WASTE LANDS 4I 
ground, under a congenial climate, it will make its 
mark in this capacity. 
On certain parts of Poole Harbour, where the ground 
has been sufficiently consolidated, cattle go down on 
to the marshes to feed on it, but so far as we know its 
feeding value still awaits investigation by critical trials. 
Since the war a sample has been submitted to a 
paper expert who reported favourably on the qualities 
of its fibre, and at the present time Spartina is 
undergoing trials at the hands of paper manufacturers. 
Spartina undoubtedly possesses good qualities from this 
point of view, but the difficulty of its habitat will have 
to be overcome before commercial success can be 
attained. 
These difficulties are probably novel in the exploita- 
tion of any plant. Spartina grows on very soft, sticky 
mud, and is covered by the high tide twice a day. 
The problem is to cut the grass, to keep it from being 
sullied by the mud, and to get it ashore and spread out 
to dry before the next tide rises. If these operations 
are to be done by hand, the reapers will have to be 
very highly trained, as mud on the leaves and stalks is 
most difficult to remove, and makes black specks in 
the paper.- Hitherto cutting by machinery has not 
been tried, nor will it be till the conclusion of the war, 
for the paper industry is hardly to be reckoned an 
“ essential trade.”’ 
The above examples may serve to illustrate the 
possibilities of utilisation of waste lands by the sea. 
They indicate the existence of a considerable field well 
deserving a closer investigation than it has yet received. 
