New York

NEW YORK, one of the original 13 United States of America, situated between 40° 29' 4o" and 45° o' 2" N. and between 71° 51' and 45' W. Although one of the smaller States in the Union, being 29th in area, New York ranks first in popula tion and in wealth, and has won for itself the name "Empire State." Its northern boundary is, for the most part, formed by Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence river, which separate it from the Province of Ontario, Canada; but north of the Adirondacks the boundary line leaves the St. Lawrence, extending in a due east direction to the lower end of Lake Champlain. Thus the boundary between New York and the Province of Quebec, Canada, is wholly artificial. Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut bound New York on the east ; the Atlantic ocean, New Jersey and Pennsylvania on the south ; and Pennsylvania, Lake Erie and the Niagara river on the west. The State has a triangular outline, with a breadth from east to west of 326.46 m. and from north to south, on the line of the Hudson, of 30o miles. In addition, it includes Long island and Staten island on the Atlantic coast. Its land area is 47,654 sq.m. and the area of the inland waters is 1,55o sq.m., giving a total area of 49,204 sq. miles. In addition to this, New York includes 3,140 sq.m. of water in Lakes Ontario and Erie.

Physical Features.

The most notable topographic feature is the roughly circular mountain area of north-eastern New York, known as the Adirondack mountains (q.v.). This is a very ancient mountain mass of crystalline rocks resembling more the Lauren tian mountains of Canada than the Appalachians. Indeed, it is commonly considered to be an extension of the Canadian moun tains. Parts of the crystalline area are worn down to a condition of low relief, but in the main mountain mass, although greatly worn, there are still elevations of truly mountainous proportions. The highest peak is Mt. Marcy (5,344 f t.), though associated with it are several other peaks with an elevation from 4,000 to 5,000 feet. Even the higher summits are worn to a rounded condition, and are therefore for the most part forest-covered up to the timber line which, on Mt. Marcy, is at an elevation of about feet. From the crest of the dome of the Adirondacks proper the surface slopes in all directions to surrounding lowlands; to the St. Lawrence valley on the north; the Champlain-Hudson lowland on the east ; the Mohawk valley on the south ; and Lake Ontario on the west. The Adirondack area proper, and much of the surrounding ring of more recent rocks, is either too rugged, or has a soil too thin and rocky for extensive agriculture. It is therefore a sparsely settled region with lumbering for one of the leading industries, though there is some mining, as of iron. Owing to the varied and beautiful scenery, this is a favourite summer resort ; the game of the forest and the fishing in the streams and in the multitude of lakes serve as further attractions. In the peripheral ring farming increases, especially dairying ; and manu facturing industries connected with the products of forest, farms and mines are developed. These and other manufacturing in dustries are greatly aided by the extensive water-power furnished by the mountain streams which flow out radially from the central area.

South of the Adirondack region, and south of the Mohawk valley, rises a high-level plateau which extends westward to the Pennsylvania boundary. Here the rocks are all essentially hori

zontal and of the Palaeozoic age, mainly Devonian. This plateau province, which includes more than half the State, differs greatly from place to place. Its elevation decreases toward the north by a series of steps, the lowest elevation being on the Ontario plain which skirts the southern shore of Lake Ontario. Similar to this is a narrow plain along the southern shore of Lake Erie, which, in fact, lies in a shallow depression in this Erie plain. Both of these plains are so level, and have so fertile a soil that they are the seats of extensive agriculture, especially fruit raising, which is further encouraged by the influence of the large bodies of lake water that moderate the heat of summer and the cold of winter, and tend to check the late frosts of spring and the early frosts of autumn. Elsewhere in the plateau province the land is higher and the surface far more irregular, increasing in ruggedness toward both the south and the east. Elevations of 1,50o and 2,000 ft. are common in this region all the way from Chautauqua county in the extreme west to the Catskill mountains in the east; and in places the surface becomes so rugged as to simulate the features of mountains and locally to win the name of mountain. Valleys are deeply sunk in the plateau, the largest with bottom lands of sufficient width to give rise to strips of fertile farm land. The valley walls rise to undulating and often fairly level uplands, which are, in large part, cleared of forest. In the main they are grazing lands—the seat of important dairy and sheep raising industries. This is the region of abandoned farm houses. Since the plateau region is a northward extension of the Alleghany plateau, which skirts the western base of the Appalachian moun tains, it rises as the mountains are approached. Thus, in south-east New York, where the Appalachians enter the State, the plateau becomes much higher than in the west, reaching its culmination in the Catskills. Here, partly because of elevation, and partly because of the resistant nature of the Catskill sandstone, dissection has so sculptured the plateau as to carve it into a mountainous mass generally known as the Catskill mountains (q.v.). In this part of the plateau, summit elevations of from 3,00o to 4,000 ft. are common, the highest point being Slide mountain (4,205 ft.). Like the Adirondacks, this region is largely forest covered, and is a favourite summer resort ; but it is far less a wilderness than the Adirondacks, and in places is cleared for farming, especially for pasturage. In the plateau province there are other areas known as mountains, of which the Helderberg mountains are the most conspicuous. This formation is really an escarpment facing the lower Mohawk and the Hudson river, south of Albany, where there is a downward step in the plateau. The steeply rising face of the plateau here is due to the resistance of a durable layer of limestone, known as the Helderberg limestone. Of other lower escarpments the most notable is the Niagara which extends east ward from Canada, past Lewiston and Lockport—a downward step from the Erie to the Ontario plain.