OUR SOLDIERS' GRAVES. 



7 



in the course of the earlier grave-digging operations, and all the good 

 soil was buried owing to the lack of adequate supervision in the first 

 year of the war. The site is open and liable to be scorched by the sun, 

 and in this dry yellow gravel it was almost too much to expect plants 

 to grow with any success. The sand and gravel, therefore, had to 

 be removed and good top soil from a neighbouring field, mixed with 

 manure, had to be put in its place. The cemetery being a large one, 

 the work entailed was very heavy, but the results have amply repaid 

 the effort, and in the summer this cemetery is now a quite beautiful 

 garden. 



The cemeteries which have afforded some of the most difficult 

 problems are those near the sea, where the soil consists wholly or 

 partially of blown sea sand. The two paramount difficulties in such 

 places are the retention of the shifting sand and the finding of plants 

 and grass suitable to such conditions. To overcome the first, wind- 

 breaks have to be erected, inside which a screen of trees and shrubs 

 can be raised which shall in time break the force of the prevailing 

 wind — just such work in fact as has had to be done in works of coast 

 defence, both at home and abroad. Then, when a fairly still area 

 has been produced within the bounds of a cemetery, the planting 

 problems can be faced. It is somewhat surprising to find that on 

 the whole the sand is remarkably fertile, and it may, I think, be con- 

 fidently anticipated that good results will be attained in such places 

 in course of time. 



With a shelter belt of Maritime Pine, Bolles' Poplar and Sycamore 

 underplanted with Willow, Sea Buckthorn, and Privet, a beautiful 

 and efficient wind-screen should be possible. In the cemetery at 

 Etaples — one of the largest in France, which is skirted by the main 

 line from Boulogne to Paris — the beautiful effect of Maritime Pines, 

 retaining the banks of blown sand, is a conspicuous feature (fig. 5). 



In this cemetery, until more efficient shelter can be established 

 against the cutting winter winds, it is only possible to grow annuals, 

 for even should there be any plants which the winter wind, charged 

 with sand, does not cut to pieces, they are promptly eaten by the 

 rabbits infesting the sand-hills. In the summer, however, a very 

 beautiful effect has been produced by using for the most part blue, 

 mauve, and white annuals, such as Nemophila, Phacelia, mauve and 

 white Linaria, Single Asters, Alyssum, &c. These, with the back- 

 ground of the yellow earth, the pine-clad sand-hills and the distant 

 view over the blue waters of the estuary, produce a picture whose 

 beauty it will not be easy to forget. Grass is now being sown here 

 to form the main ground-covering, but some time must elapse before 

 the whole area is converted into a smooth green lawn. 



That grass can be grown in such spots has been amply 

 demonstrated, provided that time and sufficient labour be allowed ; 

 for around many a hospital near by, on exactly similar soil, lawns 

 have been produced which would be the envy of many a seaside town 

 at home. In all such places the inborn love of gardening, so character- 



