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Travers.—On the Reclamation of Sand Dunes. 93 
chance of again becoming clothed with a protective growth. The subject is 
not one to be treated lightly, seeing that the area of dunes on the West 
Coast of this Provincial District alone cannot be less than 150,000 acres, 
and that the prevalent winds are generally westerly, and, therefore, exactly 
those which are likely to do serious mischief. 
As enquiries are frequently made on the subject, I think it well to add a 
few words as to the mode in which forest trees are cultivated on dunes. 
The principal tree so cultivated on the French dunes is the Pinus maritima, 
which, besides being valuable for timber, yields a considerable annual 
revenue from turpentine and resin. It is always grown from seed on the 
spot which it is intended to occupy, the young shoots being protected for 
several seasons by the branches of other trees either planted in rows, or 
formed into wattled hedges, or staked down over the surface of the sand. 
The sand grasses too are used for the purpose of shelter, and as the pine 
does not thrive well close to the sea, these grasses (especially Ammophila 
arundinacea and Elymus arenarius) are planted along the beach and for some 
distance inland, and these when grown effectually prevent the sand from 
overwhelming the young trees. 
It is found that under the shade of the pine, while still young, deciduous 
trees and a great variety of herbaceous and shrubby plants thrive well, and 
contribute to the rapid formation of a coating of vegetable mould. In fact, 
so soon as the pine has become well established, the reclamation of the sand 
waste may be looked upon as an accomplished fact. Turpentine is extracted 
from these trees for several years before they are cut for timber, and 
although this has a tendency to check the growth of the tree, it is found to 
improve the quality of the timber. The trees commence yielding turpen- 
tine at the age of about eighteen or twenty years, and have been found to 
yield from that age, up to the age of eighty or a hundred years, an annual 
return, independently of the value of the timber itself, of about £1 an acre. 
It may interest you to know that Ammophila arundinacea and Elymus 
arenarius, as well as other foreign sand grasses, have been introduced and 
successfully cultivated by Mr. Coutts Crawford at Miramar Peninsula, where 
they have already been of great service in preventing the spread of the sand 
over valuable pasture ground. 
The following is a list of the principal plants found upon the sand dunes 
of New Zealand :— 
Of primary value for fixing the sands: 
Coprosma acerosa, A. Cunn. 
Convolvulus soldanella, Linn. 
Pimelea arenaria, 4. Cumn. 
Leptocarpus simplex, A. Rich. 
Carex pumila, Thunb, 
