WarxEn.—On State Forestry. xxxvii 
Over the whole is spread a covering of broom, furze, and other brushwood. 
One man unties the bundles, while two others spread them out, and a 
fourth throws on a spadeful of earth, at intervals of 20 inches, to keep the 
brushwood down. This covering is essential for preventing the seeds, and 
especially the sand, from being blown away by the wind. Furze is pre- 
ferable to the broom, as it yields a richer manure by its decomposition. 
* The sowing, and the spreading out of the brushwood, must be done 
simultaneously. At the close of each day's work, some spadefuls of sand 
are thrown over the last row of brushwood to enable it to resist the force of 
the wind. Care must be taken that the last row is spread out evenly and 
well against the ground, so as to prevent the wind from getting underneath. 
Without this precaution, a single night is sufficient to destroy the work of 
several days. 
* The pines, the broom, and the furze come up together; and it has 
been remarked that the young pines are all the finer for growing along with 
a large quantity of broom and furze. When these latter are not sufficiently 
abundant, the covering of brushwood should be carefully maintained, as 
the protection it affords is necessary during nearly four years. Sometimes, 
indeed, it has to be renewed, and its maintenance constitutes one of the 
principal operations during that period. 
“ The reboissement of the littoral dune itself may often be undertaken at 
the end of a few years, by forming a new littoral dune nearer still to the sea. 
In any case, the maintenance of a littoral dune is a sine quá non; otherwise 
every result of previous operations must inevitably be lost by the continual 
drifting in of new sand. 
** Such is a brief description of the operations employed in fixing the 
dunes. They often entail great labour, and the difficulty is sometimes so 
great, that the fixing and stocking of one hectare does not cost less than 
500 franes (just over £8 per acre). This outlay ceases to appear consider- 
able, if we balance against it the protection which it affords for all the 
country behind the dunes. Nearly the whole of it is absorbed by the 
erection and constant repair of the paling, and this principally by the 
transport of planks and brushwood over a long length of uneven country 
formed of deep and yielding sand." 
In the “Australasian” of February 10th there is a letter from Mr. Hunter, 
M.B.F.C.S., on the subject of the influence of forests on the climate and 
water supply of Victoria, and in the same paper is an editorial headed 
* Forest and Lake." Both Mr. Hunter and the editor warmly advocate 
increased conservancy and improvement of the forests, which it is admitted 
on all hands have been allowed to deteriorate and be destroyed in a most 
shameful manner, with the worst effects on the climate and water supply. 
