184 NATURK STUDY. 



road and to seriously damage neighboring fields. The 

 towns-people were at their wit's end to know what to do 

 to abate the nuisance. Various expedients, such as the 

 planting of willows and the building of fences, were tried, 

 but without success. At length some wise person sug- 

 gested the remedy which had proved successful in stajnng 

 the drifting sands on Cape Cod. A sufficient number of 

 cuttings of the sea sand-reed {Amviophila arenaria) were 

 procured and planted over the tract, and in a few seasons 

 the desired end was accomplished, the grass throve and 

 covered the tract, the drifting sands were stayed and the 

 Hudson desert became only a memory. 



What was here done on a small scale has been done on 

 a large scale along our seacoast. There are large tracts 

 on the shores of the great lakes and in the arid southwest- 

 ern states and along the Columbia river in Washington 

 and Oregon where similar treatment is imperatively re- 

 quired if the safety of live stock or even of man is to be 

 assured. Sand storms like those of the Arabian desert, 

 and even whirlwinds of sand resembling waterspouts, are 

 a constant menace to life and property in the immediate 

 vicinity. Moreover, the sand is perpetually traveling in 

 the direction of the prevailing winds, so that the desert is 

 continually enlarging at the expense of the adjoining fer- 

 tile lands. There is absolutely nothing which can be 

 done to stay this destruction except to plant the sand- 

 binding grasses. This the United States Government has 

 alread}^ begun to do in certain localities. The vastness of 

 the afflicted tracts will make the work of reclamation a long, 

 arduous and expensive one. The hopeful thing about the 

 outlook is that when a tract has been once reclaimed by 

 the planting of grasses and subsequently by the planting 

 of trees, it will not return to its former condition, but will 

 continue to improve. The wood grown upon.it may even 

 in the course of time become a source of revenue. 



