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Company had for a considerable time been in the habit of depositing shale and worthless 
coal on a large area of this land, which consisted of shifting sand. The result has been 
that the sand is fixed, and grasses and other vegetation have already attached them- 
selves to the soil (so-called), completing the fixing process, and forming what will be in 
a very short time an excellent sward. 
A similar policy was followed by Mr. G. R. Cowdery, Engineer for Tramways, in 
regard to the shifting sands in the vicinity of the tramway terminus at Bondi. Here 
the sand filled up streets and obliterated fences, becoming a nuisance and an eyesore to 
the travelling public. Mr. Cowdery levelled the sand and top-dressed it with a few 
inches of ashes from the tramway engines. A little Couch grass (Cynodon dactylori) was 
dibbled in here and there, and now we have a grassy lawn. The cinder's, ashes, shale, &C., 
should be spread on the surface to a depth, if possible, of 6 inches. 
The element of time. One of the broad dunes on the Landes may be planted 
according to fixed plans requiring thirty years for their completion. And as regards the 
exploitation of the timber upon it, it may be mentioned that the rotation at the Forest 
of La Teste is sixty years for example, that which began in 1890 will only be complete 
in 1949. It is necessary to emphasise these points because we are often in a hurry in 
New South Wales, and some people think plantations may be formed in pure sand and 
produce merchantable timber in a space of time that experts know to be out of the 
question. 
(d) Maintenance of the vegetation. 
It is a common human failing that we are often satisfied when we initiate a work, 
and we forget to provide for adequate maintenance. Adequate maintenance in the 
matter of sand-drift prevention is the life-blood of the whole enterprise. All these sand- 
drift areas should be placed under the control of the Forest Department, which should 
have a special staff of officers to deal with reclamation matters (including such works 
as the reclamation of river banks).* All areas under treatment should be regularly 
visited and reported upon, a printed schedule of questions being answered by the 
inspecting officer periodically. 
(1) Protection against fire. T!]iis is a matter of very great importance. Our bush 
fires are, in some years, very serious agents of destruction, and it is not easy to lay down 
useful rules to cope with them. As regards the coastal plantings on sand-dunes, the 
making of fires should he prohibited under heavy penalties. In many places, the plan- 
tations "will be naturally protected by the healthy country which runs along the coast 
line. 
(2) Fencing often necessary. And now I make a few recommendations applicable 
to planted sand-drifts in the vicinity of large centres of population. At one sand-drift 
reclaimed by the Government, I have seen horses, cattle, and human beings breaking 
down the sand-banks. The caretaker slopes the sand, plants grass, &c., upon it; cattle 
tear out the grass, Itrin^ down the sand in large masses, and, consequently, destroy the 
* See "Mitigation ,,f Kl ..... | s " (A|.|>n<lix I.. I'.ui I. VI of this \u.rk). 
