The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1874-07-29

walls approach nearest to each other at oul
points of departure west of Pennington
Here they are not more than three hundred
yards apart. But from this point either way
they diverge, so that at some places, they arr
distant at last mile and a-half, the creates,
amount of divergence being found toward the
Delaware river.
From these considerations we may infer
that these walls are the Particles of great
dixie and that they owe their prominence to
the indurating influence of the heat communi-
Gated to them by the Trap at the time of its
injection.
| 1t may be said by some that as the Trap
does not reach the surface, it could hardly
exert SO powerful an influence upon the red
shale as to convert it into this well baked
altered shale, which has almost the appearance
Of flint. But little circumspection has con-
vinced me that the heat from very thin
stratum of Trap will alter the character of the
contiguous shalc for considerable distance.
And when we consider that the layer of Trap
as at least - feetthick we may readily admit
that even though it is a hundred feet below
the surface it has been sufficient to produce
upon its adjacent rocks all the effects that we
see.
In our survey we have observed all long that
the solid constituents of the north wall are
much harder than those of the south. This
is what we would infer from the theory above
stated. This Trap was injected from below
upward and from the n W. toward the S. e.
flx,f 1o oil ;c l,,t 10 s.,t
ting edge Of the stratum Of indurated shale
that Immediately overlies the Trap. And as
that part of the everything shale which is
thinnest would naturally be baked tie hardest,
we see the very edge or crest of this superim-
posed rock hard and flnty, and as we recede
toward the North West it slowly becomes
softer and more nearly resembling the red
shale, until finally the influence of heat is not
recognizable.
The circumstance that the south wall of
this dixie is higher than the north one, is not
what one at first would expect. But close
examination reveals that this fracture took
place just at the terminus of the great sandy
deposit, which constitutes the Sandy Ridge
and contiguous soils previously described. This
sandy soil being less easily pulverized, re-
moved by the yicssitudes of the atmosphere
and the pluvial water, both on the account of
the predominance of quartz and of the larger
size of the particles constituting the mass, has
resisted the ever active transporting influence
more strongly than its counterpart and thus
maintained an elevation that overlooks all
within the scope of many miles.
From the above statements we may readily
see the reason for the appearance of the sur
face of that great region so long called the
Swamp. The rock, the crumbling and pulver-
izng of which forms the soil of this region,
being very hard, undergoes disintegration very
slowly but at the same time SO completely
when once yielding to the corroding influence
Of soil making, that the pluvial waters carry it
off almost as fast as 1t is formed so that there
is but little depth of loose earth for the
sustenance of vegetation, especially along the
edge Of the Ridge, but as we recede from the
dixie and the influences of heat are less visi-
BILE, the rock crumbles to a greater depth, the
soil is composed of larger particles and sus-
tains more vigorous growth Of plants.
Furthermore the intense heat had the effect
of destroying the organic matter that is so
abundantly found in the unaltered redshale,
and that gives to it the great fertility above
alluded to.
From these considerations we readily see
why during the wet seasons, there is an excess
of water, and also why in dry one vegetation
suffers soseverely for the want Of it. Through
ont tba xvI,ola roo tho dir, 81 4J,a raaIv Il ~,
gentle that it offers poor drainage, so much
SO that the ground is flooded with water SO
long as the fall Of rain supplies more than can
pass off by evaporation /; and ON the other
hand as soon as the season arrives during
which the amount of evaporation exceeds the
rain fall the stock Of water held in the shall
low stratum of earth is soon exhausted, the
soil becomes baked aud full of cracks, and
vegetation languishes.
The cure for this condition Of things is ir-
rigation. But unfortunately for the possess
sors of this soil, the laws of Hydrostatics
compels water to flow down hill, and there
are very few fountains within reach sufii-
GENTLY elevated from which they can draw.
Allow me, just here, to suggest artificial
reservoirs which may yet make these semi
sterile slopes abound in the most luxuriant
growth of the most valuable pasturage, for
the character Of the grasses hereon growing
areeiust such as sustains animal life the best
of all and renders the milk rich in those ele-
ments which makes the choicest of butter
The character of the soil made by the dis
indignation of this g fire rock !" is clayey
loan. Indeed in some places very fine beds
of clay abound. In general, think it is safe
to say that the proportion Of clay grows less as
we depart from the wall of the dixie.
The trees growing here are the the white
oak, pin-oak, hickory, maple and the like,
none Of which attain their normal altitude
although many are large in diameter. Their
proclivity to send off branches horizontally,
render the oak well adapted to ship building,
and in earlier times this region was famous
for it's ship timber. In fact, as am informed
by ship carpenter, who came from Vermont
and spent Ills early days at his trade in this
district, the forests were first attacked for the
ship-timber they produced
have already said that this dixie differed
from that formed by the Sourland range in the
respect that the trap in this does not extend
to the surface of tne ground In order to
make my views concerning the structure of
this great fissure the better understood, allow