80 BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN MEMOIRS 



method of determining the moisture holding capacity of them, and the 

 Briggs and Shantz method of determining their wilting coefificient. 



The moisture holding capacity of the subsoils of Montauk shows that, 

 under the open Downs, they average 33.4%, while under the forest, aver- 

 aging Hither Woods, Point Woods, the island in Great Pond, North Neck 

 Woods, and wooded kettleholes, the figure is 39.9%. The interesting thing 



A B 



Figure 29. (a) Surface soil under open Downs near Hither Woods; 91% coarse sand 

 and humus, 9% fine sand and humus, (b) Surface soil under open Downs between Fort 

 Pond and Great Pond; 74% coarse sand, 26% fine sand, both darkened by humus, but not 

 as much as in the sample from near the Hither Woods (a). 



about these figures is that both of them are well above those for other 

 regions of Long Island which sustain similar types of vegetation. 



Taking the only other grasslands on Long Island we find the moisture 



holding capacity of their subsoils, as compared to Montauk, is as follows: 



Hempstead Plains 28.9% Shinnecock Hills 26.5% 



Montauk Downs 33.4% 



The Montauk figure is not only considerably higher than any other 



grassland on the Island, it is even higher than the average of seventeen 



pitch pine subsoils over the rest of Long Island, the moisture holding capac- 



