48 PROCEEDINGS: BOSTON SOCIETY NATURAL HISTORY. 



68,755 evergreens of 25 varieties, and 12,590 deciduous sorts of 79 va- 

 rieties," as well as 50 pounds of the seed of the Maritime Pine, 

 Pinus maritima. This large shipment reached Sable Island the mid- 

 dle of May, 1901, and under the direction of Lieut.-Col. Gourdeau 

 and Mr. Saunders, planting was started at once. The crates were un- 

 packed and the young trees, almost all of which arrived in good con- 

 dition, were placed in trenches in the moist sand with their roots well 

 covered. The work of planting the thousands of trees was pushed 

 forward vigorously and completed on the 17th of June. Of the trees 

 about 300 were planted near the East End Lighthouse, about 1000 

 at No. 2 Life Saving Station, about 5,000 at No. 3 L. S. S., about 

 3,000 at No. 4 L. S. S., and the remainder at Gourdeau Park, a section 

 near the Wireless Station formed of low rolling dunes covered with 

 a thick mat of trailing Juniperus and Empetrum. This area is one 

 of those called Empetrum Heaths, where a thin layer of dark humus 

 has been formed above the white sand. 



An accurate statement of the nature and conditions of the soil 

 and the climate of Sable Island where these young trees were 

 planted is given by Mr. Saunders. 1 



"I brought with me a sample of the almost pure sand forming the 

 soil on the top of the sandy bluff on which the first plantation was 

 made in which the sand binding grass was growing, also two samples 

 of the black peaty layer which covers the sand to a depth of 3 to 4 

 inches over a large portion of the central part of the island, probably 

 to the extent of 1,800 to 2,000 acres. One of these was taken from 

 the large area chosen for the plantation to be known as Gourdeau Park, 

 and the other was from similar soil some miles further east. I also 

 brought a sample of similar material picked up on the beach on the 

 south shore where it was being washed by the sea. A fifth sample 

 consisted of a bunch of the sand-binding grass Ammophila arenaria 

 [= A. breviligulata Fernald]. These were submitted to the Chemist 

 of the Experimental Farms, Mr. F. T. Shutt, for analysis, who re- 

 ports on them as follows: 



'Analysis and Report on Samples From Sable Island. 

 ( By Frank T. Shutt, Chemist, Dominion Experimental Farms. 



'No. 1. Sample of the sand from field on top of the bluff, northeast of the 

 look-out, where first forest clump was planted. It contains roots of grass 

 Ammophila arenaria [A. breviligulata]. Weight of sand 2 pounds 13 ounces, 

 containing % ounces of grass roots. 



1 Saunders, Wm., Z. c. 



