408 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 



places which were formerly salt bays, filled with oysters and fish, there are now 

 fresh, stagnant pools. In fact, the vast area occupied by the Dismal Swamp of 

 Virginia was once an arm of the sea. A short distance under the mud may be found 

 oyster shells which grew upon the bottom when this swamp was a salt-water bay. 

 Some day the sand may choke up the inlets of Albemarle and Pamlico sounds, and 

 there will form great fresh-water ponds in which the cypress and other fresh-water 

 vegetation will grow. Inlets are constantly changing on the Jersey shore, and canals 

 have been dug to the sea to let in the salt water in order to prevent the destruction 

 of the oyster industry. 



On Cape Cod three immense ridges of dunes have formed, which are moving 

 inland toward the town and harbor at the rate of from ten to fifteen feet per annum. 

 The board of harbor and land commissioners, in charge of these lands, has begun to 

 systematically fix these sands by extensive plantings. An immense dune may be seen 

 near Avalon, New Jersey. In its lee there is a luxuriant forest of red cedar, holly, 

 sour-gum, maple, magnolia, hackberry, oak, mulberry and other trees, with masses of 

 grapevines and Virginia creepers. It is a picturesque sight from the crest of the 

 dune, which equals the trees in height. The trees, in fact, constitute the obstacle 

 that has formed the dune, which is leading to their own destruction. On the land side 

 there is a dense mass of dark-green foliage, beyond which there are green meadows 

 intersected by thoroughfares and bays. On the ocean side there is a mass of sloping 

 sand, out of which project the jagged trunks and branches of smothered trees. The 

 fine sand comes from the great ocean mill, ascends the dune, and falls over its crest in 

 minute cascades. When a stiff breeze is blowing, it skims along the surface and 

 shoots over the crest like a sand-blast, trimming the tops of the trees as flat as though 

 shorn with shears. 



This ocean sand is not always sterile and unproductive. It is generally mixed 

 with particles of other substances, such as magnetic iron, shells and mica. Its 

 texture and density are such that there is sufficient capillarity to keep it moist. 

 Beach sand, which appears so barren in a bare and shifting condition, is able to 

 produce a magnificent growth of forest trees in protected positions. The immense 

 oaks and hollies on the Jersey beaches and the beach forest near Scheveningen in 

 Holland attest the ability of the beach sand to support vegetation. 



Europe affords the best examples of the complete reclamation of shifting sands, 

 barren heath lands, marsh lands, and other waste places; for the density of population 

 has forced the inhabitants to be less lavish with land and less wasteful of resources 

 than are the people of America. 



Extensive dunes have been reclaimed along the Baltic and North seas. At the 

 founding of Copenhagen, for instance, in the eleventh century, the island was clothed 



