﻿AN ECONOMIC STUDY OV ACACIAS. 11 



A. leiopliylla, cy clops, and pycnantha. Since the sand was very loose 

 and fine, stakes interwoven with brush were first used to keep the sand 

 from shifting, while the seeds were getting a start. The experiment 

 was an entire success. The rainfall that year was about 16 inches. 

 By 1896 more than 2,000 acres had been reclaimed at Port Elizabeth. 

 In the choice of species it was planned that the smaller growth, such 

 &s A. cyclops, would bind the soil and enable the larger tanbark acacias 

 to become established. During the South African war little was done 

 to extend these plantations, but since then operations have steadily 

 progressed. 



The Port Elizabeth experiments demonstrated that broadcast 

 sowing was not only feasible, but in this case seemed advisable. It 

 costs from 4 to 6 cents a pound to gather acacia seeds from the bearing 

 plantations. When the plantations were young the seed was drilled 

 in at the rate of about 12 pounds to the acre. At this time, however, 

 a much thinner sowing is usually considered better, and from 1 to 2 

 pounds only are sown to the acre, which would make the seed cost 

 not more than 12 cents. 



Port Jackson. — Acacias are being sown on drifting sands hi South 

 Africa in many other places besides Port Elizabeth, but the details of 

 the planting are likely to vary with local conditions. At Port Jack- 

 son seed was sometimes sown in alternate rows with cluster pines, 

 in some cases compartments or blocks of the plantation were entirely 

 the one or the other. Again, rye or barley was sown thinly with 

 the acacia or pine seed to give a quick binder and some shade. Ten 

 years after planting the official report on these experiments states: 

 "The sands have undoubtedly been fixed, and generally the trees 

 have been doing well." The cost of these sowings ranged between 

 $2.75 and $6 an acre. Wages were low, and it was practically all 

 handwork, with but little use of labor-saving methods. The greatest 

 expense was the filling in of gaps with nursery-grown plants, but 

 this was seldom necessary. 



ELSEWHERE. 



Much additional evidence might be compiled from sand-binding 

 in Natal, New Zealand, Australia, and the Mediterranean shores, 

 but that which has been cited is sufficient to offer important sugges- 

 tions for American practice. It has been conclusively proved that 

 16 inches of rainfall is ample; that it is an unnecessary expense to 

 use nursery-grown plants; and that by using a mixture of shrubby 

 and arborescent species, the larger tanbark and timber yielding trees 

 can be started from the beginning of the operations. Acacia cy clops 

 is valuable only for sand reclamation; the shrubby type of A. longi- 

 folia is quite as satisfactory. Even A. longifolia might be superseded 

 by A. leiopliylla, which resembles A. cyanophylla; it readily sends up 

 shoots when cut down, and its bark contains from 30 to 35 per cent of 

 tannin, which makes it a valuable commercial species. It is useful 



