133 



latter are always scarce in thickly settled regions, as they are 

 said to flourish only in the purest air. 



A less common type of soil in Queens County (but the pre- 

 vailing type a little farther east) has less silt and clay and more 

 sand and gravel, the latter covering the surface pretty thickly in 

 some places. This has been mapped as "Alton stony loam." 

 There are extensive salt marshes of the ordinary type at the 

 heads of Flushing and Little Neck bays and in a few other 

 places, and smaller areas of peat and muck in undrained depres- 

 sions. There are no dunes, and sand as a soil type is almost 

 confined to narrow beaches too small to show on the soil map. 



Topography and hydrography. — The area is moderately hilly 

 throughout, ranging in altitude from sea-level to about 250 feet. 

 There are many undrained depressions characteristic of glaciated 

 topography, usually not more than 30 feet deep and a few acres 

 in extent. Some of these are dry most of the time, and some 

 partly filled with water or peat. As in many other fertile 

 regions,* springs and swift streams are scarce. Rivers are like- 

 wise absent, on account of the narrowness of the island here. 

 The creeks are all tidal estuaries, bordered by marshes, and the 

 brooks, none of which are more than 100 feet above sea-level, 

 are bordered by swamps or meadows. Some of the fresh and 

 brackish marshes are utilized for public water supply by means 

 of numerous wells driven down in them and connected with 

 pumping stations near by. 



Climate, etc. — The climate is similar to that of the south side 

 of the island, but doubtless a little colder in winter. The average 

 growing season is probably about 190 days, or about the same 

 as at the northern edge of Georgia and Alabama. A minor 

 environmental factor, which affects the explorer but not the 

 vegetation, is the presence of mosquitoes in the woods practically 

 throughout the growing season, or about half the year. 



Vegetation. — As already stated, about one tenth of the area 

 under considreation still bears what appears to be natural 

 vegetation. The commonest type was, and is, deciduous forests 



* E. g., the Tallahassee red hills and Ocala hammocks of Florida, the black 

 belt of Alabama, the Yazoo delta of Mississippi, the prairies of Illinois, and the 

 great central valley of California. 



