The soils of this great region vary much, as is always the case when land is made by glacial erosion and deposit of glacial drifts. On a single farm the soil may be thick and fertile in one part and thin and poor in another; it may consist largely of clay in one part and of sand and gravel in others. The grape soils in the Central Lakes region are, in particular, of miscellaneous types, embracing, in one place or another, nearly all of the soils in the Dunkirk series described in the discussion of the Chautauqua district. Probably the Dunkirk clay loam, often very shaly and stony, is the most common of the several soils of the region. There are also considerable areas of a shaly soil which possibly do not belong to the Dunkirk types, not having been influenced by water action as are true Dunkirk soils. On the slopes and hillsides the land is sometimes rough and stony with but a thin covering of soil and with out-croppings of bed rock. The influence of the various soils on the grape has not been studied as in the Chautauqua district but, as noted, the soils in the two districts are in many cases similar so that the discussion of the influence of the several types given for the Chautauqua district will apply in large part to the Central Lakes district. The Central Lakes have a very perceptible influence on the climate of the region. The lakes are deep and conserve warmth. The water of Seneca Lake is so deep, and consequently warm, that it has been known to freeze over only a few times in the past hundred years. The winter climate in this region is much less severe than in adjacent territories. Not only does the water modify the severity of the winter climate but the enclosing highlands materially assist in keeping in the warmth of the valleys. Since the lakes run, generally speaking, north and south, the winds are deflected to these directions very largely. In the summer, both days and nights are cooler and the climate more equable near the lakes. These modifications of climate are all favorable to grape-growing. The first grapes grown in this district, so far as records show, were set by the Rev. William Bostwick at Hammondsport in 1830. The varieties were Isabella and Catawba and these he succeeded in raising to perfection. From this time onward scattering vines were planted in gardens about the three lakes. About 1836 Mr. J. W. Prentiss, originator of the Prentiss grape, planted a small vineyard at Pulteney from which considerable fruit was sent to market from time to time and the vineyard was constantly enlarged. In 1853 a commercial vineyard was set out by Andrew Reisinger, a German vine-dresser, consisting of two acres of Isabella and Catawba at Harmonyville in the town of Pulteney. Reisinger trained, pruned and tilled his vines, operations unheard of before in the district, and was rewarded with crops and profits which stimulated grape culture in his and nearby neighborhoods.