USA > New York > Monroe County > Rochester > Settlement in the West : sketches of Rochester with incidental notices of western New-York > Part 4
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"On a calm retrospect of the past-in the bright anticipations of the future-what citizen of Rochester can find any cause for envying the growth or prosperity of any other city either "Down East' or in the ' Far West ?' "
The comparative tranquillity and continued prosperity of Rochester during the revolutions which have distracted business so essentially elsewhere during the past year, abundantly verify the predictions hazarded as above in the summer of 1836. The statements which have thus with- stood the ordeal of a trying crisis are in their general tenour equally applicable to the present condition of the city.
The character of the people of Rochester cannot be ade- quately estimated without considering the various moral, re- ligious, and political enterprises* wherein their spirit and energy have been displayed. Additional to their toil in ad- vancing their private fortunes and constructing their dwell- ings, see what has been done by them, not merely in church- building, but in contributions of personal service and pecu- niary assistance to the great schemes of reformation which are now quietly revolutionizing the world .* The demands for local purposest in the city which has suddenly sprung up through their industry have not prevented them from be- stowing adequate attention on the general advancement of the state in legislation and physical improvement.#
But it is our purpose to furnish particulars rather than generalities. And with these prefatory remarks, we refer those who have any curiosity in the matter to the various papers of this volume calculated to elucidate the positions we have already assumed.
* P. 290-317. + P. 379-80. +P. 175-6, &c., 317, &c.
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CLIMATE, SOIL, AND PRODUCTIONS.
THE City of Rochester and the Valley of the Genesee are so intimately connected in their resources and interests, that an account of the town would be essentially defective with- out ample reference to the rich country of which it may be termed the capital.
The GENESEE VALLEY, by which is understood the whole territory drained by the Genesee River, is one of the most important sections of the State of New-York, whether considered with reference to position, extent, fertility, or variety of production. Two causes principally contribute to this distinction-its SOIL and its CLIMATE. The charac- ter of the first must, as in most other cases, depend on the geological structure of the country and the causes that have been brought to operate on this structure : in the Genesee Valley these causes have mostly been the natural ones of disintegration and decomposition, which aided in forming the immense alluvial deposites for which it is so deservedly famed, by the action of the river and its tributaries.
Rising in the heart of Potter county, Pennsylvania, the Genesee River flows north into the State of New-York, and, crossing its entire breadth, is discharged into Lake Ontario. Its course in a direct line in this state is nearly ninety miles ; its whole course perhaps one hundred and thirty. In this state its course is winding. through the counties of Allegany, Livingston, and Monroe-its general direction from south to north. The average width of the country drained by the Genesee River may be about twenty-five miles, and the territory in this state about 2300 square miles.
THE SOIL of the Genesee Valley partakes of the nature and qualities of the formations beneath-on the elevated lands has evidently been produced by disintegration and
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SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
decomposition, and on the flats by deposition : the character of these alluvial deposites will therefore be determined by that of the country through which the river flows. The Genesee River may be considered as occupying two extensive levels ; the first reaching from Rochester to the Falls at Nunda or Portage, upward of forty miles, and the other from these falls to its source : and these levels are not more distinctly marked by the falls that terminate them, than by the differ- ence in the soils that constitute them. The river has its source among the hills at the northern extremity of the Penn- sylvania coal formation. After entering this state, its course for forty miles in Allegany county is through the sandstone and argillaceous slate that constitute the transition rocks of the southern slope of the Western District; and, of course, the upper part of the valley is siliceous, or inclining to sand and loam. In the northern part of Allegany county, the river passes through the elevated ridge dividing the waters of the lakes from those that flow into the Allegany and the Susque- hannah ; a ridge broken through by no other stream in its whole extent from Lake Erie to the primitive region east of the Black River. On this elevated range, here as else- where, the soil assumes a more compact texture, owing to the decomposition of the argillaceous slate of the higher part of the northern slope, and begins to exhibit in the streams and the earth those traces of lime of which the southern slope is so remarkably and entirely destitute. At . the falls of the river at Nunda a new formation may be said to discover itself, of which lime in some form is the basis, exerting a corresponding influence in determining the char- acter and qualities of the soil ; and which, with trifling ex- ceptions, continues to the mouth of the river. At first the limestone is schistose, then bituminous, and finally compact, as may be seen by an examination of the Falls at Nunda and at Rochester. Beneath the limestone, and forming a narrow tract of country between the limestone rock and Lake Ontario, is a stratum of red sandstone, which, in its limited extent, is not without its influence on the soil. The vast quantities of calcareous and argillaceous earth, how- ever, that have been carried down from the great masses lying above, and deposited on this sandstone slope, lias mostly obviated the barrenness that would naturally have resulted from the disintegration of this stone ; and, for some purposes, constituted one of the finest soils in the state.
