LAND 45 



or plant-food may be applied in the shape of ferti- 

 lizers. Usually this is helpful, but, sometimes, it 

 is like giving additional food to a sick person when 

 he has already eaten too much. Sugar maples, 

 red oaks, cherry trees, beeches, pines, hemlocks, 

 dogwoods, wild grapes, and many other plants grow 

 luxuriously upon the sands of western and northern 

 Michigan, even on land so poor that it is thought 

 unfit for agriculture. This simply illustrates how 

 all land is adapted to the uses of the landscape- 

 gardener. He may improve it for certain purposes 

 and make it better adapted for the growth of par- 

 ticular plants, but often his best course will be to 

 select such plants as grow on land like that with 

 which he has to deal. 



Land to be useful must be stationary ; that is, 

 it must not be blown aw r ay by wind or washed away 

 by running water. To prevent light sandy land from 

 being blown away, it must be thickly planted, usually 

 with perennials having a woody growth, although 

 many herbaceous plants are also useful in holding 

 sand. Much can also be accomplished by planting 

 to prevent land from being washed away. The 

 damage to lands by erosion will be discussed further 

 under the heading of "streams." 



