THE PLANTING OF THE SAND DUNES AT CULBIN. 27 



form a splendid monument to the care which the Chadwick 

 family have bestowed on their formation. 



In the case of the Dalvey, Kincorth and Moy plantations, the 

 trees cover only the sands spreading over the low-lying ground 

 and medium-sized dunes. Some interesting records of them are 

 left by Grigor. He states that the first planting was carried out 

 at Kincorth in 1839, and that it was the earliest experiment in the 

 afforesting of sand dunes carried out in this country. In 1865, 

 the 26-year-old trees were valued by the proprietor at ^30 per 

 acre. Grigor himself planted 199 acres on the Moy estate with 

 Scots pine and larch 2-year-old seedlings and i-year transplants 

 at an average cost of los. 4d. per acre, exclusive of fencing. 

 In 1842, he planted an additional 74 acres at 8s. gd. per acre. 

 The proprietor planted another 25 acres. The total cost for 

 the 298 acres, inclusive of ;^84, i6s. spent on the partial fencing 

 of the area, amounted to ;^232, i8s. 7d. In 1865, he states that 

 " the plantations on the Culbin sands belonging to Moy are now 

 22 to 24 years old, and form a very compact wood of nearly 

 300 acres. The tallest larches are about 48 feet high, and the 

 best Scots pines 20 to 30. ... In 1864, prop wood yielding, 

 according to a statement furnished by the factor, a return of 

 ;^482, 6s. 8d. was sold, and a further sale of ^400 was expected 

 before the necessary thinning was effected. . . . From its present 

 healthy state, 1865, the forest cannot be valued at less than 

 ;^2 2 per acre, or altogether ^6556 " (Grigor's Text-Book on 

 Arboriatlti/re, pp. 102-106). 



It is interesting to compare the planting carried out at Culbin 

 with the similar experiments carried out on a much grander 

 scale in v^arious parts of the Continent. In the Landes in the 

 South of France, the dunes seem to be somewhat similar to the 

 large sand-hills at Culbin, but cover a much more extensive 

 tract of country, and are proportionately more destructive. 

 They also have been responsible for the overwhelming of villages 

 and farms ; and it was an endeavour to arrest their destructive 

 progress that has been the means of giving us one of the world's 

 greatest experiments in the reclaiming of waste and barren land. 

 The Government of France commenced this work in 185 1. 

 Before afforestation could be safely carried out, it was necessary 

 to guard against future incursions from fresh material thrown up 

 by the sea. This was done by driving palings into the sand 

 some distance from the high tide level. As the sand covered up 



