36 



BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN MEMOIRS 



LOW WOODED KETTLEHOLES. 



Dense masses of trees and shrubs, hopelessly tangled with Smilax, or 

 Poison Ivy, or Virginia creeper, — this is the first impression one gets of the 

 bottoms of most of the kettleholes at Montauk. Many of these are prac- 

 tically impenetrable without considerable cutting, and all of them are 

 "cut off" by the wind. So universal is this action that many of the kettle- 

 holes appear to have their trees pruned or treated as a landscape architect 

 might do for a definite effect. Trees and tall shrubs, such as the poison 























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Figure io. General view of 

 Barrington Moore.) 



wooded kettlehole at Montauk. (Photograph by 



sumac for instance, reach varying heights, depending on the depth of the 

 kettlehole, which brings their tops just under the range of the wind that 

 constantly sweeps above them. This often gives a wind-wrenched appear- 

 ance to many trees, and very old specimens have a remarkably ancient and 

 sturdy aspect, as though everything possible had been done to break 

 through that impassable barrier, the depressing effect of which is so notice- 

 able, and from which the depths of these wooded kettleholes provide the 

 only real refuge. 



Another feature of these wooded kettleholes that attracts attention is 

 the sharp contact between them and the open Downs. The accompanying 



