Canndidii Forcslrii Jouindi June, 1917 



1137 



On Sea-Swept Sable Island 



How a Barren Spot in the Atlantic 

 Defies all Tree Planting Schemes. 



ONE hundred and eit^ht miles olT 

 the coast of Nova Scotia, and 

 lashed by the terrific storms of 

 the Atlantic ocean lies Sable Island. 

 It is one of the most interesting out- 

 riders of the whole Atlantic coast 

 and constitutes not so much an asset 

 as an international perplexity. 



The battering of wind and wave 

 has greatly reduced the island area, 

 substituting here and there hidden 

 sand bars for what was visible dry 

 land but a few years before. To 

 mariners. Sable Island represents a 

 constantly increasing danger, despite 

 the best efforts of the Canadian 

 Marine department with modern light 

 houses and sound signals. 



In 1901, the late Dr. Saunders, as 

 Director of the Central Experimental 

 Farm, Ottawa, took steps to prevent 

 the destruction of the island by plant- 

 ing out 80,000 trees and shrubs. The 

 lack of success has probably put an 

 end to all effort, to offset the dis- 

 integration of the remaining area. 

 In reply to a question of the Forestry 

 Journal, Dr. J. H. Grisdale, Director 

 of the Central Experimental Farm, 

 states that no work in planting on 

 Sable Island, subsequent to that 

 described in this article, has been 

 done and that "very little success is 

 expected from planting vegetation 

 on this very exposed and windy 

 island." It is likely that the task 

 will have to be undertaken eventually 

 by engineering devices. 



On Sable Island, no trees grow 

 naturally. It is formed entirely of 

 white sand, and lies about 153 miles 

 from Halifax. 



Half The Land Gone. 



Its area has been considerably re- 

 duced by the action of wind and 

 water. The present length of the 

 island is about twenty-one miles, and 

 its width, at its widest point, some- 

 what over a mile. Early surveys 



gave the length of the island as forty 

 miles and its width two miles and 

 more. Dangerous shoals and sand- 

 bars extend on all sides, and the 

 strong currents from north and south 

 often carry vessels out of their course, 

 while, in addition to this, fogs are 

 frequent, and wrecks are many. The 

 planting was undertaken, at the re- 

 quest of the Marine Department, 

 chiefly with the object of preventing 

 the damage done to the island by the 

 wind, for the further the destruction 

 of the island is carried, the greater 

 becomes the danger from the shoals 

 and sand-bars. 



The choice of species to be planted 

 was based largely on observations 

 made by Dr. Saunders on a visit to 

 Brittany, France, where much work 

 in the reclaiming of sand-dunes has 

 been done. 



The first plantation was made on 

 a sandy bluff near the north shore, 

 fairly well covered with the common 

 sand-binding grass, the trees being 

 planted two-and-a-half to three feet 

 apart each way in a soil composed of 

 pure sand. 



One considerable area, to which the 

 name of Gourdeau Park was given, 

 was found to be covered to the depth 

 of several inches with a black, peaty 

 soil, mixed with sand and underlaid 

 with pure sand. On this were grow- 

 ing common juniper, cranberry, wax 

 myrtle, blueberry, wild rose and other 

 plants. The planting was completed 

 on June 17th. Artificial fertilizers 

 were used to some extent, these com- 

 prising nitrate of soda, muriate of 

 potash, superphosphate of lime and 

 quicklime. 



Its Life-saving Value 



The climate of the island is not 

 extreme. During the years of 1898 

 to 1901 (inclusive) the highest tem- 

 perature registered by the thermome- 

 ter was 78 degrees Fahrenheit. The 



