warmer than the air, are constantly
discharging vapors that, when driven by the prevailing northwesterly winds
over the land, are congealed and descend upon it in snow. These snow storms
gather over the lake, on gusty days, like summer thunder showers and pour
their fleecy contents over the land in the range of the winds, intermitting
with them.

The difference in altitude between the Cayuga Lake basin and the Sempronius
summit, is thirteen hundred and thirteen feet, and of the Lake Ontario basin,
fourteen hundred and sixty-three feet. Experiments have shown that every three
hundred feet of elevation, produces a variation of about one degree in
temperature; the difference in temperature, therefore, between these
localities arising solely from the comparative elevation should be over four
degrees; but the deep, broad, unfrozen and comparatively warm waters of
Ontario and Cayuga Lakes exert a modifying influence upon the air passing over
them, thus keeping its temperature at a higher range, which is shown in the
earlier maturity of grains and fruits, and in the less quantity, and earlier
disappearance of snows. In the high table lands rising from 500 to 600 feet
above the lake in Scipio, Venice, Genoa, etc., the average temperature is
several degrees lower, and in consequence, more injury to vegetation results
from frosts while there is a greater depth and longer continuance of snow and
a later maturity of crops.

PRODUCTIONS. - These differences in Geological formations, elevation, soil and
climate, result necessarily, in marked differences in the kinds, qualities and
quantities of the crops grown in the several towns. In the following towns,
the leading interest is dairying, as shown by the census of 1875. In the five
towns of Niles, Moravia, Locke, Summer Hill and Sempronius, there were in
1875, 6,987 cows, and but 4,416 sheep, nearly twice as many cows as sheep;
while in the five larger towns of Ledyard, Scipio, Springport, Aurelius and
Fleming, there were but 3,514 COWS, and 13,309 sheep, or a proportion of sheep
to the cows, eight times greater than in the five former towns.

The five south-eastern towns raised but 54,491 bushels of winter wheat in
1874, while the five other towns named raised 233,782 bushels, or a quantity
more than four times greater. Sempronius and Summer Hill together raised but
250 acres of winter wheat in 1874. The five south-eastern towns raised a
larger proportion of Indian corn, 141,310 bushels, while Scipio and the four
other towns raised 257,231 bushels. Sempronius, though one of the smaller
towns, mowed 4,736 acres, and plowed but 2061 acres. Springport mowed but
1,782, and plowed 3,366, mowing less than half as much ground as Sempronius.
Niles had the greatest number of much cows, 1,686, Moravia next, 1,519. while,
of the country towns, Springport had the smallest number, 483. Of wheat
Aurelius produced the largest quantity, 71,359 bushels, over one-tenth of the
entire product of the County; Cato ranked second, with 53,331 bushels;
Springport third, with 50,273. Conquest leads in the production of Indian
corn, producing 107,412 bushels; Genoa next, with 82,945 bushels; Cato third,
with 72,981 bushels. Sterling produced the greatest quantity of oats, 83,160
bushels; Genoa, 78,377; and Venice, 74,606. Of potatoes, Sterling produced a
much larger quantity than any other town, 88,846 bushes, and Sennett, 62,207
bushels.

Ira produced the most apples, 80,471 bushels; Victory next, 67,940; Sterling
next, 64,116; while the otherwise agriculturally rich town of Springport is
credited with but 8,971. Moravia is credited with the largest production of
hay, 6,094 tons; Niles, with 6,086; and Sterling, with 5,806 tons. Scipio
leads in the production of barley, with 37,569 bushels; Aurelius, with 33,
628; and Cato, with 33,197. Ira sent to the cheese factories the milk of cows;
Moravia, 458; and Sempronius, 291. Conquest made in her families 17,381 pounds
of cheese; Owasco, 9,250; and Sennett, 8,299; while Moravia made but 525
pounds. Niles leads in the production of butter, 234,973 pounds; Moravia next,
195,195; Sempronius, 194,435, and the small town of Summer Hill, 186,613, more
than the two large towns of Btutus and Cato combined.

In comparison with the other grain growing counties of the State, Cayuga holds
a very high rank as to the quantity produced per acre of land, which is the
true test of agricultural excellence. Of the four great staples, winter wheat,
Indian corn, oats and hay, she stands at or near the head of all the
grain-growing counties, and the few counties that excel her do so but in small
degree. In winter wheat Cayuga is fifth, in Indian corn, fourth, in oats,
fourth, and in hay, fifth. Of winter wheat the State at large averages 16.16
bushels per acre, Cayuga, Of Indian corn the average of the State is 32.33;
Cayuga produces 40.77. Of hay the State average is 1.13 tens per acre, Cayuga,
1.27. Of oats the State averages 28.59 bushels, Cayuga, 34.13. Wheat, Indian
corn, hay and oats, constitute the source of nine-tenths of the wealth
annually drawn from the soil. The corn, aside from the quantity annually
marketed, is largely fed to animals, and forms the basis of the pork, beef:
fowls, etc.; while the hay, an index also of pasturage, is the great source of
the dairy interest of the County.

The study of the census of 1875, one of the most careful ever made in the
State, will we believe, deeply interest the agriculturists of the County, and
convince them that their lines have indeed fallen in pleasant places ; that
they occupy a section of the State as fertile and productive as any within its
borders. That the farmers of the County are disposed to keep up the fertility
of their lands is shown by another short but comprehensive paragraph in the
census, viz.: that Cayuga County used more fertilizers, in 1875 than any other
two of the rural counties of the State.

In a succeeding chapter we shall give a history of the efforts made to improve
the agriculture of the County, and a full detail of its productions from the
census of 1875.

(1) The geological peculiarities of the several towns, will be found in
connection with their local history. Cato are underlaid with disintegrated red
shales. Montezuma is underlaid with the rocks of the Onondaga salt group, in
which appear the red, green and yellow shales. In this group are found all the
gypsum masses of Central New York.

(2) Loams are composed of sand, clay and lime, and of animal and vegetable
matters in a state of intimate mixture, the clay varying from twenty to fifty
per cent, and the lime rarely exceeding five per cent. They are our richest
and best soils.