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New York Soils
The New York State Soil - Honeoye
 The word “Honeoye” is from the Iroquois “Hay-e-a-yeah.” Legend
indicates that a Seneca brave was bitten by a rattlesnake, had to cut off the
bitten finger, and later described the location of the incident as the place “where
the finger lies.”
Honeoye soils are used for corn, soybeans, wheat,
oats, vegetables, alfalfa, grass pasture and hay, and grape and apple orchards.
Woodlots contain sugar maple, white ash, red and white oak, hickory, and
associated species. These productive soils occur on about 500,000 acres in New
York State. Honeoye soils are fertile, have a high base saturation throughout,
and are slightly acid at the surface and neutral in the subsoil.
The Honeoye series consists of very deep, well-drained soils formed in
glacial till which is strongly influenced by limestone and calcareous shale.
They are nearly level to very steep soils on convex upland till plains and
drumlins. The Honeoye soil is in the Alfisols soil order and is classified as
fine-loamy, mixed, active, mesic Glossic Hapludalfs.
To honor this natural resource, New York unofficially named Honeoye as the state
soil. New York Soil Survey Mapping Status
Soil surveys are the basis for predicting the behavior of a soil under
alternative uses, its potential erosion hazard, potential for ground water
contamination, suitability and productivity for cultivated crops, trees, and
grasses. Soil surveys are important to planners, engineers, zoning commissions,
tax commissioners, homeowners, developers, as well as agricultural producers. Soil surveys also provide a basis to help predict the effect of global climate
change on worldwide agricultural production and other land-dependent processes. New York Status of Soil Survey Digitizing
In 1995, a national effort implemented the digitizing of all soil surveys so
accessibility to users would be more easily available. Currently New York
has digitized 57 Soil Survey Areas. The digitized database provides the most
detailed level of information and was designed primarily for farm and ranch,
landowner/user, township, county, or parish natural resource management and
planning. Using the soil attributes, this database serves as an excellent
source for determining erodible areas, developing erosion control practices, and
reviewing site development proposals and land use potential. Digitized
maps also assist with making land use assessments and chemical fate assessments;
and identifying potential wetlands, sand, and gravel aquifer areas.
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