368 



PINUS PINASTER. 



surface blown inland to the great detriment of 

 the cultivated lands. The remedy proposed by 

 M. Bremontier was to erect a fence of hurdles so 

 as to front the prevailing wind, and to sow within 

 this a belt of Pinaster seeds mixed with those 

 of the Yellow Broom. At a short distance within 

 this was sown a second and a third belt, till the 

 whole was covered. The ground was then, as it 

 were, roughly thatched with hundreds of trees, 

 reeds, or sea-weed. Thus protected, the seeds 

 sprung up, the Broom at first outstripping its com- 

 panion and affording it shelter. In the course of 

 seven or eight years, it was found that the Pinaster 

 began to choke its foster-nurse, which quietly 

 submitted and gave up its decaying leaves and 

 twigs to the fertilization of the soil. 



In about ten or twelve years the plantations 

 w^ere thinned, the branches being applied to the 

 sheltering of ground not hitherto enclosed, and 

 the trunks being burned to make tar. When about 

 twenty or thirty years of age, the trees are fit for 

 producing resin ; and when exhausted for this pur- 

 pose, they are cut down to make room for their self- 

 sown progeny. In this way many thousands of acres 

 have been reclaimed and converted into planta- 

 tions, which afford occupation to the inhabitants 

 of the surrounding districts, who gain their liveli- 

 hood by the manufacture of resin and tar. From 

 its power of resisting the sea-blast, the Pinaster is 

 sometimes called the Sea Pine {Pinus maritimd), 

 I am not aware that its valuable property of 

 binding sand-hills has been tested in this country, 

 but in the west of England it is frequently planted 

 on the sea side of plantations composed of other 

 trees, and proves an effectual shelter, never shew- 



