158 PRINCIPLES OF AMERICAN FORESTRY. 



mer forests may be seen and even old stumps as much 

 as twelve feet high are occasionally uncovered by the 

 movement of the sands, showing that formerly all this 

 section was covered by forests. 



After extensive trials with Maritime Pine, Scotch 

 Broom (Genista), White Poplar, and Willows, all of 

 which have failed to give satisfaction, it has been found 

 that the native Bayberry {Myrica cerifera) is the most 

 satisfactory of anything tried in the severest situations 

 on these dunes. The Beach Grass is excellent for hold- 

 ing the sand for a few years, but dies out, and the most 

 promising results have been obtained by planting Bay- 

 berry in with it. The native Pitch Pine has also proven 

 desirable as a soil cover after the movement of the sand 

 has been somewhat checked. The native trailing plant, 

 Hvdsonia^ is also a most excellent sand-binder and comes 

 in quickly when the sand is stable. In the case of these 

 special sands, if the movement on the windward side is 

 checked the leeward side soon becomes covered with vege- 

 tation. 



The Most Improved Way of Checking Sand-Dunes 

 that are Easily Moved by Wind is to first make a wind- 

 break of boards, poles, or brush, which may be pulled 

 up as the sand drifts up onto them. These are used 

 temporarily to afford an opportunity of getting vegetable 

 growth started. As a rule, the vegetable growth which 

 has been most successfully used for fixing sand-dunes 

 is that of plants that grow naturally in such places. Such 

 species are generally those that grow out long creeping 

 stems at or just below the surface of the ground, and 

 also such as are capable of healthy growth even when 

 half buried by encroaching sand. We have a number 

 of native species that are adapted to this purpose on 

 inland dunes, among which are the Sand Reed, the Sand 

 Cherry, several varieties of Willows, and Quack Grass. 



