44 CULTURE OF THE MARITIME PINE. 



broad oast; the operation of planting, and the feet of the workmen 

 assist in covering it. 



" The palisade costs from 2'50 francs to 3 francs per metre, it lasts 

 five years when made of pine which has not been injected. Its 

 keeping up and removal cost about 50 centimes a year. The 

 barrier costs about 30 centimes per running metre, and it should be 

 renewed nearly every year. 



" If there be any danger of the littoral Dune being injured by the 

 wind, other palisades should be erected, at a certain angle with the 

 first, on the sand which has been dislodged. At present there is a 

 well kept up dune littorale, more than 200 kilometres long, from the 

 bar of the Adour to the mouth of the Gironde. 



" When once a shelter from the wind is provided reboisement should 

 be begun. This is done by scattering a mixture of the maritime 

 pine, broom, whins, and gourbet. For example, in the operations 

 carried on by the State, 10 kilogrammes of the seed of the maritime 

 pine, 9 kilogrammes of broom, and 4 kilogrammes of gourbet seed are 

 used per hectare. It is then covered by faggots of brushwood, broom, 

 and whins. One man unties the bundles, two others spread them 

 out, and a third places a spadeful of soil at every 50 centimetres to 

 secure the covering which is absolutely necessary to prevent the seed 

 being carried away, and especially to keep the sand in its place. For 

 this purpose rushes are better than broom, because they furnish a 

 better manure when decomposed, 



" The seed should be sown, and the covering put on, simultaneously. 

 At the close of each day additional earth should be laid on the last 

 laid brushwood to protect it from the wind. Care should also be 

 taken to arrange it equally and close to the ground, so as to leave no 

 air holes, for in a single night the labour of several days may be lost. 



" Pines, broom, and whins will grow together, and it is remarked 

 that pines thrive best where the two last abound. When these are 

 sparse much care must be taken in watching over the covering, as 

 protection is necessary for four years. It should even be renewed, 

 and this is one of the ohief things to be done in maintaining the work. 



" After some years the reboisement of the dune littorale may be pro- 

 ceeded with, by erecting a wide palisade nearer the sea, but whether 

 this be done or not, the dune littorale must always be kept in good 

 order, otherwise the works would be inevitably buried by the con- 

 tinual advance of the sand. 



"Such is, in short, the kind of work to be done. It is often 

 tedious, and, in certain ciroumstances, difficult. To consolidate and 



