1G8 FOREST PLANTING. 



CHAPTER VII. 



FOREST PLANTING ON SAND-WASTES OR PINE-BARRENS. 



IN our State we have many varieties of sandy soils, 

 which contain principally silicates, without a proper 

 admixture of the other minerals (clay, lime, potash) 

 necessary for a thrifty vegetable growth. Moreover the 

 mechanical texture of such grounds is entirely unquali- 

 fied to retain humidity, as this either disappears by 

 evaporation or by sinking into the depths of the soil, 

 where it is inaccessible to the roots of plants. The only 

 way to utilize such lands is to grow forest-trees upon 

 them, as experience shows us that upon soils containing 

 nearly ninety-eight per cent, pure sand and almost no 

 water * pines and oaks may be successfully grown, unless 

 climate and situation prevent the growth of any plant- 

 vegetation. 



In the European territories most of the sand-wastes, 

 excepting blowing sands, are covered with a mat of 

 heaths, whins and brooms, through which water pene- 

 trates but sparsely into the ground. This mat which is 

 from three to five inches deep, usually rests upon an 

 impenetrable stratum, from eight to twelve inches thick, 

 which consists of sand cemented by calcareous and vege- 

 table matter or by iron oxide. This hard-pan or heath- 

 pan, in Germany called "Orstein," which is formed by 

 acidification of the subsoil, and is underlaid with sand, 

 must first be broken, and the broken pieces must be 

 brought to the surface in order that the air may desoxide 

 them and remove the eloim'iits obnoxious to plant-growth 

 contained therein. After this has heeii ell'eeted, plant- 



* The far-famed forc.st of Fontainebleau, ill France, is grown on just 

 ind of soil. 



