1008 JOURNAL OF FORKSTKV 



down, SO that the sand movement was becoming greater and greater. 

 It is clear that here, if all grazing is prohibited, the natural herbage 

 can flourish and will accordingly help in fixing the moving sand. Arti- 

 ficial means must also be used, and on a very large scale, before this 

 vast waste of sand can be held in place and reclothed with vegetation. 



Conditions are here so favorable for the growth of all plants that it 

 was thought perhaps some direct method of afforestation might give 

 results. It is, of course, well known that the fixation of sand-dunes 

 is a difficult task, and that it usually necessitates the building of a bar- 

 rier to stop the sand at the sea-wall, in the lee of which sand grasses 

 must first be planted and then trees, and that the planting and mainte- 

 nance of both grass and trees requires great care to overcome the inva- 

 sions of wind, sand, and drought. It was known that these expensive 

 methods of dune control, which had been successful in other less favor- 

 able sites, would be practicable here, but it was the hope to find short- 

 cut methods of afforestation which might be applicable in this excep- 

 tionally favorable locality. 



A number of sites were chosen in 1910 for experimentation, where 

 conditions were favorable because of some natural herbage and a mini- 

 mum amount of sand movement. Funds were not sufficient to go into 

 the experiments except in a small and simple way, but a few plots have 

 been put in each year from 1910 to 1916 and all watched carefully for 

 results. Altogether in the seven seasons about 47 acres have been sown 

 or planted and a variety of species and methods tried. The principal 

 work has been with maritime pine and with willow cuttings. 



Willow cuttings of a variety of species were dibbled in the sand on 

 several separate areas at dift'erent times. At first most of the planta- 

 tions promised good results, but none of them proved successful after 

 two or three years. It appears that the cuttings have not been able to 

 survive the sand-blast and summer drought. Possibly with artificial 

 protection (which would probably be too costly to be practicable) a 

 cover might be established. Many cuttings made a foot of growth the 

 first year, but after four years the best of the plots does not show 10 

 per cent alive. As might be expected, the local willows gave the great- 

 est promise of success, especially the one that is very hardy on the 

 dunes — Salix hookeriana. 



Maritime pine was the only conifer tried out extensively. It was 

 sown broadcast, seedspotted, and planted. By all three methods it has 

 given entirely satisfactory results, but only where surface conditions 

 were optimum for the dune region. Some of the trees, from both seed- 

 spotted and broadcasted seed sown in 191 1, are now three feet high 



