164 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



The importance of this subject, especially to fruit growers and foresters along 

 the sandy portion of Michigan shores, will be readily seen. What is frequently 

 regarded as a chief objection to the lake shore region becomes, when inteli- 

 gently applied, one of its chief excellencies. Many are the seasons when the 

 clay lands ten to twenty miles from the lake are scorched with drouth, while 

 the sandy region near the lake is verdant and moist and scarcely affected by 

 the same weather which parches up and cracks the heavy soil. We have seen 

 one hundred pound squash grown where sand has been used as mulch, when 

 without such treatment a few miles inland the season has dried up the vines 

 and no crop obtained. 



In the twenty-first annual report of the Massachusetts State Board of Agri- 

 culture for 1873-4, Dr. Loring is reported as saying: "I represent a clay- 

 farm. Almost all the land I cultivate is of that character. When I took it 

 into my hands in 1857, it had been mucked to death ; it had been filled with 

 muck. * * * * Having accidently discovered a large deposit of sand in 

 the rear of my stable, I resorted to that sand for bedding for my cattle and the 

 enlargement of my manure heaps. The land changed materially in three 

 years. The quality of my crops changed, — half grown, stunted mangold-wur- 

 zels were replaced by large, healthy looking roots. Tufted grasses, — that is, 

 fields where there would be a square foot of grass and six inches of intervening 

 barrenness, were all wiped out, and an equal diffusion of healthy, thrifty grass was 

 secured in its stead. It was owing to the introduction of sand with the manure 

 into those lands which had been rendered sour and pasty by the muck. That 

 was the result of that experiment. So I say, if you have clay lands, extend 

 your manure heaps and compost them by the use of sand." This use of sand 

 in evening the growth of sod and promoting a fine growth of grass is completely 

 verified on the sandy portions of the lake shore. No finer or evener sod can be 

 found than that which forms naturally wherever the sand is protected from the 

 strong winds and where it thinly spreads over the richer soil. It frequently 

 happens in grading roads that sand is used to raise the road to a proper grade. 

 The grass which soon makes its way to the surface is as fine as hair, but it soon 

 forms a sod which is invaluable for lawns, and is extensively used by gardeners 

 for that purpose. White clover is frequently raised in the same apparently 

 spontaneous manner, and is green the season through. In fact, sod mulched 

 with sand seldom dies, even in the hottest weather. 



The value of beach sand in cranberry culture is referred to by Mr. S. B. 

 Phinney of Barnstable, Massachusetts, in his valuable article in the Report of 

 the Department of Agriculture, 1863, page 134. "The depth of sand required 

 to be spread on the surface depends upon the depth of the peat. If this latter 

 is only a foot or two in thickness, five inches of sand is considered sufficient ; if 

 it is several feet, at least a foot of sand is required to make a good bog. The 

 more sand there is used the longer it requires to bring the vines into a bearing 

 state ; but when brought into that state they continue for many years. At 

 Sandy Neck on the north side of Barnstable harbor, the cranberry has grown 

 in natural bogs for hundreds of years. The soil of these bogs is beach sand, 

 with a mixture of peaty and vegetable matter. They prove that a large admix- 

 ture of peat or mud is not essential to the growth of productive vines. * 

 At Provincetown, where the soil is very similar to that at Sandy Neck, in the 

 swamps, where the mud is deep, the cultivators are troubled with wild grasses 

 and rushes, and for tiiat reason sandy bottoms are preferred. It is also found 

 by numerous experiments that very little peat is absolutely essential to secure a 



