682

PAPERS RELAXING TO WESTERN NEW-YORK.

Its name is taken from the river Genesee, and signifies in the Indian language a pleasant valley.In the year 17S9, Oliver Phelps and Nathaniel Gorham, Esquires, of New England , purchased fromthe State of Massachusetts the pre-emption right of a large tract of land in the eastern part of thiscountry, under the jurisdiction of the State of New-York ; but little was done in the settlement of ituntil the year 1792, when the roads leading to this country were made and improved, and other extensiveimprovments were effected; the progress of the settlement of this country has since been uncommonlyrapid.

Nearly one half of this country, situated nearest the southern boundary, is generally hilly andbroken, consisting however of many fertile tracts of land. The face of the other parts is generallyeven, a considerable part, on the east of the Genesee river, consisting of low ridges, or gradual swellsrunning parallel with each other, which form handsome uplands and meadows; and on the west ofGenesee river the country is more level.* On both sides of Genesee river are large openings which arethinly timbered, very fertile, and could easily be put under cultivation. In the eastern part thecountry in many places makes a pleasant and flourishing appearance, the settlers having a prevailingpractice of building adjoining the public roads, and cultivating lands nearest them. From Canandarquato Genesee river, a distance of 25 miles, the country has the most flourishing appearance, that partbeing earliest settled, and abounds with very substantial improvements, which are seldom equalled inthe United States , in the pleasantness of their appearance.

The quality of the soil is various, but in the better or most even parts of the country before mentioned,a rich loamy soil is the most common, and it is sometimes covered on the top with a loose black mould,from six to ten inches deep. The most common sorts of timber in these parts of the country is asfollows : sugar maple, beech, ]yn (here called basswood) oak, ash, and elm ; and the hilly parts aremostly timbered with oak. Where the sugar maple and basswood are most common, the land isgenerally esteemed best for grass, and probably for grain, and is experienced to be durable ; and landswhich produce mostly beech timber, are considered as generally clayey, wet and cold. A considerableportion of the better part of the country is timbered with oak, and lands on which it is of a large growthare by many esteemed the most durable, although at first not productive of as good crops as maplelands, and harder in tillage. Grain is frequently put into the ground without ploughing, the groundbeing only broke with a heavy harrow, and often yields, with this cultivation, upwards of twenty bushelsof wheat from an acre. In a considerable portion of the country a rock of limestone lies from 2 to 6feet under the surface of the earth, and large quantities of the loose stone are sometimes found abovethe surface, which is manufactured to advantage, and some of the best quality is now used in building.

But although the growth of timber usually denotes the sort of soil on which it grows, yet it some-times happens that the soil varies materially in different places where the same sort of timber grows;and it is observed in some parts that the growth of the young timber is of a different sort from the old.Lands on which the growth of timber almost entirely consists of maple, basswood, and beech, appearto be attended with a scarcity of timber most suitable for fences ; although a quantity of oak, elm,ash, See., is usually found on land of this description, sufficient for the purposes of fencing and building,and basswood rails, when the bark is taken off, are tolerably durable.

The most useful sorts of timber are, the sugar maple, oak, pine, yellow poplar, (here called whitewood) wild cherry, white and black walnut, chesnut, hickory, wild plumb and dogwood. Of shrubsand plants the most noted are, sassafras, wild hops, fox grapes, in some parts, elder, sumac, raspberry,ginseng, sarsaparilla, snakeroot, spikenard, mandrakes, in taste and flavour much resembling a pineapple, strawberries, whortleberries, cranberries, and wild gooseberries. The sorts of trees and shrubs

* According' to the geographical descriptions given of this country, it is erroneously reported as being “ a deadley el,” a description that is only applicable to a small proportion of it.’