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CLIMATE, SOIL, AND PRODUCTIONS.
Nowhere can there be found soils of more inexhaustible fertility than the far-famed Flats of the Genesse River. These extend, with a width varying from one mile to two and a half miles, more than sixty miles in length. They are marked, of course, by the peculiarities of the country through which the river flows, but their general character of fertility is the same. Above Portageville, the principal ingredients are pebbles, sand, and vegetable matter, with a sufficient mixture of argillaceous earth to give compactness, and pre- vent the soil being porous. Below the Falls of Nunda, washed argillaceous slate, decomposed bituminous shale, giving a peculiar dark hue to the deposite, lime in the shape of pebbles and calcareous matter, and a copions admixture of vegetable mould, are the principal characteristics. As the Ontario is approached and the limestone strata become more fully uncovered, the quantity of calcareous matter is greatly increased, and, for the last twenty miles, a large proportion of the earth is composed of this ingredient under some one of its many forms.
One of the most important considerations that give char- acter to, and enter into our estimate of any country, must be derived from THE CLIMATE, as on that so much of the health, happiness, and prosperity of the population must be depend- ing. The climate of the Genesee Valley partakes of the natural influences that operate in this latitude, to which are added some peculiar to itself, arising from its location with reference to the great lakes. It is a well-ascertained fact, that the general course of the winds in any country is greatly in- fluenced by ranges of mountains, the valleys of large rivers, or extensive bodies of water ; and this truth is nowhere more strikingly apparent than in the country occupied by the great lakes and the St. Lawrence. In all the United States west of the Allegany Mountains, the winds for a large part of the year are from some point between west and southwest, and in the valley of the lakes this direction becomes more prev- alent and its effects more apparent. The appearance of the primitive forests of western New-York, and, since these have been cleared away, the orchards which have partially taken their place, proves this fact beyond a doubt. The whole woodlands at the eastern shores of Erie and Ontario Lakes have a sensible inclination to the east ; a character so marked as to arrest the notice of every observing traveller or individ-
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SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
ual ; and, in our orchards, planted where they are freely exposed to the prevailing currents of air, three fourths of the trees will be found leaning to some point between east and northeast. This can be attributed to nothing but the influence of the prevailing winds. Indeed, so well is this understood, that, in planting trees, it is customary to give them a slight inclination to the southwest, in order to coun- teract this tendency. If any one is still incredulous as to this general direction of the wind in the great valley of the lakes, or anywhere west of the Allegany Mountains, let him examine the first wood of tall hemlocks thrown in his way, and he will find, in the uniform direction of the long flexible twig that points the conical top of these trees, an argument of the most unanswerable kind.
Observations have made it certain that the climate of any place must in a great measure depend on the temperature of the region (whether it be land or water) over which the pre- vailing current of air flows ; and this fact is apparent in the Genesee Valley. If the general course of the wind is from the southwest, the influence of the lower Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico is felt in elevating the temperature, and, of course, modifying the climate ; if the current is from the west, the great lakes, never, as a whole, cooled down to the freez- ing point, must exert the same general sensible tendency ; and, opening as the Genesee Valley does on the southern shore of the Ontario, not far from midway between its two extremities, if the wind is from any northern point, its sever- ity is mitigated and equalized by the open waters of the lake. These great bodies of water that lie to the west and north of the Genesee Valley are raised by the heats of summer to a temperature greater than that of the earth ; and as a longer winter than ours is required to reduce them to the freezing point, they act as immense heaters on the incumbent atmo- sphere or the passing winds, preventing those sudden fluctua- tions and depressions of temperature that produce early frost, so injurious in places more remote from their influence. Their effects are not less sensibly felt in equalizing the temperature of the early spring, by preventing an undue heat and consequent premature putting forth of vegetation ; an effect which is frequently most destructive to fruits where not checked by this cause. Even the chain of small lakes discharged by the Seneca River and the Oswego have a de- cided influence on the temperature of the country on their margins, and this is the more sensible on those that remain
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CLIMATE, SOIL, AND PRODUCTIONS.
unfrozen the longest. To these general truths, the multi- plied thermometrical observations made within a few years, in our public institutions and by private individuals, offer the most conclusive testimony.
Sundry important tables illustrative of this interesting subject will be found at the conclusion of this article, which will amply repay the attention requisite for a careful exami- nation. (See p. 48, &c.)
By comparing these results with tables of temperature in other places of the same latitude on this continent, it will appear that ROCHESTER HAS THE ADVANTAGE OF MOST OF THEM IN EQUALITY OF SEASONS.
