The Monmouth inquirer., 1926-05-20
prepared by the National Geographic
Society. Washington, D. CO

~ Il
IN including the entire shoreline
of Indiana and parts of the ad-
Joining shores of Illinois and
Michigan, there is dune country,
unique and wonderful and entirely
different from our usual ideas Of
sand dunes.
The vegetation Of the average des-
ert or sandy region is usually an in
teresting example of the survival of
the fittest, and most of the plant
families remaining have adapted
themselves to the severe conditions of
their environments. Desert plants,
too, are often strikingly beautiful
when in blossom; but their period of
growth and luxury Is very short, last
ing only through the rainy season.
Conditions are reversed in the In
diana dunes, for here there is never
a long period of drought, and in place
of a desert area there is natural
propagating garden. where most
astonishing number of rare and beau
tiful plants congregate, having mi
grated both from the north and south
to this unusually favored locality.
Here. on the shores of great
fresh-water sea, whose moisture Is
constantly being carried southwark by
the prevailing northwest winds, and
tempered both in summer and winter
by it's position on the lake, Is a region
SO wonderful that it has been set
aside by Indiana as great state park
for study and the recreation of mil
lions Of people Of the Middle West.
There are about 20 miles of shore
line, averaging a mile or more in
width and containing approximately
30 square miles of land, in the dunes,
still unspoiled by commercial indus
tries. This region is situated within
easy reach of more than 100000
people at nominal cost for transpor-
tation. A visit to almost any one of
the national parks is a luxury beyond
the reach of the majority of the peo-
pie of the Middle West; but the Lake
Michigan dune region can lie visited
at all seasons and at a cost of, at the
most, few dollars. The dunes are
popular even in midwinter, and many
party of students and other outdoor
enthusiasts has enjoyed the scenery
and the bracing air of the lake ut that
time Of year.
Attractions Are Varied.
The attractions of the dunes are so
varied that all classes may here find
recreation suited to their wishes. The
tramper, the geoIogist, the botanist,
the zoologIst, the student Of early
American history, and those who seek
only fresh air and clear skies, can
find all they desire, and more than
they hoped for, in this wonderland of
sandy beach and forested lake shore.
The outlines of the dunes are al
ways graceful; for Nature, though
sometimes cruel, displays wonderful
skill as an artist, and the exposed
wind-carved sands are arranged In
beautiful curves and outlines against
the sky.
The topography of the dunes lends
itself to the formation of marvellous
plant societies. great shallow ponds,
with their typical borders of marsh
loving plants; deep, sheltered hollows,
perfectly dry at the bottom; active
stream beds, thickly fringed with will
lows, alders and button-bush, with
thickets of giant mallows on the
mncky shores; north slopes. with trail
ing arbutus, wintergreen, partridge
berry, hepaticas and violets, and rare
ferns and orchids spread in artistic
profusion moving dunes, whose lee
ward sides extend slowly and surely
south, In time covering even tall trees
with their smothering blanket OF
sand; old dunes. clothed to their
crests with vegetation, and at inter
walls ''bIow-outs," where reverse winds
have uncovered ghostly tree trunks
gray and weather-beaten and entirely
denuded of bark, but the wood still
sound and perfectly preserved by the
sand sfiroud with which 1t was sur
rounded.
Many trees adapt themselves to the
severe conditions on the more ex-
posed dunes, frequently sending out
roots from the trunk TO take advan-
tage of the encroaching sand. and II
again uncovered the roots Immediately
function as branches. This is particu-
larry true Of the cottonwood which
also sends out roots Of remarkable
length close to the surface Of the
sand ii this way making use Of sur
face moisture.
Trees. shrubs, and many plants from