INLAND SAND. 637 



being 2f feet high. At right angles to these lines of fencing 

 similar fences were made, about 50 yards apart, and 2 feet high. 

 Towards the west, where the general surface elevation is higher 

 and exposed mounds and ridges exist, the fences were placed 

 closer together than on the more sheltered east side, so that 

 the average area of each rectangle enclosed by the fences was 

 about 1 rood on the west, and about 2 roods on the east side. 

 The shifting of the sand was thus greatly reduced, and restricted 

 within the enclosures ; and already in 1875 it became possible 

 to begin planting. In that year birch and alder were planted 

 in rows along the fences (on the sheltered side), the planting 

 holes being filled with good soil brought from a distance ; and 

 in the following year planting up of the interior of each 

 rectangle was begun with Scots pine plants 1 to 2 years old, 

 which were put out in squares with the aid of Buttlar's plant- 

 ing tool, 3,200- plants being used per acre, and each plant 

 supplied with a handful of good humus soil. The compost 

 was prepared in autumn, and left lying in heaps during the 

 winter, and conveyed to the site of the plantation just before 

 the planting season in spring. 



" The results are quite satisfactory in so far as the ground is 

 now fully stocked, and the surface soil completely consolidated. 

 But owing to the dryness and poverty of the soil, the growth 

 of the plants is in many places very miserable, many of the 

 Scots pines being only 1 yard high, though already 15 to 18 

 years old. The average height is, however, about 16 feet, and 

 for the most part the plants have closed overhead. The entire 

 area has been most carefully protected ; cattle have been 

 strictly excluded, and grass cutting disallowed, and all un- 

 authorised persons have been prohibited from walking across 

 it. These precautions were absolutely necessary to prevent 

 disturbance of the unstable surface soil, and to give the plants 

 a chance of establishing themselves. 



" The cost of the cultural operations was 18s. per acre. The 

 wattled fencing was constructed by a local battalion of Pioneers, 

 and therefore involved no direct outlay ; had the work been 

 done by paid labourers, the cost would have been about 2jr/. 

 per running yard of fencing." 



