DEVASTATION oF DUNE AREAS. 19 



ovidonced bj- the charred stumps and charcoal beds which outcrop in 

 l)lacos aiuonjif the devastated dune areas. 



The forests close to the harbor were naturally assailed at an early 

 date by the inhabitiints and shii)niasters, who found the timber a con- 

 venient source of certain necessary supplies. The salt factories, which 

 oricrinally constituted an important industry on the Cape, used wood 

 for fuel for evaporation purposes until the becrinninjr of the last cen- 

 tury when the more economical method of sun evaporation was intro- 

 duced. This caused the destruction of lar^^c quantities of timber, as 

 did also the extensive production of pitch and turpentine, and the use 

 ' of the wood on the part of the inhabitants for fuel, lish tlakes. ship 

 repairs, and other purposes. 



The pasturing of cattle upon the scattered clumps of ylj//v>»6?!/.s' hyeiiuiUs 

 a,\\d Da /tt/aoiia spieata in the more open places in the forested area 

 and upon the beach grass on the outer dune ranges appears to have 

 been a very potent cause of much of the rejuvenescence. 



The more recent devastjiting influences have been much less impor- 

 tant. It is still the custom to cut certain areas of beach grass for hay. 

 Until recently it was the practice to cure nuich of the marsh hay on 

 the adjacent beach ridge which has )>eeii artiticially built up by the 

 Government as a harbor protection. This process resulted in the 

 • killing out of nmch of the beach grass by smothering it in event of 

 rain, owing to the consequent nonremoval of the marsh ha«v. The 

 removal of sods for reclamation work within the city limits has caused 

 some concern to the authorities, as has also the utilization of the low- 

 areas for the production of cranberries, but, even in the aggregate, 

 these activities are relatively unimportant w hen compared with the 

 early devastation of the established dune areas. 



Early Conditions Incident to the Devastation. 



The conditions incident to the devastation of the forested areas 

 appear to have been most severe about a century ago. Many of the 

 houses were constructed on piles to allow the sand to sweep under 

 rather than to accumulate and bury them. Largo amounts of sand were 

 artiticially removed to prevent the burial of the houses. The sand 

 blast was so severe at times as to completely etch the glass in the 

 windows in a comparatively short space of time. At that time the 

 road led along the beach at low tide and at high tide the travel w^as 

 through the heavy sands farther up on the beach. The streets were 

 of the same loose sand that ^every where abounded, and it is stated that 

 it was not until the last century that a plank walk was constructed 

 along one side of the principal street of the town. 



The committee wdiich was appointed in 1825 to investigate the con- 

 ditions at Frovincetown reported that the trees and beach grass had, 



