100 THE ADIRONDACK SPRUCE 
The conditions of heat, moisture, and ventilation are 
such in the dense and damp Adirondack forest that 
the waste materials which drop trom the trees and 
other forest vegetation decay slowly after falling. The 
result is a mass of partially disintegrated vegetable 
matter which has been accumulating for years, and 
which may cover the ground to a depth of several feet. 
This layer, deeper on low than on high ground, often 
becomes acid humus in the swamps. 
Rain is abundant. An indication of its amount is 
supplied by the rainfall of the upper Hudson, which is 
given by the State Engineer as follows, with the remark 
that in 1895 it was somewhat deficient : 
DOA SY. Ue Reever este ite Sosa 41.37 inches 
EDO S <hhs te See BEN. o Gh SUR 26507 us ys 
PBGOES Sic 248 Mereeee oe. 6. xb Lies. 45.21 « 
The temperature, as shown by records kept at Ne- 
Ha-Sa-Ne Park in 1893, 1894, 1896, and 1897, has a 
considerable, but not an extreme, range. The highest 
temperature for the four years was ninety-three degrees 
above zero, in July, and the lowest thirty-six degrees 
below zero, in January. Frosts occur in October of 
each year, but in only one case of the four do they con- 
tinue into May. The fall of snow is heavy, and it lies 
on the ground during six or seven of the twelve calendar 
months, beginning as a rule in November. 
