Dalgas became its managing director.
[Footnote 1: Danske Hedeselskab.]
To restore to the treeless waste its forest growth was the
fundamental idea, for until that was done nothing but the heather
could grow there. The west wind would not let it. But the heath
farmer shook his head. It would cost too much, and give too little
back. What he needed was water and marl. Could the captain help them
to these?--that was another matter. The little streams that found
their way into the heath and lost it there, dire need had taught
them to turn to use in their fields; not a drop escaped. But the
river that ran between deep banks was beyond their reach. Could he
show them how to harness that? Dalgas saw their point. "We are
working, not for the dead soil, but for the living men who find
homes upon it," he told his associates, and tree planting was put
aside for the time. They turned canal diggers instead. Irrigation
became their aim and task; the engineer was in his right place. The
water was raised from the stream and led out upon the moor, and
presently grass grew in the sand which the wiry stems of the heather
had clutched so long. Green meadows lined the water-runs, and
fragrant haystacks rose. To the lean sheep was added a cow, then
two.
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