﻿424 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  Sahara" 
  of 
  sand 
  dunes. 
  A 
  great 
  pestilential 
  sore 
  spot 
  in 
  France, 
  

   where 
  dwelt 
  poverty, 
  malnutrition, 
  and 
  despair 
  before 
  the 
  merciless 
  

   march 
  of 
  gigantic 
  sand 
  dunes, 
  was 
  converted 
  into 
  a 
  beautiful 
  and 
  

   productive 
  forest 
  and 
  into 
  a 
  region 
  of 
  health 
  resorts 
  and 
  prosperity. 
  

   The 
  destructive 
  invasion 
  of 
  the 
  Vandals 
  in 
  A. 
  D. 
  407 
  set 
  sand 
  dunes 
  

   on 
  the 
  march. 
  By 
  Napoleon's 
  time 
  they 
  had 
  covered 
  400,000 
  acres 
  and 
  

   had 
  buried 
  forests 
  and 
  farm 
  villages, 
  and 
  dammed 
  up 
  the 
  streams, 
  

   causing 
  a 
  great 
  area 
  of 
  coastal 
  plain 
  to 
  overflow. 
  Marshes 
  brought 
  

   in 
  malaria, 
  which 
  diminished 
  and 
  weakened 
  the 
  resident 
  population. 
  

  

  Work 
  of 
  fixation 
  and 
  control 
  was 
  begun 
  by 
  Bremontier 
  in 
  1786 
  

   under 
  the 
  command 
  of 
  Napoleon. 
  Reforestation 
  of 
  the 
  dunes 
  was 
  

   made 
  possible 
  by 
  creating 
  a 
  great 
  littoral 
  dune. 
  This 
  was 
  done 
  by 
  

   means 
  of 
  a 
  movable 
  palisade 
  of 
  planks 
  which 
  were 
  successively 
  pulled 
  

   up 
  as 
  the 
  dune 
  crest 
  was 
  raised. 
  In 
  time 
  a 
  dune 
  was 
  built 
  up 
  along 
  

   the 
  coast 
  whose 
  windward 
  slope 
  reached 
  a 
  grade 
  too 
  steep 
  for 
  the 
  

   winds 
  longer 
  to 
  blow 
  sand 
  over 
  it. 
  Thereupon, 
  the 
  slopes 
  of 
  the 
  

   dune 
  were 
  fixed 
  with 
  sand 
  grasses. 
  Reforestation 
  to 
  the 
  leeward 
  and 
  

   streams 
  were 
  thus 
  safeguarded 
  from 
  further 
  advance 
  of 
  dunes. 
  Fol- 
  

   lowing 
  the 
  fixation 
  of 
  dunes, 
  drainage 
  of 
  2*4 
  million 
  acres 
  of 
  lowlands 
  

   was 
  made 
  possible 
  under 
  the 
  direction 
  of 
  Chambrelent. 
  By 
  1865 
  

   this 
  memorable 
  task 
  was 
  completed. 
  

  

  One 
  dune, 
  near 
  d'Arcachon, 
  however, 
  was 
  left 
  uncontrolled 
  for 
  

   some 
  reason 
  (pi. 
  4, 
  fig. 
  1). 
  It 
  is 
  2 
  miles 
  long, 
  % 
  m 
  il 
  e 
  wide, 
  and 
  300 
  

   feet 
  high 
  and 
  is 
  advancing 
  on 
  the 
  forest 
  at 
  the 
  rate 
  of 
  60 
  to 
  65 
  feet 
  

   a 
  year. 
  This 
  active 
  dune 
  serves 
  as 
  a 
  comparison 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  re- 
  

   claimed 
  dune 
  area 
  and 
  gives 
  some 
  idea 
  of 
  the 
  magnitude 
  of 
  the 
  

   achievement 
  of 
  converting 
  a 
  devouring 
  menace 
  affecting 
  2y 
  2 
  million 
  

   acres 
  of 
  land 
  into 
  a 
  healing 
  resource. 
  It 
  is 
  estimated 
  that 
  the 
  return 
  

   from 
  the 
  resin 
  crop 
  alone 
  from 
  the 
  pine 
  plantations 
  has 
  been 
  sufficient 
  

   to 
  pay 
  off 
  all 
  the 
  original 
  costs 
  of 
  this 
  classic 
  example 
  of 
  reclamation 
  

   of 
  sand 
  dunes 
  and 
  pestilential 
  marshes. 
  

  

  CONQUEST 
  OF 
  THE 
  SEA 
  FOR 
  LAND 
  

  

  Conservation 
  and 
  utilization 
  of 
  natural 
  resources 
  is 
  the 
  striking 
  

   lesson 
  gained 
  from 
  Holland. 
  Few 
  nations 
  have 
  done 
  so 
  much 
  with 
  

   what 
  little 
  they 
  have. 
  Among 
  the 
  masterpieces 
  of 
  land 
  reclamation, 
  

   The 
  Netherlands 
  has 
  achieved 
  wonders 
  in 
  dewatering 
  the 
  ocean 
  and 
  

   transforming 
  hundreds 
  of 
  thousands 
  of 
  acres 
  of 
  ocean 
  floor 
  into 
  pro- 
  

   ductive 
  farm 
  lands. 
  Holland, 
  with 
  2,500 
  persons 
  to 
  the 
  square 
  mile 
  

   of 
  cultivated 
  area, 
  required 
  more 
  land. 
  She 
  chose 
  a 
  policy 
  of 
  rec- 
  

   lamation 
  instead 
  of 
  conquest. 
  When 
  the 
  present 
  Zuider 
  Zee 
  project 
  

   is 
  completed, 
  more 
  than 
  550,000 
  additional 
  acres, 
  formerly 
  inhabited 
  

   by 
  fish, 
  will 
  be 
  occupied 
  by 
  people. 
  In 
  1939 
  we 
  saw 
  farmers 
  plowing 
  

   the 
  land, 
  13 
  to 
  16 
  feet 
  below 
  sea 
  level, 
  over 
  which 
  the 
  salt 
  fishermen 
  

   had 
  plowed 
  the 
  waves 
  only 
  6 
  years 
  before. 
  (PI. 
  4, 
  fig. 
  3.) 
  We 
  watched 
  

  

  