In going eastward from Rochester, we find that at Utica, Albany, Pittsfield, Northampton, and even in the vicinity of Boston, the thermometer is below zero more frequently than in that city ; and that in most years it sinks many degrees lower in those places than has ever been known at Roches- ter. In going west, at Buffalo, Detroit, and until a position west of the lakes has been gained, the temperature much resembles that of Rochester, though from the causes men- tioned it is nowhere so equable, especially during the win- ter months. West of the great lakes, a west wind during the winter months produces a great degree of cold, sweep- ing as it does over an almost unbroken plain of ice and snow from the Rocky Mountains. Thus a west wind or northwest will sink the thermometer at Galena or Chicago far below zero, when the influence of the lakes will prevent its reaching that point at Rochester ; and at Cincinnati and Marietta the mercury usually descends several degrees in the course of the winter below what it does on the south shore of the Ontario.
These remarks will principally apply to the lower part of the Genesee Valley. As the country rises to the south, the influence of the lakes become less apparent ; the degree of cold during the winter increases ; the changes are more sudden and extreme ; and, when the elevated lands are gain- ed, the climate and the meteorological aspect becomes the same as in other sections of the interior. Thus it not un- frequently happens, that during the prevalence of north winds in the early part of winter, fog, mist, or rain will pre- vail at Rochester ; some ten or twenty miles in the interior snow begins to mingle with the rain; and on and south of the dividing ridge, snow will be falling in great quantities. 4*
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SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
This phenomenon may be noticed as far as Oswego on the east and the shore of Erie on the west.
The capabilities of any country for the production of the numerous varieties of vegetable nature, and the kinds best adapted to the soil of any particular region, may be gen- erally correctly inferred when the constituents of that soil and the peculiarities of the climate are fully understood. Judging from these indications, the Valley of the Genesee should be equal in productiveness to any part of the world in the temperate zones ; and that such is the fact, we have the most conclusive and satisfactory evidence.
WHEAT is at present, and will probably long remain the great object of cultivation ; and the quantities produced be- tween the Ontario and the Falls of Nunda at Portageville, which may be considered the southern limit of the wheat country proper, would almost exceed belief; and in quality as well as quantity is generally considered much beyond that of any other section of the country. It was for many years supposed that the rich flats of the Genesee River were unsuited to the production of wheat, it being imagined that the growth would be so luxuriant as to produce lodging of the grain and mildew, and the consequent destruction of the crop. To a certain extent this was and still may be true on some of the more moist and recent alluvial sections ; but the general introduction of the harder-stemmed varieties of wheat, in place of the former kinds of red wheat, such as the white flint in the place of the red chaff and bearded reds, has in a great measure obviated these difficulties, and the flats are now as celebrated for wheat as they formerly were for corn. Of this the following instances, and they might be multiplied to almost any extent, will be perfectly conclusive :---
In 1835 Messrs. P. and G. Mills cut from twenty-seven acres on the Genesee Flats near Mount Morris, 1270 bush- els of wheat, or forty-seven bushels to the acre. In 1834 the same gentlemen cut from eighty acres three thousand two hundred bushels of wheat, being forty bushels to the acre. The most beautiful field of corn we ever saw was in the sum- mer of 1833, on the farm of W. C. Dwight, Esq., on the flats a few miles above Geneseo. There was one hundred and seventy acres lying in one body, and from it he harvested twelve thousand eight hundred bushels of shelled corn. In 1834 the same gentleman had twenty acres of wheat, which
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CLIMATE, SOIL, AND PRODUCTIONS.
averaged forty-eight bushels per acre, and two acres of the best of which produced fifty-two bushels per acre. The elevated country on the east and west of the river is scarcely inferior in the growth of wheat; the greatest amount we believe on record as the well-authenticated product of a sin- gle acre having been raised by Mr. Jiral Blackmore, of Wheatland, being sixty-four bushels per acre.
Above the falls of the Genesee at Portageville, the dis- tance of a few miles makes a marked distinction in the char- acter of the soil and its productions generally ; a distinction which is readily seen from Erie to the Oneida, as the divi- ding ridge is approached or crossed, and which frequently rests on a narrow valley or the passage of a little brook. 'This distinction, as we have already intimated, depends on the greater quantities of clay mingled in the soil, and the decrease of lime. On the river flats above Portageville wheat is cultivated to some extent, but the great object of the farmer is corn, and this crop is usually very heavy. On the elevated lands of the Genesee Valley the attention of the owners of the soil will be principally directed to the growth of wool, the raising cattle for market, and the vari- ous products of the dairy. Spring grain, such as spring wheat, barley, oats, &c., can be produced to any desirable amount : no country can exceed it in the production of the grasses ; and when the Genesee Valley canal and the New- York and Erie railroad shall have developed its resources in connexion with the coal and iron mines of Northern Pennsylvania, it will not be found one of the least inviting sections of our extended country.
