438 
Notes on the Works of Sowing 
that had not then been planted, carrying them forward more 
than 60 feet ; but those completed were not damaged, and those 
under the operation were so little injured that they were restored 
in two or three days after the storm. 
The expense, as already stated, has been about 47s. per acre, 
or for the whole extent, over 480,000/. 
The value of the dunes when planted may be estimated at 
16Z. per acre, when the pines begin to yield the resin. 
These 200,000 acres of moving sands, which were previously 
so great a danger, are now covered by a magnificent forest, 
which in a few years will be worth about 3J millions sterling. 
General Specification for Fixing and Sowing part of the Dunes or 
Sand-hills in tlie Commune of La Teste. 
The works of fixing and sowing the dunes consist : 1st, in spreading 
the seeds ; 2ndly, in covering the moving sands by means of branches 
(brushwood) ; 3rdly, in sheltering the parts sown from the encroachment of 
outside moving sands. 
1. Sowing. 
1. The sowing of each acre of dune to be made with 18 lbs. of pine-seed and 
7 lbs. of broom-seed, to which must be added 4^ lbs. of the seed of " gourbet," 
Calamagrostis (AmmopMla) arenaria (Arundo arenaria. Linn.), when the 
dunes are very moveable, and much exposed to the action of the sea-winds. 
2. These quantities of seeds to be separately and evenly sown immediately 
before the spreading out of the brushwood, in order that they may not be clogged 
together or dispersed by the wind. 
3. The gourbet-seed only to be used on the borders of the sowings in those 
parts where the defences fail to give complete protection from the outside 
drifting-sand. 
4. Each acre of dune to be sown with gourbet to have only 13 lbs. of 
the seed of that plant, which is to be mixed with wet sand, so that it may not 
be carried away by the wind when it is sown broadcast. 
5. The sowings may take place at all seasons, if necessarj' to obtain the 
payment of instalments of the contract price ; but it is better to make them, 
as much as possible, from the 1st October to the 30th April. 
6. As a rule, the sowing must not be made on the steep slopes of the sand- 
hills, except during the summer, when the sand is perfectlj^ dry ; and care 
must be taken, besides, that it is firmly trodden down by the workmen, that 
the slope may be lengthened, and that the sands lately carried up by the wind 
may not slip down, dragging off the coverings. 
7. The seeds to be of the best quality. Those obtainable *in the trade 
cannot be trusted. To escape all fraud, they should not be used unless 
approved by the manager. 
2. Covering. 
8. The seeds to be covered with brushwood, cut in fan-shape ; and for this 
purpose all the small branches or twigs above or below, -which would prevent 
the branches being laid flat on the soil, to be struck ofi' with some sharp instru- 
ment; and the stems of the branches, where bent or twisted, to be made 
straight by notches cut half through them before they are laid down. 
These branches to be applied as evenly as possible on the surface, and laid 
overlapping one another, as the feathers on the body of a bird. These coverings 
