(346) 



TABLE II 



Approximate Temperature Limits of the Hemlock Type, Based on Range 



BETWEEN New York and Cranberry Lake. In Degrees F. 



northern in its affinities than the hemlock at Cranberry Lake, 

 and growing not far from the crowberry {Empetrum nigrum), an 

 arctic-alpine plant which here comes down to sea-level because of 

 the cold waters. The Cranberry Lake 6-inch mean, when 

 reduced to the same period as that covered by the Mt. Desert 

 records (June 9 to September 21) was 56.1° as compared with 

 55.5 for Mt, Desert, and the 18-inch mean was 51.8 as against 

 51.2 for Maine. Thus for the same period the Cranberry Lake 

 hemlock soil was only .6° warmer at both 6 and 18 inches than 

 the soil at the same depths under a spruce type on a markedly 

 cold situation. It is, therefore, reasonable to consider that the 

 conditions at Cranberry Lake approach pretty closely to those at 

 the northern extension of hemlock. 



We have no similar comparisons to check the southern limit, 

 but it is not likely that hemlock forests inland further to the 

 south would be much warmer than at New York. 



On the whole, the temperature differences between the different 

 stations, like evaporation, are remarkably small, especially 

 when we consider the general climatic differences between New 

 York and the Adirondack Mountains. 



The narrow range of temperature limits found in this study 

 seem to indicate that comparatively small differences in tempera- 

 ture may be of considerable importance to vegetation. There 

 were similar indications in a study of different forest types on 



