-482 



Scorching of Foliage. 



[Aug., 



tally, as was demonstrated by Hansen, by means of a " wind- 

 machine."* 



It is thus clear that injury, to foHage, of the same type as that 

 seen near the coast, can be caused by wind in the absence of 

 salt. As, moreover, unprotected inland plains may exhibit 

 damage to trees comparable in degree to that observed near the 

 coast, and showing clear indications of the direction of prevailing 

 winds, one may say that general observations, while not dis- 

 proving the occasional occurrence of injuries by salt spray, 

 suggest that the action of wind alone would be sufficient to 

 account for a great part, at any rate, of the damage caused by 

 sea-winds. 



A case of the scorching of foliage by a gale from the sea on 

 the coast of Chih is described by Ochsenius.t In a densely 

 wooded coast-region, sharply limited tracts of forest showed 

 dried-up leaves and twigs, in marked contrast to the fresh green 

 foliage of the adjoining stretches of forest. The phenomenon, 

 which is stated not to occur oftener than once in ?ibout ten years, 

 is attributed by Ochsenius to the action of an unusaally dry 

 south-west wind, the sharp demarcation of the scorched areas 

 being explained as due to the configuration of the land affecting 

 the force of the wind. The question of injury by salt in this par- 

 ticular instance is dismissed by Ochsenius, who argues that, on 

 account of the frequency of storms in the locality, no vegetation 

 could have thrived on the temporarily scorched aieas if wind- 

 borne salt were the cause of the damage. 



General observations on the effect of partial protection from 

 sea-winds are, of course, not decisive as to the precise cause of 

 injuries due to exposure. HansenJ refers to the relative success 

 of trees planted behind screens of lattice and brushwood in 

 Borkum and Norderney, and argues that, if salt were concerned 

 as an iniurious factor, the screen should have no effect, because, 

 not being impervious to wind, though breaking^ the force of it, 

 it would allow salt to pass through to the trees. Without infor- 

 mation as to the amount of salt which in such cases actually 

 reaches a partially sheltered position, however, no definite 

 - deduction can be made. 



Borggreve§ attributes the injurious influence of wind on the 

 growth of woody plants on the Baltic coasts of Germany chiefly 



* Hansen, Flora, Vol. 98, p. 88. 



t Wirkungen der Stiirme auf PJianzen^ Abh. naturwiss. Verein., Bremen, Vol. 12, 

 1893, p. 434. 



X Hansen, Veg. ostfnes. Iti.^eln, p. 34. 



§ Borg^reve, Einivirlmng d. Sturmes auf d. Baumveg., Bremen Abh. naturw. 

 Verein., Vol. 3 (1873), p. 251 ; (ievh?Lxdt, Handhuch d. deutsch. Diinenhaaes^ 1900, 

 , p. 438. 



