Ram's-Heads in Witch Hollow loi 



not to disturb the fibrous roots. The layer of leaf 

 mould was loosely strewn, and not so deep here as I 

 had expected to find it. Scarcely three inches beneath 

 the surface, I came to a bright, whitish gravel. The 

 spot was situated on a sloping hillside, which seemed 

 to surround a hollow among the hills, where a glacial 

 lake had formerly slept. It is called to-day " Chalk 

 Pond," the water being whitish at times in the streams 

 flowing from the heart of the region. The soil was 

 rich with unfathomable depths of peat and marl in the 

 lake bed below. Peat is formed by decaying moss, 

 ferns, and vegetable matter in general, while the marl, 

 which lends a chalky appearance to the water and 

 gravel, comes from the crumbling and decayed shells 

 abounding in the soil. This loam seems to be valu- 

 able, and the pond bed is now well drained for the pur- 

 pose of selling the substance as a fertilizer for lawns. 



White birch, chestnut, pines, and nearer the pond 

 meadow below, beautiful elms towered skyward. 

 From this corner I searched the hillsides to the north, 

 along the path. At the feet of some chestnut saplings, 

 I found the Small Round-Leaved Orchis {Habe7iaria 

 Hookeriayid). The plant was young, and apparently 

 had not put forth blossoms this summer. They ap- 

 pear in early June in this region. Leaving the plant 

 to study another year, I sought the southern hillside, 

 and came suddenly upon a sight which I shall not 

 soon forget. Before me stood the Great Round-Leaved 

 Orchis {Habenaria orbiculatd), with its two huge, 

 round, flat-lying leaves of a soft emerald green, about 



