The uppermost loess layer has been transformed thruout Podolia into the famous black earth (Chornozem). Hence Podolia has for ages been famous for its fertility. “In Podolia,” says an old Ukrainian proverb, “bread grows on the hedgeposts and the hedges are of plashed sausages.” On the other hand, Podolia suffers greatly from lack of forests. The large areas of forest which still existed in the 16th and 17th Centuries have now divided to small woods. The effects of forest destruction were not slow. Many springs and brooks have dried up, the rivers have languished, so that in particularly dry summers there is often a dearth of water. On the other hand, after the cutting down of the forests, began the destructive activity of the gorges, which extend after every strong rain and are able in a short time to transform a rich agricultural district into a maze of ravines.
Between the Podolian Plateau and the hilly sub-Carpathian country lies the Pocutian-Bessarabian Plateau.
The far-stretching narrow plateau section which lies between the valleys of the Dniester and the Prut is called Pokutye (land in the corner) in the west, while in the east the name Bessarabia (properly Bassarabia) is commonly used. In the west the plateau country reaches the valleys of the Bistritza and Vorona in the sub-Carpathian region; in the southeast it passes over into Pontian steppe-plain.
On the Dniester one sees almost no difference between the character of Podolia on the left bank and of Pocutia or Bessarabia on the right. On both sides the same valley slopes, composed of the same rock layers—except that the one on the right bank is more compact, because the Dniester receives only few and small tributaries on this side. Only at some distance from the course of the Dniester do the peculiarities of the Pokutian-Bessarabian Plateau appear to the view.
The western part of the plateau, which bears the name [[44]]of Pokutye and extends to the east as far as the hill-group of Berdo-Horodishche, has a level, very flat, undulating surface. And yet it is a typical karstenite country, affected by the existence of great strata of gypsum. The region has a very great number of funnel-shaped depressions which are called Vertep and are altogether analogous to the Carso dolomites. They originated thru the dissolving action of the subterranean water in the gypsum strata. The funnel walls are always steep on one side, gray gypsum rocks rise like walls over the bottom of the funnel, which is often occupied by a small lake. Many brooks disappear in the karstenite funnels, to continue their course as subterranean streams. Nor does Pokutye lack other marks of a karstenite region. The action of the subterranean waters has, by dissolving the gypsum masses, formed large caves, which are famous for their beautiful stalactites of white alabaster. The best known are the cave of Lokitki, near Tovmach, and in the neighboring South Podolia, the caves of Bilche Zolote and the recently discovered magnificent caves of Crivche.
However, the karstenite country of the Pokutye cannot bear comparison with the karstenite regions of Krain, Istria and Croatia. Gypsum is not limestone, and its strength is insignificant as compared with strength of the lime-stone in genuine karstenite regions. A genuine karstenite formation therefore does not exist in Pokutye, and a thick cover of clay is only in exceptional cases broken by gypsum rocks.
The Pokutian Plateau is much lower than the Podolian. Only in isolated places does it attain a height of 370–380 m. and becomes constantly lower toward the east. But north of Chernivtzi (Czernowitz) it rises to a height which we look for in vain in all the rest of the Ukrainian plateau group. The wooded hill-group of the Berdo Horodishche here reaches 515 m., the greatest height above sea level [[45]]to be found between the Carpathians and the Ural. In the east, Berdo Horodishche passes over into the chain of hills of Khotin, which attains a height of 460 m. and marks the eastern end of the Pocutia. The southeastern long and wide Bessarabian section of the plateau is divided into far-reaching narrow marshes by the flat valleys of the Prut and Reut Rivers. The Prut-Dniester river divide attains a height of 420 m. (Megura hill) in the headwater region of the Reut south of the city of Bilzi. The southeastern part of the Bessarabian plateau consists of very numerous low marshes, which lie between flat valleys. The plateau becomes constantly lower and flatter and passes imperceptibly over into the Pontian Steppe-plain.
The third member of the Ukrainian plateau group is the Rostoche. Looking from the summit of the castle mountain of Lemberg, famous for its beautiful prospect, we see, just behind the broad valley of the Poltva River, a chain of high wooded hills which stretch toward the northeast. They form the spurs of the Rostoche.
The Rostoche, called also the Lemberg-Lublin Ridge, lies, a profusely cut, hilly, narrow plateau, which is bounded on the one side by the San and Vistula Plain, on the other side by the low country of the Buh. Toward the southwest the Rostoche has a steep rim, which, as a matter of fact, is rather insignificant-looking; toward the east it resolves itself into parallel hill-ridges, which gradually become lower and between which lie marshy valleys.
The southern part of the Rostoche, which merges with the Podolian Plateau near Lemberg and extends to the broad, sandy and marshy glacial river valley of Tanva toward the northwest, is a plateau transformed into an erosive hill-country. The highest hills attain a height of 400 m. The river valleys are in general flat; only along the steep borders of the plateau are they cut deep. The steep western border is very picturesque, with its deep gorges and [[46]]loess walls. Many vigorous springs appear here, among them the well-known Parashka spring, from which a heavy column of water rises from time to time.