The evening times., 1899-09-01

| Prof. F. Lamson- -Scribner the agrostolo-
| gist Of the Department Of Agriculture, has
recently returned from a tour Of North
western ranches and trip along the Pa
| cific Coast He paid special attention dur
| ing his journey to sand binding grasses,
and to the danger of the exhaustion OF
the great ranches of the West and the pos
sibility of saving or restoring them. AS
a result, he has accumulated variety OF
interesting information.
| The subject of sand binding grasses is
of the greatest interest to all dwellers
along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
Every one who has visited the seaboard is
| familiar with the manner in which the
wind playfully picks up few barrels or
carloads of sand and deposits it in the
most undesirable places Every night the
sand at seashore resorts shifts from place
to place, and the next morning a force of
men is put to work to clean it away. In
| most instances this can be done easily and
no damage results from the drifting sand,
but in other cases the shifting sands are a
constant menace
This is notably the case with fortifca-
| tions along the coast, where the sand is
not only swept up against the walls Of the
| forts, but is carried by the wind into the
fort itself, where fine particles find lodge
ment in the castings and machinery of the
| guns. Great damage is liable to result
| from this, so the Government is anxious
| to find some means OF protection against
| drifts. At Cape Cod the sand has drifted
| about until ii has swallowed up whole sec
! tions, formerly covered with trees, and
| formed great dunes In other places along
| the New England coast, as well as farther
| down the coast similar dunes are found.
In some places the drifting of the sands
is a menace to agriculture, and along the
coast there is danger OF serious interfer-
ence with navigation. Some of the dunes
| on the Province Lands at Cape Cod are 200
| feet in height, and the movement toward
| the interior has been known TO reach sew
ent yfeet q year.
On the Pacific Coast Prof Scribner found
| the greatest damage was being done along
| the Columbia River and the route of the
Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company.
| In many instances he noticed that the sand
had drifted about the telegraph poles until
it almost reached the. cross-pieces support
ing the wires. The sand frequently covers
| the railroad tracks, sometimes to a dis
| tance Of two or three feet, and one of the
| iONNi SIShto VA Inc ic5iO - d uldu
pair OF horses, attached to sandplow,
| clearing the track for the fast express
| train. which ereeps along behind. Prof
Scribner witnessed this operation and Sc
| cured an excellent picture Of il. He also
has picture of a peach orchard which is
gradually being swallowed up by the shift
| ing sand.
1t is very hard TO protect the shore from
| this evil. Fences are of little value. as the
sand soon covers. them. Stone walls are
| also useless for the same reasons. What
| IS needed is something TO hold the sand
| down fiat, thus preventing it from being
| blown about like snow, to lie in drifts.
which do not melt in the spring sunshine
| Grass will do this, and when the shore is
| properly covered, with a growth Of coarse
| sand binding grass, the sand has no long
er any opportunity TO drift and blow about
1t has been found that the best grass for
| this purpose Is that native to the coasts
Nature has provided the remedy, but the
| contrast between the grass and the sand
| being often unequal, ii sometimes happens
that the grass is driven out altogether or
merely obtains a precarious hold here and
| there. 1t has been found that by trans
planting this beachgrass and caring for it,
| large stretches of the beach can be pro-
| tected, and in the course of time the raw
| ages of the drifting sands can be stopped.
! At Cape Cod this has been done to some
| extent, and also at San Francisco, in the
| case of the Golden Gate Park, where the
results have been very satisfactory.
| Prof. Scribner's work in this direction
| has attracted such widespread attention
that some time ago he received long let
| ter from resident of a town in Japan, in
which it was stated that the town was Sc
| riously threatened by drifting sands. and
that unless the drifting was arrested the
| town would, in the course of time, be wip-
ed out OF existence. An excellent map,
drawn by a Japanese topographer, recon-
panied the letter. II shows the dunes and
the progress they were making toward tie
town. and also the residence of the writer.
situated in an exposed position. Prof.
Scribner was requested to recommend some
| grasses to be used as ''sandbinders," which
he cheerfully did, forwarding to the CORE
| spondent number of samples and va
riety of seed.
On his recent trip Prof Seribner de-
voted considerable attention to the ranges
OF the Pacific Coast, and particularly those
lying west of the Rocky Mountains and
east of the Cascades. The bunch grass of
| the Northwest has been found TO be the
species best adapted to rehabilitating the
cattle ranges. Many of these ranges have
been exhausted by injudicious herding,
having been overstoeked, and the cattle
forced to eat the grass so close to the
/
careful management these ranges can pro-
duce excellent grass and permit of the
raising of the best cattle is amply proved
by the results ON the great ranch in Cali
fornia belonging TO the Shafter heirs. 1t
contains SIS 900 acres, and is devoted to
dairy purposes. Along the coast there is
little difficulty, as the rain is abundant
and the grass grows thickly, forming a
good sod. Between the Cascades and the
Rockies. however, there is comparatively
little rain-only about seventeen inches a
year-and the grass grows more sparsely.
Experiments have shown that if care is
exercised the bunch grass will spread, and
1t thrives very well. even in very dry soil.
Fencing will prevent the exhaustion Of
the ranches, as it keeps the cattle from
feeding where the ranchman desires the
grass to grow.
A. B. Leckenby, special agent of the di-
vision OF agrostoiogy, is conducting ex-
periments at station near Walla Walla,
Wash, where number of grasses, native
and foreign, are being cultivated. Among
them are the Turkenstan alfalfa, from
Western Asia, and Oasis alfalfa, from
Northern Africa. Smoothbroom grass has
also been found very good being accus-
toned to thrive in poor soil, with little
water, and to endure extremes Of heat and
| III ha;,,