INTRODUCTION. 773 



The soil is made up of abrasions and disintegrations of Gneisic and 

 Limestone rocks and sand, sparingly mixed with clay; forming what 

 agriculturalists denominate " Light Loam " — a soil especially adapted 

 to the growth of cereals — yielding abundant crops to generous cultiva- 

 tion. But in such narrow limits, we cannot have a wide range in the 

 variety of soil;, in fact, we have very little more than such variety 

 as is produced by Hill and Vale, or wet, damp, hilly and rocky — which 

 is not so much a variety of soil as a difference in the state of the same 

 soil. 



We necessarily infer that such conditions are not favorable to a 

 prolific Flora. 



There are other features, however, that must not be overlooked, that 

 ought to give rise to variety in the plants growing in the county. 



The territory is washed on one side by the Hudson — a long river 

 flowing through nearly the whole length of the eastern side of the State. 

 On the other side, the coast of the Sound gives it the sea beach and the 

 salt marsh. Three railways extend through it from north to south; one 

 of which is part of the great highway between the Atlantic and the 

 Pacific oceans ; one of the others, by its connections, reaches the shores 

 of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the third extends through the middle 

 and reaches Canada. We should, therefore, expect that the Flora 

 would be enriched and greatly enlarged by seeds brought and sown 

 along the lines of these great railways and floated to the shores by the 

 waters of the Hudson and Long Island Sound. In this, however, we 

 are disappointed ; for it is remarkable that a very small number of plants 

 are growing in the county, that have been introduced by the means 

 above mentioned. 



Of the plants herein enumerated, eighty-eight have been introduced 

 from Europe ; fifty-seven of this number are growing without cultivation 

 and freely propagating themselves, and are said to be naturalized ; the 

 remainder, thirty-one in number, are growing without cultivation, but 

 are not fully established. 



As already stated, there has been detected in the county 1,142 flow- 

 ering plants and forty-six ferns and their allies. Of the flowering plants, 

 fifty are first-class trees, reaching a height of thirty feet and upwards ; 

 thirty-four are second-class trees which attain a height of fifteen to 

 thirty feet ; and sixty-nine are shrubs, all of which are growing without 

 cultivation, a very few of which have been introduced. 



The author would again call attention to what was stated in the 

 beginning of this introduction, viz : all the plants named in this report 

 are known to be growing within these limits without cultivation. 



