REBOISEMENT. 127 



with sand grasses. He overlooked, however, the advan- 

 tage of their complete formation, and, in point of 

 fact, we miss this in the Strandbau, or strand-engin- 

 eering, of that time. Krause confined himself in this 

 to closing openings between the tops of dunes, which 

 were not unfrequently pretty steep, with artificial Vor- 

 dunes. Besides this he desired that the Vordunes should 

 raise themselves somewhat steeply on the strand. In 

 every case indeed the outer slope had a steeper inclina- 

 tion towards the horizon given to it than the strand 

 in advance of it towards the sea. But if we would secure 

 for this a proper slope, and secure the former against the 

 dashing of the waves, and consequent damage, we must 

 avoid giving a steep inclination to the Vordune. Finally 

 Krause left the Vordunes simply to produce and cover 

 themselves with plantations of grass, whereby the process 

 of formation was for a time delayed. For the fixing of the 

 flat sides of the high and drifting dunes, Krause recom- 

 mended and practised planting them with Arenaria in a 

 network, the meshes of which were greater or less 

 according as the inclination and the direction of the wind 

 shock determined. Such a proceeding is in every way 

 rational, provided it relate to a locality in which only the 

 Arundo arenaria is in question. 



' Strange to tell, however, Krause laid it down expressly 

 in his book that a continuous covering up is one of the 

 necessities of life of the Arundo arenaria, and yet he 

 recommended this plant also for the windward side of the 

 dunes, and enjoined the work of fixing everywhere to be 

 undertaken with this plant, and there where there could 

 be no expectation of sanding up the same as elsewhere. 

 Naturally in all such places the plants would die, and 

 would render needful repeated expensive renewals, aye, 

 and until these places had covered themselves naturally, 

 which they would do mostly with Carex arenaria. 



' In these circumstances the strand grasses naturally could 

 do no other service than act as would some dead low 

 bush, or very low bush hedge, and it is more than doubtful 



