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IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 
blowing down upon the fertile fields and orchards along the Nile. The 
Dutch people since European history began have planted and cared for 
the dunes along their coast and infiuenced the formation of others 
because these dunes keep back the sea from their homes and fields. The 
first authentic accounts of successful holding of dunes is that of the work 
on the southwest coast of France, back of which lie extensive sand 
plains called the Landes. As early as 1778 the French gov- 
ernment sent an engineer, Baron de Villers, to the dune region of Gas- 
cony to study the conditions and prepare plans for the work of reclama- 
tion. The system which he proposed and partially put into execution 
is, with a few alterations, the same as that in use in most European 
countries today, and the same that we will probably use when extensive 
work begins in this country. In justice to Denmark, let us say that 
under the guidance of its engineer Reventlof, the government began 
successful work upon the dunes at about the same time as in France, 
and rather peculiarly about the same system was adopted. The fact 
that climatic conditions are much more favorable in France than in the 
countries to the northward has made the final success of dune planting 
there much more evident. The system proposed by de Villers and later 
perfected by engineers Chambrelent and Bremontier was the formation of 
a littoral or protective dune just above high water mark; the planting 
of this with sand binding grass and a final planting among the grass of 
seed of the maratime and other pines. 
As soon as the protective dune is formed naturally or artificially the 
planting of beach or marram grass (Ammophlia arenaria) or - other valu- 
able grasses is begun. The method of planting is very simple and with 
good management and careful supervision the formation of the dune is 
kept under perfect control. The beach grass grows vigorously, putting 
out fresh rootlets at the nodes as these become covered, thus holding 
the sand as effectively as a brush fence or palisade. The grass is put 
out in tufts of four or five plants each at a distance apart dependent upon 
tell rapidity of sand accumulation. Care and attention in preserving 
this density, and immediately repairing any damage is all that is requis- 
ite in the preliminary holding of the dune. 
PLANTING OF TREES NECESSARY FOR THE RECLAMATION OF DUNES. 
After the formation of the protective dune comes the work of plant- 
ing trees in its lee. In Europe the usual method in planting the dune 
to trees is ,to cover the surface of the same with brush arranged like 
slates on a roof and held down by throwing on a shovel full of sand 
here and there. The seeds of maratime and other pines are then sown 
with seeds of hardy shrubs like the cytissus, which shade the young 
pines for the first few years of their growth. As has been shown the 
planting of grass or other herbs is absolutely necessary for the tentative 
holding of the moving sand, but every student of the question finds that 
forest trees must be planted to bring about final reclamation. In tho* 
Report of the Harbor and Land Commissioners of Massachusetts for 
1896, the chairman of the commission who made thorough investigation 
of the Province Lands, says: , 
