Reclamation of Land Wastes. 285 



the sea from their homes and fields. The first authentic accounts of 

 the successful holding of dunes is that of the French engineers who 

 reclaimed the dunes and extensive sand plains along the southwest 

 coast of France. As early as 1778 the French government sent an 

 engineer, Baron de Villers, to Gascony to study conditions and pre- 

 pare plans for the work of reclamation. The system which he pro- 

 posed and partially put into execution is with a few exceptions much 

 the same as that in use in Europe to-day, and the same that we will 

 probably use when extensive work begins in this country. The fact 

 that climatic conditions are more favorable in France than in coun- 

 tries to the northward has made the final success of dune planting 

 in the former country much more evident. The system proposed by 

 de Villers, and later perfected by Engineers Chambrelent and 

 Bremontier, was the formation of a litoral or protective dune just 

 above high-water mark, followed by the planting of this with sand- 

 binding grasses, and a final planting among the grass of the Mari- 

 time and other pines. 



PLANTING OF TREES NECESSARY FOR THE HOLDING AND RECLAMATION 



OF DUNES. 



After the formation of the protective dune and the planting with 

 grass comes the work of planting trees over the dune and in its lee. 

 In Europe the usual method of starting the grass is to set out plants 

 of beach or marram grass {Ammophila arenaria) in groups or rows, 

 the distance apart depending upon the severity of the wind and 

 whether it is desired to build up the dune slowly or rapidly. The 

 beach grass grows vigorously, putting out rootlets at the nodes as 

 these become covered. Care and attention in preserving the re- 

 quired density, and the immediate replacement of the plants which 

 have failed are the chief requisites in the preliminary holding of 

 the dune. After the grass has become well established and the dune 

 has reached the right size, seedlings of some coniferous tree are 

 planted among the grass, or seeds of the Maritime or other pines 

 are sown with those of hardy shrubs like the Cytisus, which shade 

 the young pines for the first few years of their growth. On sand 

 areas to the leeward of the dunes, where grass may or may not have 

 been planted, the usual method is to cover the surface with brush 

 arranged like slates on a roof and held down with a shovelfull of 

 sand here and there. Seeds of the conifers desired are then sown 

 among the brush. 



