EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 391 



ceaselessly at work. Here and there reaching above the level sweep of 

 sand surface, portions of rock, driftwood or other debris project. Around 

 these obstacles the wind forms tiny drifts and cuts, into which seeds of 

 sand and shore grasses, and rootstalks of perennials drift and become 

 covered with sand. Growth starts in the shelters thus secured and soon 

 clumps of grass cling tenaciously to the support. (Fig. 3.) Light seeds 

 from nearby trees and shrubs lodge here and gain root. These small 

 spots normally, and annually gain more ground than is lost to natural 

 forces of wind and water. These spots of vegetation and woody cover 

 soon spread over the face of the heaviest drifts and form the crust which 

 establishes the dunes. Species which take part in this early struggle 

 with wind and water erosion, and which gradually win out are all those 

 shore and sand grasses and herbaceous plants which thrive so well on 

 the shores of the Great Lakes. The most prominent and those most 

 serviceable in reclamation are given here and include the three classes 

 of trees, shrubs and plants and grasses which grow wild on the sand 

 dune and drift areas of the State. A complete list is not attempted but 

 only such are given as are most conspicuous in the formation of a cover 

 on the established dune areas. 



Many of the shrubs and plants listed form a secondary or soil cover 

 under the canopy of forest trees, and are not directly responsible for 

 maintaining the crust or surface. They do, however, contribute largely 

 in supplying the organic matter, as well as furnish the physical obstruc- 

 tion which is so essential in holding the litter and debris in place against 

 the action of the winds. Many of the species listed are local to one or 

 more of the Dune Belts and this fact should be ascertained before they 

 are generally used. 



It is entirely possible that certain plants and grasses found grooving 

 in abundance in the Superior Belt may be planted on the Michigan and 

 Huron shores and vice versa, but definite facts should be obtained for 

 each plant so far as possible before it is used extensively. 



The following trees grow well on the sand banks and more or less 

 wind swept shores of the Great Lakes : 



TREES. 



Conifers. 



White Pine Pinus strobus. 



Red Pine Pinus resinosa. 



Jack Pine Pinus divaricata. 



Pitch Pine Pinus rigida. 



Austrian Pine Pinus austriaca. 



Scotch Pine Pinus sylvestris. 



White Spruce Picea canadensis. 



Norway Spruce Picea excelsa. 



European Larch Larix europea. 



Hemlock Tsuga canadensis. 



Balsam Fir Abies balsamea. 



White Cedar Thuya occidentalis. 



