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Rock Garden 
The beauty and interest of the Rock Garden has doubtless ar- 
rested the attention of the visitor before he proceeded to the Mono- 
cotyledons. The Rocks are glacial boulders which were deposited, 
at what is now the north end of the Botanic Garden, by one of the 
continental ice sheets that terminated at Long Island during the 
ce Age and formed the terminal moraine, known locally as “ the 
backbone of Long Island.” The boulders were uncovered during 
the grading of the area between the Museum Building and Mt. 
Prospect Reservoir, and constitute the only logical (as well as the 
only available) material for a Rock Garden here, since there is 
(with an unimportant exception, near the north-west shore) no 
ledge rock on the Island. (See Brooklyn Botanic Garden Guide 
No. 3, The Story of our Boulders, to be issued later.) 
The Rock Garden, constructed under the supervision of Mr. 
Montague Free, in 1916, contains about 800 different species of 
Alpine and rock-loving (saxatile) plants, from the Cordilleras of 
Western America, the Andes, Alps, Ural Mts., Himalayas, and 
other regions. 
So far as known, this was the first rock garden to be developed 
in a public park in America. Even a brief description must be 
reserved for a special guide book. 
Ecological Garden 
The word ecology is derived from two Greek words meaning 
“house” and “science.” Ecology, therefore means ‘“ house sci- 
ence,” or the science of the home life of plants (or of animals, as 
the case may be). This phase of botanical science has to do with 
the relation of plants to their surroundings or environment; more 
specifically to the various factors of environment, such as soil, 
water, light, gravity, air, wind, other plants, insects, and other 
animals, etc. 
A special guide is required for a full explanation of the Eco- 
logical Section. The vistor will note from the labels that the 
various beds are devoted to illustrating the relation of plants to 
the factors above mentioned. A wide range of environment is 
provided by the swamp, by the running water of the brook that 
flows into it, by the quiet pools and waterfalls in the brook below 
