52 PROTECTION OF WOODLANDS. 



Shifting sands are of special interest to the forester, not only 

 from the fact that most sand-drifts are dedicated to the production 

 of timber, but also because the retention or formation of wood- 

 lands on such areas is the best, generally indeed the only, means 

 of preventing the sand from drifting, and of binding the shifting 

 soil in order to protect neighbouring areas which have better soil. 

 And at any rate some return may thus be obtained from the land. 



The binding of sand-drifts and the reclamation of dunes are 

 generally carried out by means of the Sand-reed (Arundo 

 arenaria), the Lyme-grass (Elymiis arenarius), and the Sand- 

 sedge (Carex arenaria). All of these are plants with halms 

 ramifying under the surface of the soil, and consequently suffer 

 no injury from being covered with sand ; but tree growth 

 (of Pinus montana) is also employed to a much less extent. The 

 binding of dunes is generally the work of men specially qualified 

 for the task, whilst the fixation of inland drifts forms part of the 

 duties of the forester ; in the following paragraph therefore, only 

 these latter will be taken into consideration. 



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32. Prevention of the Occurrence of Sand-drifts. 



The safest means of preventing the occurrence of new sand- 

 drifts is the careful retention of the soil-covering, whether con- 

 sisting of woodlands, or of weeds of any description. 



If the area in question be wooded, and as a rule Scots Pi 

 is the accommodating species forming the crop in such cases, 

 the harvesting of the timber must take place with a due amount 

 caution ; any extensive clearance should be totally avoided, and the 

 fall should be mainly confined to the clearance of very narrow strips, 1 

 and not repeated, or proceeded with further, until the rewoodi 

 of the fall last cleared has been assured. The series of fellin 

 must take place in the opposite direction to the preva 

 winds, and each annual fall should be at once planted up witho 

 any delay. The grubbing up of stumps, the removal of d 

 foliage for manure, and the exercise of pasturage, leading 

 loosening of the soil, and loss of soil-covering, should all 

 more be guarded against, as the dead leaves are more urgen 



1 Natural reproduction under parent standards, which has also been recommei 

 for such circumstances, can not be satisfactorily carried out on sand so dry as 

 be liable to drift. 



