Photograph by Irwin S. Rosenfels 

 THE INDIANA SAND-DUNES AND LAKE MICHIGAN SHORE 



conditions of their environment. Desert 

 plants, too. are often strikingly beautiful 

 when in blossom ; but their period of 

 growth and luxury is very short, lasting 



only through the rainy season. 



A SEA OE SAND, BUT NO DESERT DROUGHT 



Conditions are reversed in the Indiana 

 dunes, for here there is never a long 

 period of drought, and in place of a des- 

 ert area there is a natural propagating 

 garden, where a most astonishing num- 

 ber of rare and beautiful plants congre- 

 gate, having migrated both from the 

 north and south to this unusually favored 

 locality (see pages 434-435). 



Here, on the shores of a great fresh- 

 water sea, whose moisture is constantly 

 being carried southward by the prevail- 

 ing northwest winds, and tempered both 

 in summer and winter by its position on 

 the lake, is a region so wonderful that it 

 should be kept for all time as a great 

 natural park for study and the recreation 

 of millions of people of the Middle West. 



There are about 20 miles of shoreline, 

 averaging a mile or more in width and 



containing approximately 30 square miles 

 of land in the dunes, still unspoiled by 

 commercial industries. This region is 

 situated within easy reach of more than 

 10.000.000 people at a nominal cost for 

 transportation. 



A visit to almost any one of the na- 

 tional parks is a luxury beyond the reach 

 of the majority of the people of the Mid- 

 dle West ; but the Lake Michigan dune 

 region can be visited at all seasons and 

 at a cost of, at the most, a few dollars. 

 The dunes are popular even in mid- 

 winter, and many a oarty of students and 

 other outdoor enthusiasts has enjoyed the 

 scenery and the bracing air of the lake at 

 that time of year (see pages 437, 440). 



MANY CHARMS EOR MANY MEN 



The attractions of the dunes are so 

 varied that all classes may here find rec- 

 reation suited to their wishes. The 

 tramper, the geologist, the botanist, the 

 zoologist, the student of early American 

 history, and those who seek only fresh 

 air and clear skies, can find all they de- 

 sire, and more than they hoped for, in 



433 



