Dunes on Coast of Jutland. 63 



and move on further into the interior. The grass roots which 

 have served to hold the growing dune for a long time will not 

 serve forever to keep the sand hill from breaking; the wind may 

 tear a hole in the west side of the hill and over the crest to the 

 eastward goes the dune, grain by grain. In this way the wind 

 can keep the dunes moving eastward quite rapidly. The dunes 

 are abrupt on the west side and slope gradually on the east side. 

 Seen from the west side they appear to be rugged mountains in 

 miniature. This invasion of the constantly encroaching sand 

 dunes has covered large areas of fertile land and even churches 

 and farm buildings have been buried. 



In 1792 the first experiments to curb the evil were undertaken 

 by the government. As will be seen, many mistakes were made 

 before correct methods were adopted to control the situation. 



At first, the government tried to fix the dunes by sowing and 

 planting broom, black crowberry and other herbaceous plants. 

 Seaweed was plowed under, or "pricked out" in the sand. Some 

 proposed to cut down the steep west side of the dunes and others 

 opposed this method. From 1838 to 185 1 no sowing or planting 

 was done ; the lack of success of previous experiments having 

 baffled those engaged in them. The first experiments at planting 

 trees to fix the dunes were made from 1810 to 1815 but not until 

 1857 did the government enact a law requiring this method of 

 procedure. In 1867 the tree planting of dunes was organized 

 under the Dune Department with a dune inspector in charge. 

 Previous to 1852 it was the duty of the population living in the 

 vicinity of the dunes to contribute work intended to hold the 

 dunes in check. The work was often badly done and, besides, 

 was a burden to the people. Often the people planted grasses on 

 the tops of the dunes and the result was a higher, larger dune, 

 much to their disappointement. In 1852 the government took the 

 work in hand, but not until 1867 was it governed by an inspector. 

 By 1870 the Dune Department had gained enough experience to 

 assure them of successful methods. It had by this time 

 determined what species of trees were able to withstand the 

 strong, salt winds, rigorous climate and the light soil. With 

 experience has come a material saving in the cost of methods. 

 For example in 1853 the cost per acre for formation of a plan- 

 tation was 262 Krone Danish, ($70.21) in 1878 it was 112 Krone 

 Danish ($30.01). 



