﻿14 BULLETIN" 9, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



while securing quicker results, is hot really necessary. It should be 

 kept in mind, too, that these plantations were not irrigated, and 

 were left to shift for themselves. 



At the very shores of the Pacific, south of the famous Cliff House, 

 a place familiar to thousands of tourists, there are large low growths 

 of acacia and albizzia, so close to the beach that the spray from the 

 winter waves dashes over them. They are from 4 to 8 feet high, 

 with close-matted roots and tops, which bind the sands and com- 

 pletely cover them. They are from 6 to 16 years old, and their 

 sterns, are from 1 to 2 inches through. The albizzias begin to flower 

 in November, and self-sown seedlings are numerous. They seem 

 better able than the acacias to extend their foothold on the beach's 

 extreme verge. The acacias bloom in February; they make few 

 seeds in such an exposed situation, though farther inland they seed 

 well. 



A little farther east and more inland, at about a thousand feet from the 

 ocean, are more acacias, principally Acacia longifolia, growing among 

 and over the sand hills, and though these are no older than the beach 

 thickets they are from 8 to 12 feet high, because they are more 

 sheltered and in less saline soil and atmosphere. A very large area 

 which was hopelessly barren has been rendered attractive by the 

 acacia copses. There are a few sand willows and pines, but the bulk 

 of the growth is of planted and self-sown acacias. 



Still farther east, nearly half a mile from the ocean, but still on 

 land which was formerly sand dunes, the acacias are somewhat older 

 and give each other good protection. These are from 20 to 30 feet 

 high, with stems from 10 to 18 inches in diameter. Like all the others 

 in the sand lulls, these trees never received any artificial application 

 of water. They were set out during the rainy season from seed boxes 

 when only a few months old, and were then left to fight their own 

 battles. In many cases the little trees grew from 3 to 5 feet during 

 the first spring. 



In November some of the acacias on the sunny sides of the dunes 

 show bloom, and by the middle of January the whole expanse is 

 golden with blossoms. This is two weeks ahead of the same species 

 on the beach. 



The mixed plantations along railroad cuts in and near Golden Gate 

 Park and in some of the older groves where good soil has been spread 

 over the sand are now large and thrifty, fairly deserving the name 

 forests. Individual specimens are 24 inches in diameter and are 

 fit for timber. 



There has always been a struggle between the sand and the vege- 

 tation, though in the end the acacias seem to be able to fix the soil, 

 even though they have been temporarily killed back. Where the 



