QUANTITY OF GRASS SEEDS PER ACRE 



21 



XVI.— FOR DRIFTING OR BLOWING SANDS 



To prevent the encroachment of shifting sands, the most effectual means is to sow the 

 seeds of the above-mentioned grasses, over a breadth of 20 to 50 yards, and in certain in- 

 stances over even as much as 1 00 and more yards, immediately in advance of such sands. 

 The breadth, as well as the quantity of seeds, per acre, of course, will depend on the 

 obstacles to be overcome. It must, however, be borne in mind, that the liability of such 

 sands to be shifted at times, especially in dry windy weather, almost entirely precludes the 

 possibility of binding them by the agency of seeds alone. Accordingly, various methods 

 have been resorted to for that purpose, but the most generally applicable is to deposit 

 turf, at regular and short intervals, over the surface, and afterwards to sow the seeds of 

 Ammophila arundinacea and Elymus arenarius in the interstices, by mixing them with 

 clay, attached to small pieces of straw ropes, and dibbling these into the sand. 



