44 
the locality is varied, apparently representing a large number of spe- 
cies common to the Northern and Eastern States; but its whole as- 
pect indicates a severe cHmate and sterile soih A notable feature at 
the time of our visist, August 15th, was the wonderful size and abun- 
dance of the fruit of many species. Everywhere on lower ground 
was Cornus Canadensis, with bunches of bright red berries, making 
the ground in places fairly brilliant. Many of the plants were also in 
bloom, but the depauperate appearance of the flowers showed them 
to be plainly out of season. Clintonia borealis^ though less abun- 
dant, was even more striking. Here and there it occupied the ground 
in patches, to the exclusion of nearly all other plants, while every 
scape bore several, often a half dozen, berries usually a half inch or more 
in diameter. The color was of the intensest cobalt-blue, which to my 
knowledge is not anywhere equalled in fruit or flower. Other spe- 
cies also remarkably conspicuous for their fruitfulness were Strcpto- 
pus rosetis^ Mcdeola Virginica and Trillium erythrocarptim, A num- 
ber of species, which, further South are found only in swamps, were 
seen flourishing here on steep and comparatively dry hill-sides. 
Among undershrubs, Viburnum lanianoides was very abundant, and, on 
lower ground was everywhere laden with great broad cymes of beau- 
tiful coral fruits. Far up the mountain-side the plants were still 
abundant, but bore no fruit. 
The ascent of Blue Mountain, instructive in the opportunity it 
affords for the study of mountain vegetation, offers a perhaps still 
greater reward in the way of magnificent scenery. The mountain is 
about 4,000 feet in height, and stands comparatively isolated in a vast 
amphitheatre of hills and low mountains. A forest stretches in every 
direction, apparently unbroken except by the lakes and ponds of vari- 
ous sizes, of which about twenty are in sight. In general aspect the 
forests appear to be made up largely of conifers, but a closer inspec- 
tion shows that such is not the case. Indeed, nowhere in the Adi- 
rondack region did I encounter any exclusively coniferous forests, or 
any where the conifers were not equalled in number by broad-leaved 
species. ^ The grand feature of the view from the summit of Blue 
Mountain, however, Is the group of mountains of which Mt. Marcy is 
the centre, lying some thirty miles to the east. Few mountain views, 
I apprehend, are grander than this. 
On the few acres of cleared land in the vicinity of Blue Mountain 
Lake it was interesting to note the promptness with which nature sets 
about clothing the open spaces with vegetation. Left to itself for a 
single year, a clearing, especially if it has been burned over, yields a 
luxuriant crop of the two fire-weeds, Epilobium angustifolium and 
Erechthites hieracifoliay the former largely in excess. In clearings 
two or three years old, as also along the sides of roads, Prunus 
Pennsylvanica begins to appear in great abundance. Many of the 
plants were fairly vigorous, while a large number was seriously 
affected by the black-knot. So far as these clearings are intended to 
give space for cultivated fields, they appear altogether unpromising, 
judging by the few efforts at gardening here and there visible. What- 
ever else may be in store for the wilderness as a whole, it is safe to 
