RESTKICTIVE LKGISLATION. . 21 



various iiili!i]>itjints of the town when such use was not dotriniontal to 

 the safety of the harbor or the town; (3) to enter any of the Province 

 hinds, inclosed or unincloscd, for the purpose of settin»^ out trees or 

 l)each grass. The cost of the i)lanting was to })e defrayed l>y tlie occu- 

 pant of the hinds if the necessity for j)lanting resulted from his actions; 

 otherwise the town was authorized to provide for the expenses incident 

 to the phmting operations. This was known as the " })each grass com- 

 mittee," and it continued in existence until 1893, when the reclamation 

 work ))}' the State required the appointment of a superintendent on full 

 time. 



In 1854 an act, reenforced in 1800, was passed, appointing an agent 

 to prosecute for the penalties pi"escri})ed for the destruction of the 

 vegetation, lie was authorized to issue permits for pasturage and 

 the removal of sod and brush where the same would work no injury 

 to the har])or or other property. The beach grass* conunittce was 

 continued witli the indicated curtailment of its duties. This act ])ecamc 

 practically noneffective. With the extensive population so close to 

 the pu))lic forests and onh' one person to defend them, it is not sur- 

 prising that the removal of timber and sod should have proceeded 

 almost without interruption. In 1891 the agent was paid for onl}^ live 

 da3's' services and he issued but four permits. No attempt was made 

 to prosecute parties for the removal of sod without a permit. This 

 constitutes onh* another instance of the difficulty of enforcing a law in 

 the face of opposing public sentiment. 



In 1S93 the inhabitants of Provincetown were ceded the lands Ij'ing 

 within and adjacent to the cit}' limits, the State retaining possession of 

 what to-da}' constitutes the Province lands (PI. 1). A superintendent 

 of the Province lands was appointed to look after the interests of the 

 State and to take charge of the reclamation processes at that time 

 inaugurated. 



ARTIFICIAL RECLAMATION OF THE CAPE SANDS. 



, Early Woijk ok Sand Control. 



Although at as early a date as the beginning of the eighteenth cen- 

 tury there was- considerable local concern for the devastation of the 

 sand dune areas, there does not appear to have been much work, other 

 than legislative, actually performed until after the middle of the same 

 century. It was at this time, w^hen the sea broke through to the cove 

 inlet in the arm of the Cape at East Harbor and threatened to destroy 

 the entire Cape Cod Harbor, that the extensive planting of beach 

 grass was commenced. Tliis grass, used in connection with brush 

 fences, repaired the break, and in the course of a few 3"ears caused 

 extensive accunuilations of sand. It appears to have been the pi'actice 

 upon the part of the inhabitants of Truro to devote a specified time 



