ON THE LINKS 115 



term to anything so rude of the life of the 

 links. 



Thus, these compact dunes, besides presenting a 

 miniature mountain chain to that exceptional 

 golfer who has an eye for anything but his ball, 

 serve the more practical purposes of preventing 

 drifting over the links, and farther inland, to the 

 detriment alike of golf and agriculture ; they also 

 prepare the way for the richer turf behind. 



It is interesting to notice how many flowers can 

 grow on pure sand. No doubt, after a while, the 

 roots of the grasses form a certain superficial soil, 

 varying in depth as one proceeds from the sea 

 margin to the fence which marks off the links 

 from the fields. 



Imperceptible in the dunes, where the lime-grass 

 seems to find sufficient in the sand for its broad 

 brittle leaves and long stout stems, it appears just 

 beyond as a thin streak, and deepens, it may be, to 

 an inch in the older parts of the links. In replacing 

 turf, the course-keepers sprinkle soil underneath ; 

 thus artificially increasing the depth. 



But the layer is never very deep, and nowhere 

 gets beyond the tawny hue, mingled of yellow 

 and brown. The main condition of these links 

 wild flowers growing, is that the sands cease the 



