186 



HUTCHINSON'S POPULAR BOTANY 



visited a monument to Bremontier, erected by his brother, ten miles or more 

 inland in the redeemed territory, and saw in many places deciduous trees 

 oaks, ashes, beeches, and others growing luxuriously under the protection 

 of^the pines. One cannot help feeling while enjoying this the justice of our 

 countryman Marsh, who counted Bremontier, and Eeventloy, who conducted 

 a similar work in Denmark, as amongst the greatest benefactors of their 

 race." 



Bremontier' s mothod is briefly this : A continuous wooden paling about 



four feet high is erected 

 parallel with the shore-line, 

 and about a hundred yards 

 back from high-water mark, 

 a space an inch wide being 

 left between the boards. 

 As the sand is not raised 

 like dust, but glides along 

 near the surface, it piles 

 up in front of the paling, 

 and passing through the 

 crevices, is deposited behind. 

 This goes on till the boards 

 are buried, when they are 

 raised one at a time, and 

 the operation is continued. 

 By repeating the process 

 again and again the dune 

 steadily rises in height and 

 assumes a slope of from 

 seven to twelve degrees in 

 front, and much less on the 

 land side. On setting the 

 first fence, tufts of Psamma 

 arenaria are planted in 

 front, and in a belt eight 

 times wider than the 

 obstacle opposed. These 

 tufts are in quincunx order, and closer together near the paling. Those 

 outside stop some of the sand, those farther up stop more, and thus an even 

 slope of the desired angle is secured and maintained. The tufts are set in 

 winter, and between them are sown seeds of the same plant, and of Triticum 

 junceum, Artemisia, Cakile maritima, Scdsola, Ephedra, and other maritime 

 plants. These grasses, etc., grow upward as they are buried, and thus the sand 

 is bound together in a fine network of fibres. Then, at a fit time, the surface 

 is sown broadcast with a mixture of seeds of the Maritime or Cluster Pine 



Photo by] IE. Step. 



FIG. 238. SEA-HOLLY (Eryngium maritimum). 



An Umbelliferous plant with blue flowers and leathery, spiny leaves 

 that helps to keep the sea-shore sands from shifting. 



