SAND DUNES IN THE NETHERLANDS, COVERED WITH YOUNG PINE. Heather was first used on this spot, but proved inadequate. areas at the extremities of the Cape comprise about 6,000 acres, about half of which, however, is under forest cover. The initial planting by the state, on this area, of wood plants, was unsuccessful, owing to their introduction without the protection of the beach grass. But. following grass planting, large quantities of bayberry bushes, young pines, etc., were introduced among the grass which mothered them until they attained sufficient strength to be self-protecting. The state has expended on sand binding on Cape Cod within the past thirteen years some $14,000 as a protective feature, vital to the harbor improvements upon which the state and the federal government have spent during this period over a quarter of a million dollars. The city of Provincetown itself, in Cape Cod harbor, with its extensive fishing and shipping interests, lies at the very base of a veritable sand volcano, which, with a little neglect, would submerge it as effectively as ever was Herculaneum ; but fortunately this volcano can be controlled, and at that, by a lowly, creeping plant. The town is built upon a narrow strip of reclaimed land lying in the lee of the range of dunes bordering the harbor, its peculiar shape and position bringing it into immediate peril should the adjacent dunes be left unguarded. The harbor itself is in equal danger-a harbor, by the way, of exceptional importance and value, where as many as a thousand ves sels have found safety during a single gale. Valuable commercially, it is also considered of great strategic importance in case of war. All depends upon keeping grass and shrubs growing on the sand dunes a stone's throw distant. To one who has walked along a dry, seashore beach, during a heavy blow, it is not difficult to appreciate the changes which can be wrought in a sandy region where strong winds prevail. The sand strikes and whips the face with the face with the force and sting of mustard-seed shot-more viciously than the most driving sleet-and it would seem impossible that any vegetation could stand before it. Where the natural cover has been in any way disturbed, great excavations are eaten out and hills of sand built up in an incredibly short time. The ordinary sand dune is formed near the beach and travels back toward the interior. The typical "wandering dune" presents a gradual slope toward the wind and an abrupt slope on the lee side. The wind forces the sand up the slope and it falls over the edge. The hill or ridge then travels in the direction the wind is blowing at a speed depending upon the force and constancy of the latter. As these wandering dunes recede from the coast, new ones may form at the beach. even the beach grass started inside of its protection. In establishing a forest upon sandy wastes a temporary protection is also necessary. Sometimes a grass is planted, in other instances artificial means are used, such for instance as cut heather, which is spread in rows and the trees planted between. In Gascony great areas of formerly sand-swept wastes have in this manner been reclaimed to profitable timber lands. While the Cape Cod region has been But the eternal foe of the wandering the scene of the greatest activity in sand dune is the beach grass and the bayberry. The former especially delights in the fierce sand blast, bending, it is true, before its fierceness, but always tossing up its head for another struggle. In fact, it requires the severest conditions in order to thrive and grows in its greatest luxuriance where the sand is drifting, attaining there a height of from one to three feet and spreading by means of extensive creeping, underground stems. A healthy growth of beach grass can thrive where the burial by sand is as much as twelve inches a year. On the other hand, in quiet sand, it quickly dies out. It is easily transplanted. In some of the more fiercely sandswept regions it is found necessary to first build a sand fence in order to get REMAINS OF A FOREST-CUT, BURNED OVER, AND, binding in this country, other sandy localities have been very active in reclamation and much interest has been aroused in the possibilities of reclaiming areas thought to be hopeless, through the investigations of the department of agriculture. Experiments have been made, under the direction of Prof. W. J. Spillman, the agrostologist of the department, with various sand binding grasses and shrubs from New England south, as far as the Carolinas on the Atlantic coast, in Washington and Oregon and especially on the shifting sands of the Columbia river, where high board fences have not kept the sand from covering the railroads, and among the sand dunes of the Great Lakes region. The cost of establishing a grass plantation varies (288) CAPE COD WORKERS TRANSPLANTING BEACH GRASS. To Use Trackless Trolleys By David Beecroft HE trackless trolley has come: Germany conceived it in 1901, France experimented with it two years later and now Germany, France and Italy are maturing this youngest prodigy of the transportation realm. ac In the opening hours of the present century a German electrical house established a short trackless trolley system near the town of Bielatale, the line measuring less than five miles in length and serving as a medium for transporting manufactured products from the factory to the railroad. Necessity demanded transportation of this nature on count of the objection by the municipality to the laying of tracks on the roadway. Success in a minor degree was attained, the scheme proving not only feasible but economical. The wagons employed were heavily built vehicles with an electric motor harnessed to each rear wheel, the necessary current being taken from an overhead trolley wire, by an improvised trolley pole carried on the top of the wagon cover. A steering mechanism completed the pioneer trackless trolley. With this crude arrangement-this improvised car, a child of necessity, and amid the flash and clang of the factory forge, was accomplished the weaning of the overhead trolley wire from the metal roadway-the separation of the twin brothers of electric locomotion. And the child grew apace. Soon Germany boasted of five lines of trackless trolleys used for passenger transportation in districts where the laying of rails was forbidden or where the installation of them would entail too heavy an investment for the possibilities of traffic. Now seven lines of varying length are devoted either to passenger or to freight traffic or a combination of both. France has its initial line in operation near Lyons and, in the district of Milan, the premier Italian system is already operating successfully. None of these lines is more than ten miles in length, some are but three miles from end to end, but their operation has nevertheless demonstrated the practicability of the trackless trolley and its cost of operation in comparison with other methods. A MILAN, ITALY, FREIGHT CAR. City delivery wagon uses the overhead trolley. |