DRIFTING SANDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8581, 1 June 1891, Page 3

DRIFTING SANDS.

- I p! TO THE EDITOR. g|§ Sir,—-To : landowners and farmers, whose properties are located near the,coast, and' upon whose lands ' drifting ' sands : are gjtidu"- Aally encroaching, it should be a 'matter: for' * congratulation that a: successful fight can ha made against these encroachments by the use;*' 'J of one particular grass, which has been ea i -argcly used in America and other ; countries 0,3 aa 1 effectual sand-binder. 1 alludei to-the £ reed-like grass botanically known as Ammo- .' . j vhilaarnndinacea, but commonly known as - beach grass, sea-sand reed, mat grass, etc. ' . This useful grass, growing in different coun-.VftCJ tries, is til ten utilised for the manufacture of doormats, mats for pack-saddles, hats, and' >' ropes. Growing by the seashore, its thick, '• strong, creeping perennial < roots, with ■ many h'Cfi tubers the size of a pea, prevent the ? drifting,' -J 01 the sand from the action of : the winds ana i waves, : thus •; forming a V barrier | against 5 the llpi encroachments of the ocean. This grass has, been," referred , to. on several occasions " ' in the columns '. of ' the -Herald and'fi Weekly News. My special object in writ- r ing oh the subject just now is for the pur« ' pose« of /:drawing attention to: the success '•.* which has attended the planting of this grass • by -Mr. Handler, of Wanganui, as recorded m the New Zealand Country Journal. In & letter to that periodical he writes thus:, . "Outside my boundary fence there arc '■ about 500 acres of loose sand hills, that may* be from 300 to 500 feet high, that had been previously kept . in check by the -natural growth of native plants; but as cattle were allowed to roam at will over these sand hills, the natural growth was destroyed, and the sand set at liberty, which soon found its way to my fence and in one south-east - gala ■'■ ■■■■- which happened five years ago, in less than} ' ' twenty-four hours, covered a gorse hedge that was from six to eight feet high, and com- - • pletely obliterated the land for forty chains, ' r 1 from two to six chains across the paddockTl . . considered it hardly worth while re-erecting 1® || the fence, as the sand would in all proba- . bility be over my house before two yeats were over. . ; However, the : fence % was * re-erected.',; i as near- the old site as we could find the top: of the old fence, which by this time had two or three storeys added to it. To deal with the . sand, I set to work and ploughed it ' under, wherever the plough could reach the original soil. I then fenced off half-a-mile long by, two chains wide, and. spent £50 in ' tree planting, besides laying cut grass along the edges, and ? planting a truck load of ice " plant Mewmbryanthemum) ; j but all to no , purpose, for.the sand came on again, ami \ smothered the trees, and was fast making its ; - way. to my house, when I fortunately heard Itffi of Ammophila, at the end of the first year of my contention with-the sand fiend. ■ A small ! handful of roots were sent me, s which "I planted out separately, and in twelve'months | each had formed a good-sized bunch, with ! quite a mound of sand around them. This decided me, and in April—the end of thesecond year's war—l succeeded in procuring about two tons of roots from a friend at New-','"- 1 ; Plymouth, which I > carefully planted out m ■ rows about three feet apart,, and two feet between the plants, covering the whole of the' :, sand between the fences. | Aid I have had.no • more trouble, except .raising the,boundary fence, as the sand blows up and forms a ridge, v. the grass growing up as fast, ,or faster than - . the sand blows on to it. , I now consider that? the. sand is the most valuable part of my, farm, as I derive a good revenue from the [ sale of the grass roots for planting purposes, j ! This testimony to the intrinsic value of t beach or pat grass should encourage the -. planting of it wherever it may be needed. Fortunately the grass is now in the colony, and there should soon be an abund<uice of it, as it spreads rapidly, 'It is well known that ' the town of Provincetown, in America, once called Cape Cod, and also the harbour, one; of the best and most important in the United. States, both owe '-•< their . preservation to Ammophila arundinacea, known also as Calamaffrosiis armaria. 1 am, &c«, - Pukekohe East. " WiLLLAJa MoBGAN"., - ' T— - --. v%