REPORT BY BAGNERI8. 43 



lateral branches, which throw off throughout their length numerous 

 secondary tap-roots. Along with these valuable properties it possesses 

 the advantage of supplying valuable and abundant resinous products. 



" The maritime pine has long been used in the Dunes. The forest 

 of Teste must be several centuries old. But it will only thrive quite 

 close to the sea. After the works carried on by Bremontier, which 

 were begun in 1787, it was planted quite up to the brink of the 

 beach. I shall state how this is done. 



" Before putting in the seed a protecting barrier must be erected 

 to prevent the sand from burying the seed and young trees. This 

 barrier is nothing but an artificial Dune, called the dune littorale ; 

 it is formed by erecting a palisade parallel to the shore, at about 

 100 metres from the high water mark. For this purpose planks are 

 employed of about 1*60 metres in length, 3 centimetres in thickness, 

 and from 12 to 15 centimetres broad ; a furrow, 40 centimetres deep, 

 is dug in the sand, in which the planks are sunk to a depth 

 of 20 centimetres, the lower ends being cut in a tapering form. 

 In this way, when the furrow is filled up, the planks are buried 

 to a depth of 60 centimetres, 1 metre being above ground. They 

 do not touch each other, a space of 2 centimetres being left 

 between. 



"The sand arrested by the palisade arranges itself in heaps 

 sloping gently towards the sea; the interstices allow a certain 

 quantity of sand to pass through, which increases the base, and 

 consequently the solidity of the Dunes. When the palisades are 

 almost covered, the planks are extracted by the help of a lever with 

 claws, and the Dune goes on increasing. It should not increase too 

 rapidly, because, if so, it might be destroyed by a wave. 



" The better to secure its base behind the palisade a barrier is 

 formed of stakes, of 2*50 metres, between which flexible branches are 

 interlaced. The stakes are driven in to a depth of 50 centimetres, 

 and the clayonnages at first are only one metre high ; the height is 

 increased as the Dune rises, and when it reaches the top of the 

 stakes a new barrier is erected as the stakes cannot be removed as was 

 done with the palisade. 



" The whole is then consolidated by plantations of gourhet, which is 

 arranged in tufts of from 5 to 6 stems, with 50 centimetres between 

 each. The gourhet has this advantage, that as the sand increases in 

 depth, the stalks rise, and produce roots which form a perfect net- 

 work; 300 bundles of gourhet of 10 kilogrammes each, besides 6 

 kilogrammes of seed are required per hectare. The seed is sown 



