THE RECLAMATION OF LANDS DEVASTATED BY SHIFTING SANDS.

Patea Mail, Volume IV, Issue 325, 29 May 1878, Page 4

THE RECLAMATION OF LANDS DEVASTATED BY SHIFTING SANDS.

[From the “New Zealand Country Journal.”] The reclamation of lands devastated by shifting san ds is a question which seriously demands our attention. The fine insoluble particles of the soil, which is carried to the sea by the rivers, are thrown upon the beaches by tbe waves, from whence they are driven inland by the winds, where they form fantastic hillocks or rolling waves of arid sand. Unfortunately, it is not only tbe passage of these sands that we have to contend with, and the temporary spoliation of our fields, for they have the property of removing the humus from the mould on which they fall, and of assimilating it to themselves, and when they pass away, they carry it with them, leaving only the denuded subsoil behind. Fixed sand-dunes of groat antiquity exist on the Taranaki coast, which have been arrested and over-capped by an out-pouring of tufa, which forms the chief soil of the district; but a very large extent of our coast sands are exposed to the action of every breeze, The mischief occasioned by these sands is yearly increasing. In pre-colonial times, our coasts were clad with a covering ol maritime plants, consisting chiefly of a variety of sedges and Pomadens ericifolia, a hardy shrub of a heathery appearance. This vegetation was sufficient to arrest the rapid advance of the sands towards the interior, while it gave the coasts a verdant and cheerful appearance. In the shelter these plants afforded, the native linem expanded its white blossoms, and the oxedis cOnvolvus and other maritime plants flourished. Shortly after the establishment of the settlement, horned cattle and sheep were suffered to roam at will on the coast hills, for the purpose of grazing and browsing upon them. The vegetation of the coast was not fitted by nature to withstand this kind of treatment, and gradually, it perished, leaving the bare unprotected sands to the mercy of the winds, and to be driven over miles of rich lands. The present writer can remember a beautiful little natural shrubbery at the mouth of the W aiwakaiho river, where grass sedges, cordyline, manuka and kowai used to flourish, which is now a waste of sand. Not far from the same spot, he once saw a pretty cottage farm, the owner of which kept several cows and pigs, had an excellent garden, and made good hay—which is also a sandy waste. In the Bell Block district, farther to the north, thousands of acres are either covered with sand, or are left bare of all vegetable soil, by the passage of the sands over them, and year by year field after field is added to the arenaceous wilderness. In seeking for a remedy for this evil, we are naturally led to attempt to restore vegetation to the coasts, and the necessity is apparent of obtaining there the growth of such a vegetation ns shall bo proof against the hoof of the ox, or the close grazing or browsing of the sheep or goat. In treatises on sand reclamation the cultivation of many plants which will not stand the effects of the sea air upon our coasts, is recommended. Pmus rnaritima which figures largely in all such treatises is but a wretched specimen of a tree, even in comparatively sheltered places near the coast. European iurze, one of the hardiest plants i n B ri tai u, is frequently blighted by the. sea breezes as though scalding water had been showered upon it, and in cultivating it for reclamation purposes, we merely exchange the evil of the sand for that of a very combustible thicket, likely to be productive of great damage by fire. Where by moans of municipal or county restrictions the stiayiug of cattle can be abolished, the cultivation of sand-hills would be found to be a comparatively easy matter. Indeed where portions of these wastes are simply enclosed, vegetation speedily springs up. Where cattle are excluded, nature may be assisted by planting Coprosma baneriana, ißrachyglottis repanda, Metrosideros tomentosa,Pomadens ericifolia , and Myapommlaeturn. These shrubs are all perfectly hardy in places fully exposed to the sea breezes, but few of them would flourish, subject to the attacks of horses or cattle. In places where it is found impossible to exclude cattle, the robust kinds of perennial mesembryanthetnum will be 'found very efficacious in restraining sands. These plants delight in the vicinage of the ocean, they will grow either on loose sand, or on the base sub-soil left after the passage of the sands; 'in the one case they fix the sands, and in the other they not only cover the bare and unsightly; earth, but gradually, by tbe arresting of particles of sand, and by tbe decay of their leaves and stems form a new and rich vegetable mould. In the shelter of their trailing steins, the winged seeds of Pomaderis ericifolia find a lodgment and an aid to germination, as also do the seeds of clover, and especially of prairie grass. An exceedingly valuable grass for the reclamation of sands unprotected from ,cattle is Elymus arenarius or Sea Lyme grass, a very hardy littoral grass which grows extensively on the coast of Sussex, in England. We have some of it in Taranaki, and look upon it as a very valuable grass for reclamation purposes. It is not eaten by sheep, horned, cattle* or horses, it will grow in the bleakest spots and within reach of tbe sea-spray ; > it forms great tufts of herbage from four to five feet high, and by its matted roots arrests the sand. Although it seeds pretty freely it does not readily propagate fresh plants on very bleak lulls, on account of the, seeds finding no lodgment, but being driven clean away by the winds. This evil is remedied’

when the plants have become sufficiently plentiful to form a shelter. At first it is necessary, therefore, to raise plants from seeds in a nursery and to plant them out on the hills when they have attained sufficient maturity or, as the mature plants will bear division, to plant out stolons in rows, in damp weather. The seed ripens in the north in the early part of February or shortly after the cocksfoot grass seed, and can be gathered ; with little difficulty. -On account of its habit of growing in clumps, the Ebjmus is not to be depended on alone in the work of sand reclamation, but it is a very valuable adjunct to other plants in that work, and beneath its shelter many of the humbler and more closely spreading forms of vegetation will be found to grow. The subject of sand reclamation is so important, and local governing bodies are so apathetic concerning it, that the attention of the Legislature should be called to it, B. Wells. Taranaki.