Planting of Dunes. 109 



cure tliis, a line of obstructions is placed along the shore, three or 

 four hundred feet from the water's edge, consisting of bundles of 

 faggots set in diagonal rows near together, or planks three or four 

 feet high, with a space of an inch between. A part of the sand as 

 it glides along will lodge in front of these obstructions, and a part 

 will pass through and settle behind. 



427. As they get buried, a new series of bundles of faggots is 

 set, or the planks are drawn up, from time to time, and a huge 

 mound of sand is finally formed, with a gentle slope towards the sea 

 (7 to 12) and one more abrupt (about 22) on the land side. These 

 slopes are then sown with beach-grass and other maritime plants, 

 in squares like a chess-board, so that they will spread and cover the 

 whole surface, and behind they sow the seeds of trees. 



428. On the southwestern coast of France, the most ample suc- 

 cess has followed from planting the maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) , 

 the seeds being sown with those of beach-grass, and covered with 

 brush. This work was begun by Bremontier, an engineer under the 

 auspices of the government, in 1787, and is now practically finished 

 and the whole coast covered with a profitable growth of timber. 1 



429. In other regions, where this pine will not thrive, various 

 grasses, with tracing roots, Scotch pine, poplars, willows, tamarisk, 

 and other plants are set, as the opportunities present. 



430. Upon the coast of Cape Cod, in Massachusetts, the pitch 

 pine (P. rirjida) and the beach-grass (Calamagrostis arenaria) are 

 planted on the dunes with great success. Upon the Florida coast, 

 and further north, the Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) has been 

 used with success, and the maritime pine may succeed there, 

 although it has failed upon the Massachusetts coast. 



431. There are occasionally places in the interior where the sands 

 exposed to the winds will thus drift, and the surest way to prevent 

 this is by planting. In this we should begin on the side of the pre- 

 vailing winds, and if the soil is somewhat damp, willow cuttings 



1 In Octol.er, 1881, we rode some twenty miles on horseback among these 

 dunes, in the neighborhood of Arcachon and La Teste. The pines are 

 largely used for the production of turpentine, and are cut out from time to 

 time, as they become large, to make room for a younger growth, but never 

 in bodies together, or so as to expose the sand. Many years ago the govern- 

 ment placed a monument in the midst of the pines that Bremontier planted, 

 to commemorate his rreat achievement. 