It must be evident, from the nature of the soil and the pe- culiarities of climate in the lower Genesee Valley, that it is admirably adapted to the production and perfection of the various fruits and vegetables raised in our latitudes. It is found that the various kinds of hardy fruits, such as the apple, pear, plum, quince, cherry, &c., are of the best varie- ties and easily cultivated ; and that many of the more deli- cate fruits, such as peaches, apricots, nectarines, grapes, &c., attain a size and richness of flavour rarely equalled in our northern latitudes. Of these facts a visit to the Roches- ter fruit-markets at the proper seasons will convince any observer, and show that the southern shore of the Ontario is emphatically A FRUIT COUNTRY. A great variety of orna- mental trees and shrubs, which are unable to withstand the
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SKETCHES OF ROCHESTER, ETC.
early frosts and severe cold of the valleys of the Hudson and the Connecticut, succeed without trouble in the vicinity of Rochester and the Ontario. That the Valley of the Genesee is adapted to the growth of silk would seem clear from the fact that the various kinds of foreign mulberries, such as the Chinese, Broussa, and Italian, withstand the usual cold of our winters without injury, but also that the wild mulberry is found on the Upper Genesee and many of its branches.
The region of the Genesee Valley must, from the con- stituents of the soil and its uniform great fertility, enable the gardener or the farmer to produce all the varieties of roots usually cultivated, and in any desirable quantity. The vast and beautiful maple forests of the upper part of the valley are now sufficient to supply millions with sugar ; but these are rapidly decreasing before the advancing wave of popu- lation, the unsparing axe of the woodman, and the demand for ashes for manufacturing and commercial purposes ; and the time is not far distant when a supply of that indispen- sable commodity must be looked for elsewhere. If, as is hoped, the manufacture of beet sugar should succeed in this country as in France, it will be found that no part of the United States can equal the Genesee Valley in the growth of that root : so at least experiments already made would seem to indicate. In the flourishing and extensive nurse- ries and gardens of Rochester may be found abundant proof of the capabilities of this region in these respects ; and that the horticulturist and floriculturist cannot desire a more fa- vourable theatre for the display of his skill, or where their exertions are more certain of being crowned with success.
The geological formation of Western New-York is marked by a regularity truly surprising ; and the native forests of the whole country, as well as those of the Genesee Valley, will serve as almost unfailing indications of the soil beneath. Over the whole extent of this territory it may be said that oak timber marks a soil of which the base is calcareous, or in which more or less lime is present. The prevalence of elm, beech, and maple distinguish those in which aluminous earth preponderates ; and where pine, hemlock, and birch prevail, the soil varies from loam to sandy, or is siliceous in its character. With few exceptions, and those not in the Genesee Valley, observation will show that such is the fact. From the shore of the Ontario to the falls of the Genesee at
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CLIMATE, SOIL, AND PRODUCTIONS.
Portageville, over the red sandstone and limestone to the verge of the argillaceous slate, the prevailing timber is oak, mixed with other varieties of trees, plainly denoting the cal- careous nature of the soil ; and, with the disappearance of the oak lands, passes away also the soils best adapted to wheat. The argillaceous or clayey nature of the dividing ridge, with a considerable extent on both sides, and spurs or elevated ranges of the same kind of rock that occasionally extend north or south beyond its usual limits, as on the west side of the Genesee river, is marked by the beech and maple forests ; while the siliceous lands formed by tlie decomposi- tion of the sandstone formation, as we approach the Penn- sylvania line, are covered with the magnificent white pine, which occasionally descends into the river-bottoms, as well as crowns the neighbouring hills.
In concluding these observations on the soil and climate of the Genesee Valley, we may remark that it may well be questioned, when its known capabilities are considered, whether any section of the United States, of the same num- ber of square miles, can be found capable of supporting a greater population, and supplying them with all the neces- saries and many of the luxuries of life, than the VALLEY OF THE GENESEE RIVER. It has with great truth been denom- inated THE GRANARY OF AMERICA; and should circum- stances direct in proper channels, and no unforeseen events unite to check the enterprise and mar the prosperity of the inhabitants, it can and will, with equal truth and justice, claim, ere long, that of the GARDEN OF THE COUNTRY. NO element of prosperity or happiness appears to be wanting. In the GENESEE VALLEY Nature appears to have faithfully performed her part : it only remains for the inhabitants to appreciate and improve the advantages she has so prodigally placed in their hands.
INFLUENCE OF THE LAKES ON THE CLIMATE.
The effects of the great lakes on the temperature of the country were not unmarked by the early settlers and travel- lers. In connexion with the foregoing remarks, and pre- liminary to the tabular statements deduced from recent ob- servations, it may be interesting to some to notice the re- marks made by President Dwight while on a tour through
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Western New-York about thirty years ago. It is satisfac- tory to us to be able now to supply some " facts on which a decision can be correctly founded," even though but half the period has elapsed that he deemed requisite for the ob- servations.
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