Mr James Coutts Crawford on Fixing Sands. 351 



barley plant produced about 140 stalks, 130 of which 

 showed the ear out of the sheath. The second had 121 

 ears ; others had fewer, diminisliing down to about fifty. 

 The oat plant submitted stood through the winter, and 

 produced about 10,000 returns. 



Now, as the tillering process in the barleys was going 

 on during the whole season, some of the ears were not 

 ripe when the plants had to be pulled. But, notwith- 

 standing this, there can be no doubt that, in order to reap 

 the full advantage of seed corn, it should be sown or 

 deposited as near the surface as possible. This would 

 be true of autumn sowing as well as spring sowing, were 

 the former not affected by frost ; but a severe winter 

 renders deeper seeding advisable for other reasons than 

 those directly connected with the development of the seed. 



On Fixing Bloiving Sands by means of Planted Grasses. 

 By James Coutts Crawford, F.G.S. 



(Read 13tli April 1882.) 



" They manage these things better in France." If a 

 thorough plan for fixing sands is required, we must 

 probably go to France for an example. There large areas 

 in the Landes and elsewhere have been reclaimed by the 

 thorough process of enclosing the sand with brushwood, in 

 squares of thirty yards (I think) each way, and planting 

 the spaces thickly with Pinus maritima. Thus an article of 

 some value is raised, the timber of these pines being sawn up 

 for the manufacture of wine cases, and the resin which the 

 trees yield used for covering the corks of the wine bottles. 



This mode of reclaiming sandy tracts, however, must 

 necessarily be very expensive, involving a great deal of 

 labour ; and where the climate is severe, and the locality 

 exposed to strong winds, as in many parts of Great 

 Britain, might probably not be successful; and it may not 

 be amiss that I should describe certain successful 

 operations undertaken by me in New Zealand, by which 

 I succeeded in fixing several hundred acres of sand 

 situated in a very unfavourable position for the purpose. 



I will state what was done : — About the year 1859 I 

 imported £5 worth of seed of Ammophila arundinacea, 



