away from the moraine. (Consequently rock-loving plants are 

 absent.) The prevailing upland soil types, in order of area, as 

 mapped in the soil survey of western Long Island published by 

 the U. S. Bureau of Soils in 1905, are "Hempstead loam" (this 

 all in Brooklyn, and probably erroneously correlated with the 

 typical soil so named in Nassau County), "Sassafras gravelly 

 loam," "Norfolk sand," "Sassafras sandy loam," and "Hemp- 

 stead gravelly loam." (These names indicate the character of 

 the soils in a general way, and no attempt will be made to describe 

 them. Descriptions and mechanical analyses can be found in 

 the publication cited.) The salt marshes are mapped as "Gal- 

 veston clay" and "Galveston sandy loam," and the dunes and 

 beaches (Coney Island, Rockaway Beach, etc.) as "Galveston 

 sand." No chemical analyses are available, but the soils are 

 evidently distinctly non-calcareous, as elsewhere on Long Island. 



Topography and Hydrography. — The highest altitude in the 

 area is about 120 feet, in the northeastern corner, and the average 

 slope to the southward is about 20 feet to the mile. The surface 

 is nearly flat, except for the shallow and nearly straight valleys 

 of several brooks and creeks flowing in a general southerly direc- 

 tion, and the dunes along the coast. Most of the valleys can be 

 traced a mile or two above the points where the first water ap- 

 pears. As the crest of the moraine on the north coincides pretty 

 nearly with the divide between the East River and the Atlantic 

 Ocean, no permanent streams enter our area from the glaciated 

 region, though of course some water runs down off the moraine 

 in rainy weather. The streams are clear or nearly so, and slug- 

 gish. The salt marshes are dissected by tortuous tidal channels 

 in the usual manner, and constitute the whole area of the nu- 

 merous island in Jamaica Bay and a strip about a mile wide 

 bordering the bay. The dunes are nowhere more than a mile 

 from the outer beach, or more than ten feet high, and are moving 

 very little at present. 



Climate. — The climate of New York City is so well known that 

 little needs to be said about it here. But for the benefit of 

 readers in distant parts it may be well to state that the average 

 temperatures for January, July, and the year are about 31°, 73° 



