436 
Notes on the Works of Soicuuj 
the surface with a growth of vegetation which is a more perfect 
protection than the brushwood which first gave it sheher. 
The pine-plants come up much more slowly, and grow, by 
slow degrees, under the shelter of the broom ; but at the end of 
three or four years, or five at most, the pines will have out- 
stripped the broom, and become sufficiently strong to make tlie 
fixing of the sand complete ; their growth chokes the broom 
which first protected them, and which now, having become 
useless where it is, is made use of as brushwood to cover parts 
newly sown. 
When the pines have thus choked the broom, the object is 
gained — the dune is secured ; no further work is required except 
to clear out the plantation in proportion to the growth, so as to 
secure the healthiness of the remaining plants, and thus obtain 
a forest-produce of great value, from the ground which was 
previously nothing but a danger to the country. 
The produce of the first thinnings served also as brushwood, 
and, together with the broom-plants which had been cut, afforded 
shelter which enabled the process of sowing to be continued. 
It is chiefly because the whole of the work has been so directed, 
that from the portions already done, in proportion as they were 
completed, the means required for continuing the sowing were 
obtained, so that it was possible to finish the whole work without 
great expense. 
The average cost of sowing the sands under this system 
amounted to 47s. per acre, including all additional works, par- 
ticularly those of fencing, which were needed to protect the 
parts' first sown from the still drifting sands near them, which 
had not yet been fixed. 
If, in order to bring the work to a more rapid conclusion, 
the supply of branches or brushwood had been sought for else- 
where, the expense would have been double. This increase 
will be easily understood if it is remembered that the sands were 
on the border of a flat plain, on which there were no plantations, 
and that the brushwood must have been brought from a distance ; 
and the carriage would have been the more expensive^ because 
in certain parts of the dunes the brushwood must have been 
carried on the back of mules. 
The Specification provides for certain works to be done to 
protect the parts sown, while the process of fixing is still going 
on, from the sand which might be carried over them by the 
wind. Palisades, or wattled fencing with stakes, or of simple 
branches, should be placed round the threatened parts. 
The palisades of planks are more costly at first, but they 
are much more effective than the wattled fencing ; and as the 
planks last much longer, the final expense of the palisades is 
