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sand-dunes invaded this rich land, and T have seen stone boundary walls submerged by 
the smothering sand. The situation was indeed serious. The natural sand-binders of the 
district were tried with indifferent success. Baron von Mueller was applied to, and in 
1883 sent seeds of a number of plants he thought might be useful. These were duly 
sown, rather indiscriminately, and those of a grass (the Marram) came up amongst 
them, and attracted the attention of Mr. S. Avery, then, as now, in the employment of 
the Port Fairy Council. He kept this grass under observation for two years, and felt 
that this was the plant of which they were in need. It was propagated by root division, 
as the seeds are of uncertain germinating power. This was the beginning of the planting 
of the sand-dunes, which has since become an important industry. 
1 
I paid a visit to Port Fairy and saw the planting in operation. The sand-dunes 
had been planted for 9 miles on the Warrnambool side and for 3 miles on the 
Portland side. I traversed them for 6 miles, and saw six to seven hundred acres 
(in 1904) under Marram. The shire has taken up the planting from the town 
boundary towards Portland. 
The Marram Grass is well established in three years, and can then be thinned out 
for planting elsewhere. It should on no account be disturbed for two years. The 
method of planting is very simple. A portion planted in each hole is as much as a man 
can grasp in one hand. The planting is done with a long-handled shovel, in the pure 
sand, and the bundle of roots should not be unduly loosed. By division of labour, one 
man digging a hole, a second planting it, and stamping it carefully and evenly with his 
foot, well drilled men can plant with great rapidity. The direction of the prevailing 
wind has to be studied in each case, and the grass is planted in rows 5 feet apart, with 
each plant of the row 2 feet apart from the other; 26 cwt. of Marram plants is required 
to the acre. The curvature of the rows is about 5 feet in a segment of 50 feet. The 
object of the curvature is to prevent the formation of straight lines, and thus to inter- 
pose obstacles to the free course of the wind through the Marram Grass plantation from 
whatever direction it may blow. If it be desired to plant a sand-dune, a sine qua non is 
to begin to plant from the land side as far as possible, working towards the sea. Stress 
should be laid on this, as the natural inclination of most planters is to begin the planting 
as near to the sea as possible, and to work inland. I made that mistake myself. 
It is desirable to complete the planting of a block as far as possible, because 
much depends upon the planting being uniform. An isolated plant or an isolated row 
of Marram may cause difficulties through setting up local eddies in the sand. If the 
natural sand-plants be not removed, they will often cause local inequalities in the 
surface hillocks or depressions in the mobile sand. Mr. S. Avery, the experienced 
ranger at Port Fairy, is emphatic against the use of fences or breaks in controlling the 
sand, on the ground that they interfere with the drifts. 
Thirty-six years ago the Port Fairy sand-hills were let as a common, and brought 
5 per annum into the municipal treasury. At the same time the rich lands were gradu- 
ally being reduced in value by the sand. In 1904 we find the sand-drift nuisance has 
long been abated, and these despised and feared sand-hills brought in an annual revenue 
