BEACH SAND AS A MULCH 



BY IIEXRY S. CLUBB. 



In a brief article in the Michigan Farmer, I alluded to the above subject. 

 It is evidently attracting attention from the number of papers that have 

 copied and made extracts from that article. At the request of the Secretary, 

 who is compiling the present volume of the State Pomological Report, I pre- 

 sent in this article a more comprehensive view of the subject, embodying the 

 features of that article and such additional remarks as make it more appropri- 

 ate for the proceedings of the State Pomological Society. 



In former volumes of the Pomological Report I have had occasion to defend 

 the east shore of Lake Michigan from the remarks made against it by writers 

 not thoroughly posted in regard to its topography. The very fact of which 

 complaint is made, that the sand of the lake shore is drifting inland, although 

 much less extensive than asserted by uninformed writers, is one of especial 

 interest as furnishing tree-culturists with experience in the use of sand as a 

 mulch without going to the expense of making experiments. Wherever trees 

 growing in the black sandy loam of our lake shore become mulched with the 

 sand drifting around them, they are kept moist during the hottest seasons, and 

 continue their growth without interruption from drouth the whole summer. 

 The reason is obvious. The sand acts as a mulch : the roots are kept moist 

 and the growth of the trees, even during a dry season, is rapid. 



The capillary attraction of sand is well known, and its wonderful retention of 

 moisture is very remarkable. In the hottest season of the year, moist sand can 

 be reached within two or three inches of the surface high up on our lake shore 

 sand hills. The thrifty character of the maple shade trees in lake shore cities 

 and villages, where the grading of streets or the drifting of the winds have 

 mulched the trees with sand, can be seen any day, and is a common subject of 

 remark by visitors ; and where fruit trees, from any cause, are mulched with 

 sand, they never suffer from drouth. The use of sand as a mulch for cran- 

 berries has long been known. It is not merely to keep down the growth of 

 weeds that it is used, but because the sand is a protection to the tender roots of 

 the cranberry, keeping them moist during the dry period of the summer. 



The experience of the lake shore in Michigan is borne out by the experience 

 of fruit growers in California. The Santa Barbara Press, edited by Mr. J. A. 

 Johnson, whose efforts to promote forest culture has been recognized by the IT. 

 S. Agricultural Department at Washington, says: "In a country like Southern 

 California, the best method of securing the growth of trees and vines at the 



