VHI] MOORLAND AND FARMING 119 



attract attention. It has long been the practice to 

 plant these up with conifers or other suitable trees, 

 but in New Zealand dune pastures are produced 

 instead. Marram grass (Ammophila arundinacea) 

 is first grown to fix the sand, and then the tree 

 lupins (Lupiniis arbor eus); finally pasture grasses 

 are sown, especially such as, under the prevailing 

 conditions, make considerable root and so add to 

 the stores of soil organic matter. 



CHAPTER VIII 



THE MOOR WHAT SHALL IT BECOME? 



WE have already dealt with the reclamation of 

 the fens, we must now turn to the wholly distinct 

 case of the moors. Speaking generally the moorland 

 tracts of the country lie in high regions of considerable 

 rainfall : the fens, on the other hand, are low lying 

 and have a much smaller rainfall. When the fens are 

 drained they become at once fit for cultivation and 

 yield considerable quantities of potatoes, wheat and 

 other croj)s. But the high moors do not : their soil 

 is fundamentally different ; their rainfall is too high 

 for satisfactory crop production ; and owing to their 



